Dark Side of The Ring is one of the most controversial wrestling-based television series. Recently, co-creator Evan Husney reflected on the show and highlighted an episode that might warrant a second look by fans.
“God! That is a good question. That is a good question. When you have done 60 of these, it is hard to contour them all individually sometimes… I have one in mind. But I am seeing if I can top it. I think to me I guess just of the top of my head, just because this is the one that came to mind, because I felt it was kind of maligned when it came out. And maybe that’s just the stigma that it has because it’s a very particular brand of wrestling, which I understand. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea.
“And of course, I am talking about the Nick Gage episode from Season 3. I think that is a good one to revisit. Even though I would put a disclaimer of, ‘If you were squeamish, it is not a good idea. But that episode, again was just in the context of looking at it, almost as a film. Almost like a biopic. Not… Maybe taking of the wrestling fan or the purity of wrestling hat. And I’m saying this as a friend and colleague of Jim Cornette on this show. But to me it’s just the characters were so compelling. I thought the episode was told really well. I thought the editing was amazing on it.
Evan Husney on why people were turned off by the Nick Gage episode
“And the re-enactments and I don’t know… I thought it sort of hinted at like, I could see the filmmakers behind Uncut Gems or something like that making a adaptation of that story. Just for me, so many people were turned off by the fact that it was about death match wrestling. Which I get, like I said. But I think beneath that, there’s a pretty compelling story there. And that episode I’ve always found is one of the more roller-coaster ride episodes of the show. Because it is just everywhere. Every turn of that episode is just another like, WTF, OMG sort of moment.”
Evan Husney on the FMW episode
Husney agreed that the episode featuring Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) would also be a good selection.
“I mean, I do love that episode too. I don’t know if people have seen that one. I am a huge fan of FMW and always have been. And that was just a delight to do. And I thought it was a huge challenge to be able to like, ‘Here’s the whole company’s history in 44 minutes.’ But I thought the team did a really good job of editorializing that and getting across the human stakes of a story through the lens of looking at like the history of one promotion. So, that also, that’s a good suggestion. That one also was kind of a pet episode of mine that nobody really asked for. It was something that I just really wanted to make. And I am glad it turned out so well. So, yeah, it is another one I would say,” Evan Husney said.
What are your thoughts on the aforementioned episodes of the Dark Side of The Ring?
