10 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: WCW Bash At The Beach 2000
VICE blows open WCW controversy involving Hulk Hogan, Vince Russo and more.
WCW has been dead for over 22 years now, but the wrestling world remains fascinated by all the bonkers behaviour that went on behind the scenes. The (dis)organisation was picked to go under VICE's lens for a thorough examination of just what happened back at Bash At The Beach 2000.
There, Hulk Hogan "won" the WCW World Title before Vince Russo shifted the goalposts after he'd left the building. Things got messier from there.
Unlike most 'Dark Side Of The Ring' shows, there's no substance abuse or domestic violence. That's a relief, but viewers still want controversy when they tune in and the producers know that. So, they brought egos to the boil by getting talking heads like Russo, Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett to snipe at one another and fight their own corner.
There was even time for Wrestling Observer chief Dave Meltzer to chime in, and for ex-WCW star Lance Storm to pull some of the best facial expressions of the series. Hooray! Despite all that merriment, several stories do contradict themselves (which only adds to the fun), and at least one glaring omission stops the episode from feeling complete.
Here's everything learned from one of WCW's most farcical moments.
10. Hulk Hogan Is A Huge Miss
There's no getting around this.
Hulk Hogan wasn't a talking head on the latest 'Dark Side' episode, which definitely hurt it and meant VICE couldn't get a totally balanced view across the board. Sure, Lance Storm tries his best to fill in, but the incident from Bash At The Beach really had nothing to do with him.
So, it's hard to see Storm's thoughts as more than just a general snapshot of overall locker room feeling at the time. Being fair, Lance does come across as a voice of the fans in a way. The same could be said for Meltzer, but neither hit home the way some comments from Hulk would've. That's undeniable.
VICE were probably never coaxing the old stager into their studios to talk about this stuff 23 years on though. It's a sorry episode from Hogan's career, and he likely just fancies forgetting about WCW at this point. Still, it's a shame one of the topic's biggest players wasn't involved.