Insane Insights From Dark Side Of The Ring: Marty Jannetty
I'm a big fan of the Vice documentary series called Dark Side of the Ring. With Season 5 of the show returning on March 5th, 2024, I'll review some previous episodes. This episode discussed Marty Jannetty, who has a pretty dark and sad story.
The documentary featured several talking heads, including Pat Tanaka, Mean Mike Moran, Al Snow, Karen Walker (Jannetty's friend), Brutus Beefcake, and his wife Missy. While watching this episode on "The World According to Marty Jannetty," I learned multiple things.
10. How Bad His Ankle Injury Is
When I went back in time to watch Marty Jannetty's career, I already knew that he suffered a nasty ankle injury in Survivor Series 1996, and he was never the same in the ring. Little did I understand that he is still dealing with that ankle injury to this day, and it looks awful. Not only is it swollen, but you can also see the ligaments/joints affected. I would not look up this injury if I were you, as it is brutal.
It looks painful staring at it, and even his surgeon admits it is unbearable. George McCluskey, his surgeon and friend, was interviewed and asked about his pain level on a scale from 1 to 20, and he said, "It's a 12 on a good day."
Gosh, that's awful, and it's not just one ankle, too, as Jannetty has other issues with his other ankle, and one of his shoulders is torn up, too. This dude has lots of injuries, and you can tell that he was about to pass out when they were interviewing him.
9. How Much Marty Got Punished For The Chuck Austin Incident
One thing the show delved into is The Chuck Austin Incident, a real dark accident in wrestling history. Chuck Austin, an enhancement talent/jobber, got a tryout match where he and The Genius would face The Rockers in a tag team match. During the match, Chuck landed poorly after a "Rocker Dropper" spot, a move Marty Jannetty would typically use.
The poor landing ultimately led to Austin being paralyzed. It's a terrible incident, and the documentary showed the moment, which is brutal to witness. Looking back, having Austin in this match was a foolish idea.
They didn't mention this in the documentary, but Chuck Austin had minimal experience or training in wrestling. I recall reading that Austin had only a few months of pro wrestling experience, yet WWE still signed him to work the match for around $150. It's no wonder Chuck Austin won his case and received a $24 million settlement.
I did not know that, according to Jannetty, the court ruled that WWE was 90% at fault, Chuck Austin was 5% at fault, and Marty Jannetty was 5% at fault. So, Jannetty lost around $500,000, and the payout was taken from his royalty checks. Shawn Michaels was not found at fault, which is not surprising as he was not involved in the move that caused Austin to be paralyzed.
8. Jannetty Performed The Rocker Dropper On Dean Malenko In Court
Now, here's a remarkable fact. In the court case I mentioned earlier, WWE decided to demonstrate the Rocker Dropper move in front of the jury. So, mats were brought into the court, and Marty Jannetty started demonstrating the move. Who was the wrestler Jannetty performed the move on?
Dean Malenko was one of the best WCW cruiserweights in the company's history and one of the most outstanding technicians to ever step in the ring. Malenko is also a known agent who worked behind the scenes with WWE and is now employed with AEW. It didn't work, as they lost the case, but that's super cool.
7. Shawn Michaels Put Marty Jannetty Through a Window In Real Life
So now the documentary gets into the breakup of the Rockers. I knew bits and pieces of this and that the Rockers hated each other and had a fight in real life.
I am shocked that they did not mention the fight where cops were called. Marty and Shawn were about to go to prison, but Macho Man Randy Savage prevented that as the cops were big fans of his. In exchange for their release, he gave autographs and convinced both cops were practicing. That would have been a great story to tell.
Little did I know that Shawn Michaels and Marty kept fighting to the point where, in a hotel room, Michaels threw Marty through a window. The funny part is that this imitated art, as it happened around the time of the Barbershop segment on TV. I wonder if this incident inspired the segment idea as a whole.
6. God's Amusement Toy (GAT)
Oh boy, this has got to be some of the weirdest stuff I have ever heard Marty Jannetty say in a while.
So, in the middle of this documentary, the crew takes Jannetty to a church, and he describes what happens to him because of something he calls GAT. It stands for God's Amusement Toy. According to Marty, he says GAT is, 'when God gets bored with you, where's Jannetty.'"
So, according to Jannetty, God plays around with you, and he is one of God's toys? How many excuses is this man going to come up with? Jannetty is blaming someone else when a majority of his problems are because of him.
5. Brutus Beefcake Comes Off As Delusional In This Episode
Brutus Beefcake was interviewed for this episode, which is a must as that Barbershop angle heavily involved him as it was his show. Beefcake had to be interviewed in this as he was a part of the Barbershop angle. I like Beefcake, he seems like a nice guy, but he came off as super delusional in this documentary.
Especially in his comments that Shawn only got the significant push instead of Marty because of kissing Vince McMahon's ass through politics. That is true, but it is not the actual reason he got the push.
Shawn Michaels, no matter what was going to get that push. He was the star in The Rockers tag team and say what you want about Michaels beyond the ring, at least he was a bit more reliable. Jannetty constantly got arrested and had a bad reputation for being in the wrong positions. If I were Vince, I would have also gone with Shawn Michaels.
Here is the problem with Beefcake making that statement; this is where the delusion comes in. Throughout his career in pro wrestling, he was known for being an ass-kisser to Hulk Hogan. Hogan was a much more political pro wrestler than Shawn was.
So why is he calling Shawn an ass-kisser when he did the same with Hulk Hogan? It is so delusional for him to make that comment that I was shaking my head.
