Dark Side of the Ring

[G. Badger]

I enjoyed the UWF episode and is a good one to watch with a non-wrestling fan. Generally speaking, its the most light hearted episode that I've seen. 

Although UWF wasn't going to directly compete with WWF or WCW, we can see a type of template Heyman and Gordon used for ECW. Having the owner get directly involved in story lines, letting the workers do what they wanted, and heck, many of those guys showed up there at some point. Obviously, there were a lot of things holding UWF back but, Herb had to be the #1 thing.

I did appreciate the Foley reference to Snuka because it showed how beloved Superfly was AND backs up the show's narrative of him falling from the limelight. I don't think it tries to really link each episode too much though. It tries to inform but, not tell too much of a overarching epic...even though it could.

I think having the Benoit and Owen tragedies bookend this season may be the closest we'll get to something like that. It reminds me more of an anthology like Unsolved Mysteries where there's no rhyme or reason why one episode airs versus another.

[JRH]

I wonder if the Hart family (well, the surviving members) will be interviewed for the Owen episode (I know Martha and her kids will be on there), as well as Jericho (considering that Owen was Jericho's hero, he may not just be the narrator).

[SirEdger]

I don't think that's gonna change anything. Jericho was the narrator for the Benoit episodes and he still was interviewed for those.

[Bix]

2 hours ago, JRH said:

I wonder if the Hart family (well, the surviving members) will be interviewed for the Owen episode (I know Martha and her kids will be on there), as well as Jericho (considering that Owen was Jericho's hero, he may not just be the narrator).

The only family members in it are Martha and the kids. JR, Cornette, Jim Korderas, Godfather, D-Lo Brown, and Jericho are also in it as talking heads.

[cactus]

I don't think there was anything groundbreaking revealed in the Road Warriors episode, but it was an enjoyable episode with a sombre ending. WWF giving Hawk a drunk gimmick was a disgusting move.

[El-P]

Learned pretty much nothing new from the Hawk episode and there was some approximations at the end (they kinda speedrun the fact the business had passed them by in the late 90's which is why WWF tried this disgusting angle), but I thought this was still one of the better episode. Really cool depiction of the Minneapolis scene, they actually talked about the fact Hawk re-did the Road Warriors with Kensuke in Japan, Charles Wright talking about Vince taking the finisher is classic. Hawk's little brother really looks like him. You gotta feel for Animal, when someone you love is fucking up and you feel you can't do anything for them, it gets really hard, frustrating and can destroy you too. There's so much stuff that are being overstated in pro-wrestling, but it hard to overstate anything about the Road Warriors, really.

Ok, next week is gonna be hard. (edited)

[ButchReedMark]

Nah, Hawk falling happened in late 98. Their last match when they got back with ellering after all that was against JJ and Owen in spring 99.

[El-P]

26 minutes ago, ButchReedMark said:

Nah, Hawk falling happened in late 98. Their last match when they got back with ellering after all that was against JJ and Owen in spring 99.

Oh, wow, my memory definitely was totally off, you're right. Just edited my post. Crazy how fast the LOD fell off the cliff (no pun intended). They were crazy over at Mania 13 in Chicago. One year later they got that cheap repackaging with Sunny, who herself was totally lost and had been rendered irrelevant by Sable, which lasted a few weeks, and by the end of the year they were done... 

[sek69]

The saddest thing about Hawk (and this happened to a lot of the guys who died young) is that he got his shit together finally and was about to probably start a decent post-wrestling life when he died.  

I'll always remember their last appearance on Raw when they randomly showed up to challenge for the tag titles in 2003 and it was like 1986 again for a brief moment. 

[sek69]

Looks like Jerry McDevitt is proactively going around shitting on Martha Hart, saying she didn't really care about finding out what happened when Owen died and just was out to hurt WWE. 

Which is an interesting tactic to say the least.

He at least managed to do the impossible and unite Wrestling Twitter as one to point out how disgusting that is. 

I have a feeling this episode is going to be especially sad, not just for the death of Owen itself, but how the Hart Family cut all ties with Martha and the kids over her wanting WWF/E held responsible for it. She mentions in a CBS Sports interview that some family members were actively trying to derail her case by sharing defense documents with WWE, and seemingly more upset she was trying to hold the company responsible than Owen dying on their watch.

