Dark Side of the Ring

[Emb]

I wonder when they're finally going to do an episode on the Ring Boy Scandal.

 

[Kairi HoHo]

From the Observer

Loving the Season to come so far. Really happy Chris Adams is getting one of the most underrated Wrestlers I've ever watched.

 

[Kairi HoHo]

 

[Kairi HoHo]

I hope we get more of these for all the past Episodes from the Seasons. I just gotta start a rewatch of ECW I have to do it sometime in 2024.

 

[Kairi HoHo]

 

[Chris]

 

[Kairi HoHo]

Listening to Droz in this one made me even have a higher respect/regard for him. D Lo for sure still feels bad for the accident still I would be the same if I was a Wrestler.

 

[Chris]

 

[Kairi HoHo]

Has anyone seen the first 2 Episodes of the newest Season? I thought the Tenta one was really good didn't know he was that dominating as a Sumo but imagine he stuck with it and stayed in Japan. I'm watching the Bagwell one right now.

 

[Brandon Blaze]

I watched both, really good episodes. So glad to see Buff getting his life turned around

 

[Kairi HoHo]

I watched both, really good episodes. So glad to see Buff getting his life turned around

Yeah happy to see Buff in a right place because it going towards a bad ending for him with his Drug use. He loved to use Muscle Relaxers I once took a 5 MG Muscle Relaxer and it put me out for nearly 6 Hours. I can only imagine a person taking 2 or 3 of those and it being higher than 5 MGs and you see how Buff was looking on Camera at his Home. Pretty cool to see that even though he's some people wrong in his life every one of them are still cool with Buff and wanting to see him succeed.

 

[Skyefire]

I'm still making my way through the series, currently on season 2. New Jack's story was borderline disturbing. I skipped the Benoit episodes. I feel like the Von Erichs could have been a 2-parter.

 

[Kairi HoHo]

This Season has been pretty good once again. The John Tenta, Bam Bam, and Chris Colt Stories spoke to me the most. I would say the Colt Episode from this Week is the reason why you did this Show I feel in their minds giving light to this Wrestler. The Story of Colt needs to be a told in a Show format it would blow away the greatness in the Wrestler I feel if they dive into Colt's life outside of Wrestling especially with Sexuality in the day in the age where it wasn't known for talent to be freely out like Colt was in the 50s and 60s.

 

[Eerie_Cherub]

I love dark side of the ring. I really do. I've always been big on both documentaries and wrestling, and will gladly gobble down any wrestling documentary that isn't 4 hours long.

With that said, I can't help but get the impression that some episodes are essentially glorified hit pieces that present many pieces of information inaccurately or from a biased perspective. The wrestlers don't get to defend themselves when shed in a bad light due to them typically having no direct involvement in the series.

Although I can admit I'm probably being a bit too nitpicky and I might be confusing Dark Side with some of the documentaries by Spotfight. They typically do a good enough job with their research to where none of this is a big concern and they don't always shed people in a bad light either. They also use interview footage if they can of wrestlers admitting to their mistakes, which is good.

 

[Chris]

Vice Media Launches Sports Arm; 50-Plus Hours Of Programming Includes Series On Top College Basketball Coaches Rick Pitino & John Calipari; Omaha Productions Among Initial Partners

Vice Media has launched a sports division, lining up more than 50 hours of programming and also shifting its Vice TV cable network to a sports-first approach.

deadline.com

EXCLUSIVE: Vice Media has launched a sports division, lining up more than 50 hours of programming and also shifting its Vice TV cable network to a sports-first approach.


Vice Sports will look to capitalize on still-healthy viewer appetite for sports fare, but the initiative does not signal an intent as of now to go after any top-tier live rights.


As part of the strategic shift, Vice TV will co-produce and air seven original sports series early next year, with prime-time programming blocks carrying the Vice Sports brand. The company will produce more than 50 hours of sports-themed docuseries, programs, events, and podcasts for global distributors across television and digital. Among the initial partners with Vice is Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions.

Anchoring the network’s sports slate are the original series Pitino: Red Storm Rising and Calipari: Razor’s Edge, which center on two prominent and controversial college basketball coaches. Vice TV will also air The Verdict and four original series from Vice Studios – Dark Side of the Cage; The Grudge; Sports Gone Wrong; and the highly anticipated sixth season of Vice TV signature franchise Dark Side of the Ring.



Pitino: Red Storm Rising follows the coach of the St. John’s University Red Storm (and formerly Kentucky, Louisville and the NBA’s New York Knicks and Boston Celtics). As the series shows Pitino trying to help the team end its Big East title drought and earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament, it also looks back at Pitino’s career. Calipari: Razor’s Edge, produced with Omaha Productions, is billed as an “intimate, all-access look” at Coach John Calipari’s first season as head coach of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, and the winding road that took him there after notable stops at UMass, Kentucky, Memphis and the NBA’s New Jersey Nets.

Both new series will premiere in February during the lead-up to March Madness.

Vice recently emerged from bankruptcy protection as a leaner and more focused operation. Its days of commanding a multi-billion-dollar valuation and investments from Disney, Fox and Time Warner are behind it, but the company’s studio business in particular is showing many positive signs. Vice TV, a joint venture with A+E Networks, is widely distributed and the company retained advertising agency Virtue. The agency was a key revenue driver for the earlier, Shane Smith-led iteration of Vice and is due to come into play with the sports effort. Sources indicated to Deadline that a number of branded content projects are being seeded in connection with various titles in the sports pipeline.



Along with Vice TV’s original sports series, the network will acquire and air 100 hours of additional sports programming, ranging from events to podcast. That slate includes Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Ochocinco: Recap, The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis: Recap, American Ninja Warrior, PDC World Championship Darts, Arena Football One, and docuseries and live event recaps from Red Bull.

Hailing Vice Media’s longtime signature of “authentic, differentiated, and compelling content,” CEO Bruce
Dixon said the sports launch would provide a valuable new way to connect with audiences. “Given the demand for sports content around the world is greater than ever before, we are well-positioned to offer an alternative to the mainstream, airing not only on our own Vice TV network but across other media platforms,” he said.

With Dark Side of The Ring having set the tone, “now is the time to double-down and shift to a sports-focused programming model,” Vice TV President Pete Gaffney said. “We have several exciting new shows that we are co-producing alongside some of the biggest names in sports who will partner with us to fuel the Vice Sports brand.”

Peyton Manning said the team at Omaha Productions is “excited” to be working with Vice on Calipari: Razor’s Edge. “We expect this series to be the first of many future collaborations between Omaha and Vice as the company expands into more sports content.”

Sports and sports-adjacent topics have always been key ingredients in the overall Vice recipe. The company’s independence and edgy brand has differentiated it from programmers trying to complement live games with docu fare. Many rightsholders surround live coverage with docu titles, which are often engineered merely as promotional vehicles or appeasements to league partners. Along with Dark Side of the Ring, Vice has had a hand in projects like Uninterrupted: The Real Stories of Basketball with LeBron James’ SpringHill Productions; Who Killed WCW with Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions; The American Gladiators Documentary and Stolen Gold for ESPN; and Max Verstappen: Anatomy of a Champion for Viaplay.

Feeding the Vice TV network will be a priority but the company will also continue to make sports-themed shows for third parties.

Danny Gabai, Co-President of Vice Studios, said the company is eager to forge partnerships with “great talent to produce breakthrough sports content as we leverage our brand and history.”