Dark Side Of The Ring not renewed at VICE
Show producers working on new wrestling project for network
NEW YORK — The most popular program on VICE will not be returning for a fourth season.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required) reports that Dark Side of the Ring did not receive a renewal. Had a renewal order occurred, it would have been the program’s fourth season.
The three-season, 30-episode series tackled a number of controversial topics within the world of professional wrestling.
Meltzer summarized the recent controversy surrounding the show. Most of the controversy surrounds the eighth episode of Season 3, titled “The Plane Ride from Hell.”
“There was so much controversy coming off The Plane Ride from Hell story,” Meltzer details. “Because they were relying on memories of people from 20 years ago. There were multiple flights back from Europe where guys were drunk and out of control.”
Meltzer stipulates that the incident did not have Vince or Linda McMahon on the flight. However, the story alluded that people on the flight saw them on said flight.
Meltzer also references complaints from Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, and Jim Ross that the events were taken out of context. It also made Ross question his further involvement in the series going forward.
New VICE show is in the works for Husney, Eisner
All isn’t lost for series producers Evan Husney and Jason Eisner. They currently produce two spinoff shows, Dark Side of Football and Dark Side of the 90’s, both feature programs on VICE. Both spinoffs made debuts last fall on the network.
However, it appears that Husney and Eisener may be working with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for a new series on the network.
Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions, which he co-founded with fellow XFL owner Dany Garcia, will be a part of the project. The project will cover the territory days of professional wrestling. The show will focus on different territorial promotions each week, including a show on women’s wrestling.
Seven Bucks’ previous works include 2019’s “Fighting With My Family” as well as NBC sitcom Young Rock. It may be possible that the company will have a role in the production of XFL broadcasts in 2023.
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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.