[MoS]

Martha Hart has been vilified by wrestling fans and her own family for two decades now for some bullshit hall of fame "legacy" deal, with, among others, Bret and Smith Hart giving interviews about how she is "erasing" Owen's legacy. Just shows that the fans and family never cared about Owen as much as they cared about them being able to mark out for his WWE matches. I am so glad she is doing public appearances now and giving her side of the story. She seems like the sweetest person in the world, someone who did not really understand the wrestling business but tried to get involved because her husband was in it. It's a pity no one in the business returned the favour to her. I saw comments about how she has been "living off" the Hart name for decades, and all I could think was that wrestling fans are the worst. 

[El-P]

1 hour ago, sek69 said:

Looks like Jerry McDevitt is proactively going around shitting on Martha Hart, saying she didn't really care about finding out what happened when Owen died and just was out to hurt WWE. 

Which is an interesting tactic to say the least.

He at least managed to do the impossible and unite Wrestling Twitter as one to point out how disgusting that is. 

For fuck's sake, how awful are these people ? Throw them in the sea already. 

18 minutes ago, MoS said:

 I saw comments about how she has been "living off" the Hart name for decades, and all I could think was that wrestling fans are the worst. 

Yeah, throw these ones in the sea too. Those idiotic morons who would make the widow the "bad one" because they want their WWE Hall of Fame Moment so they can chant "you deserved it" for a guy who died because the company he worked for was reckless.

As far as pro-wrestling goes, Owen's death is probably the most traumatic moment for me. So, yeah, I feel this episode is gonna be tough.

[SirEdger]

I can't bring myself to watch that episode tonight and I haven't missed a whole lot of the episodes of Dark Side of the Ring so far. However, I'm currently listening to the Talk is Jericho interview with Martha and if anyone still has a bad perception about Martha, this should change your view about her, for sure.

[NintendoLogic]

Hopefully, they'll have someone from the Kansas City police department on to explain why they didn't immediately order the show to be shut down. By allowing it to continue, they were allowing a crime scene to be tampered with.

[The Thread Killer]

On 5/13/2020 at 4:34 PM, sek69 said:

The saddest thing about Hawk (and this happened to a lot of the guys who died young) is that he got his shit together finally and was about to probably start a decent post-wrestling life when he died.  

I'll always remember their last appearance on Raw when they randomly showed up to challenge for the tag titles in 2003 and it was like 1986 again for a brief moment. 

I don't know if I've ever told this story before at PWO, but even if I have...screw you guys, I'm telling it again.

I was fortunate enough to be in the crowd for Hawk's last ever Pro Wrestling match in October 2003. I was working with kids at the time, and Ted DiBiase was running a travelling independent promotion called "Main Event Wrestling."  They came to Oshawa, a city about 20 minutes east of Toronto.  It was a charity show. Ted Dibiase's organization offered free tickets to disadvantaged or at risk kids, so myself and a couple of my coworkers took the kids to the show.  The Main Event was The Road Warriors against Buff Bagwell and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, managed by Ted DiBiase.  (As an aside...the match itself was pretty rough.  The Warriors looked okay, but Valentine and Bagwell had both seen better days.)

The LOD won the match when Hawk hit Bagwell with the "Doomsday Device." Right after the match, Hawk was attacked by a large group of masked wrestlers. They all gathered around him, and bound him in chains. For a few minutes, Hawk lay on the floor struggling, when a local football celebrity (a guy who played for the Toronto Argonauts, whose name I forget) came out, and former wrestler (and local anti-drug activist) The Missing Link came out, and helped him. Hawk broke the chains, and then took the microphone and explained to the 3000 fans in attendance, (mostly kids) that the chains around him were not just normal chains...they represented drugs and alcohol. With the help of his friends, Hawk broke his chains. Hawk then stood up, and shared the stories of how he had let his life be run by steroids, booze, and cocaine. However, he had just this past January gotten clean, and now he wanted to share his message with all of the kids in attendance.

