5 Ideas For Future Dark Side Of The Ring Episodes

The series isn't always pretty, but that's because it's an accurate reflection of the not-so-clean world that it covers. When Dark Side of the Ring debuted in 2019 on Vice with a six-episode run, viewers were treated to informative documentaries on the unpleasant side of pro wrestling. Through first-hand accounts presented amid dimly-lit re-enactments and moody, tense background music, fans and non-fans alike were afforded a brisk, yet comprehensive, look at Montreal, Bruiser Brody's murder, and other controversies.

Season two is wrapping up after an equally-engrossing 10-episode showcase, covering such infamies as the fall of Chris Benoit, Nancy Argentino's suspicious death, and the unbelievable professional life of Herb Abrams (which itself needs to be a feature-length film). Most regular watchers of Dark Side are likely clamouring for more (I know I am), and a third season is an absolute must.

So what topics should make the cut for a new season of Dark Side of the Ring? There's a lot to choose from, but here would be some of my top choices.

The series isn't always pretty, but that's because it's an accurate reflection of the not-so-clean world that it covers. When Dark Side of the Ring debuted in 2019 on Vice with a six-episode run, viewers were treated to informative documentaries on the unpleasant side of pro wrestling. Through first-hand accounts presented amid dimly-lit re-enactments and moody, tense background music, fans and non-fans alike were afforded a brisk, yet comprehensive, look at Montreal, Bruiser Brody's murder, and other controversies.

Season two is wrapping up after an equally-engrossing 10-episode showcase, covering such infamies as the fall of Chris Benoit, Nancy Argentino's suspicious death, and the unbelievable professional life of Herb Abrams (which itself needs to be a feature-length film). Most regular watchers of Dark Side are likely clamouring for more (I know I am), and a third season is an absolute must.

So what topics should make the cut for a new season of Dark Side of the Ring? There's a lot to choose from, but here would be some of my top choices.

5. Marty Jannetty

Generally viewed as the "other Rocker" in the shadow of the iconic Shawn Michaels, Jannetty is actually held in high regard by many connoisseurs of wrestling, who believe he was every bit as talented as "The Heartbreak Kid". To them, Jannetty is potential unrealized.

Jannetty's technical skills, cat-like agility, and babyface fire promised more than being the lesser half of a popular tandem. Instead, a predilection for excessive partying, and a seeming record number of comings and goings, served to stunt his professional growth.

4. The British Bulldogs

Dark Side of the Ring deals with extremes, which The Bulldogs certainly fit into. Two incredible athletes that transcended wrestling as most people knew it (especially Dynamite Kid), contrasted with drug-riddled lifestyles, plus injuries, that led to the downfall of both.

Neither man really left wrestling on the most desirable terms, as Dynamite began falling apart in his late twenties. Davey Boy Smith's accumulation of injuries and vices ground him out of the WWF at age 37, two years before his untimely death.

3. Black Saturday

The story's been often told, but the Dark Side treatment provides a new colourful sheen for an amazing tale. As part of his ruthless national expansion of the WWF in the 1980s, Vince McMahon muscled into Georgia Championship Wrestling's TBS time slot in 1984.

All of the surrounding details, from McMahon and Ole Anderson's confrontation at the 1983 NWA convention, to Ted Turner's sourness toward the WWF product (feeling it wasn't what Vince promised) would make for a compelling hour of television.

2. Brian Pillman

Few in wrestling have ever matched the enigma of "Flyin' Brian". Once known for his boyish good looks and top-level wrestling skill, Pillman later became a character like no other - an unbridled sociopath who might be working us all, or he might not. Maybe he knew. Maybe he didn't.

The "Bookerman" worked shoot in WCW, the ECW debut, the gun incident, and all of the surrounding details of a truly unbelievable life, lived by a man who survived dozens of throat surgeries in his earlier years. Pillman's genius and lunacy alike deserve the Dark Side look.

1. The Ultimate Warrior

WWE has already released several DVD collections of the man, but they reside as polar opposites - one's an unflinching hatchet job of somebody out of favour with the company, and others are glowing tributes to a man they named a charity award after.

Somewhere in the middle, the truth lies, and an objective narrator is needed to tell the best possible story. The triumphs and the ugliness of a very complicated man would be best told by an outlet with no political motivation to slant the tale a specific way.