10 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Big Boss Man
3. His Doctor Was Chris Benoit’s Pill Pusher
Cue an unexpected Chris Benoit interlude.
There's a segment in the Boss Man episode all about one Dr. Phil Astin. He prescribed somas, testosterone and more to Ray, and Angela says she knows for sure that Benoit went through there. Popping back up, Nick Patrick says a lot of guys did, and it was fairly common knowledge that Astin could get workers anything they wanted.
For the record, Astin was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally distributing prescription drugs. He was held on a 175 count federal indictment, which is nuts. In a poignant speech, Lacy wonders if Astin even knew how addictive the medication was: “Did you know that people were gonna get hurt?”.
VICE didn't go so far as to dive deeper into the Benoit tragedy from 2007. They'd already dedicated an entire episode to that way back in the show's second season from 2020, so there was really no need anyway. Angela mentioning Benoit at all probably isn't something the producers thought was going to happen, but they'd have done their homework and maybe knew Astin had provided the Canadian with drugs?
Maybe not. Who knows? That's pure guesswork from someone fascinated by this story and trying to fit some pieces together to complete the puzzle. Regardless of what the 'Dark Side' team did or didn't know before shooting footage, they simply had to explore Astin's narrative a little further once Angela name-dropped Benoit.
What a sordid individual the doc was/is. One of many, sadly.