Dark Side of the Ring
Dark Side of the Ring | |
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Genre | Professional wrestling Documentary |
Created by |
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Directed by | Jason Eisener |
Narrated by |
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Composers |
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Country of origin | Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 30 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Various |
Running time | 60 min. |
Production company | Vice Studios Canada |
Release | |
Original network | Vice on TV Crave |
Original release | April 10, 2019 present | –
External links | |
Website |
Dark Side of the Ring is a Canadian[1] documentary television series produced by Vice Studios. The series focuses on controversial subjects and events within the realm of professional wrestling.[2]
The series premiered on Viceland on April 10, 2019.[3] On July 23, 2019, Dark Side of the Ring was renewed for a second season of 10 episodes, which premiered on March 24, 2020. For season 2, the series became a co-production with Canadian streaming service Crave (as part of owner Bell Media's distribution pact with Vice).[1] An aftershow hosted by Chris Gethard, Dark Side of the Ring: After Dark, was also added.[4] On October 19, 2020, Dark Side of the Ring was renewed for a third season of 14 episodes, which premiered on May 6, 2021.[5][6]
In December 2020, Vice ordered two spin-off series: Dark Side of Football and Dark Side of the 90's, which premiered on May 13 and July 15, 2021 respectively.[7]
Series overview[]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | ||||
1 | 6 | April 10, 2019 | May 15, 2019 | ||
2 | 10 | March 24, 2020 | May 19, 2020 | ||
3 | 14 | May 6, 2021 | October 28, 2021 |
Episodes[]
Season 1 (2019)[]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Subject(s) | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "The Match Made in Heaven" | Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth | April 10, 2019 | 0.154[8] |
2 | 2 | "The Montreal Screwjob" | Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and The Montreal Screwjob | April 17, 2019 | 0.181[8] |
3 | 3 | "The Killing of Bruiser Brody" | Bruiser Brody | April 24, 2019 | 0.214[8] |
4 | 4 | "The Last of the Von Erichs" | Von Erich family | May 1, 2019 | 0.225[8] |
5 | 5 | "The Mysterious Death of Gorgeous Gino" | Gino Hernandez | May 8, 2019 | 0.234[8] |
6 | 6 | "The Fabulous Moolah" | The Fabulous Moolah | May 15, 2019 | 0.200[8] |
Season 2 (2020)[]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Subject(s) | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | 1 | "Benoit Part One" | Chris & Nancy Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero | March 24, 2020 | 0.320[9] |
8 | 2 | "Benoit Part Two" | Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide | March 24, 2020 | 0.320[9] |
9 | 3 | "The Life and Crimes of New Jack" | New Jack | March 31, 2020 | 0.229[10] |
10 | 4 | "The Brawl for All" | WWF Brawl for All | April 7, 2020 | 0.226[11] |
11 | 5 | "Jimmy Snuka and The Death of Nancy Argentino" | Jimmy Snuka | April 14, 2020 | 0.209[12] |
12 | 6 | "The Assassination of Dino Bravo" | Dino Bravo | April 21, 2020 | 0.221[13] |
13 | 7 | "David Schultz & The Slap Heard Round the World" | David Schultz, John Stossel, and kayfabe | April 28, 2020 | 0.255[14] |
14 | 8 | "Cocaine & Cowboy Boots: The Herb Abrams Story" | Herb Abrams and UWF | May 5, 2020 | 0.246[15] |
15 | 9 | "The Last Ride of The Road Warriors" | The Road Warriors (Road Warrior Animal & Road Warrior Hawk) | May 12, 2020 | 0.264[16] |
16 | 10 | "The Final Days of Owen Hart" | Owen Hart accident | May 19, 2020 | 0.349[17] |
Season 3 (2021)[]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Subject(s) | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
17 | 1 | "Brian Pillman Part One" | Brian Pillman | May 6, 2021 | 0.272 |
18 | 2 | "Brian Pillman Part Two" | Brian Pillman | May 6, 2021 | 0.272 |
19 | 3 | "The Ultra-Violence of Nick Gage" | Nick Gage | May 13, 2021 | 0.163[18] |
20 | 4 | "Collision in Korea" | Collision in Korea | May 20, 2021 | 0.191[19] |
21 | 5 | "Becoming Warrior" | The Ultimate Warrior | May 27, 2021 | 0.165[20] |
22 | 6 | "In the Shadow of Grizzly Smith" | Grizzly Smith, Jake Roberts, Sam Houston, and Rockin' Robin | June 3, 2021 | 0.243[21] |
23 | 7 | "The Dynamite Kid" | Dynamite Kid | June 10, 2021 | 0.242[22] |
24 | 8 | "The Plane Ride from Hell" | Plane Ride from Hell | September 16, 2021 | 0.153[23] |
25 | 9 | "The Double Life of Chris Kanyon" | Chris Kanyon | September 23, 2021 | 0.214[24] |
26 | 10 | "Blood & Wire: Onita's FMW" | Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling | September 30, 2021 | 0.126[25] |
27 | 11 | "Bikers, Bombs & Bedlam: Johnny K-9" | Ion Croitoru | October 7, 2021 | 0.137[26] |
28 | 12 | "The Many Faces of Luna Vachon" | Luna Vachon | October 14, 2021 | 0.135[27] |
29 | 13 | "Extreme & Obscene: Rob Black's XPW" | Rob Black and Xtreme Pro Wrestling | October 21, 2021 | 0.109[28] |
30 | 14 | "The Steroid Trials" | United States v. McMahon | October 28, 2021 | 0.154[29] |
Reception[]
