The WORST episodes of Dark Side of the Ring
Every episode of Dark Side of the Ring ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Dark Side of the Ring!
From backstage controversies to mysterious deaths and unsolved homicides, this series explores the darkest stories from the golden age of professional wrestling, and tries to find truth at the intersection of fantasy and reality.
#1 - Truth, Lies and Billy Jack Haynes
Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/6/2025
An 80's wrestling star, Billy Jack Haynes' life of violence and mystery has led to his current situation--behind bars and charged with the second-degree murder of his wife.
#2 - Chris Colt: Welcome to my Nightmare
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 4/9/2024
The wildest wrestler never to break through, Chris Colt's life took him from LSD trips in the ring to the world of porn, but his self-destructive ways kept him from becoming a star.
#3 - Hot Stuff’ Eddie Gilbert
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 4/29/2025
Skilled as a performer in the ring and as a booker, who created storylines behind the scenes. 'Hot Stuff' Eddie Gilbert was a ticking time bomb of talent and self-destruction.
#4 - The Original ‘Superstar': Billy Graham
Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/22/2025
Often imitated, never duplicated, Superstar Billy Graham broke the mold for what a wrestler could be but steroid abuse and battles with the McMahons kept Graham from the spotlight.
#5 - Chris Adams: The Gentleman and the Demon
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/16/2024
'Gentleman' Chris Adams had the charm, prowess and instinct to become a wrestling sensation, but a violent relationship with alcohol led to a tragic end at the hands of a friend.
#6 - Tony Atlas: Too Much, Too Soon
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/15/2025
With the physique of an Adonis and endless charisma, Tony Atlas made his mark as one of wrestling's first Black stars but racism, addiction and ego kept Mr. USA from the top.
#7 - Breaking the Cycle: The Graham Dynasty
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/13/2023
Florida became a wrestling mecca for decades under patriarch Eddie Graham and his son Mike, but a series of shocking and unrelenting tragedies threatened to eclipse their legacy.
#8 - The World According to Marty Jannetty
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 8/8/2023
Known for their raw athleticism and sex appeal, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty's run as The Rockers was eclipsed by Marty's excess, drug abuse, and possible murder.
#9 - Blood, Fire and the Original Sheik
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/13/2025
One of the most hated heels in wrestling history; The Sheik, whose violent career spanned 50 years is revealed by his family and the few who survived his hardcore bloodbaths.
#10 - Bash at the Beach 2000
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/1/2023
At the end of the '90s, WCW's greatest battles played out backstage between scheming executives and writers, until one off-script rant against Hulk Hogan changed everything.
#11 - Cocaine & Cowboy Boots: The Herb Abrams Story
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/5/2020
One man's fanatical attempt to build a wrestling empire to rival Vince McMahon's goes tragically haywire as his ego and cocaine addiction kills his dream - and him along with it.
#12 - Bikers, Bombs & Bedlam Johnny K9
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 10/7/2021
Johnny K9 led a double life as an in-ring brute and the leader of a biker gang implicated in drug trafficking, the bombing of a police station, and a gruesome double murder.
#14 - Ludvig Borga: Hellraiser From Helsinki
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/1/2025
A Finnish wrestling bad guy turned real-life racist politician, Tony Halme's time in the WWF as Ludvig Borga is only the start of his chaotic and destructive life.
#15 - The Steroid Trials
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 10/28/2021
In the mid 90s, wrestling was rocked by accusations of rampant steroid abuse. With star witness Hulk Hogan, prosecutors set out to prove that Vince McMahon was the one responsible.
#16 - The Ultra-Violence of Nick Gage
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 5/13/2021
Nick Gage is the self-proclaimed king of deathmatch wrestling, but his road to the top is marked with a six-year prison sentence for armed robbery and personal tragedies.
#17 - The Tragic Fall of Adrian Adonis
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/11/2023
A real life street fighter, Adrian Adonis turns flamboyant wrestling heel, but his life cuts short in an horrific accident that has been shrouded in mystery for the past thirty years.
#18 - Saving Face: The Brutus Beefcake Story
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/26/2024
Brutus 'The Barber' Beefcake's path in the wrestling world was defined by his decades-long friendship with Hulk Hogan and a horrifying accident that almost took his life.
#19 - Shattered: The Magnum T.A. Story
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/6/2023
Wrestling hearththrob Terry Magnum T.A. Allen was destined for worldwide stardom, but one rainy night altered his career and the future of wrestling forever.
#20 - Jimmy Snuka and the Death of Nancy Argentino
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/14/2020
Investigating the mysterious story of Jimmy Snuka, whose girlfriend Nancy Argentino died in their motel room in 1983, and revealing her family's 30-year struggle for justice.
#21 - The Junkyard Dog
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/27/2023
One of the first Black megastars in wrestling, the Junkyard Dog's journey to the top of the business is marked by addiction and unrealized potential.
#22 - Extreme & Obscene: Rob Black’s XPW
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 10/21/2021
XPW merged Rob Black's passions for hardcore porn and deathmatch wrestling, but after he waged a war with federal authorities his empire imploded.
#23 - Abdullah the Butcher: Legacy of Blood
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/18/2023
Infamous for his in-ring bloodbaths, Abdullah the Butcher was a money-making phenomenon. But after fifty years of pushing boundaries, one cut cost him everything.
#25 - What Happened to Doink the Clown?
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/20/2023
Matt Borne, the man behind Doink the Clown, lived a life of unhinged violence and substance abuse until his shocking death left his family questioning if it really was an accident.