Lanny Poffo Discusses Why He Took Steroids For A Short Period During His WWE Run

Lanny Poffo is best known for portraying The Genius in WWE and . But he's also accomplished outside of wrestling and has published numerous books and comics.

Poffo's latest work is being part of a documentary by director Fulvio Cecere. The film 350 Days draws its name from the amount of time wrestlers spend on the road each year and Chuck Carroll of CBS caught up with Poffo to discuss his contributions to the doc.

In the film Poffo talked about his brief period of drug use while he was involved in a feud with Hulk Hogan.

"I didn't smoke, drink or do drugs, but in 1989 I became 'The Genius,' and I had a chance to be main event with Hulk Hogan for four months. I defeated him on NBC. I mean, I went from the outhouse to the penthouse for four months and then eventually back to the outhouse again," said Poffo.

"I am ashamed to tell you that I took steroids for that period of time. I got acne vulgaris and testicular atrophy. The acne cleared up and you'll have to take my word on the other. But I only told people that because it's the truth and because it was legal then, and I'm recommending that anybody reading this abstain from steroids. Because the good stuff about steroids is very temporary and the bad stuff is permanent. I think I got away with it because I didn't do it much."

Poffo never held a championship in WWE and was a mid-carder, at best, for his tenure there. Thus, he admits that the pressure of being in such a high-profile feud with Hogan led to him using steroids.

"Nobody held a gun to my head, not Vince McMahon or anybody. But I was competing for a top spot, and I was finally getting an opportunity, and I was trying to earn it. So it was out of desperation and about being tired of being a jabroni," admitted Poffo. "So I finally got to drink from the silver chalice of success, even though if I go to a shopping mall right now, you won't find one person that remembers me. You know what I mean? Fame, if you win it, comes and goes in a minute."

There was no Wellness Policy back then that is in place now, and other wrestling promotions also have policies against PEDs. Even with that, Poffo believes that some current wrestlers are finding ways to circumvent the policies in place and are still using steroids.

"There's ways to mask the test, and the scientists keep getting better on both ends," stated Poffo. "Scientists get better to catch you and scientists get better to hide it. I don't watch wrestling anymore, because in 36 years I'll be 100. But from what I've seen, some of the wrestlers that look a little too muscular might be that way for a reason."

350 Days also features Bret Hart, Billy Graham, Ted DiBiase and numerous other wrestlers and will have a home release on April 2.