Dark Side of the Ring

[Flyin' Brian]

On the one hand I’m interested in this, but on the other hand it just seems a cop out to keep them from covering any more WWE stuff. https://bleedingcool.com/tv/dark-side-duo-johnson-seven-bucks-set-vice-tv-wrestling-docuseries/

[The Thread Killer]

14 hours ago, Flyin' Brian said:

On the one hand I’m interested in this, but on the other hand it just seems a cop out to keep them from covering any more WWE stuff. https://bleedingcool.com/tv/dark-side-duo-johnson-seven-bucks-set-vice-tv-wrestling-docuseries/

I have mixed feelings. This does sound interesting, and honestly isn’t the well starting to run dry with the Dark Side stuff? I know there is an endless supply of sleaze in the Pro Wrestling business, but I wonder if there are even enough big stories to justify devoting an entire hour to them. Last season I felt like they were kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel at times. 

I also wonder if there is any truth to the rumours that guys don’t want to talk to them anymore after seeing Tommy Dreamer almost talk himself right out of the business last season. (That was totally on Dreamer, of course.) Jim Cornette made some sort of cryptic comment about Jim Ross being pissed at the producers as well and not wanting to work with them again, as well. Not sure how true that is, but I think it’s out there.

If they really do a series on the history of the territories, I hope they get guys like Cornette and more importantly Tim Hornabaker involved. Guys who actually know the history…and not people who are going to trot out the “smoke filled arenas” revisionist crap.

[Flyin' Brian]

10 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

I have mixed feelings. This does sound interesting, and honestly isn’t the well starting to run dry with the Dark Side stuff? I know there is an endless supply of sleaze in the Pro Wrestling business, but I wonder if there are even enough big stories to justify devoting an entire hour to them. Last season I felt like they were kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel at times. 

I also wonder if there is any truth to the rumours that guys don’t want to talk to them anymore after seeing Tommy Dreamer almost talk himself right out of the business last season. (That was totally on Dreamer, of course.) Jim Cornette made some sort of cryptic comment about Jim Ross being pissed at the producers as well and not wanting to work with them again, as well. Not sure how true that is, but I think it’s out there.

If they really do a series on the history of the territories, I hope they get guys like Cornette and more importantly Tim Hornabaker involved. Guys who actually know the history…and not people who are going to trot out the “smoke filled arenas” revisionist crap.

I just question the timing, right after the Planeride From Hell episode and the fallout from that, and the stuff now with McMahon. It’s curious for them to pull the plug when you think it would be time to do a deep dive on WWF/E. But I am interested and excited for a series focusing on the territories if like you said they get actual wrestling historians and people that were there involved. I hope it isn’t more revisionist history but real history that does justice to the stories of the territories. 

[Dav'oh]

What's Abby's dark side? First three announced for series four are Abdullah the Butcher, Bam Bam Bigelow and Mike Awesome.

[rovert]

16 minutes ago, Dav'oh said:

What's Abby's dark side? First three announced for series four are Abdullah the Butcher, Bam Bam Bigelow and Mike Awesome.

Knowingly spreading Hepatitis to The Hannibal (Devon Nicholson). The show is a Canada based production.

[JRH]

4 hours ago, Dav'oh said:

What's Abby's dark side? First three announced for series four are Abdullah the Butcher, Bam Bam Bigelow and Mike Awesome.

Where did you hear this? And what's Bam Bam's dark side? 

[Dav'oh]

7 minutes ago, JRH said:

Where did you hear this

WhatCulture (https://whatculture.com/wwe/first-topics-revealed-for-dark-side-of-the-ring-season-4)

"As per Mike Johnson over at PWInsider.com, three of the subjects of Season Four will be Abdullah the Butcher, Mike Awesome, and Bam Bam Bigelow."

[The Thread Killer]

14 hours ago, Dav'oh said:

What's Abby's dark side? First three announced for series four are Abdullah the Butcher, Bam Bam Bigelow and Mike Awesome.

Abdullah supposedly used to cut guys all the time without their consent. Hannibal, Superstar Billy Graham and New Jack have all made those allegations…so you have to consider the source, I suppose. But Hannibal won that court case against him for it because  Abdullah gave him Hep C, so Hannibal sued him and essentially bankrupted him.

After that, his wife left him and apparently cleaned out what was left of his bank accounts. It then came out that Abdullah is illiterate and his wife had supposedly been taking advantage of him financially. Jericho did a podcast about it.

[PeteF3]

Yeah, I don't buy the illiteracy story at all. That's more carnies being carnies making a sympathy play.

