Dark Side of the Ring - Viceland show

[Blitzkrug]

The Randy Savage one is just sad.

Now i understand why the wrestling business, especially Eric Bischoff ****ing hate Lex Luger.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Prichard is the liar. He kept saying it was Brett’s last night but it technically wasn’t, and he omits that Brett offered a number of alternatives to dropping the belt to Shawn in Montreal.

It wasn’t just him dropping the belt and leaving or GTFO

Lol, is that what he claims? Bret was willing to drop it. They were just too worried that Bret was going to appear on WCW with the belt.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Lol, is that what he claims? Bret was willing to drop it. They were just too worried that Bret was going to appear on WCW with the belt.

Yeah there's like 3 concurrent versions of the story in that documentary.

There's Cornette's which seems the most reasonable of the three; Shawn Michaels is an a-hole and Bret's hatred for him left us with no other option but to screw him. Makes sense given Cornette's deep respect for the territory days. He also mentions Bret was willing to go other ways about dropping the belt and makes him seem like less of a villian.

There's Pritchard, which at points sound like it was bought and paid for by WWE. Not a peep about Michaels being a massive tool, Bret being way less willing to compromise, etc.

And there's Russo's which is "bro it was my idea but i wasn't there when they agreed on it, Cornette is a liar bro." To which Cornette points out Vince Russo is a tool.

 

[JackSlater]

Of all the people in the story, the one I most believe is Cornette. Hall is plainly an idiot. Prichard is a stooge and Emperoreddy is right that you can catch his obvious lie right at the beginning of the video. Russo is a known liar who can't keep his story straight over the years. I believe that he may have suggested to screw Bret, but I believe that many people said it. I in no way believe that that idiot actually laid out the method of screwing Bret and was listened to by McMahon. Bischoff has demonstrated with his podcast that he's willing to contradict himself just to try and make himself look better. To be fair, Bischoff has almost nothing to do with this actual event though. I'm a big Hart fan, but there's no question that he at the very least exaggerates things in his favour regularly. For instance in this documentary he says that he told Michaels that he wouldn't take liberties with him and says that Michaels said that he wouldn't extend the same courtesy to Bret. In the past, he said that Michaels said that he wouldn't put Bret over, not that he wouldn't take liberties. Hebner I think was mostly telling the truth, but I got the sense that he played up the drama a bit and even now he's doing interviews claiming that it was all a work so he seems like he's desperate for attention. Cornette has a very good memory however and isn't a known liar. His version of events also makes a fair bit of sense and doesn't seem tailored to make him look good.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Hall thinking the entire thing was a work is hilariously stupid.

Cornette’s version fits well with how Dave heard it. Vince came up with the idea to screw Bret but wanted a shoot pin finish. He was talked about of it because Brett would obviously shoot on Shawn, so Cornette proposed the sharpshooter finish.

Russo is a liar and I have no idea why he was even invited.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Cornette's new podcast from today on this very subject. Starts at 27:00

 

[JackSlater]

Cornette’s version fits well with how Dave heard it. Vince came up with the idea to screw Bret but wanted a shoot pin finish. He was talked about of it because Brett would obviously shoot on Shawn, so Cornette proposed the sharpshooter finish.

To be fair though, I assume that Meltzer's main source on the matter actually was Cornette.

 

[Blitzkrug]

I kinda i'm looking forward to the Von Erichs episode.

That family is such a compelling, albeit incredibly tragic story.

 

[JackSlater]

I kinda i'm looking forward to the Von Erichs episode.

That family is such a compelling, albeit incredibly tragic story.

Yes that's the one I am most interested in. Doesn't get as much coverage as many lesser stories do. I'm curious to even see who they interview. Kevin obviously, maybe Michael Hayes? Flair and Funk?

 

[Emperoreddy]

Doesn’t HHH have a version where he came up with the spot?

 

[Kimi]

I kinda i'm looking forward to the Von Erichs episode.

That family is such a compelling, albeit incredibly tragic story.

Yes that's the one I am most interested in. Doesn't get as much coverage as many lesser stories do. I'm curious to even see who they interview. Kevin obviously, maybe Michael Hayes? Flair and Funk?

Meltzer, on his show, said it's an extremely good show. Cornette is also in this one.

 

[sabremike]

Meltzer, on his show, said it's an extremely good show. Cornette is also in this one.

I just saw it and just... wow. And I heard the Gino Hernandez one is even better.

 

[sabremike]

Lol, is that what he claims? Bret was willing to drop it. They were just too worried that Bret was going to appear on WCW with the belt.

That last thing was a complete lie because they knew there was zero chance of that happening because of the WWF/WCW lawsuit. Bret would've been violating his contract and him and WCW would've been hit with a slam dunk lawsuit. Bischoff specifically gave his permission to stay an extra week after his contract expired on December 1st so he could drop the title at the next WWF PPV.

