My favorite part was the heels wrestlers sneaking in the hospital to keep kayfabe

I was listening to this at work with it minimized when my boss came in to ask me to look something up. I opened up full screen to the artwork of the polaroid of Jim. There was silence followed by a good laugh. Excellent job on the artwork as always. PS. my 60 year old coworker said her uncle used to take her to matches and help take down the rings so she got to interact with different wrestling personalities. She said that Bobby Heenan was the nicest one she ever met and she never understood why he was so mean in the ring.

I love how Jim said "They had more sex on the way to the ring than I had in my life!" LMAO

Imagine Magnum defeating Flair for the world championship at the Norfolk Scope during the 87 Bash. That would have been a sight to see.

One of the things that I drew from this episode is that Buzz Sawyer deserved every one of those racket gits Jim gave him in Georgia.

Felt sad for his ex wife, he cheated on her AFTER the Accident....Damn that was Cold

The lack of Tully sucked. The steel cage match between them was epic.

Just finished watching the Von Erich family episode. God bless Kevin Von Erich. Can't imagine how painful it must have been for him to relive those memories. I'm happy to see he's enjoying a peaceful life now.

Magnum’s Ex-Wife came across as very sympathetic. She marries him before his fame, then he becomes a star and starts cheating on her nightly. Then he gets in the accident and she stands by him and helps him recover and the dude is still banging other women while he’s in a wheelchair! I mean, I’m glad he turned his life around but I felt bad for her.

2:41 - As soon as Brian said "Canadian", I was almost expecting a Hannibal impression.

Jim looks in great shape. Wrestling fans need that return bro

He has a company called T.A. Towers...I worked next door...it's in Chesapeake VA

The "I Quit" match between Magnum T.A. and Tully Blanchard was probably too hardcore for the general public.

All respect to the legend Magnum T.A. I was just 11 or 12 when the best of 7 with Nikita was happening. It was an absolutely amazing time to be a fan. All respect due to Jim for his role in the documentary too.

For someone “out of touch” Jim sure knows a lot of what the kids say lmao

What an episode man! I’m 30 so I had no context for what Magnum was to JCP. The video of the girl saying, “I love magnum more than I love anyone.” Choked me up. What a story of the Human Spirit and the incredible grace of God. This was one of my favorite Dark Sides ever.

"Jim Costanza" needs to be on a shirt ASAP! 😂

"jericho sounds so depressed as a narrator" What do you want him to do on a show called Dark Side of the Ring Brian? Cartwheels? 😂

My favorite parts were the times Jim got the crew to bust out laughing in the background lol.

The thing I like about the NWA/Crockett is that stars had key feuds at each stages of their career while moving up the card. Magnum TA vs Tully for the TV title, Magnum TA vs Nikita Koloff, and Magnum TA vs Ric Flair or younger up in coming heel for the world title.

I really enjoy Chris as the narrator, makes a really good story telling voice imo.

Jericho lives rent free in Brian’s head.

Fun fact: Liev Schreiber was rumored to play Chris Benoit in a now most likely canceled biopic

Best line "They had more Sex on they way to the Ring, than I have had in my entire life" Never change Corny.

I could see Vince paying him a ton of money to go to WWF and then Vince would have given him a mechanic gimmick and called him “Auto Allen” and buried him deeper than pirate treasure.

When will there be a dark side of the ring: Jim cornette vs Dairy Queen?

Magnum TA went out like a legend, because had he made it through the accident, VInce would have ruined him, made him cut his hair, kissing Goldust. Magnum will forever be "the one guy that could have been the NWA World Champion had he healed from his accident" & that "what if"scenario keeps his legacy alive.

I remember in 1986 seeing a issue of pro wrestling illustrated. A picture of his red sports car. Destroyed and that he needed prayers. Even at 9 I knew he was in bad trouble. The episode was great. Jim was superior. He looks better with age. I watched it twice. Worth watching.

I really like seeing Jim in these, he looks great and as full of life as ever 😄

Artwork great as usual

I may have been in the fourth grade when Magnum had the crash, we had to have grief counseling at our school , he was our hero here in Roanoke

I love you Corny, but girls were not “jumping up and down” and “frothing at the mouth” for Dusty Rhodes. 🤣🤣🤣 5:37

Magnum’s ex spoke at the speed of evolution.

I like Jericho as the narrator. He’s not bad

I was in the pool ...i was in the pool ...George Coztanza

I think Jericho's narration is great. And for quite a few things that Brian mentions. He isn't over the top and bombastic, and if I didn't know it was him, I'd never realize it was Jericho by voice alone. He doesn't make it about him, which is how he should be. He's only there to connect the dots. And he does it exactly right. I did also keep waiting for the mention of the "I Quit" match. I'm still waiting...

