VICE could’ve spent the entire seventh season exploring TNA’s history and impact (ahem) on ‘Dark Side Of The Ring’. They won’t, but they could’ve. Instead, they’ll dedicate no less than 3 episodes to the ‘little engine that could’ to kick off the new series. It’s been one hell of a journey since Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry schemed a WWE alternative in 2002.
Most of the first episode in the series focused on Jeff’s own wrestling career and relationships within the industry. Basically, it took a while before the TNA chat dominated VICE’s doc, but they got there eventually. Besides, all of the preamble about the Jarretts led to something monumental: A deep dive on Jeff’s romance with Karen Jarrett (Kurt Angle’s ex-wife) and the fallout that happened with Dixie Carter as a result of that.
The producers did a stunning job of lining things up for episode 3. That’s set to blow doors off the hinges by going in-depth on all things Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, the Impact Wrestling change, TNA’s revival and more, but we couldn’t have reached that crescendo without proper context across several hours of fascinating footage.
VICE digging up some archived looks at TNA in the early days will be a dangling carrot to a lot of hardcore fans, but ‘Dark Side’ is a human story at heart. It always is, and you might just see a different side to ol’ J-E-Double-F here. He’s painted in a favourable light, and Dixie definitely isn’t, so it’s always wise to take things with a pinch of salt.
What a story though. Here’s everything learned from the first 2 parts!
