It was definately a shocker to me when I found out that WCW and NJPW performed a massive show in North Korea (NK), out of all countries. A record attendence of about 180 000 people, the most out of all wrestling events! I wanted to know more, what exactly impulsed both companies' cooperation to perform in NK, what were the experiences the wrestlers had to be put through, what were the consequences for WCW to promote this show on a type of "no man's land" territory, etc. Also, Muhammad Ali, Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair were all there! Therefore, I was definately waiting for this episode to air so badly.
While I enjoyed the episode for explaining and showing the implications of what it was like to step foot in NK (though I had a particular idea how) and how they, and wrestling in general, were "received" there, I kinda was expecting a bit more in terms of explaining the full disclosure of the Collision in Korea. But I suppose I was expecting too much, because in the end no one was actually trully, badly affected or had a disasterous experience in NK. All the crew from WCW and NJPW went to NK and came home normally.
What bothered me the most on this episode was the participants who testifyed their experience in NK. Bischoff seemed to be having fun most of the time while explaining his experience, but in the end it was all for him to compare his 'genius' plan to surpass WWF's ratings and it was summarized in the way of "The record of attendants for a wrestling show was for WCW in NK. I did that! Not even WWF's Wrestlemania events achieved this record!", while ignoring the fact that 99% of the people on the May Day Stadium were forced to attend. Coolio's testement was basically explaining why he and Hawk got heat through the entire journey in NK, barely exposing his own experience in the event itself. Sonny Ono, who appeared to have more info to explain the entire situation from beginning to end, had very little screen time which I don't understand why. Antonio Inoki, while I respect him and his accomplishments, was focused more on the more political side of the Collision, and I wish he could've exposed more about his feelings and thoughts of how he was seen and even congratulated in NK. The only one who I find to actually explain the true feeling of being in NK and who I was really interested in listening was Scott Norton. Also, I really wished Vice could've gotten Ric Flair to participate in this episode since he was a core element of the entire event.
All in all, it was a solid episode for Dark Side of the Ring, way better than the previous one though that isn't saying much. However, I could say that my expectations were a bit too high on this one given the circumstances that proved to have no general impact on both wrestlers or even WCW's outcomes. I felt that the whole event should've left a huge impact on the wrestling business, but instead the whole reason fell more as a propaganda for WCW to surpass WWF's popularity. And years later we all know how that turned out to be.
While I enjoyed the episode for explaining and showing the implications of what it was like to step foot in NK (though I had a particular idea how) and how they, and wrestling in general, were "received" there, I kinda was expecting a bit more in terms of explaining the full disclosure of the Collision in Korea. But I suppose I was expecting too much, because in the end no one was actually trully, badly affected or had a disasterous experience in NK. All the crew from WCW and NJPW went to NK and came home normally.
What bothered me the most on this episode was the participants who testifyed their experience in NK. Bischoff seemed to be having fun most of the time while explaining his experience, but in the end it was all for him to compare his 'genius' plan to surpass WWF's ratings and it was summarized in the way of "The record of attendants for a wrestling show was for WCW in NK. I did that! Not even WWF's Wrestlemania events achieved this record!", while ignoring the fact that 99% of the people on the May Day Stadium were forced to attend. Coolio's testement was basically explaining why he and Hawk got heat through the entire journey in NK, barely exposing his own experience in the event itself. Sonny Ono, who appeared to have more info to explain the entire situation from beginning to end, had very little screen time which I don't understand why. Antonio Inoki, while I respect him and his accomplishments, was focused more on the more political side of the Collision, and I wish he could've exposed more about his feelings and thoughts of how he was seen and even congratulated in NK. The only one who I find to actually explain the true feeling of being in NK and who I was really interested in listening was Scott Norton. Also, I really wished Vice could've gotten Ric Flair to participate in this episode since he was a core element of the entire event.
All in all, it was a solid episode for Dark Side of the Ring, way better than the previous one though that isn't saying much. However, I could say that my expectations were a bit too high on this one given the circumstances that proved to have no general impact on both wrestlers or even WCW's outcomes. I felt that the whole event should've left a huge impact on the wrestling business, but instead the whole reason fell more as a propaganda for WCW to surpass WWF's popularity. And years later we all know how that turned out to be.
