Dark Side of the Ring

**Pulp Fiction** · 04-30-2020, 01:03 PM

If you haven't seen any episodes of this series on the Vice network, and you are a wrestling fan, you are missing out.

So far, there are two seasons out. Each is an hour long and covers a topic from the world of professional wrestling.

Season 1:
Randy Savage & Miss Elizabeth
The Montreal Screwjob
The Killing of Bruiser Brody
The Last of the Von Erich's
The death of Gino Hernandez
The Fabulous Moolah

Season 2
The Chris Benoit (2 episodes)
The life & crimes of New Jack
The WWF's Brawl for All
Jimmy Snuka
Assassination of Dino Bravo
David Schults and slapping the 20/20 reporter
Herb Abrams & the UWF
The Road Warriors
Owen Hart

If you don't have the Vice network, you can find the episodes on YouTube.

**Pulp Fiction** · 04-30-2020, 01:19 PM

By far, my favorite episode is The Last of the Von Erich's. The way that 5 of the 6 Von Erich boys passed away are such tragedies.

Jack Jr. - Was accidentally shocked unconscious by an exposed wire and drowned in a puddle at a campground at the age of six (1959)
David - Died on a wrestling tour in Tokyo (1984)
Mike - Suicide (1987)
Chris - Suicide (1991)
Kerry - Suicide (1993) WWF's Texas Tornado

The way Fritz Von Erich started World Class Championship Wrestling and as hot as that territory was in the 80's.... then to have three of his six sons die of suicide (all while still wrestling) and one son to die on a wrestling tour in Japan is terrible.

I remember watching The Texas Tornado (Kerry) when I was younger, never knowing anything about WCCW or his history. VKM likes to erase everything that current WWE Superstars did before they arrive on the scene.

**Pulp Fiction** · 04-30-2020, 01:38 PM

The 2-part Chris Benoit episode is D A R K.... very very dark.

It covers Chris Benoit's & Eddie Guerrero friendship and how Chris's life came off the tracks after Eddie's death. From the stories that are told from different people, Chris needed some serious professional mental health treatments and about three years off the road.

Only God knows what happened inside the mind of Chris Benoit and in the Benoit house on that weekend in June of 2007....

**Pulp Fiction** · 04-30-2020, 01:45 PM

My least favorite episode thus far is the Dino Bravo case.

- The majority of the people interviewed speak French, so if you're not fluent in French, you gotta read lots and lots of screen text.
- This is still considered an Open investigation with the Montreal police department, so we really don't get the in-depth details like the rest of the episodes.
- Wasn't really a fan of Dino Bravo as a kid.... never saw him on the level of Hogan or Savage.

**Pulp Fiction** · 04-30-2020, 03:53 PM

The season 2 finale is on the Owen Hart tragedy.

I will give the WWF/E kudos for keeping the footage of Owen actually falling out of the wrong hands. According to Bruce Prichard on his podcast, he said that the WWE has some type of tape vault at Titan tower that is labeled "DO NOT VIEW, COPY or DESTROY". Apparently this is where the uncut footage of Owen falling is kept.

Other than some news and personal photos floating around on the web, there is no actual footage of Owen falling that has ever surfaced.... and it needs to stay that way, forever.

**Pulp Fiction** · 04-30-2020, 06:37 PM

Conrad Thompson does a podcast with the guys who created show.... it drops every Wednesday morning on the Grilling Jr. feed. It's called "Dark Side of the Podcast."

**Pulp Fiction** · 04-30-2020, 06:55 PM

Some topics I'd like to see covered...

The 1987 Survivor Series/Starrcade, 1988 Royal Rumble/Bunkhouse Stampede & the WrestleMania IV/Clash of the Champions cable/ppv company battle between VKM & Ted Turner.

Sunny's mid/late 90's in the WWF.

ECW's efforts to get on & stay on PPV.

WWF's 1994 steroid trial.

Chuck Austin's $24 million dollar lawsuit against the WWF.

JokersWild24 · 05-01-2020, 06:33 PM

I really enjoyed The Life and Crimes of New Jack. Watched it with a non-wrestling fan who was under the impression that the wrestlers never got hurt-- she was floored by some of it, especially the scaffold with Vic Grimes and the Gypsy Joe beating.

JokersWild24 · 05-03-2020, 12:12 AM

Pulp Fiction Wrote:Some topics I'd like to see covered...

The 1987 Survivor Series/Starrcade, 1988 Royal Rumble/Bunkhouse Stampede & the WrestleMania IV/Clash of the Champions cable/ppv company battle between VKM & Ted Turner.

