Dark Side Of The Ring Season 5 Potential Topics

It has been announced that Dark Side Of The Ring is returning to Vice in March. As of this writing the subjects for next season haven't been released. Which presents a fine opportunity to make another wishlist, of good subjects to cover.

Through the previous four seasons we have learned so much about the struggles of some of our wrestling heroes. To help make us realize they are human too, and they go through the same battles everyday people do as well. The show also has shed light on several wrestlers who's stories may never get told.

Which inspired this particular wishlist.  This article has a primary focus on enhancement talent and wrestlers who were Blue chip prospects with high ceilings. I only picked 5 subjects, but think they are solid so let's get started.

The Renegade

Richard Wilson the man who portrayed The Renegade had an interesting story before joining WCW. He had a rough childhood including abuse and abseente parents. As he grew older he was trained at wrestling legends Killer Kowalski's school. While learning the ropes he worked as a male stripper. Then made frequent appearance at New England Indy promotions, before WCW came calling.

The Renegade debuted in WCW in 1995 at Uncensored essentially as a Ultimate Warrior Knockoff. The Renegade was put in a very tough spot by the organization upon his debut. Billed by Hulk Hogan as The "Ultimate Surprise" many expected The Ultimate Warrior to join WCW. So he already had an uphill battle.

He won the WCW TV championship but that was biggest accomplishment, before fading further down the roster. Ultimately being released in 1998. Then in 1999 with no opportunities in the industry opening up for him, finances and marriage crumbling, and addicted to ghb he committed suicide at the age of 33.

Louie Spicolli

Louie Spicolli was a reliable industry vet when he passed away at the age of 27. He began training in 1988 at the age of 17. He got his foot in the door of WWF as a enhancement talent during that time, being used for matches on various syndicated programs. During that time period he also wrestled in Mexico and several independent promotions on the west coast. 

He rejoined the WWF in 1995 portrayed a grunge influenced gimmick with the name Rad Radford. He participated in a brief angle with the Bodydonnas. In early '96 he was released from the WWF after suffering a seizure due to a overdose. He then moved onto ECW which Sabu helped him land. Frequently clashing with Paul Heyman, he joined WCW in 1997.

In WCW he initially was a jobber, until he became the lackey for Scott Hall. He did some guest commentary while being Hall's lackey during his and other matches. Showing personality and being witty while on the mic. He aided Scott Hall in his feud against WCW commentator Larry Zybysko and was set to face Zybysko at SuperBrawl in February of 1998.

He unfortunately passed a few days before the scheduled match. His death was an overdose on somas and wine, resulting in him choking on his own vomit. He battled with drug addiction for a long time and he is another talented guy gone too soon.

Hardbody Harrison

Hardbody Harrison was a straight up Jobber in WCW. He made an occasional appearance on a Nitro or Thunder to be dominated by a bigger named star. Other than that he was on WCW Pro, Worldwide, and Saturday Night.

An Army Veteran who served in the gulf War, he was discharged in the early 90's where he took up pro wrestling. After Joining WCW and getting lost in the shuffle he joined fellow wrestling figures in filing a lawsuit against AOL Time Warner for racial discrimination. The WWF then bought WCW and his contract was not picked up.

He moved on to MMA fighting show Tough Man on FX where he had some success. Then in 2004 he was arrested in Georgia for false imprisonment and sex trafficking.

Turns out Hardbody Harrison had eight women he held against their will. Pimping them out and forcing them to engage in various sex acts. He represented himself in his court case and was sentenced in 2008 to life in prison.

Lance Cade

Trained by one Shawn Michaels Lance Cade at one time was considered a for sure future WWE world champion. After he finished training he spent some time wrestling in Japan alongside fellow Shawn Michaels trainee and future WWE star Bryan Danielson. Signing with WWE in 2001 and spending time in their various developmental affiliates HWA and OVW.

He was called up to the main roster to 2003 and milled around before being sent back to OVW. He got another call up in 2005 as part of a tag team with Trevor Murdoch. The two would hold the WWE tag team championship three times, before separating in 2008. Which then a couple months later Cade aligned with Chris Jericho in his feud against Shawn Michaels,

That partnership was short lived, just a couple months later he was released from WWE. Reportedly he made needed emergency medical attention on a airplane, which was a result of abusing drugs. After his release he spent time on the indy circuit, before resigning with the WWE again in 2009 being sent to FCW. He was released in 2010 and spent some more time wrestling in Japan.

At the age of 29 on August 13th, 2010 Lance Cade passed from heart failure. Which later was determined to have been caused by having multiple drugs in his system. A young talent gone too soon due to his vices, a story that deserves to be told.

Daffney

The Scream Queen of wrestling Daffney. As a young girl with a father in the military she lived overseas in Germany and the UK. Stateside she lived in Georgia, Illinois, and Utah, giving her a diverse perspective of the world at a young age. In the late 90's she saw a ad from WCW looking for new talent and decided to give it a try. She debuted on WCW TV in late 1999 as the goth, little unhinged girlfriend of David Flair. Together her and Flair formed an alliance with fellow wrestler and the trio were a pretty entertaining team. Having some very entertaining matches with The Mamalukes, Daffney often showed her ring skills dishing out Huracanrana's to unsuspecting opponents. 

She got kind of bounced around in WCW through the various regimes before getting released in early 2001 due to budget cuts. She then spent time on the indy scene until moving to the upstart promotion TNA. She left TNA and returned in 2008 as The Governor a parody gimmick of Sarah Palin who was running for Vice President at the time, and who Daffney actually bore a resemblance too.

Her run with TNA ended in 2011 and resulted in her suing TNA for what she called an unsafe work environment, and the concern she may not wrestle any longer due to the injuries sustained over the years. Retiring from in-ring competition she may a few appearances on the indy scene. She suffered some personal setbacks such as a arrest for DUI with property damage. Being involved in a very serious car accident and having neck fusion surgery from her in-ring days. 

Having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the early 2000s, she also became an advocate for concussion awareness. Mentioning how frequent untreated concussions affected her day to day life down the line. September 1st, 2021 she went on instagram live, with a gun in her head and reading a suicide note. She made the statement she wanted her brain to be donated to research for CTE. The next day it was announced she had passed away with the cause later revealed to be suicide.

Another sad and tragic story from the world of wrestling. It's very recent so if an episode is done on Daffney it may sting a tad harder than the rest. It could help bring more conversation around the importance of mental health and concussions.