 

[HandsomeHollywood]

Doesn’t HHH have a version where he came up with the spot?

I heard Triple H as being a main perpetrator only in the past few years. He often gets credit for being the one to push at Shawn how Bret is the one leaving so he should do the job. They even animated and voiced it in the WWE 13 video game.
Vince tells Shawn that Bret won't drop to him. Shawn supposedly becomes dejected and says something like "I guess that's it", where Triple H supposedly said "f*** that. If he won't do business, we'll make him do business".
How far that can be extended to give Triple H credit I don't know.

 

[JackSlater]

I heard Triple H as being a main perpetrator only in the past few years. He often gets credit for being the one to push at Shawn how Bret is the one leaving so he should do the job. They even animated and voiced it in the WWE 13 video game.
Vince tells Shawn that Bret won't drop to him. Shawn supposedly becomes dejected and says something like "I guess that's it", where Triple H supposedly said "**** that. If he won't do business, we'll make him do business".
How far that can be extended to give Triple H credit I don't know.

It sounds like something that HHH would say. Of course no one should ever believe HHH's views on HHH.

 

[Ozz]

Von Erichs episode showed me a lot I wasn't aware of. I've read about the family history a bit before but not too much detail, and hearing that really made it hit hard. That's so horrible all around. I knew they were popular in their territory but didn't realize how huge they were.

 

[sabremike]

Von Erichs episode showed me a lot I wasn't aware of. I've read about the family history a bit before but not too much detail, and hearing that really made it hit hard. That's so horrible all around. I knew they were popular in their territory but didn't realize how huge they were.

If you want a more in depth look at WCCW find the documentary Heroes of World Class that was released about 14 years ago. Highly recommended.

 

[JackSlater]

The Von Erich episode was pretty good. They hit all the main beats and it's a story that certainly could have made for a longer documentary. Good on Kevin for going through with detailing all that. Cornette and Meltzer do a good job keeping things pretty accurate. If anyone is interested in the Von Erichs I recommend Meltzer's obituary of Kerry. Very informative and the best thing of his that I've read.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

If you want a more in depth look at WCCW find the documentary Heroes of World Class that was released about 14 years ago. Highly recommended.

I grew up on a lot of WCCW (later turned GWF). It used to air on ESPN mid afternoon. I used to race home from the school bus to watch. Some pretty big contemporary names got their start (ish) there (mainly GWF). Jeff Jarrett, X-Pac (was named the Lightning Kid there before becoming the 1-2-3 Kid when he debuted in the WWE), Raven (named Scott Anthony there), and Mick Foley (Cactus Jack) were all there. I remember Raven and Cactus Jack had the premier stable (with others) and were top heels. I think Jarrett was a top face.

 

[JackSlater]

I grew up on a lot of WCCW (later turned GWF). It used to air on ESPN mid afternoon. I used to race home from the school bus to watch. Some pretty big contemporary names got their start (ish) there (mainly GWF). Jeff Jarrett, X-Pac (was named the Lightning Kid there before becoming the 1-2-3 Kid when he debuted in the WWE), Raven (named Scott Anthony there), and Mick Foley (Cactus Jack) were all there. I remember Raven and Cactus Jack had the premier stable (with others) and were top heels. I think Jarrett was a top face.

Austin started out working under the Von Erichs. They show a short clip in the documentary of Austin and the soon to be Paul Bearer in a tag match against Chris Von Erich and... I assume Chris Adams. I'm pretty sure that the match is still on youtube.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Austin started out working under the Von Erichs. They show a short clip in the documentary of Austin and the soon to be Paul Bearer in a tag match against Chris Von Erich and... I assume Chris Adams. I'm pretty sure that the match is still on youtube.

Chris Adams! Forgot about him. He was "the English Gentleman" or something like that, right?

 

[JackSlater]

Chris Adams! Forgot about him. He was "the English Gentleman" or something like that, right?

In WCW he was Gentleman Chris Adams. He trained Austin, they feuded, Austin ended up with his wife. Oh hell yeah.

 

[Alex Jones]

The Network has a lot of WCCW material from 81 onward, that should capture most of the Freebirds vs the Von Erichs, as from my understanding that started in 82.

I've never watched through it to know how complete their vault is, I am starting the WWE vault collection on Mid-South.

 

[GarbageGoal]

All caught up now. Again, these are good shows if you didn't know a lot of the story prior. They sort of missed the fact that Kerry wouldn't have lost his foot if he'd simply rehabbed his motorcycle injury properly.

I also marked for Dave Meltzer's messy office.

 

[Blitzkrug]

How in the living **** is Kevin Von Erich still standing? The dude watched his whole family crumble around him, one by one and yet he somehow came out of it mostly okay. Has a family, lives in Hawaii and gets to eat raw coconuts and sit in palm trees all day

God bless that man. He deserves it after all the crap he had to endure