On a side note, I have to ask, why was his wife, Missy Beefecake, even in this documentary? No offense to her, but she legitimately added nothing to this documentary and was super annoying throughout. You could have taken her out, and little would have been impacted.
4. How Shawn Michaels Saved Marty Jannetty From Committing Suicide
So time passes by, and Marty Jannetty throws away a great opportunity in WCW and ECW with his DUI and multiple arrests. He fades into existence, and Marty has the thought of suicide on his mind.
So, what he does is put a whole bunch of cocaine on a table and was going to do it until his heart burst. Jannetty was quoted saying to his higher power, 'God, I am going to need a sign if you don't want me to do this, and I am pretty stupid, so make it obvious.' Well, suddenly, he gets a phone call, and guess what? It's Shawn Michaels.
Michaels, who sobered up and found religion, reached out to Jannetty to get him help with his problems. He even invited Marty to a ministry and got him baptized. When Michaels called, it was the first time both had spoken in 7-8 years, and Marty decided to abandon his suicide attempt.
After getting cleaned up for a month, he got signed to WWE, and The Rockers' reunion occurred on Monday Night Raw in 2005.
3. Allegedly, Marty Jannetty Made Up The Murder Story To Get Back Into Wrestling
Let's get into the murder story. This is unbelievable, as Marty Jannetty decides to make another controversial post on Facebook (Oh, we will get to that later). Marty Jannetty chooses to post this.
Freaking idiot. Why in the world would you post about making a man disappear, aka murder/disappearance, and then decide to link a photo of another woman?
It is so stupid, and of course, the Police were investigating this. They did not find any evidence that anything occurred, but his friends Karen Walker and Al Snow have known this for years, and it is one of the few times they have believed him.
The craziest part of the documentary was that Jannetty admitted that he made it up. The reason why he did it was so that he could get back into the wrestling world. What wrestling company would even agree to do this type of segment or story in their promotion? Especially in the indie wrestling market, where they're trying to profit. This would have sunk the promotion.
Also, Marty's ankle is so messed up. How in the world would any wrestling company want even to touch Marty to wrestle? He can't even get out of trouble with the law and is super undependable. Marty Jannetty coming up with that as a way to get back into wrestling is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard of, and it is such an excuse. I am surprised he did not use his GAT excuse for posting that.
The further this episode goes, the more I believe Karen Walker (a friend of Marty). Karen said, "You can't believe 99% of what Marty says".
Even though I would still trust him over Hulk Hogan, Marty just can't be trustworthy with what he says. I heavily doubt that Marty even made a man 'disappear' in the way he described, as his story does not make any sense, and the police could not find any evidence regarding his story.
2. How Has Marty Jannetty Not Been Banned On Facebook?
I firmly believe that one of the worst inventions that has ever been made in society is social media—one of the reasons why is the insane and crazy stuff that gets posted there. A prominent example of that fact coming out of this episode is Marty Jannetty's Facebook.
I already knew about him allegedly posting about killing a man, but there is so much more stuff he has posted on there that is just insanity.
Jannetty once tweeted about Obama and how he only became black when it was cool to be black. Jannetty also has constant posts about his drug use and many slurs, both racial and homophobic. He even went on Facebook to ask if a woman looked 20 years old, as the age of consent in Alabama is 20.
He also posted asking a question whether he should have sex with a woman who he thought was his daughter. This is just creepy as hell, and he made so many more posts on there, but I don't want to get into it as it is just too creepy.
Also, in the documentary, Marty claims that the post alone was only put up because somebody hacked into his phone and posted it on Facebook. Yeah, and I'm Batman, pal. You tell me which is more believable.
In the heading, I asked, "How has Marty Jannetty not been banned on Facebook for some of the stuff he has put on there?" The number of crazy posts made is mind-boggling, and Facebook has allowed this stuff on their platform.
I don't know who is worse on social media, Marty Jannetty or Antonio Brown. Knowing how much of a trainwreck Antonio Brown is nowadays is pretty telling.
1. Marty Jannetty Is A Prime Example Of Wasted Potential
This, to me, is the most significant revelation from the documentary. I always believed that Marty Jannetty was simply a wrestler who suffered from poor booking, declined after his ankle injury, and was overwhelmed by his legal issues in the 90s.
However, I was unaware of the numerous opportunities and second chances that Marty Jannetty received and squandered. So many opportunities were presented to Marty Jannetty. He possessed immense potential, and I firmly believe that if he had capitalized on his opportunities, he and Shawn Michaels would be leading NXT. Michaels would be at the helm, while Jannetty would serve as a top coach in a role similar to Matt Bloom's.
Unfortunately, Jannetty couldn't maintain focus, and it's unclear if he even wants to help himself. I recall an incident years ago, not mentioned in the documentary, where Bushwacker Luke attempted to connect Jannetty with Diamond Dallas Page, who had successfully aided the likes of Scott Hall, Buff Bagwell, and Jake Roberts. However, Jannetty backed out of that opportunity.
It's truly disheartening to witness the trajectory of Marty Jannetty's life and career today. What a tragedy that he squandered his potential, leaving us with yet another 'what if' scenario surrounding his legacy. Despite his undeniable talent in the ring, Marty proved to be his own worst enemy.
It's a shame to see such wasted potential, and Marty Jannetty will unfortunately be remembered as a cautionary tale in the wrestling world. Aspiring pro wrestlers should take heed of Marty's story and understand the consequences of his actions. One thing is for sure: The World, according To Marty Jannetty, is a terrifying place.
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