Dark Side of the Ring season six episode details & titles revealed

The anticipation for the sixth season of Dark Side of the Ring on Vice TV continues to build with all of the episodes titles and descriptions being revealed Thursday.

In late-January, the topics were first announced with the following giving even more insight into what’s in store for viewers:

  • Mick Foley: Hell in a Cell: “From the first terrifying fall off the cage to the impact he still feels today, Mick Foley relives a wrestling match, “Hell in a Cell ’98,” moment by moment.”
  • Blood, Fire and the Original Sheik: “The Sheik, whose violent career spanned fifty years, is revealed by his family and the few who survived his hardcore bloodbaths.”
  • Tony Atlas: Too Much, Too Soon: “With the physique of an Adonis and endless charisma, Tony Atlas makes his mark as one of wrestling’s first Black stars but racism, addiction and ego keeps Mr. USA from the top.”
  • Becoming Muhammad Hassan: “Just three years post-9/11, Marc Copani sees the highs and lows of wrestling when he’s given the chance to portray Muhammad Hassan, a villainous Arab-American character for the WWE.”
  • ‘Hot Stuff’ Eddie Gilbert: “Skilled as a performer in the ring and as a booker, who created storylines behind the scenes; ‘Hot Stuff’ Eddie Gilbert was a ticking timebomb of talent and self-destruction.”
  • Big Van Vader: “With an iconic look and skills few of his size could match, Big Van Vader stood out as a wrestling monster but controlling his anger became a bigger battle in and out of the ring.”
  • The Scream Queen: Daffney: “With her piercing scream, Shannon Spruill becomes a cult star as Daffney in the squared circle; outside the ring, Daffney fights a much more punishing battle with bipolar disorder.”
  • The Original ‘Superstar’: Billy Graham: “Often imitated, never duplicated, Billy Graham breaks the mold for what a wrestler could be but steroid abuse and battles with the McMahons keeps Graham from the spotlight.”
  • Ludvig Borga: Hellraiser From Helsinki: “A Finnish wrestling bad guy turned real-life racist politician, Tony Halme’s time in the WWF as Ludvig Borga is only the start of his chaotic and destructive life.”
  • Truth, Lies and Billy Jack Haynes: “An 80s wrestling star, Billy Jack Haynes’ life of violence and mystery leads to his current situation; behind bars and charged with the second degree murder of his wife.”

The new season kicks off Tuesday, March 25th on Vice TV at 10 PM Eastern.

Dark Side of the Ring reveals episode topics for season six

The full list of episode topics has been revealed for Dark Side of the Ring’s new season.

Dark Side of the Ring returns with season six premiering on Vice TV at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, March 25. A trailer for the new season was released today, announcing that there will be episodes focused on the following 10 subjects:

  • Hell in a Cell
  • Big Van Vader
  • Tony Atlas
  • Ludvig Borga
  • Billy Jack Haynes
  • Eddie Gilbert
  • “Superstar” Billy Graham
  • Daffney
  • The Original Sheik
  • Muhammad Hassan

Interviews with Mick Foley, Jim Cornette, Jim Ross, Rob Van Dam, Tony Atlas, Marc Copani (Muhammad Hassan), Mark Henry, and Billy Jack Haynes are included in the trailer. Haynes was arrested and charged with the murder of his 85-year-old wife Janette Becraft in February 2024.

The Hell in a Cell episode looks to be heavily focused on Foley and his match against The Undertaker from King of the Ring 1998. Last August, Ross said he was interviewed for an upcoming Dark Side of the Ring episode where Foley would be the topic.

August 1, 2005 Obsever Newsletter: Muhammad Hassan character written off, Lord Alfred Hayes passes away

Hopefully, WWE learned a lesson from the past few weeks, and if history is any indication, the odds of that being the case are very small.

WWE’s decision making, to attempt to recreate the image of a jihadist terrorist beheading, only got worse. What was never even noted in media stories is it was actually taped on 7/4 in Sacramento. In wrestling, the date like that and shooting an angle like that would usually not be coincidence, although I can’t say for sure here. It was certainly set up with the idea of all the particulars being in place to draw incredible heat. But instead, it garnered disgusted silence. 

The Undertaker-Hassan angle will now go in the history books as the first time a WWE television network banned a character. When WWE had done other controversial things over the years, whether it be Sgt. Slaughter as an Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War, or the Hot Lesbian Action which for a few weeks was supposed to give the company back its lost edge, or the ridiculous Katie Vick storyline, or the crucifixion of Undertaker, which elicited the same, “It’s a symbol, not a cross,” they got bad press, but there was little heat on their broadcast partners. 

Not all the above scenarios were outright failures, although most had to be considered unsuccessful in hindsight. WWE, with its own company reputation at stake has had to bite the bullet before, such as hiring back Tom Cole to squash a threatened lawsuit over homosexual harassment of a young man by a company executive; or toning back on racy storylines due to advertiser pullouts with more being threatened in 1999, when it was at its popularity peak; steroid testing wrestlers in 1991 after an embarrassing trial of the Pennsylvania state athletic commission doctor who doubled as the company’s leading steroid distributor, in their own dressing room, to their owner and their biggest star.

You can read the rest of this newsletter here.

Left My Wallet: Marc Copani/Muhammad Hassan on sports, school & Shad

On this week’s Left My Wallet, I talk with current junior high school principal Marc Copani, also the former Muhammad Hassan in WWE.

I know Marc from our time together in OVW and WWE so it was fun to catch up on a number of topics in this fun 40 minute episode. The Syracuse, NY, native talks about his love of Orangemen basketball, the New York Yankees, what to possibly expect in a 60 game MLB season, and what changes he thinks baseball needs to make to gain back both ratings and fans.

We then talk about what led him into a teaching career, the path he took to becoming a principal, and his most rewarding moments as an educator and administrator.

Finally, he discusses his friendship with the late Shad Gaspard and the story of what brought the two together to work on Assassin and Son, the comic book series that’s being released with proceeds going to his family. He talks about the persona and talent Shad wasm and the parallels between the book and real life. 

Enjoy this fun and very informative episode with fellow WWE and OVW alum Marc Copani!

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