Dark Side of the Ring

[The Thread Killer]

4 hours ago, El-P said:

I really don't give a flying fuck about MMA, but I did watch the Dark Side of the Cage episodes about PRIDE and Ronda Rousey.

The PRIDE ones are fascinating. Remember the old "debate" about "Is PRIDE pro-wrestling ?". Well, of course not. But never has a legit MMA promotion was as much linked to pro-wrestling as PRIDE was. Including in term of being a shady-as-fuck company. The fixed Takada matches are evoked, although it's just a blip on the radar. The biggest focus is on the ridiculously dirty yakuza involvements. Also, watching old decrepit Helio Gracie at ringside, it's always a good time to remind people that this guy was actually linked to a fascist Brazilian movement in the 30's. There goes the "great" Gracie family.

I actually watched the episodes about Kimbo Slice and Evan Tanner, and skipped the other ones.  I was a huge PRIDE FC fan in real time when it was a thing, and had read a couple of books about all the behind the scenes shenanigans, so I didn't bother checking out that episode. It's kind of fascinating to consider that both the UFC and PRIDE were launched as a showcase to demonstrate how Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is supposedly the superior martial art, and in the case of PRIDE, the whole thing got exposed thanks to Sakuraba of all people.

4 hours ago, El-P said:

I have no idea how anyone even tolerates the sigh of Dana White these days, unless you're, ya know...

An MMA fan? 

I have no love for Dana White, believe me...but if you're a fight fan and want to watch elite level MMA, you pretty much have to put up with Dana White. For example, this very weekend is Pereira vs. Ankalaev.  I'm not missing that fight, just because Dana White is a jerk.

[El-P]

Well, that's why a monopoly is always bad.

The one thing I got from the Pride episodes, is that it was a fucking circus. 

So, the pro-wrestling show comes back in three weeks with this, well, not too exciting line-up on paper. Wonder what episode is gonna kick-start it as they usually want to start with a bang.

[The Thread Killer]

8 minutes ago, El-P said:

Well, that's why a monopoly is always bad.

The one thing I got from the Pride episodes, is that it was a fucking circus. 

So, the pro-wrestling show comes back in three weeks with this, well, not too exciting line-up on paper. Wonder what episode is gonna kick-start it as they usually want to start with a bang.

I agree with you. MMA was so much better for the fans and especially for the fighters, when competition was still possible. There is a league called the PFL right now that is trying to compete with the UFC but they don’t have international TV, and they seem to be run by people who don’t know what they are doing.

Sadly, I think the first Dark Side of the Ring episode will be the Foley/HITC one.

[El-P]

3 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

I agree with you. MMA was so much better for the fans and especially for the fighters, when competition was still possible.

It was quite interesting to me that Ronda actually became a champion first in StrikeForce, since the UFC would not have women fighters. Then UFC just bought the competition, which really must have sucked like WWF buying WCW, and Dana just handed Ronda a UFC Women Champion belt. You can't get more pro-wrestling than this (and crappy pro-wrestling to boot)

[flyonthewall2983]

Aprops of the MMA talk, I highly recommend this

[El-P]

So there you go. Dark Side is back.

Thankfully it was less a super detailed look into Hell in a Cell but rather a study of Foley's psyche, of sorts. The cage stuff, I heard the story a zillion times. Still learned something though (or at least I think), is that the roof was attached with fucking zipties. Knowing two almost 300lbs guys were gonna strut and bump on it ? It has to be put in perspective with what happened not a year later with Owen in term of the company being completely irresponsible with the safety of their workers.

Second thing I learned is that, well, Colette and Mick had their children watch it on TV. So yeah, the Rumble match was not the first case of them being terrible parents. Noelle stating the has*zero* recollection of her father wrestling because of the traumas, probably says a whole fucking lot. They actually talked about that awful Rumble match too. Dwayne was so totally irresponsible back then too.

Also, maybe we did not know as much about concussion in term of long-term effects, but I feel there's a bit of hypocrisy about it too when this line is thrown. Everybody knew this shit was *bad*. The bittersweet conclusion of the episode (Foley worrying everyday about what is gonna happen to him in the next years) certainly was a right way to end this totally filler episode in the series. JR being part of it certainly was a surprise.

Next week, a very fitting topic considering the times : a nazi.

[PeteF3]

The WWF on their own television had a doctor talking about how you can't "tough" your way through a concussion and that the effects are permanent. Watch the TV after Shawn collapsed on Raw and you'll see it. Everyone in the medical community knew that concussions were bad not just short-term but long-term at *least* by 1995 and probably earlier.

[El-P]

So, Tony Halme was basically a loser asshole.

It's hard to have empathy for such a hateful fuck. The "exit only" tattoo story as told by Corny had me rolling though. I did not know he ended up such a big name in Finland (I knew he had been elected at the chamber, not that he actually was a TV star, which basically is why he had been elected). The most interesting part is that basically a airhead showman spewing hateful speech could get to a position of political power, which is very much 2025 compatible.

