Darkside of the Ring season 4 discussion.

[SaitoRyo]

Two-part season 7 debut on Jeff Jarrett and TNA debuted last night and it was really fucking good. 

Obviously only so much you can do within the time constraints, but I thought it was really well done and there's a part III next week. 

I know some people are a bit down on DSOTR and think they've jumped the shark a little in recent years, but I still really enjoy the show and am looking forward to episodes this season on Boss Man, Zach Gowen, Missy Hyatt, Paul Orndorff and The Renegade. 

[Supremo]

Jim Cornette pissing himself laughing telling the story of Jeff demanding Vince pay him a hundred grand to lose to Chyna, walking around the building, deciding he’s got nothing to lose, so upping it to two hundred thousand.

Best bit of pro-wrestling TV I’ve seen all year.

[The Gaffer]

Really enjoyed it, as well. 

DSOTR's cast of talking heads, the reconstruction style, blend of footage they'e been able to grab a hold of and throw a filter over etc really does it for me. It's stories known from the inside out, but with a WWE-free production twist/angle on them, that makes it - weirdly enough - comfort viewing. 

This also feels like the closest we could ever get to a definitive Rise & Fall of TNA. Or at least the opening few chapters of. Which is something people have been saying you could make a great documentary of every year now since about 2004. 

It was also moving - during the sequences on Jarrett's first wife, Jill - seeing some people show some quite raw emotions on camera for I believe probably the first time ever. 

Edit: Both parts up here for now (Part 1 is also on Vice's official channel):

 

Edited July 9 by The Gaffer

[NeverYield]

Really enjoyed part 1 last night, nothing too much in there we didn't know already, but it was very well done and I have brilliant memories of watching TNA, I was a huge TNA guy at one point. Going to stick part 2 on later. 

Always will have a soft spot for TNA I think.

[Chili]

It was really good, I think the complaints about Dark Side of the Ring from fans "not being dark enough" in the choice of subjects is a load of old cack, as I quite enjoy the topics covered. 

[DavidB6937]

Yeah I do think some people do get a little too caught up in 'dark side' when actually I like the slightly broader approach.

[tiger_rick]

It's called Dark Side Of The Ring and was originally a program about the dark side of wrestling. The first two series are all episodes about tragedies and hideous people. There's no ambiguity or people misreading it.

It doesn't really matter, I guess. They clearly wanted to carry on telling stories but using their established series name. It is stupid but "Ridiculously tame stories by wrestling's standards" wouldn't be a great title.  

[Chili]

Yeah, they couldn't carry on the show if they just kept really exclusively to shit that's also probably not able to be broadcast for any legal eagle stuff, but I think stories that focus on a wrestler having a personal downfall (Bigelow) or just a sad twist of fate in life (Earthquake for example) still fit the title. I think the REAL strength of DSOTR is their ability of the guests they wrangle into it, the sometimes off-piste choice of subjects and that there isn't a whiff of WWE involvement.

[herbie747]

Enjoyed the first 2 episodes.

I don't really care about the name of the show - that stopped being relevant 2 seasons ago. I just like watching interesting non-WWE wrestling documentaries. 

[The Gaffer]

This one's narrative was heavily structured around a man whose wife passed from terminal illness and him subsequently getting ousted from the company he helped build upon finding love again. Notable company detail included building its workhorse ethic on the back of an actually physically broken drug addict and a backstage angle where they had a dwarf wank off in a bin and then pull a gun in the ring. 

The show's title is fine. 

[Browser Brady]

The fact that a Father and Som fell out and stopped talking to each other over …………….Vince FUCKING Russo is truly both extremely sad and extremely stupid. 

[BomberPat]

I watched the first episode, and thought it was great, if (necessarily) going over old ground with Owen. I hadn't really considered before that Jerry and Jeff were estranged when Jill died, so it was a shock hearing that neither of Jeff's parents even attended Jill's funeral. Scott Steiner just walking out rather than cry on camera was a powerful moment - almost wish they had stayed on the empty chair for a moment or two longer to let that sink in more.

Just zero time for Vince Russo on this, though. It's like they feel that once or twice a season they need to come back to the Russo/Cornette beef as if any of it fucking matters, and isn't just two old men acting like children. This story didn't need Russo justifying his shittier booking, it didn't need him Bro-ing over everything, and he added absolutely nothing, aside from allowing my girlfriend, who barely knows who Vince Russo is, to question how he could claim to have joined the company a couple of months in two minutes after having claimed to have come up with the name "TNA" in the first place.

[Merzbow]

What a God damn Carny, good old Double J convinced them to do three whole hours on him. The third episode isn't bad per se but it skips so much of the timeline just to make it all about Jeff, fair play to him.

[Hannibal Scorch]

I liked the little touch of the title screen having a rotating TNA Impact six sided ring instead of the WWE Classic Superstars one. Only watched part 2 last night, but have enjoyed both parts so far.

[TheScarlettChad]

The closest thing to The rise and fall of TNA we'll probably ever get.