This week’s Dark Side of the Ring episode is the most anticipated episode of the season with the Sensational Sherri episode. Sherri pioneered women’s wrestling; some would argue she is one of the best to do it. Whether it be wrestling or in the manager position she is one of the most memorable faces in wrestling especially in the ’80s and ’90s. Now compared to all of the other episodes this season how did this one compare, let’s find out.
Sherri’s love of wrestling started at a young age. Her mom took her to shows and she knew that is what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Jim Cornette started managing her as the two were just put on screen together. Since they were both newer to the business they were learning from each other as the two instantly became successful. Sherri originally wanted to train with Grizzly Smith, but he told her to come back when she was 21, and she was not willing to wait that long. She went down to New Orleans and started training and working there.
To support her wrestling career she started doing exotic dancing and she was able to meet her ex-husband, Leroy. They moved into a trailer and she had their son. Within three months she was done and did not want to be tied down and wanted to chase her wrestling career. She went back to Memphis and met Butch Moore who was also a wrestling trainer. When she told him she wanted to be a wrestler he slapped her in the face and she said is that all you got and they got into an argument. She went back to Grizzly and said I am 21 now and I am ready. When he asked why she wanted to do that she said she felt she could be one of the best to ever do it. Grizzly trained her and taught her all of the basics until she was sent to train with the Fabulous Moolah. She was soon kicked out of the training camp and she started making a career for herself. Leroy was constantly trying to put their family together and hired a personal investigator to follow her around. Shortly after three guys cornered him and said to leave Sherri alone and that she did not belong to you anymore she belonged to us, and he never bothered her again.
After some work in Japan and other companies, she went to Minnesota and started working with Verne Gagne and the AWA. Jared Gonzales, Sherri’s son, talked about how he did not want any pity for his physical health (he has cancer) or what his mom did. He was always taken care of and she made sure of that. However, he was frustrated and angry that he was not able to see her more often. By 1987 Sherri had made her way to the WWE and she defeated her former mentor Fabulous Moolah for the Women’s Championship. This led to Rockin Robin being able to come into WWE and work with Sherri every night in different cities, elevating women’s wrestling.
Since being a women’s wrestler at that time was rare Sherri had to earn her stripes in the locker room to prove she was one of the guys and that meant partying every night. She was drinking and doing drugs at most three nights in a row. There was one night when she was working Rockin Robin when Sheri’s drinking and driving was affecting her more than usual. She kicked Robin straight in the throat which led her to have trouble breathing and she was scared she was going to be seriously injured. After the match was over she hugged Robin and apologized.
In 1990 Vince McMahon was not completely sold on the idea of having a women’s roster, so when Sherri was able to prove that she could cut a promo and she had an over-the-top personality she made the jump to the manager position. This led her to make more money than she ever did before and was able to go full in on the Sensational character. The bigger the stars she managed the more publicity she was able to get and soon she was one of the most popular stars in the WWE. Unlike the other female managers, Sherri was a trained wrestler who was not scared to get dirty and do what she had to do to make sure her clients would win. However, with all the crazy bumps she would take she was banged up and injured and that is when the pain pills began to kick in. She would take muscle relaxers that she would depend on to help her get through the everyday challenges of being a member of the WWE roster. When the WWE started doing drug testing Sherri kept on failing them for marijuana and because of that WWE fired her.
Once released Jim Cornette brought her to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. There was one night when Cornette could tell that her drug problem was becoming more of an issue, but the more times he tried to tell her she would not listen. Shortly after that, she shifted her focus toward WCW and she began managing Harlem Heat. WCW would let her go because she was not able to live up to the expectation to perform because of the drugs she was taking. At this point there were no other wrestling companies to go to so she started medicating more to help with the pain that her dream was over. She began to ask her son for forgiveness for always being gone all the time, which he would always say he understood but wished things were different and she was able to spend more time with him.
Sherri married a man who was not in the wrestling business and she transitioned towards a normal lifestyle, which she did not like. Her new husband did not help any of these situations and he was taking her son away from her, as well as not helping her drug addiction. She became the second woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and gave a touching speech where she spoke from the heart about her entire career. After her induction, she was hopeful she was going to be able to go back to WWE to help train the women until she passed away.
The episode ends with the police investigating the death of Sherri. She had collapsed in the rocking chair outside at night and the death was ruled an accident caused by an overdose. During the funeral, many people were also drugged up to show how much drugs played a factor in most wrestlers’ lives at that point. Many of the people who talked throughout the episode got emotional about Sherri’s death and emphasized the point that without her women’s wrestling may be in a different position today.
Overall: No matter how you look at Sherri’s career she will always be a pioneer in the business. In my opinion, this has been the best episode this season because it highlights the good and the bad of her career, while also showing the viewers why she is one of the most memorable faces in the business today. She has inspired many people within the wrestling business and she was able to leave a lasting legacy. This episode lives up to the Dark Side moniker because her drug addiction is what led to her sudden passing, but this would be one of the episodes this season that I recommend for wrestling fans to watch
The Dark Side of the Ring episode on Sensational Sherri is now on demand and streaming on Vice.
