PhantomStranger

Last season they did the same thing, reairing episodes with "bonus" footage. The extra footage I saw then wasn't worth watching the episodes over again.

JeffTheAlpaca

I felt sorry for his daughter

There was no Ring After Dark special this week but I think it might air next week after the extended cut.

d2cheer

He wrestled in the AWA for Vern Gagne as well.

JeffTheAlpaca

Shultz did not hit John Stossel hard enough.

I remember watching that prick on 20/20 in the 80's.

BrewCrew

I always found it odd how far Schultz went to protect the business when he was basically blackballed and done at 30. He continued to show up on talk shows/interview segments like Donahue and Morton Downey defending professional wrestling even though nobody would hire him.

devilshalo

Stossel...



If Stossel was already intimidated, why ask the question? Dumbass. The slap happened two years after the Kaufman/Lawler "incident" on Letterman. And nobody knew then if THAT was a shoot or a work, so WTF did Stossel think was going to happen?

Timber

And it wasn't a question. "I think it's fake." is not a question. He set it up like he was going to ask a question and then came out with that.

B5Erik

Stossel was a world class prick (still is - "My pain slowly diminished and finally went away - after I got paid").

I would have punched the son of a bitch. Wrestling is and isn't fake. Guys get hurt all the time, and when you see a guy like Trevor Murdoch have his chest turned into hamburger from all the chops he's taking it's obviously not totally fake.

Stossel just thought he was better than those people, and he couldn't stand the idea of them making money when a whole 1/3 of the crowd thought it was real. Never mind the fact that 100% of the crowd was entertained and had a good time! Stossel's gonna do his best to put pro wrestling out of business. And he still is a smarmy, smug, arrogant piece of crap who thinks he's better than those guys!

Schultz got screwed. He protected the business even after it didn't protect him.

d2cheer

This was one of the best episodes yet IMHO. I don't know how I didn't really know much about this as I was an avid watcher back then but mostly Georgia Championship Wrestling and AWA. I am glad to see that Schultz had a successful career after wresting. I knew almost nothing about the guy.

I have no symphony Stossel he is a smarmy ass.

Original Desmond

This is the full 20/20 stossel piece


I agree, he needed to be slapped harder

Typical Vince, uses and abuses people and throws them under the bus

PhantomStranger

I vaguely, vaguely remember seeing the 20/20 piece when it first aired.

JeffTheAlpaca

I think Stossel works or worked for FOX News so probably another reason to hate him

JeffTheAlpaca

I never heard of Herb Abrams and the UWF.

Did anybody watch that in the early 90's?

A facinating story though not surprising since all the episode of Dark Side of the Ring are captivating and fun to watch.

He stiffed his wrestlers and did a lot of crazy shit but it seemed like most of the guys liked him and were sad when he died.

devilshalo

I was aware of the UWF, but I never saw any of the shows. That was the time I was bouncing between WWF and WCW.

robin2099

I remember the UWF mainly from the video tapes that were always able to be found in Suncoast that I looked at and always had no idea what they were. Thought this was a pretty good episode that seems almost too bizarre to be true, and shows what typically happens when a fan tries to get in the business.
Just started watching this after catching the Beniot episode and I've become addicted. This is really well done, good shit!

PhantomStranger

They only vaguely explained how Abrams got his money for the UWF. Was he trafficking cocaine?

JeffTheAlpaca

I thought maybe UWF was one some UHF channels but Sportschannel carried them so they must have had some decent distribution.

d2cheer

With that roster how did the UWF only get 200-300 for their shows? They should have been packed. Put me in the camp that basically knew nothing about them. This one was really interesting as well and I wondered where he got his $$.

BrewCrew

Never saw it when it originally aired but at some point it aired on ESPN Classic or something similar and I watched some of the episodes. The stuff with Mick Foley may have been good because he actually cared but the rest was a lot of has been WWF/WCW/AWA guys past their prime. It seemed like every match ended in a countout/disqualification too. It was pretty bad.

JeffTheAlpaca

Did anyone watch Over the Edge ppv in 1999 or attended that event?

That would have been freaky to hear him scream "Look Out!" while he plunged to his death

What a horrible thing to witness and they continued the show after Owen Hart died?

WTF??

Probably the worst or one of the worst things that ever happened in sports.

Don't understand why they would do a stunt like that and Jim Cornette said it was unnecessary

One more reason that I am glad the XFL failed.


A great season has ended. I liked the Last Dance but this show was better.

Toddarino

I had that ppv. I might even still have the vhs. I remember the screen going black and the audio dropped out for a while. I obviously knew something happened. I can’t imagine being there to see it.

Mike86

The episode on Owen was good. Sad but well done. It was another episode where as a fan I knew most of what was covered. Main new parts were with Martha and the kids. I don’t think I ever heard about her and her son (Oje) actually going up to the spot where Owen fell from.

It is pretty crazy the harness that was used was actually deemed safe enough to lower him down in the first place. That thing looked way too chintzy to be safe to hold a person. It’s so stupid that they basically were more concerned with the stunt looking good than the safety of Owen.

The show definitely should have stopped after the accident. Just ridiculous that things carried on afterwards.

devilshalo

I wished they would have made the Owen Hart story a 2 part like they did with Benoit. I know they really focused on the tragedy and aftermath, but they didn't discuss his tag teams, his KOTR win or the Slammys and the Austin accident. Still a sad tale especially because the family was against Martha's lawsuit as well.

I saw the PPV when my gf at the time would tape them for me because she had a descrambler. There was no reason, other than money, to continue the show. And then the following Monday Night Raw where everyone had a chance to speak and pay tribute was just hard to watch.

alfredog1976

Great series. I haven't watched wrestling since the Attitude Era, but this stuff is riveting. Couple of things:

• That New Jack episode was hard to watch. He's lucky he's still not in jail.
• Didn't know Snuka was such a coke head. There's no way he didn't kill his girlfriend. Very sad her family never got any justice.
• Emotional watching the Owen Hart episode. His wife not letting WWE put Owen in the Hall of Fame, good for her. Vince is such a scum bag for letting the show continue. Always thought it was a shitty move. I remember the press conference after the PPV, such an arrogant asshole. I saw a YouTube video of X-Pac who thinks the feather cape got caught up on the latch, resulting in the release. So sad.

Even though there was stuff that I already knew, still had me on the edge of my seat, great season. Those after shows also have some fun nuggets of information.

Side note: met Godfather years ago, such a cool dude. Went to Cheetah's for my bachelor party lol. D-Lo Brown worked there too, sat us down, though I didn't realize it was him until after the fact.

PhantomStranger

I was disappointed they didn't get Bret Hart for the Owen Hart episode. Owen's wife and kids seem pretty adamant they'll never let the WWE honor his legacy.