Last is nitpicking, Jericho was fine as a narrator. I didn't even know it was him until the credits.

Jericho finds a cure for cancer. Brian Last: "And there's Jericho putting himself over at the expense of cancer. He just needs to go away."

I think with Magnum it was the shock of it timing wise. Everyone knew he was going to be the face for years to come, win several titles and then he was done. I was a kid at the time and it was an emotional moment that never left me.

The picture of Magnum and Kerry Von Erich was priceless. Imagine how the business would have been had their accidents not happened.

They should have had teh clip where Duthty and Magnum had the full length fur coats

I enjoyed this episode. It's rare we get a Dark Side of the Ring with a positive ending. I was more of a WWE guy, so I didn't know much about Magnum TA till after the accident had happened. He was clearly a once-in-a-generation talent, with barely any training he became one of the best ever. He had everything. It's sad he will always be one of the biggest "What Ifs" in wrestling, but it's like he said at the end of the show, It's better he is alive to talk about it than not at all. I always do laugh that Dark Side is the only time we can have JeriKaren and Jim on the show, but they never interact.

I imagine Tully not being mentioned was probably one of the stipulations.

Dusty learned a very hard and important lesson, never put all your eggs in one basket.

This is one I want to see. This was a guy who had the potential of being a major superstar at a Ric Flair level, but his career was cut short from an accident. The good news is his story did have a happy ending, so this will be great to watch.

Where would Sting's career have gone if Magnums accident never happened?

Liev Schreiber narrated the HBO doc on the 1968 Detroit Tigers, and did a good job. Also, I prefer Dutch’s narration over Jericho’s, just a matter of taste.

I gotta agree with Brian on the narrator. I liked Dutch as the narrator a lot more than Jericho.

"He had more sex on the way to the ring than I have my entire life!" Popped me hard

I cant wait for Dark Side of the Ring : Chris Jericho vs Marriott Bonvoy Hotels.

Im pretty confident no desirable woman ever has ever lusted after Dusty Rhodes. If they did in the shape he was in he couldn't have done anything more than give them a hug.

You could argue that the void left by Magnum TA set the stage for the rise of Sting. Then again I guess Sting would've got the big push eventually. However the NWA had lost the momentum that TA brought by then.

Jim as George 😂😂😂😂

Tully (or the Horseman) will probably get his own Darkside so that's the ony reason I can think of not to include his epic war with Magnum over the United States Championship! That match was amazinga! No chairs or tables! These guys had something else....Talent!

i knew the magnum ta story already, but this was a top 3 dark side episode. so well done.

These thumbnails!!! Excellent work as always, Travis.

If Magnum TA went to the WWE in the late 80s or early 90s, Vince would have either gave him a silly Red Rooster type of gimmick where he didnt get over or he would have been like the Texas Tornado Kerry Von Erich and been IC champ and a solid mid carder. He would not have feuded with Hulk Hogan and been a main eventer. No chance. I see lots of comparisons with Magnum TA and Scott Hall so I think he would have had to wait until the mid 90s when Hogan was gone from WWE to jump there and be given a big push.

Jim Costanza. Nice work Trav

Just glad they finally did an episode on someone who is actually still alive. Brawl for All doesn't really count. Also the Candido episode had me crying by the end but there wasn't a dry eye from anyone in that episode so I didn't feel as bad.

Lol. Jim Cornette as George Costanza 😆😆

Clicked on the video purely because of the thumbnail

He drove with his Porsche in a Telephone Pole , and now he builts them?

I loved the best of 7 series between Magnum TA and Nikita.

Jericho sounds like he’s been on Vicodin for the past 4 years

I knew Magnum was a star, but I had no idea how much they had riding on him. It was eye-opening. I remember when the accident happened and switching Nikita face. It was felt up here too in Canada.

This may be Travis Heckel's magnum opus, if you'll pardon the pun.

Cornett and.... Costanza?!! What a fucking team 👍

It didn’t really mention Magnums feud with Flair. It was really heated in 85

Jim is RIGHT! Magnum’s first wife sounds like she just stepped out of the Sable School of the Theatrical Arts (Formerly Warrior University).

Before he was in the accident I didn't know Magnum had plans to get out of the business that fast.

The perfect theme song for Magnum coming back to the arena after the car wreck would have been Tony Careys "fine,fine day"

Magnum T.A. also had a good amateur wrestling background. That amateur wrestling background is always a plus to have, for Professional Wrestlers (i.e. "Dr.Death" Steve Williams, Bret "Hitman" Hart", Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Brad Armstrong, "Gentleman" Chris Adams, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Brickhouse Brown, Adrian Adonis, Roddy Piper, Brian Blair, Steve Kern, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson Ole Anderson and MANY more). On a side note, I would to have loved to have seen: Magnum T.A. & "Dr.Death" Steve Williams vs. "Mr.Wonderful" Paul Orndorff & "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

The Corny as George Costanza pic is hilarious!

