Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring is coming to VICE TV in the UK in June. The six-episode series that examines the collision of fantasy and reality in the universe of professional wrestling – the only sport whose stars’ larger-than-life characters exist in (and often out of) the ring. The series tells some of the dark and untold stories around some of the sport’s all-time greats – stories that obsess hardcore wrestling fans alike.

Topics include the tragic love story of Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage and Miss Elizabeth, the infamous ‘Montreal Screwjob’ which stripped Bret Hart of his title, the locker room altercation that led to the death of Bruiser Brody, as well as the dark history of the Von Erich wrestling dynasty, the controversial death of ‘Gorgeous’ Gino Hernandez and a look at the allegations against legendary female star The Fabulous Moolah.

Dark Side of the Ring has been a huge hit for the US network, where it has generated the channels best-ever ratings, garnered critical acclaim and social media attention of from such WWE legends as Hulk Hogan and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. To date, the series has been ranked within the top 100 best original shows in the US.

Guiding viewers through the stories is narrator Dutch Mantell, a leading authority on the sport and a retired manager, booker and wrestler with over 40 years in the game.

Dark Side of the Ring premieres with “The Killing of Bruiser Brody” on VICE TV at 10 pm on Wednesday 5th June. It is a VICE CANADA production, produced by Evan Husney and directed by Jason Eisener (“Hobo with a Shotgun”). Ed Hatton is the series producer and VICE’s Chris Grosso is executive producer. Wrestling might be fixed, but it’s as real as life gets, as Dark Side of the Ring proves.

VICE TV is available on SKY (183), TALKTALK (338), VIRGIN (219), NOW TV, TVPLAYER, BT TV (SD channel 338, HD channel 391), the  BT Player and BT TV App. More extracts and extra scenes are available on Viceland’s YouTube Channel.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TAUzyHSjSQ&w=727&h=409]