Insane Insights From Dark Side Of The Ring - Collision In Korea
When many discuss a controversial PPV there are a lot of shows that come to mind. The Sweet Saudi Money shows WWE does in Saudi Arabia is often named. However, in my opinion one of the most controversial and craziest pro wrestling shows is the Collision in Korea show in 1995, that involved WCW and NJPW. Dark Side of the Ring did an episode on it, and it was very interesting.
10. WCW Wanted To Strengthen Its Relationship With NJPW
Eric Bischoff had multiple goals when it came to WCW. The two key goals were to reach a global audience and to repair the relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. At the time it was super strained, and Bischoff wanted to fix it, and get top Japan talent to work WCW shows. Bischoff would even allow WCW wrestlers to go to Japan, and it would help WCW in reaching the Japanese market. The first step was to do a joint show, and that was Collision in Korea.
9. The Original Main Event Plan Was Antonio Inoki vs Hulk Hogan
When planning out the show, the main event was a lot different. The original plan was to have Hulk Hogan face Antonio Inoki in the main event. When Eric Bischoff asked Hogan, he responded with “Can’t make that one brother.”
Inoki doesn't blame him for doing that, as he is a very careful man, and wasn't surprised. With Hogan out, Bischoff had to go with Plan B in Ric Flair. Flair agreed to go, although he was a bit upset that he was the second choice.
8. Why Do a Show in North Korea?
Korea and Japan have been enemies for many years, and Inoki wanted to ensure peace. Some of the wrestlers were willing to go and some were nervous. Eric Bischoff admitted that he didn't even tell the higher-ups in WCW that they were going. This is insane, especially if their top star (Ric Flair) was going there as well. Bischoff could have gone to the Federal Government, but that could have taken 6 months to get cleared, but due to his connections in the media he just went.
7. Muhammad Ali Went With Them To The Show
North Korea didn't want to get just the wrestlers, but also a big-name star from America as well. The crew got Muhammad Ali to go with them on this trip. The documentary shows footage of Muhammad Ali in the airport doing magic tricks to entertain everyone. Having both Antonio Inoki and Muhammad Ali go with them on the trip really made the professional wrestlers calmer.
6. North Korea Took Their Passports From Them
North Korea's government sent a military plane to pick everyone up for the show. This plane was built in the 1940s and everyone was uncomfortable. Scorpio looked out the window and saw the tanks pointed at the border of North and South Korea. When they landed, the North Koreans searched their bags, and took anything American from them. A big item they took from everyone was their passports. That terrified both Flair and Scorpio, and everyone who went for the show.
5. North Korea Bugged Scott Norton's Phone
After all this craziness and silence, Scott Norton decided to make a call home. Well, his wife was not happy, thinking he was ignoring her and partying with the boys. While speaking to her, he said, "You don't understand the type of s***hole that were in". All of a sudden the phone went dead, and the government of North Korea was knocking on the door.
Norton was taken to a room, with top military personnel. A top member spoke to him in English, and told him you can't say anything bad about our country, and we are a superior country. They bugged Scott Norton's phone, were listening, and cut it off. Norton was terrified, but they let him go when Inoki smoothed things over with the Korean government.
4. Hawk and Scorpio Legit Fight
With all the craziness of being in North Korea, it just got even crazier. Both Road Animal Hawk and 2 Cold Scorpio got into a legit fight.
This fight happened mainly because Scorpio had heat with Ric Flair, and believed Flair cost him his WCW job. Hawk kept riding with Ric Flair, and one day they decided to go with the boys on the bus. Scorpio wasn't happy about that, and said, "F*** that p**** let him ride by himself.”. That angered Hawk, and when he asked Scorpio to repeat it, he responded "What part didn’t you understand? The p**** part or the ride by himself part?"
That response angered Hawk, and they both got into a fight. Scorpio claims Hawk used a racial slur as well, and they punched each other like crazy. Not only was Hawk bleeding all over the place, but Scorpio almost knocked Hawk's eye out of his socket. While Scorpio claims he won the fight, at the time Hawk was battling Hepatitis C, and was on drugs that made him weak.
3. 2 Cold Scorpio Does Not Come Across Well At All
In the aftermath, Scorpio tried to work things out, but another altercation happened between them. Scorpio then realized that he needed to take things to the next level. What he did, was smuggling a set of steel chopsticks to his room, and making a shiv. He planned to use that shiv to murder Hawk in North Korea. He got talked out of doing it by CHRIS BENOIT!!!! Which is crazy knowing what Benoit did to his family on his final days.
With the festival ending, Hawk and Scorpio had a final face-to-face in an elevator. Scorpio asked if they wanted to finish it, but Hawk apologized because the dude had no more steroids. Scorpio accepted the apology, but stated the following “he got an ass whopping and learned Scorpio isn’t one to mess with, I’ll tell you that s***.”
No, Scorpio you would have gotten beaten up if Hawk didn't have Hepatitis. Honestly, Scorpio doesn't come across well in this documentary at all, and he sounds like an idiot for the plan to try and murder Hawk.
2. The Tragedy of Rikidozan
The documentary briefly covered the tragedy of Rikidozan. He is one of the professional wrestlers that trained Antonio Inoki. He was North Korean, but had to keep that a secret due to his popularity in the Japanese pro wrestling scene. However, the Yakuza figured that out and murdered him in 1963, solely due to the hatred that the Yakuza had for the North Koreans. With how he was still loyal to the North Koreans, he was a figure many of the people there knew, and that helped Inoki in this PPV.
1. The Crowd Was Forced To Attend And Were Dead Silent
This PPV was one of the most highly attended shows in pro wrestling history, at around 170,000 people. When Scott Norton saw, he was really surprised, and thought this was a tremendous deal. Here is the problem, the people who went, were forced to attend. The weirdest part of this PPV, is that the crowd was silent, and had no idea what was happening. Road Warrior Hawk was super angry, and asked them why they were there. It was quiet until the last match, when Antonio Inoki faced Ric Flair.
My Thoughts On Dark Side Of The Ring: Collision In Korea
For as much of a malcontent as Eric Bischoff is today, It's nice to see him smile, and be positive for once. This event is up there as one of the craziest shows ever done. Honestly, I don't know which is more controversial, this or the many Saudi Arabia shows. At least they didn't get stuck on the tarmac in North Korea, like WWE previously did in Saudi Arabia years ago.
I wish Ric Flair, Scott Steiner, and Rick Steiner were interviewed for this. However, at the time, the three were on legends deals with WWE, and were not going to participate in this. That is a shame, because I want to hear their perspectives on the show.
There's one other thing that they should have mentioned in this documentary, it is the incident between Kensuke Sasaki and Akira Hokuto. For many that don't know, both Sasaki and Hokuto are currently married, and both wrestlers met on this show. They immediately fell in love, and one night both decided to hook up. They were loud when doing the "Horizontal Mombo" if you get where I'm going here. It woke up almost everyone in the hotel, and it resulted in the cops being called. Not 4 months later, both would get married.
Collision in Korea has not been posted on Peacock of the WWE network. It's either that this show is too controversial to upload, or New Japan Pro Wrestling has the rights to the film. If you want to watch the show, it is all over the internet. This was a well-done documentary and I strongly recommend that you watch this episode.