(maybe a WWE Hall of Fame nomination next year ? I mean, they currently are employing Logan Paul and Pat McAfee)

So yeah, all in all, a very decent episode on a not so interesting topic, especially wrestling wise. Vader next week.

[NintendoLogic]

Tony Halme really is an ideal DSOTR subject. His life was unquestionably fascinating and certainly tragic in a sense. At the same time, he was so irredeemable as a human being that it's hard to have any sympathy for him. I was a bit disappointed they didn't touch on his time in RINGS since that was his best work from an in-ring perspective, but that's to be expected from a production aimed at a mass audience.

[El-P]

The Vader episode was really good. Really learned nothing much out of it though, but there you go. The story of a guy who got caught up in his own character. Interesting to hear Joe Thurman tell his version of the story. 

[The Thread Killer]

Well, aside from anything else covered in this week’s episode, I now know way more about Tony Atlas’s fetishes than I needed or wanted to, I’ll say that much. 

[Blehschmidt]

I literally just finished Tony's book last week, and it ends with him in such a good place, totally content with his life and so happy and thankful for having his wife in his life. So god damn, the ending of that episode was a unexpected kick in the feelings. 

[El-P]

Best episode of the season thus far. I actually enjoyed the fact they addressed the well-know fetish in a non judgemental, respectful way, even more when he actually links it a youth trauma. Good stuff about racism and token black workers being put in competition with each others for the sole spot on the card, as well as Dick Murdoch being referred to a KKK member in plain light. The Saba Simba story is also super revealing of how much Vince is a piece of trash, but hey, nothing new to learn here. The ending is heart-wrenching for sure.

[El-P]

Superstar Graham was also a great episode. Learned nothing new really since it's well known. For all the fame he had at one point, that guy really just struggled his entire life. 

Eddie Gilbert next week is the one I awaits the most (apart from Daffney). One of the original Dark Side story I learned about (is he the original "shoot interview" too ?).

[JRH]

I noticed that when Backlund pinned Graham for the title, Graham put his foot on the ropes. Was that supposed to happen or was it just an accident?

[NintendoLogic]

It was supposed to happen. It set up many rematches that drew huge and was also considered poetic justice because Graham had won the title by pinning Bruno with his feet on the ropes.

[Al]

They also kept playing that into the rematches. Backlund won the blowoff cage match when Graham got his foot tangled.

[NintendoLogic]

I thought it was pretty funny how much Graham's son hated Backlund even though he was estranged from his father for years. Come to think of it, Backlund himself would be a pretty good topic for a DSOTR episode. It really is remarkable how one of the biggest stars in the industry fell off the face of the Earth seemingly overnight without some outside contributing factor like injuries or drug abuse.

[El-P]

Watching this weeks episode, it's kinda crazy how Eddie Gilbert's shadow looms over the pro-wrestling of the last 35 years. In a different context, he would have been such a major part of the business if things went right.

Also, for once, it was really about a guy who never hurt anyone nor did any bad things. The worst he did was falling asleep in his food and get sad. The footage of Madusa at the Xmas party is pretty sweet, as is the letter at the end. Yeah, Eddie seemed to be a very nice person.

Which probably won't be the case next week...

[Blehschmidt]

Going to use this opportunity since it's timely and shill for my buddy and fellow board member @GeneJackson95 who has authored a book about Eddie Gilbert with the help of Doug Gilbert that will be releasing next month....

https://www.tinyurl.com/EddieGilbertBook

[El-P]

The Billy Jack Haynes episode is typically one of not knowing anything more at the end of it, apart from Haynes being a bad person and a lunatic.

Watching's Sheik's episode a few days only after Sabu's death was eerie as hell. Even moreso, as I really never watched much of the Sheik apart from the classic Funk's matches in Japan and the infamous and disastrous Onita fire debacle, I really never realized how *similar* Sabu's mannerisms were to his uncle. Very interesting episode, but basically a historical piece as there was nothing that dark about Sheik's story.

The Daffney one I looked forward the most, and damn the last part was tough to watch. It's crazy when you think that WWE put her on a fucking developmental deal for 9 months before releasing her. She was easily one of the very few saving grace of late WCW, but she did not have the look to be presented as a barbie doll sex object, so there you go. The TNA story is pretty well known. The Carters really were trash people on how they treated their empl individual contractors. The story about part of the settlement being a thousand dolls is peak TNA bullshit. Cool to hear from Foley, Crowbar, Caleb Conway and Taylor Wilde (too bad she vanished again after her super cool IMPACT comeback a few years back). There is probably a whole lot more that could be said about that story.

Next week is also one of the most interesting, if done right. WWE exploiting (and really, promoting) racism : Muhammad Hassan. Let's go.