[El-P]

I'm just glad they are back. Hopefully it's not a lesser, more WWEiszed version of the show though.

Interesting topics, especially Abby & Awesome.

[The Thread Killer]

2 hours ago, PeteF3 said:

Yeah, I don't buy the illiteracy story at all. That's more carnies being carnies making a sympathy play.

Absolutely. I should have said  “supposedly” or “allegedly” illiterate.

I remember hearing the guys from Dark Side of the Ring being interviewed on some podcast, and they said that Abdullah was one of those guys who still would not admit wrestling was a work. He would talk around it but not come out and admit it. (Like Stan Hansen and Bruno Sammartino and others.) And at one point even though he was still using a walker, he was still chasing them around with a fork lol. I would not believe two words that came out of that guy’s mouth.

[Robert S]

On 2/2/2023 at 7:11 AM, JRH said:

(...) And what's Bam Bam's dark side? 

He had a long rap sheet before he got into wrestling, spent 9 months in a youth detention center and six months in a prison (in Mexico). He was working as a bounty hunter before wrestling which I can only assume contained some pretty dark shit (besides the prison stint) - didn't he claim that he had to shoot three people in total at this job or am I mistaking him with another wrestler who worked as a bounty hunter? Also Bigelow apparently was a long-time addict of oxies and died of a drug overdose so you could also talk about how lots of wrestlers were (are) part of the opioid epidemic and just were "early adopters".

[El-P]

4 minutes ago, Robert S said:

- didn't he claim that he had to shoot three people in total at this job or am I mistaking him with another wrestler who worked as a bounty hunter?

Wasn't that Dr. D Dave Schultz ?

[Robert S]

2 minutes ago, El-P said:

Wasn't that Dr. D Dave Schultz ?

I don't think it was Schultz. Thinking about it, I am probably thinking about New Jack who definitely made such claims.

[NintendoLogic]

I hope they explain why he was billed as Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow in New Japan. Having two nicknames as part of your ring name seems like overkill to me. Did the office think that Bam Bam was his shoot first name?

[William Bologna]

Bamford Bamington Bigelow

[Dale Wolfe]

Didnt he run into a burning house to save some kids which got him hooked on the oxys? Plus the MMA fight with Kimo, the bounty hunter stuff, getting stiffed by Andre and leaving the territory etc

His should be one of the better ones 

[Johnny Sorrow]

14 minutes ago, Dale Wolfe said:

Didnt he run into a burning house to save some kids which got him hooked on the oxys? Plus the MMA fight with Kimo, the bounty hunter stuff, getting stiffed by Andre and leaving the territory etc

His should be one of the better ones 

It was a brush fire, if I recall correctly. 

[Dale Wolfe]

1 hour ago, Johnny Sorrow said:

It was a brush fire, if I recall correctly. 

You may well be right. He got seriously burned, though

[ButchReedMark]

Didn’t he get done for sexual assault or something pre wrestling?

[sek69]

Didn't Abby run a BBQ joint in like Georgia or something? Seems like that would be difficult if you were illiterate. 

[Dav'oh]

Abdullah The Butcher’s House of Ribs and Chinese Food – Atlanta, GA.

" Once you enter through the enclosed porch (and after you stop to inspect the outdoor smoker), you are then treated to a classic dive.  Autographed photos, trophies, signs, and any other hanging homage to Abdullah the Butcher’s long career pepper the walls.  But, unless they were all huddled in the corner, none of the placards are for the food, none of the signed pictures are from chefs and none of the awards have anything to do with frying rice."

"...more than ample offerings of traditional Southern grub (like rib tips, chitterlings, and fried seafood) and the somewhat more reserved offerings from the Far East (Kang Pao [sic], Sweet & Sour, Mongolian Beef, etc)... we requested a sampling of ribs, mac & cheese, and fried rice ($10) and an order of braised wings, which come over fried rice."

From a review. It's permanently closed, so that's scratched off my bucket list.

[Al]

12 hours ago, sek69 said:

Didn't Abby run a BBQ joint in like Georgia or something? Seems like that would be difficult if you were illiterate. 

Depends how much of the business was run by his wife. Mind you, I'm not terribly sold on his tale of woe either.

[El-P]

So, new season debut May 30th. Chris Candido & Sunny (that one will be depressing AF), Magnum TA, Abby, Marty Jannetty (I shudder to think what's gonna be said in that one, considering some of the stuff that's out there in various shoot interviews)...

[sek69]

Magnum TA's story is kind of too happy for Dark Side imo. Yeah his wrestling career was cut short but he ended up having a pretty successful life afterwards.