Written By Kimmy Sokol
After a three-month break, Dark Side of the Ring is finally back for the remainder of season three. In the last episode of Dark Side of the Ring, we saw the ups and downs of the Dynamite Kid’s illustrious career. Last night’s episode took a different turn as we look at the chaos of the plane ride from hell.
In May of 2002, in the midst of a transformation from the “Attitude Era” to the “Ruthless Aggression” era, WWE was at a high point. To capitalize on such success after buying their competition a four-day European tour, with the end of the tour being the pay-per-view event Insurrextion, the wrestlers were on a private jet made for athletes and different sports teams. This meant that the plane was bigger and way more convenient for the traveling that was being done. Although the plane ride to Europe was stress-free, on the way back, the problems began.
There is a seven-hour weather delay where the wrestlers go through three different carts filled with alcoholic beverages. From there, X-Pac cuts off Michael Hayes’ ponytail after his drink is drugged, Scott Hall threatens to lick a flight attendant, Goldust sings loudly over the intercom, and Brock Leasnar and “Mr.Perfect” Curt Henning almost blow through the emergency exit on the plane after getting into an altercation – that’s not even the worst of it.
According to Rob Van Damm’s segments on the show he describes a commonplace for wrestlers to drug women’s drinks and sexually assault them when they were on the road. According to the episode an incident occurred where Ric Flair cornered one of the flight attendants on the plane and forced her to touch him inappropriately. This is 100% wrong on any type of level.
As the 14-hour travel day ends, they finally land in the states, but this is when Jim Ross has to make some tough decisions. The wrestlers acted very immaturely on the flight, so he has to punish them. JR ends up releasing Mr. Perfect and Scott Hall for not overcoming their demons. He also fines Goldust for his troubles on the plane, but what WWE did not expect was a lawsuit waiting for them in the wings.
One of the flight attendants sues WWE for being sexually assaulted on the plane. WWE and the flight attendants reach a settlement, but the most shocking part of the documentary comes in the form of Tommy Dreamer. As you can see, Ric Flair does not get punished for his actions on the plane. Dreamer stands up for Flair, echoing that he is the Nature Boy and he just does that stuff. Many fans were shocked by this and were very outraged by Dreamer’s surprising comments.
With cameos from Justin Credible, Jim Ross, one of the flight attendants Heidi Doyle, and Rob Van Dam, amongst others, it really brings details to the “plane ride from hell” incident. Jim Ross is especially interesting because you get to see the behind-the-scenes of the consequences the managers gave the wrestlers. After ending the half-season in tragedy and starting this one-off in such a baffling manner, this episode is quite intriguing.
