In an excerpt from a recent article on Vince McMahon, Dawn Marie admits that she used steroids during her time with WWE.
Dawn Marie Damatta, who performed with WWE from 2002 to 2005 and whose profile is still on the company website, said she has used steroids during the course of her wrestling career, which began in the late-1990s.
"I chose to take that shortcut," Damatta said. "Did Vince tell me to take that shortcut? No. Did WWE? No. Why did I do it? Because I thought that's what I needed to do in order to keep up . . . There was no testing policy."
She said it is clear just from looking at the physiques of today's WWE talent that steroid use is not as prevalent as it used to be. And she believes the drug-testing policy is also reducing the abuse of drugs such as painkillers and saving lives.
Damatta said she likes and respects Linda and Vince but believes they could do more to assist former talent.
"Wrestlers are taken as children, thrown into this industry and then we're dumped back out as adults. There's no learning in the world. We're on the road, traveling, hustling, getting beat up," Damatta said. "Where do I go? What do I put on a resume?"