Hulk's Bulk Aided By Steroids -- Popular Pro Wrestling Star Testifies In New York Court Case He Had 13-Year Habit Using Steroids.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - He was presented as a role model to youngsters, a hulking wrestler who urged the kids to "eat their vitamins and say their prayers."

Hulk Hogan ate more than his vitamins, however. He also was chemically enhanced.

Testifying in a courtroom packed with wrestling fans and media, a lean and tanned Hulk Hogan for the first time admitted a 13-year-long steroid habit during the height of his popularity and said he had shared the drug with WWF owner Vincent McMahon.

"It kind of gave you an edge that helped you keep going," Hogan, 40, testified in the trial of McMahon, who is charged with distributing anabolic steroids.

Hogan, who was sworn in under his real name, Terry Gene Bollea, added that he and McMahon had shared the drug the way other people traded cigarettes.

Under cross examination, Hogan said that McMahon never ordered wrestlers to take steroids and never paid for steroids for wrestlers.

Hogan was appearing as a prosecution witness and had been granted immunity. While testifying, Hogan did not look at McMahon, who sat a few feet away. While Hogan now has a contract with WWF's chief rival, he described McMahon as a close friend whom he deeply respected. Hogan said he began to use steroids in 1976 before he joined the WWF and did not stop until his second child was conceived in 1989.