Sunny's mid/late 90's in the WWF.

ECW's efforts to get on & stay on PPV.

WWF's 1994 steroid trial.

Chuck Austin's $24 million dollar lawsuit against the WWF.

Add to that:

Paul Heyman and the final days of ECW, especially his leaving a trail of bounced checks

Anything Brian Pillman

Jim Cornette telling wild, scandalous stories for hours

The full story of the Ultimate Warrior holding up McMahon for a raise before a PPV Main Event and all his craziness

JokersWild24 · 05-03-2020, 04:31 AM

Pulp Fiction Wrote:Some topics I'd like to see covered...

The 1987 Survivor Series/Starrcade, 1988 Royal Rumble/Bunkhouse Stampede & the WrestleMania IV/Clash of the Champions cable/ppv company battle between VKM & Ted Turner.

Sunny's mid/late 90's in the WWF.

ECW's efforts to get on & stay on PPV.

WWF's 1994 steroid trial.

Chuck Austin's $24 million dollar lawsuit against the WWF.

I'd love to see one on Paul Heyman and the wake of bounced checks that followed the final days of ECW.

**Pulp Fiction** · 05-04-2020, 02:19 PM

I am looking forward to the Herb Abrams & the UWF episode.

I was too young to care about anything besides the WWF & WCW when the UWF was on. I do remember seeing the UWF while flipping channels, but never stopped to watch it.

Watching several vids on YouTube this past week of the UWF and Abrams & knowing how Abrams passed away (covered in baby oil while chasing a prostitute around a hotel room with a baseball bat and destroying property.... all while naked & then dying from a cocaine induced heart attack after being arrested) has Must-See TV wrote all over it.

[Image: https://66.media.tumblr.com/ecd169ce9e49...o1_500.png]

**Pulp Fiction** · 05-06-2020, 03:26 PM

Here's the wrap-up of the UWF....

Herb Abrams had a Major drug problem.
Herb Abrams spent millions of the UWF's dollars on vices.
The UWF ran one Pay-Per-View with abysmal attendance & buy-rates.
The UWF ran one major live network special from the MGM Grand and was abysmal as well.

**Pulp Fiction** · 05-06-2020, 03:27 PM

Next week... we get the Road Warriors/Legion of Doom.

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I was a too young to remember or be a fan of the Road Warriors in the NWA in the Green face paint, but I was in the target demographic age when the LOD came to the WWF. I remember getting a pair of the shoulder pads from the merch. stand at a house show in Huntington, WV.

JokersWild24 · 05-09-2020, 01:36 AM

Didn't realize I had double posted earlier.

Would love to see one on the Sid and Arn Anderson scissor stabbing in Germany.

JokersWild24 · 05-09-2020, 03:08 AM

Did anyone else watch the Dr. D one and really wish he'd done worse to the reporter? That guy seemed insufferable and really topped it off with his quote at the end.

JokersWild24 · 05-09-2020, 05:43 AM

Won't happen for some time but would love to one day see an episode on the talent being stuck in Saudi Arabia as well.

**Pulp Fiction** · 05-11-2020, 04:55 AM

JokersWild24 Wrote:Did anyone else watch the Dr. D one and really wish he'd done worse to the reporter? That guy seemed insufferable and really topped it off with his quote at the end.

As Bruce Prichard says on his podcast.... "I wasn't there" BUT based on what we know about VKM, there is no doubt Vince told Dr. D to give him some real smacks.

**Pulp Fiction** · 05-12-2020, 05:39 PM

The Road Warriors/Legion of Doom was the hottest tag team in pro wrestling in the mid/late 80's & early 90's. The merchandise proves how valuable they were.

The Road Warriors were so popular in the late 80's that they had AWA wrestling figures & were on the cover of the first WCW Nintendo game.

[Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e...verart.png]

[Image: https://www.actiontoys.com/Merchant2/gra...wa-08c.jpg]

In the WWF, the L. O. D. had early 90's Tonka wrestling buddies & Hasbro wrestling figures.
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**Pulp Fiction** · 05-12-2020, 08:28 PM

JokersWild24 Wrote:Didn't realize I had double posted earlier.

Would love to see one on the Sid and Arn Anderson scissor stabbing in Germany.

I've listened to every episode of the Arn Anderson podcast with Conrad Thompson.... I don't remember hearing them discuss this.

This must be one of the topics Marty Lundy doesn't wanna discuss.