Brian I get you don’t like Jericho but I think he does a great job narrating these shows. The lack of Tully was disappointing

I don’t believe that girl saying she left because he cheated a month after becoming a paraplegic she had to take care of 24/7. If cheating was the reason she would have done it sooner. She left because she knew her life would be taking care of him and the money dried up.

I'm glad to hear that Allen was able to move on with his life and enjoy a successful career out of the ring.

Good review video for Magnum T.A.'s story on Dark Side of the Ring.

This makes my day love the drawing. I enjoy more to Listening to brian and jim

I'm with Mr Last here Tully really helped solidify Magnum as the especially after the legendary I quit match.

Chris Jericho is a fine narrator .

I heard a story about the tragedy, that it wasn't exactly the water on the road that was the problem. It was the underage girl in the car.

This episode left out out a lot. No mention of the I quit match or Tully Blanchard

This was a fantastic episode.

A good example of building to the title win and booking the show to reflect the narrative they want to get across is with Sting vs Flair GAB1990. They had built up Sting as the obvious successor to Flair for a while. When that GAB came around it was basically set up to get them to Sting beating Flair in the main event. They would've done something similar with Magnum and it would've been great. Sad story. At least he did well in life after the ring.

Magnum T.A. was my favorite wrestler growing up

I Quit ! I Quit! Legendary cage match in 1986

Jericho does a great job of narrating

This episode wasn't the slightest bit dark but still a decent episode.

Listening to jim the person id think that would qualify for a candle light mourning would be rey mysterio. He beloved by the Hispanic population and by the people in san Diego and alot of fans ( me included) put him on the same level as eddie in terms in how much we love him. I cried when eddie died and if something ever happened to rey id cry again

I was born and raised in the Charlotte area and was in about the 3rd grade when Magnum's crash happened. I remember it well. I found out about it on the radio while getting ready for school the morning of the wreck and was in shock to hear the news. I rarely watched tv in the morning in back then but had to run down stairs turn on the TV and see what the local news to learn more. They had a press conference on TV about it and talked about it as if the president had been assassinated. My sister attended a school that was almost across the street from where the wreck happened and I can remember riding past the wreck site. The car was gone but you could see scraps from the car all over and the grass torn up. It was muddy because it was just one of those cold wet dreary mornings. Jim is right, the women were crazy about him because he was a good looking guy. They gave him the name Magnum because he looked kind of like Tom Selleck and Magnum PI was one of the hotest shows on TV at the time. Other than Tom Selleck having brown short hair and Magnum TA having blond long hair they did look a lot alike and women were crazy over Tom Selleck in those days. But even guys liked Magnum. He looked and acted like the kind of guy you'd want to have on your side in a bar fight. Magnum kind of reminded you of the kind of guy that was like the All State QB in high school that everybody thought would go pro one day. He looked like and kind of played the part of the kind of guy that would stick up for you at school if you were being bullied. He just had that thing going that made you think that women loved him and men didn't want to mess with him. He fit in with the Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd beer drinking pick up truck and Camero and Harley Davidson driving kind of crowd. He had that all American tough guy that could get any woman he wanted thing going on that we all looked up to and admired.

Can't believe they didn't bring up the "I Quit" match on the episode. Way to iconic of a match to not talk about it for a moment

Dark Side inaccuracies: they could have mentioned he won the North American title in Mid South. The "I Quit" match with Tully. No mention of the belly to belly suplex. Its implied in the short match with Nikita. Suddenly he's US heavyweight champ. It glosses over what got him there. Just saying. Also, the Foreshadowing picture with Kerry Von Erich... no context. Also, he used to be able to walk after the accident. Now he's in a wheelchair. Did he worsen? Needs explanation.

As weird as this may sound I think this is the happiest ending to a DSOTR, While what happened to Magnum was a tragedy and killed his career he's still living life and seems somewhat happy. Either this or the Von Erich one as Kevin Von Erich is still alive and living a happy life.

Don’t know about Kerry, but I’d add David Von Erich as a huge what-if

If Jim was ever nominated for an award for Dark Side Of The Ring, it would be for best supporting actor.

Jacques Rougeau should of been the narrator, he’s great

I wish they could have put in the stuff with Magnum and Wrestling II

Magnum’s ex sounded like she was taking a cruise on Lake Have-a-Soma.

There was Bryan Danielson's neck injury a month into his big push after Mania XXX but even then it didn't have the effect that Magnum had.

Why didn't they include Tully? That was the greatest cage match EVER!!!