Animal, Valentine, and Bagwell all came out and shared similar stories, Bagwell talking about how he became addicted to painkillers after his career threatening neck injury a few years ago. (Sadly, he seems to still be struggling with his demons as we speak.) The show ending by Ted DiBiase talking of how he had really lived the life of "The Million Dollar Man" and been involved in a fast paced reckless lifestyle, but now he was dedicating his life to God, and trying to help kids. One of the chilling things he did, was point to Buff, The Hammer, Hawk, and Animal and say that any of them, or any one of us could die at any time, and there was no better time to turn your life around. At the end, about two thirds of the sold out crowd went down to the meeting area to meet all of the wrestlers, and talk to counsellors.

When the news broke that Hawk had died, I had that stupid, reactionary response which so many people have when somebody dies unexpectedly. "How could he be dead?  I just saw him two weeks ago, and he looked great!"  Considering the recent stories about Ted Dibiase, I try not to focus on where the money raised by that show might have actually gone.  What I do like to remember, if how at his very last Professional Wrestling match ever, Hawk seemed so happy and at peace with himself...and his last act professionally was actually to try and help other people.  It's tragic that he died so young, but I am still glad he was seemingly at such a good place in his life at the end.

 

[Ricky Jackson]

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing TTK

[Log]

The sountrack to Dark Side of the Ring is up on Spotify.  Good stuff.  They're doing a vinyl release of it too.

[Loss]

Martha Hart is one strong and inspirational woman. It's not just the determination to pursue the truth, but it's also the goodness that just exudes from both of her children. The story is an incredibly tragic (and needless) one, but I have to think Owen would be beyond proud of his family. That was my takeaway from tonight. 

[sek69]

That, and a hope that it ends once and for all the weird habit some fans have thinking they have the right to speak on his kids' behalf on what "should" be done to honor his career. 

[MoS]

This episode was like a 5 kick combo straight to the balls.

[Chorros3]

51 minutes ago, sek69 said:

That, and a hope that it ends once and for all the weird habit some fans have thinking they have the right to speak on his kids' behalf on what "should" be done to honor his career. 

This. A young woman lost her significant other of almost 20 years, father of their children in a horrible work related accident with evident negligence and people’s (including some of the Hart family) first concern that comes to mind is his legacy within the industry? To me, this is the definitive proof that pro wrestling is a bubble.

Any creep can hide behind a phone or laptop to trash Martha Hart, but if the glimpses shown on a one-hour TV show are to be believed, she managed to rise two very level headed young adults who come across as genuinely good people on her own while turning horrible circumstances into philanthropy. Nothing but respect and admiration towards her.

[MoS]

Martha is clearly the best of the Harts 

[cactus]

Yeah, the Owen episode is heartbreaking. I felt so bad for Martha. She gets so much unnecessary flack from a subset of toxic fans because she doesn't want Owen to be celebrated by a company that ultimately killed him. Owen is obviously a HOFer, but some things are bigger than wrestling. 

[El-P]

Echoing what has been said already. Awfully hard to watch at times. I'm glad they made this as much about Martha (much like they gave their humanity back to Nancy Argentino and Nancy Toffolini in the previous episodes and have not treated them as casualties as the story). She comes off like an incredibly strong and good human being. Total respect and empathy for her.

On a sidenote, I don't remember seeing Corny get that emotional (in a "sad" way I mean), ever. They could have told so much about the circumstances and irresponsibility of the whole thing (when you see the hook they used it's just mind-blowing), but they made the right choice with the angle they choose, focusing on Martha.

S2 really was much better than S1 I thought. They tackled probably the two most traumatic events in pro-wrestling history and have done quite a great job with it.

[cactus]

14 minutes ago, El-P said:

On a sidenote, I don't remember seeing Corny get that emotional (in a "sad" way I mean), ever. They could have told so much about the circumstances and irresponsibility of the whole thing (when you see the hook they used it's just mind-blowing), but they made the right choice with the angle they choose, focusing on Martha.

I remember him getting quite emotional on his podcast the week Eddie Marlin died. It was long after Harley Race passed and Corny audibly starts tearing up when he talks about how the guys from the territory days aren't going to be around that much longer. It was quite sad seeing someone so mad and bitter as Cornette get emotional like that.