Jim Ross has revealed that the upcoming season of ‘Dark Side of the Ring’ will feature an episode detailing the infamous ‘Plane Ride from Hell.’
During a recent interview with Sports Media Podcast, Ross told host Richard Deitsch that he had recently spent time with the crew from Vice’s hit series. Jim admitted that, although the topic will make for compelling television, he does not like to remember that fateful flight:
“Yesterday, I spent four hours with the Dark of the Ring guys here in my home in Florida and talked about the plane ride from hell. I told them in the beginning, I said, ‘I don’t like this topic, I don’t like remembering this bulls***.’ It was a bad day at the office. It was one of the more darker days during my tenure as head of talent relations, but it’s going to make a hell of a special for Dark Side of the Ring, that was spawned by what they heard Conrad and I talking about on this podcast [Grilling JR].”
The ‘Plane Ride from Hell’ took place following the UK exclusive pay-per-view Insurrextion in May 2002. During a flight that has becoming legendary among wrestling fans, several performers were involved in incidents that would result in fines, lawsuits and, in the cases of Scott Hall and Curt Hennig, releases from the company.
Amid the chaos, Brock Lesnar and Hennig fought in the aisle, reportedly slamming into a door that almost open mid-flight. Michael Hayes would lose his famous ponytail after an altercation with John ‘Bradshaw’ Layfield, and Ric Flair reportedly stripped to down to nothing but his robe. Upon landing Scott Hall, who was battling addiction issues at the time, was reportedly removed from the flight in a wheelchair due to being severely intoxicated.
Following the journey, Jim Ross would take to WWE.com to write a scathing report on the incident, comparing the behaviour of WWE Superstars to that of children:
“The [plane ride from hell] flight was about seven hours in length and at times was low-lighted by a handful of people who consumed too much alcohol and consequently acted like children whose parents were away and left the liquor cabinet unlocked. The conduct of this inebriated minority was unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Procedures have been put in place to ensure such conduct does not occur in the future.”
Though no official release date for ‘Dark Side of the Ring’ season 3 has been announced, several episode topics have been revealed.
It has been confirmed that the season premiere will delve into the life of Brian Pillman and will feature an interview with ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.
Other topics set to be examined in the new season include ‘The Dynamite Kid’ Tom Billington, Xtreme Pro Wrestling, Chris Kanyon, The Smith Family (featuring Jake Roberts), Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and the WCW/NJPW ‘Collision in Korea’ event in 1995.