Brian Pillman will be the focus of the first episode ofDark Side of the Ringseason 3, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will be a part of the show to speak about his late friend and former tag team partner. With his in-ring career long over, Austin has since since been hosting his own USA talk showStraight Up Steve Austin. While promoting the series onCari & Jemele (Won’t) Stick to Sports, the Texas Rattlesnake confirmed that he’ll be next be featured onDark Side of the Ring.
“Other than our show, my favorite show on Vice isDark Side of the Ring, which is a docuseries about pro wrestling, you’re actually on season 3 to talk about the life and unfortunate death of your friend Brian Pillman,” co-host Jemele Hill says toStone Cold Steve Austin, confirming his appearance on the Vice series. While previous episodes have featured all kinds of wrestling stars from years past, this news is significant as Austin is one of the most famous pro wrestlers of all time.
You don’t see a lot of pro wrestlers currently attached toWWEappearing onDark Side of the Ring. Because the series highlights some of the very worst tragedies to happen to the wrestling business, from Owen Hart’s accidental fall to the Chris Benoit murder-suicide, the show isn’t something WWE necessarily wants to call attention to. But these stories, while heartbreaking, are extremely compelling, resulting in the show becoming Vice’s highest-rated program on the network.
As of now, it’s not clear what all else will be covered inthe hit Vice show’s 14-episode third season, but kicking off with Pillman is a good start. Known throughout his wrestling career as Flyin' Brian Pillman and “The Loose Cannon,” Pillman’s time in the ring was tragically cut short after he suffered a devastating ankle injury in a car accident. The injury resulted in a dependence on painkillers, and less than two years later, Pillman died in 1997 at the age of 35 due to a heart attack.
According to the PW Insider, another episode will cover the disturbing story of Grizzly Smith, a former pro wrestler and the father of wrestling stars Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Sam Houston, and Rockin' Robin. According to Jake, he was conceived after his mother was sexually assaulted by Grizzly. Robin would later claim that she was also abused as a child by her father. Smith died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2010.
On his podcast 83 Weeks, formerWCWpersonality Eric Bischoff also revealed that he would appear on season 3 ofDark Side of the Ringto discuss the WCW-New Japan event in North Korea. This refers to theCollision in Koreashow in 1995 when a group of wrestlers, along with Muhammad Ali, traveled to compete in North Korea against all advice. The show would go on to set the record for largest attendance for a wrestling event with 340,000 spectators.
It’s not yet clear whenDark Side of the Ringseason 3 will arrive. The spinoffsDark Side of the FootballandDark Side of the ‘90sare also in the works at Vice. This news comes to us fromCari & Jemele (Won’t) Stick to Sports.
