The professional wrestling documentary series on Vice, Dark Side of the Ring, tells compelling stories of some of the industry's darkest secrets and tragedies. The gamut runs from tragic deaths of some of wrestling's most promising stars to moments in the business that remains marred in controversy.
The second season of Dark Side of the Ring just wrapped up and brought even more eyes to the stories as two of wrestling's most notorious deaths — those of Chris Benoit and Owen Hart — bookended the series. However, those were not the only great stories told in these two seasons. Here is a look at the 10 best episodes of the documentary series, as ranked by IMDb.
10 THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF GORGEOUS GINO - 7.7
The fifth episode of the first season was one that was a curiosity to many younger fans and a look back at one of wrestling's most tragic losses for old-school fans. Gorgeous Gino Hernandez was one of the wrestling world's most promising young heels in the '80s. Working in World Class Wrestling, he was good looking, charismatic, and talented.
Then, one day he was found dead from a drug overdose. The problem is he had more drugs in his system than anyone should have, and many believe he was murdered. His case was closed as a suicide, but that does not stop people from asking questions.
9 DAVID SCHULTZ & THE SLAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD - 7.9
The seventh episode of season 2 was one that many fans wondered how Dark Side of the Ring could turn it into a feature-length story. Dr. D David Schultz was one of the top heels in WWE in the '80s and was a massive star. However, when Vince McMahon sent him to interview with John Stossel, and Schultz slapped the reported for calling wrestling fake, Schultz lost his job and career in an instant.
8 THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF NEW JACK - 8.1
The third episode of Dark Side of the Ring's second season told the story of New Jack. This man was a violent wrestler who fit into the ECW style of wrestling perfectly. However, he often lived his gimmick, and that made him a very dangerous man to deal with.
That was no more apparent than when he was involved with a young man known as Mass Transit, a teenager who lied about his age and ended up sliced open so bad in his match with New Jack that he ended up in critical condition at a hospital.
7 THE BRAWL FOR ALL - 8.1
During the Attitude Era, WWE brought in a new head writer in Vince Russo. The new writer decided he wanted to try something new by having the wrestlers fight each other in real shoot fights. While Russo convinced Vince McMahon to do it, Jim Cornette knew it was a train wreck.
The most compelling thing about this episode is hearing from Cornette and Russo about the event. While Dr. Death Steve Williams was presumed to win, he suffered an injury, and his career ended shortly after that. The winner Bart Gunn was knocked out by Butterbean at WrestleMania.
6 THE LAST OF THE VON ERICHS - 8.4
One of the most anticipated episodes of the first season told the tragic story of the Von Erich family. Titled The Last of the Von Erichs, the documentary episode had Kevin Von Erich as one of the people interviewed about the death of his brothers. David died of a reported drug overdose while Kerry, Mike, and Chris all took their own lives. It is one of the greatest tragedies in professional wrestling history.
5 THE MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN - 8.5
The season premiere of Dark Side of the Ring focused on one of the most beloved and controversial couples in professional wrestling history.
The Match Made in Heaven tells the story of Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth, from their marriage and breaking into the business to his intense jealousy, their eventual divorce, and both of their untimely deaths. From Savage's brother Lanny Poffo to Hulk Hogan's wife Linda, the story of this couple played out like a Greek tragedy.
4 THE MONTREAL SCREWJOB - 8.6
It speaks wonders about Dark Side of the Ring that it can tell a story everyone knows about and still make it groundbreaking with new information and a compelling storyline. That happened in the first season with the second episode, The Montreal Screwjob.
Bret Hart took part in this episode as he talked about the infamous match at Survivor Series, where Vince McMahon screwed Bret over and took the title off him to give to his hated rival Shawn Michaels.
3 THE KILLING OF BRUISER BRODY - 8.9
One of the worst moments in the history of professional wrestling came in 1988 when legendary wrestler Bruiser Brody was murdered in the showers at a wrestling show in Puerto Rico.
This episode tells the story of Brody's life and his death and includes interviews with wrestlers who were there when it happened. It is made clear in this episode that Brody was murdered, and the killer walked free, and it might be the most notorious deaths in wrestling history.
2 BENOIT - 8.9
The second season opened with a two-part special about the life and death of Chris Benoit. Both episodes received an 8.9 rating on IMDb, and they are the highest-rated episodes in Vice history. The first episode deals with the life and death of Eddie Guerrero, Benoit's lifelong friend. The second deals with the fallout from Eddie's death and the eventual murder-suicide of Benoit and his wife Nancy and son Daniel.
1 THE FINAL DAYS OF OWEN HART - 8.9
Season 2 came to an end with The Final Days of Owen Hart. This episode equaled the Chris Benoit episodes when it came to IMDb scores and told of a very different death. Both Owen's widow Martha and his son Oje were there to talk about their lost husband and father, as Dark Side of the Ring retells the story of his tragic death in the middle of a WWE PPV and the fallout of that moment.