The newest edition of Dark Side of the Ring focused on the infamous WCW Collision in Korea shows.
Here are some thoughts on the episode.
– For starters, actually getting Antonio Inoki for the documentary was huge. While Inoki didn’t offer anything groundbreaking, his presence adds a lot to the authenticity of the story. On the flip side, it would’ve been nice to have Ric Flair involved in some way. However, I can’t imagine he was eager to recall that trip.
– Eric Bischoff mentioning the brevity of his conversation with Hulk Hogan about going to North Korea was pretty funny. Looking back, Hogan probably made the right call there. The fact that Bischoff agreed to do the shows at all also gave you a glimpse into his mindset at that point in WCW.
– It was interesting to hear the stories about Muhammad Ali from the wrestlers. Scott Norton and 2 Cold Scorpio did a great job sharing memories of how Ali made the trip more manageable with his aiport magic tips and shadow boxing.
– Speaking of Norton and Scorpio, they were the stars in terms of recalling certain events. Norton’s pool game story was compelling, then he took it to another level with the phone call with his wife that was intercepted by the North Korean government. And then there was the running theme of Scorpio wanting to kill Hawk after their dust-up on the bus. To say that tensions were high on this trip would be an understatement.
– I don’t know that anything he said stood out, but Sonny Onoo looks great.
– I’m glad they went into the actual shows and the crowd reaction to them. The footage they shared made it obvious that the hundreds of thousands of people in attendance had no clue what they were watching. Norton’s comment about it being the first bit of happiness those people had experienced probably wasn’t too far off.
– Of course, as if there was any doubt, the story of Flair kissing the pavement and wooing after getting to Japan was pretty good. You could totally see Flair doing something like that.
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