Various: VICE Announces Dark Side Spinoffs, Rocky Romero on Tony Khan Talks, Indies

Dec 10, 2020

VICE Announces Two Dark Side of the Ring Spinoff Series

VICE recently announced that two spinoff series based on their Dark Side of the Ring series are currently in production for the network.

One will be based on football, called Dark Side of the Football, and the other will be based on 90s era culture, called Dark Side of the 90s. It was also announced that both spinoff series are currently scheduled to debut at some point in 2021.

Official press release:

DECEMBER 8, 2020 – BROOKLYN, NY – VICE TV announces it is expanding its record-breaking docuseries Dark Side of the Ring into a franchise with two new series: Dark Side of the Football and Dark Side of the ’90s. Building on the meteoric success of Dark Side of the Ring, VICE TV’s highest-rated show, which was recently renewed for a third season, the two new Dark Side spinoffs are currently in production and will debut in 2021.
“We are thrilled to expand the Dark Side franchise and take a harder look at the untold stories of two our our favorite cultural touchstones: football and ’90s nostalgia. Both topics are rich with controversial characters, subjects, and events that are ripe for investigation,” said Morgan Hertzan, Executive Vice President and General Manager, VICE Television. “Dark Side of the Ring beautifully lifts the veil on the most gripping stories in wrestling, and I cannot wait for audiences to see what we uncover in our next iterations.”
Dark Side of the Football shines a light on stories that live in the shadows of America’s favorite sport. Gripping and compelling tales about the sometimes flawed men behind the face masks; the coaches, teams, and leagues who control their fates; and the untold story behind bizarre and tragic off-the-field events — facts that have been hidden to shield fans from discovering unsettling truths about the game they love. All told from interviews with the people who were there and know what really happened. The series is produced by 44 Blue Productions for VICE TV.
Dark Side of the ’90s will reveal the soul of the decade through its most captivating pop-culture moments, trends and personalities, through interviews with people who studied the time period. Each episode will dissect the nostalgia, uncovering the surprising dark truths underlying the glitz, the glamour and the headlines. The series is produced by Railsplitter Pictures and Insight Productions for VICE TV.

Rocky Romero Comments on Reports of His Talks with AEW’s Tony Khan

As noted before, Dave Meltzer reported in a recent issue of the Wrestlng Observer Newsletter that AEW CEO Tony Khan and NJPW talent Rocky Romero have held recent talks regarding a potential partnership between both companies.

In a recent episode of the Talk’n Shop podcast, co-host Romero responded to the reports of him and Khan being in multiple talks over potential partnership interest between AEW and NJPW.

“I guess Meltzer reported that me and Tony Khan are having calls all the time, like every week, which is not true. I’m not talking to Tony weekly. I’ve talked to Tony in the past, of course. No, [I haven’t talked to Tony since AEW/IMPACT relationship]. I talked to Tony maybe a month ago. Maybe more. It’s misleading in the fact that ‘Rocky and Tony are having weekly phone calls,’ which is not true, and who gives a fuck if I talk to Tony? What if he’s my friend? No one knows the situation.”

Romero also commented on the possibility of NJPW joining the current partnership between Impact Wrestling and AEW.

“My name is brought up like I’m part of this. People are excited and want to see the possibilities. ‘Will New Japan join this situation?’ I guess there’s a lot of want for New Japan to be involved.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Game Changer Wrestling recently announced that the fundraiser for their Slime Season event this past Saturday raised more than $15,000 for their talent to help financially assist them during the on-going coronavirus pandemic.

Revolution Pro Wrestling recently announced that their upcoming Epic Encounters 7 event will be taking place on December 27th in Portsmouth, England.

All Japan Pro Wrestling announced (English translation via Fightful) that Yusuke Okada will be leaving the company after the end of this year to pursue freelancer work in Japan in 2021. Okada’s final appearance for the company was announced to be taking place at their December 13th event in Tokyo, Japan.

Major League Wrestling announced that their previously postponed Kings of Colosseum 2020 event will now be taking place on January 6, 2021 as a television special for their MLW Fusion series.

During a recent interview with Mas Lucha (English translation via Lucha Blog), Lucha Libre AAA co-owner Dorian Roldan stated that the reason why their upcoming TripleMania XXVIII will not be airing on Twitch is due to their deal with the streaming service expired earlier this year. Roldan also stated that he currently believes the promotion can have a greater reach through YouTube and Facebook instead for their events.

World Wrestling Network announced that they will be debuting a new wrestling series called League Wars on December 20th on their WWN Live streaming service.