VICE TV reportedly has currently put production of a fourth season of their Dark Side of the Ring wrestling documentary series on hold, according to SEScoops.com.
It was reported that their sources stated that the network recently put the series on hold due to it developing a bad reputation of being toxic from the negative attention it generated and issues over the series editing process. Several wrestling legends, including Jim Ross, reportedly had sworn off future involvement in the series due to these issues. Others who had been contacted for potential episodes for a fourth season reportedly also declined doing interviews.
It was reported that the turning point was the controversial Plane Ride From Hell episode from Season 3 and negative backlash it generated online from those involved in the episode.
VICE officials reportedly decided to go in a new direction instead and are currently in the process of producing a new wrestling documentary series stated to be much softer and “sanitized” in tone. This new series reportedly is being co-produced with WWE, who was stated to have a heavy involvement in its production. It was reported that this new series will likely resemble WWE’s “softball” style programming on A&E and not the expose style focusing on dark aspects of the wrestling industry and its past.