**Pulp Fiction** · 05-13-2020, 01:20 PM

Next week is the season 2 finale on Owen Hart. As a kid, I really didn't appreciate Owen hart's work..... now, I think he's in the Top 20 of all-time workers.
He got the Slammy awards more Over than the IC title.

The creative team that had him go back to the Blue Blazer gimmick should be banished from Pro Wrestling forever.

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JokersWild24 · (This post was last modified: 05-14-2020, 07:25 AM by JokersWild24.)

Delete.

JokersWild24 · 05-14-2020, 07:26 AM

Pulp Fiction Wrote:I've listened to every episode of the Arn Anderson podcast with Conrad Thompson.... I don't remember hearing them discuss this.

This must be one of the topics Marty Lundy doesn't wanna discuss.

I'll put some links. I've listened to these at one time or another (used to spend a lot of time on the road) but it's been awhile so click at your own risk in terms of NSFW language or content.

Sid Vicious:

2 Cold Scorpio (who was there for many of the events):

HannibalTV - WCW Stars (including Vader):

High Spots - Nasty Boys, etc.:

83 Weeks w/ Eric Bishoff:

JokersWild24 · 05-19-2020, 06:48 AM

Road Warriors episode was good, but I don't really know that it really had anything ground-breaking that was previously unknown.

**Pulp Fiction** · 05-19-2020, 02:14 PM

JokersWild24 Wrote:Road Warriors episode was good, but I don't really know that it really had anything ground-breaking that was previously unknown.

I agree.

Listening to The Dark Side of the Podcast.... it seems like the story they were trying to tell is how bad Hawk's substance abuse issues were and how often the LOD were de-railed during their WWF runs..... while also showing how much his family/friends loved him.

Had Hawk not been been at eye-level with Neptune while still on planet Earth during their 1992 SummerSlam match, the LOD would have been the WWF's main-stream attraction to replace Hogan and the re-booted version of the Ultimate Warrior. The WWF still had Savage, Flair, The Ultimate Warrior, a rising star in the Undertaker... but the LOD fit the mold better than anybody for the early 90's WWF cartoon-era based super-hero's.

**Pulp Fiction** · 05-20-2020, 01:09 PM

[Image: https://www.lewmar.com/sites/default/fil...5040_2.png]

This is the type of quick-release rigging latch device that Owen Hart had on the night he died.

Of everything in the show, this was what left me in awe the most. The program really didn't say if it was a WWF decision or the rigging company that made the exact call to switch from a traditional caraibiner to this quick-release latch.

Seeing Jim Cornette get emotional and hearing from people who were ringside heard Owen yelling at the referee to get out of the way as he was falling is incredible and shows what type of guy he was.

I don't blame his kids and wife for not wanting to have Owen inducted in to the WWE Hall of Fame.

plantmanky · 05-20-2020, 07:44 PM

18 million will keep a lot of details under wraps.

JokersWild24 · 05-23-2020, 11:40 PM

plantmanky Wrote:18 million will keep a lot of details under wraps.

I'm surprised it was only 18 million. Where'd you get that figure?

JokersWild24 · 05-23-2020, 11:43 PM

Pulp Fiction Wrote:[Image: https://www.lewmar.com/sites/default/fil...5040_2.png]

This is the type of quick-release rigging latch device that Owen Hart had on the night he died.

Of everything in the show, this was what left me in awe the most. The program really didn't say if it was a WWF decision or the rigging company that made the exact call to switch from a traditional caraibiner to this quick-release latch.

Seeing Jim Cornette get emotional and hearing from people who were ringside heard Owen yelling at the referee to get out of the way as he was falling is incredible and shows what type of guy he was.

I don't blame his kids and wife for not wanting to have Owen inducted in to the WWE Hall of Fame.

I don't blame them either.

plantmanky · 05-24-2020, 02:17 AM

JokersWild24 Wrote:I'm surprised it was only 18 million. Where'd you get that figure?

That was public years ago when the settlement was reached.

I was disappointed in the Owen Hart episode as they gave zero new evidence of anything. Even hypothetical.

JokersWild24 · 05-24-2020, 07:06 PM

plantmanky Wrote:That was public years ago when the settlement was reached.

I was disappointed in the Owen Hart episode as they gave zero new evidence of anything. Even hypothetical.

Gotcha. Honestly for the size of the company and given what Owen probably made, as well as the trauma to the family from the event being so public, the fact that the show went on, etc., they might have been able to get more from a jury.