Professional wrestling is about not just in-ring skill, but appearance as well. After all, one of its simplest tenets to understand is believability. Sure, suspension of disbelief is also crucial in the industry, but as a general rule, the most popular performers are the ones with the best-looking physiques.

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From Hulk Hogan to Roman Reigns in WWE, strong muscle-bound wrestlers are often (if not always) the ones who get the biggest pushes, but maintaining their physiques is not always easy. Some have been able to make do with a strict fitness regimen and diet, but others have succumbed to the temptation of performance enhancers, as these examples would reveal at some point in their life...

10 The Rock

Ah, Dwayne Johnson aka the Rock. The People's (or Corporate) Champion, the Brahma Bull, the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment, and -

"Wait, he also used substances? That guy?"

Surprisingly, yes, he did. In 2009, while promoting Race to Witch Mountain, he revealed that back when he was a promising linebacker with the University of Miami Hurricanes, he dabbled in steroids. To quote him, "Didn't know what we were doing". And it did not stop him from continuing to be one of Hollywood's biggest stars.

9 Ryback

Between 2011 and 2012, Ryback (formerly Skip Sheffield) was one of the most divisive wrestlers to ever exist. One side loved his physique and unique charisma (with live audiences chanting "Feed Me More!" at every turn), but another derided his similarities to Goldberg - which, ironically enough, he would embrace near the end of his stint.

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At one point, CM Punk called him "the steroid guy" - which, it would turn out, was not far from the truth. In 2016, he revealed on his podcast that he had been introduced to steroids by a certain Jay Cutler (the bodybuilder, not the underrated Chicago Bears quarterback).

8 Edge

What if you were told that at one point, the Rated-R Superstar, otherwise not known for being physically intimidating, used performance enhancers?

Back in 2005, Edge revealed a particularly grim tale in which he was struggling with a neck injury and needed something that could heal it fast. That was when he discovered human growth hormones. Two years later, he and Rey Mysterio were implicated in a steroid ring.

7 Dawn Marie

When people think of performance enhancers, they usually think of big, beefy men like Hulk Hogan. But as Dawn Marie shows, this problem is not gender-exclusive.

Dawn Marie was never the most competitively active woman in WWE during her time, instead being most famous for her sultry segments with Torrie Wilson's (real-life) father Al. That did not mean she was not doing the secret stuff - she was, as she would reveal after her departure from the business. "Why?" There was no testing, so she chose to do it.

6 Sting

Whether it be the colorful bleached-blond Surfer or the brooding monochrome Vigilante, Sting has consistently been one of the most well-liked and respected veterans in all wrestling.

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That being said, he did not achieve that distinction until the mid-1990s. Back in the 1980s, when he was just beginning to break out in the business, he was just like his peers: tall, jacked, and juiced. Thankfully, he eventually wised up on what performance enhancers might, could, and would do to him and has remained mostly clean since.

5 Billy Graham

Billy Graham was not the first professional wrestler to have a bodybuilder's physique, but he made it popular with his charisma - a formula that the likes of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage would emulate later on. Unsurprisingly, he was also the innovator of performance enhancers in the business.

In fact, he was already artificially enhancing himself even before he decided to step foot in a ring. At the time, his fellow wrestlers, bookers, and promoters had never known that these substances even existed, but when they did, it only snowballed from there.

4 William Regal

Today, William Regal is often hailed as one of the wisest men in wrestling. His stellar backstage work helped turn NXT into the best-booked brand not just in WWE, but across the entire industry, as evidenced by the numerous awards its matches received.

But he will be the first to admit that back in his heyday, he made some poor choices regarding his well-being. In his 2005 autobiography Walking a Golden Mile, he admitted that he derailed his WWE career with substance abuse, but the problem persisted into 2008 when he was suspended for a Wellness Policy violation.

3 The Ultimate Warrior

Like many of his peers, The Ultimate Warrior was never the cleanest wrestler in the world, relying on substances to maintain his physique. When the federal government began its crackdown on performance enhancers, the WWE was forced to prematurely scupper plans for his return to the ring to focus on the massive trial ahead.

Little did Vince McMahon and company know, Warrior would become a whistleblower, claiming that up to 90% of the roster (including him) had used or been using performance enhancers. Sadly, the same substances would (purportedly) end his life in 2014.

2 Lex Luger

While Lex Luger was billed as "The Total Package", that was obviously anything but natural. The science of naturally maintaining a divinely built body was hard then, so wrestlers resorted to any means necessary to remain jacked for as long as possible.

In the case of Luger, he discovered them during his football career, gaining muscle in the offseason. And he maintained the charade once he entered the business, especially with Vince McMahon's otherworldly expectations. Now he is, ironically enough, working with WWE to help guide its current roster through better career decisions.

1 Hulk Hogan

Ah, yes. Hulk Hogan, the man who told his fans all over to world to "say your prayers and take your vitamins" - turns out, he was taking more than vitamins throughout his career.

During WWE's highly-publicized 1994 steroids trial, Hogan testified that he had been using performance enhancers for 14 years. He would also claim that his doctors had been prescribing them, leading him to believe that they were basically harmless and safer than sugar. It would be the first time the promotion's substance abuse problem was uncovered for all to learn, but no actual solution would come until some tragic deaths in the 2000s.