Dark Side of the Ring was Viceland's highest-rated series premiere among viewers in the key demographic.[1] The first season won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Award for Best Pro Wrestling DVD/Streaming Documentary of 2019,[30] and the second season episode "The Final Days of Owen Hart" won the same award for 2020. Season 2 brought larger viewership numbers, with the season finale profiling the death of Owen Hart becoming the highest-rated program in Vice network history, at 626,000 viewers.[31]
See also[]
- Beyond the Mat
- Biography: WWE Legends
- Bloodstained Memoirs
- Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows
- The Life and Death of Owen Hart
- The Wrestler
References[]
- ^ a b c White, Peter (2019-07-23). "Viceland's Wrestling Docu-Series 'Dark Side of the Ring' Returns For A Second Run On The Mat – TCA". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ Parker, James (May 17, 2019). "Viceland's 'Dark Side of the Ring' Shows the Sleaze and Humanity of Wrestling". The Atlantic.
- ^ Nordine, Michael (2019-03-30). "'Dark Side of the Ring' Trailer: Viceland Exposes Pro Wrestling's Secrets". IndieWire. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ White, Peter (2020-05-28). "'Dark Side Of The Ring' Crowned Vice TV's Highest Rated Show In Cable Net's History". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ Currier, Joseph (October 19, 2020). "Vice TV renews Dark Side of the Ring for 14-episode third season". Figure Four Online. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ Martinez, Phillip. "Newsgeek: 'Dark Side of the Ring' Season 3 Release Date and More Topics Revealed". Newsweek. Newsweek. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ White, Peter (2020-12-08). "Vice TV Expands 'Dark Side' Franchise With Football & '90s Culture Spinoffs". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
- ^ a b c d e f Currier, Joseph (March 25, 2020). "Dark Side of the Ring sets new ratings high for season two premiere". f4wonline.com. Figure Four Online. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (March 25, 2020). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.24.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 1, 2020). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.31.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 8, 2020). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.7.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 15, 2020). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.14.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 22, 2020). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.21.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
- ^ Salem, Mitch (April 29, 2020). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.28.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on May 3, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 6, 2020). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.5.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on May 9, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 13, 2020). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.12.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 20, 2020). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.19.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Berman, Marc (May 14, 2021). "Thursday Ratings: Season High for 'Mom' Series Ender". Programming Insider. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 20, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 5.20.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
- ^ Berman, Marc (May 28, 2021). "Thursday Ratings: ABC Leads This First Night of the Non-Traditional TV Season". Programming Insider. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 3, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 6.3.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 10, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 6.10.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 16, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 9.16.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 23, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 9.23.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 30, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 9.30.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 7, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 10.7.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 14, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 10.14.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 21, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 10.21.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 28, 2021). "Showbuzzdaily's Thursday 10.28.2021 Top 150 cable originals & Network finals updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave (March 5, 2020). "March 13, 2020 Observer Newsletter: 40th Annual Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- ^ "Owen Hart's 'Dark Side of the Ring' Episode Is the Highest-Rated Telecast in Vice TV History". TheWrap. 2020-05-28. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
External links[]
- 2010s Canadian documentary television series
- 2019 American television series debuts
- American professional wrestling television series
- Professional wrestling controversies
- Professional wrestling documentaries
- Viceland original programming
- Professional wrestling stubs
- United States non-fiction television series stubs