Today In Wrestling History: Closing Arguments In Vince McMahon's Trial, Jack Brisco Wins NWA Title

* 42 years ago in 1973, Jack Brisco defeated Harley Race to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Houston, Texas, ending Race's first reign. Brisco was supposed to have won the title a few months earlier, but that...well, here's what happened.

Florida promoter Eddie Graham had successfully lobbied for Jack brisco to be the next champion, succeeding Dory Funk Jr. There were some weird politics with Funk's father, Dory Funk Sr., himself an influential promoter, not wanting his son to drop the title to Brisco, possibly due to some kind of Texas/Oklahoma rivalry. Funk was in a truck accident right before the match, leading to its cancellation. A lot of people thought it was fake to mess with the title change, but the Funks had seemingly legitimate medical reports.

Even if the accident really happened as described, there was still clearly an issue. Race, who was in consideration as a future champion, got the nod to transition it after a relatively short reign. Not only was he a worthy champion, but he was considered simultaneously someone tough enough to keep Funk from trying any funny business while also reliable enough to drop the title to Brisco when asked, which he did.

Race got his big promised run with the title in February 1977, dethroning Terry Funk, who had won the title from Brisco in December 1975. He went on to hold the title for over 900 days.

* 21 years ago in 1994, closing arguments were given in Vince McMahon's steroid distribution trial (though at this point the only remaining charge involved a conspiracy between McMahon and unindicted co-conspirator Dr. George Zahorian, who was convicted of distribution in 1991) in Uniondale, New York. What you'll read here is a summary the substance of each side's key points and does not reflect the opinions of anyone other than the lawyers who gave the statements. The only exact quotes are those in quotation marks.

** As is procedure, prosecutor Sean O'Shea went first. Classifies the defense is blaming everyone else. They blame fear of bad publicity, but do people who are just afraid of bad publicity make a point of getting untraceable checks to buy drugs and tipping someone off to an investigation? They made money off Dr. George Zahorian's drug deals indirectly via the profits of Titan Sports/the WWF. From November 1988-on, steroids can only be distributed by a doctor in a legitimate doctor-patient relationship.

Road agents knew about Zahorian for years, with him offering Pat Patterson Valium in 1985, Joe "Jay Strongbow" Scarpa and Arnold Skaaland buying steroids for their sons, and Jack Lanza offering wrestlers draws (cash advances, which were common for legitimate reasons) specifically so they could buy drugs from Zahorian. Gorilla Monsoon, Tony Garea, and others talked about how there was no place in wrestling for someone like Zahorian, while Scarpa said "The boys need their candies." Zahorian told McMahon what he was doing and McMahon told him not to stop.

The memo that Linda McMahon sent Pat Patterson about tipping off Zahorian was classified as the smoking gun. A conspiracy can be inferred by actions, and their actions McMahon approved of what Zahorian was doing.

** Laura Brevetti gave the first part of the defense's closing argument. She says it's hypocritical for O'Shea to say bad publicity couldn't have been the primary concern for McMahon in light of how the prosecution has used the press, like trotting out a photo of McMahon, Zahorian, and Hogan together. They tried to use the publicity over Hogan's testimony to breathe life into their case.

Look at the evidence in the context of its time, not with hindsight. Wrestling gets no respect, neither do wrestlers, and people refuse to admit they're fans. Do you get the feeling that the witnesses had grudges? Of all of the wrestlers who worked for the WWF since 1985, how could they not get ones with better memories who could give better testimony? Instead they brought you wrestlers with grudges, some who filed lawsuits against the WWF, plus wrestlers who work for WCW. Multiple wrestlers spoke of recent steroid use and the government doesn't care. Tom Zenk didn't buy from Zahorian, but "Tom Zenk is the type of individual that would take steroids out of a garbage can and use them." Zenk told the jury about current steroid use in WCW and the government doesn't care.

This is not about wrestlers being on steroids, it's about whether or not McMahon entered into a conspiracy with Dr. Zahorian. Kevin Wacholz said not only that McMahon told him to get on steroids at the height of the bad publicity in 1992, but said that his baggy inmate jumpsuit costume showed off his physique. "What do you say about a man who will come to a courtroom and lie?" Emily Feinberg (Vince's ex-executive assistant) is an actor and thus can lie easily. Zahorian presented himself to layman as a knowledgeable doctor. He never spoke to McMahon after the steroid law was changed. Nobody from the athletic commission that hired Zahorian for wrestling shows ever reported him.

** Jerry McDevitt tagged in for the rest of the defense's summation. The prosecution says that the victim of the conspiracy is the FDA, who was defrauded, but nobody from the FDA testified. "The FDA ran from this courtroom like Dracula from a cross." If Zahorian and McMahon were co-conspirators, wouldn't Zahorian have been comfortable calling McMahon to ask why he wasn't being hired for shows after the law changed? Using untraceable checks doesn't make a conspiracy, it makes McMahon discreet. If there was a cover-up, why didn't they ask Emily Feinberg to destroy her notebooks when she was done with them? Why didn't Zahorian destroy his records? "As a cover up, this was a lousy cover up."

The system failed when it didn't regulate steroids more harshly in the 30 years before the law changed when they became popular bodybuilding drugs. Much more were in circulation than could have been used legitimately. The government says a conspiracy is an unspoken agreement to violate the law. Zahorian was at events as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission's own ringside doctor, and nobody ever pushed him to sell steroids to increase ticket sales. "This conspiracy idea is trying to create a crime when there wasn't one. [...] They have the burden of proof. They didn't prove it. They didn't come close."

** Prosecutor O'Shea got the last word with his rebuttal. McMahon told Emily Feinberg to distribute steroids to Hogan. They only had records of two incidents of this, but Feinberg and Hogan recalled several more. He ordered CFO Doug Sages to launder money. They say everyone has a grudge. If they have such big grudges, why did only one of them (Wacholz) testify that McMahon directly told them to go on steroids? Why not go all the way? If we got Zahorian to lie, why didn't he testify that McMahon told him to distribute steroids? What are the grudges of the non-wrestlers, some of whom still work for the WWF? If we were framing McMahon, why are we doing such a terrible job?

They bring up Zenk and others using steroids, but users aren't pushers. They say the case is old, but investigations take time. Why don't we prosecute WCW? If we find the evidence that they're doing this, we will. They're good at rhetoric, saying there's no respect for wrestling. McMahon doesn't respect wrestling and wrestlers, treating them like pieces of meat. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. "You can't hide behind a doctor's white coat. You can't obstruct or impede an investigation. If you violate the law, you're guilty. I ask based on the evidence to find the defendants guilty."

In two days: The verdict.