10 Subjects Dark Side Of The Ring Should Cover Next

10. The Sad Fate Of Terry Gordy

At his peak, Terry Gordy was an incredible talent.

A wild and charismatic enough brawler to get over as a veritable rock star in the southern United States, and boasting a mastery of the craft that propelled him to the vaunted Triple Crown in All Japan Pro Wrestling - the seminal legacy of which he helped shape - he was a giant and just possibly a great of the industry. He overdosed in 1993, suffering brain damage from which he never recovered. He was never the same performer, nor the same man, becoming quiet and withdrawn.

He turned up in the WWF in late 1996 - purportedly as a favour to his old Freebird stablemate Michael Hayes - under the mask of the Executioner. It's very distressing to watch in retrospect. It's as if a stranger is peeking out behind familiar eyes, eyes that dart around in near-bewilderment. He wrestles, methodically, as if carried by dormant muscle memory.

There are questions that require answers - how irresponsible was this run, to Gordy himself and his opponents? - but there's also a fading legacy to restore.