Dark Side Of The Ring - Collision In Korea FULL RECAP
In one of the most bizarre acts of political theatre, wrestlers deployed to North Korea found themselves trapped in a surreal nightmare leaving some fighting for their lives. Read the full Dark Side of the Ring recap.
The Intro
In 1995, a group of professional wrestlers who deployed to communist-ruled North Korea to partake in one of the most bizarre diplomatic missions ever conceived.
Eric Bischoff joked, what’s bigger than two big shows in Pyongyang, North Korea? Vince can’t do that!
Over 300,000 locals gather to witness Collision in Korea. Wrestlers were pawns in this high-risk act of political theatre.
Scott Norton described the experience as being in the Twilight Zone while wrestlers were constantly under strict surveillance.
The Episode
Eric Bischoff is first introduced from his ranch in Cody, Wyoming. Eric described his initial experience in WCW as a fly on the wall where he could see things happen from a perspective that the current management often didn’t see. He witnessed a fair bit of fraud and theft as that fly on the wall. When he was made Vice President, he instituted a lot of changes.
By 1994, WCW was still seen as a regional promotion and if it has any chance of competing against WWF, they had to reach a wider, global wrestling audience.
One of first things Eric did was re-establish a failed relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Apparently, WCW had taken some shakey tactics and left the Japanese with a very bitter taste in their mouth, in terms of doing business with Americans.
Eric then brought over many of the top Japanese names such as Jushin Liger, Ultimo Dragon and Great Muta on a consistent basis. Eric also sent over many WCW names to Japan, so it offered dual benefit while gaining new exposure.
While WWF ran several mammoth events, Eric Bischoff then received a once in a lifetime opportunity to participate in one of his own.
Antonio Inoki was the Chairman of NJPW and reached out to Eric and asked him if he would be willing and interested in bringing the WCW roster over to North Korea to compete in a Peace Festival.
Eric Bischoff described Inoki as the Vince McMahon of Japan and a great athlete.
Scott Norton is introduced and describes Inoki as the most popular athlete he’s ever seen in his life.
2 Cold Scorpio makes his appearance by noting Inoki would slap the taste out of your mouth.
Scorpio described Inoki as Hulk Hogan, but two times above that level in Japan.
Inoki was not only running NJPW while competing as a major attraction, but also a well known politician.
In 1976, Inoki combined wrestler and boxing for a match against Muhammad Ali. He also used the sport to negotiate the release of Japanese hostages held in Iraq.
Antonio Inoki gets introduced with translated text appearing on screen. He noted, all of the factors came together and led him to create a political group called The Sports and Peace Party. In terms of public opinion, He was always taking on challenges that the government disagreed with.
Inoki would visit North Korea on multiple occasions and when he got there, he half-heartedly asked the officials if he should introduce pro wrestling to everyone. Immediately, an executive committee was formed and the performance was planned for the following April for the anniversary. of King II-sung’s birth. They wanted to invite world-famous “Big Name” guests. People like Michael Jackson and others came up.
Inoki asked Bischoff if he could arrange a meeting with Muhammad Ali. In fact, Ali was excited about it since he always wanted to break down barriers.
When asked if it was difficult to get the talent on board, Bischoff laughed and noted it was a comedy. At the time, Hulk Hogan was the biggest name in wrestling, and Inoki wanted him there. Bischoff noted he asked, but Hulk replied with, “Can’t make that one, brother.”
Inoki would say, “I think Hulk Hogan is a careful man, so I would not be surprised that he declined.”
Plan B was Ric Flair.
When Scott Norton was asked who first pitched him the idea of North Korea, he shared that he was sitting in the locker room and was told he would be there. Many of the Japanese wrestlers were going nuts, so naturally, Scott asked what was going on and was told, “North Korea? They want us dead. They don’t like us very much.”
Scorpio was excited to go somewhere else in the world.
Bischoff noted that at the time, America viewed North Korea as a hostile enemy and Americans weren’t really meant to be there. Bischoff didn’t ask the Federal Government or even tell his boss.
Joining Scorpio, Scott Norton and Ric Flair was Road Warrior Hawk, the Steiner Brothers and Chris Benoit.
Norton brought up a story of how he, Hawk, the Steiner’s and others were in the airport surrounding by reporters, but once Ali arrived, they went directly to him instead, since he was a boxing hero and one of the most recognizable people in the world.
Ali then started doing magic tricks for the wrestlers with footage shown.
Scott noted that with Ali and Inoki present, the wrestlers felt very comfortable.
The North Korean Military sent over a plane to Tokyo. It wasn’t a comfortable ride and was likely built in the 1940s, joked Norton.
Bischoff felt others starting to get nervous.
Scorpio looked out the window and saw cannons from North Korea and South Korea pointed at each other.
When the wrestlers arrived at the airport, no one was there. Scott Norton mentioned that there was dust piled high everywhere inside the airport terminal. Anything to do with America, North Korean officials would seize. They snatched the passports of each wrestler too.
Former CNN Correspondent Mike Chinoy noted that in North Korea, it’s like looking through the looking glass. It’s an odd experience and an entirely different society. His assignment was to cover this big wrestling event. He noted this was one of the weirdest most bizarre events he ever witnessed as a journalist.
Bischoff explained that they were paired off into twos and escorted to their cars.
Sonny Onoo is introduced by revealing his badge from the trip. The Japanese government explained they could not guarantee their safety. The Americans and Japanese were evil to North Korea.
North Korea was using the wrestlers for propaganda purposes and had them deliver bouquets of flowers to the statue of their fallen leader who passed a year prior.
At the hotel, the military would follow each wrestler around while standing outside their rooms.
2 Cold Scorpio brought up how there were three channels on the television with each being political, so there was nothing to do.
Scott Norton went to see Hawk down the hall, but he was getting annoyed by being followed. Hawk, Benoit, Norton and a couple of guys went down to the lobby to play pool. It took two hours for them to receive the pool balls from the front desk. At one point, Scott accidentally bounced one of the balls off the table as it bounced on the marble floor. The military officials were quite agitated by this, so the game was over.
Scott Norton, Scott Steiner and Hawk were each ready to fight them. Norton in particular was close to grabbing these officials.
The wrestlers were desperately looking for ways to cope.
Eric Bischoff decided to get up and run in the morning without letting anyone know. The streets were completely deserted. As individuals started appearing, everyone moved out of the way and was terrorized. Eric realized how easy it is to facilitate hate and fear and how dangerous it is.
A bus incident in brought up between 2 Cold Scorpio and Hawk. Scorpio noted he had heat with Flair. Hawk and Flair were riding together, but Hawk decided to ride the bus with everyone else. When Flair was seen looking around, Scorpio said, “f*ck that p**sy, let him ride by himself.” Hawk then got mad about it and the two came to blows. Scorpio described getting the best of Hawk while Norton noted that Hawk was on medication for Hep C which made him very ill, so that wasn’t the best he had to offer. “A regular Mike would have killed his ass.”
Scott called his wife, but he was upset, figuring that he was out partying with the boys. Meanwhile, he was attempting to explain the bizarre conditions they were facing. There was a knock on the door and Scott was forcibly taken away by guards.
Scott was taken to a room where he felt that at any point in time, he was going to be shot. An individual who spoke perfect English entered the room and noted that Scott cannot speak ill about North Korea and if anything negative is said, that’s it. Scott apologized profusely just to get out of this room.
Before the grand event, the wrestlers got ushered to one last propaganda opportunity which was a visit to a sacred tomb honouring the founder of Korea’s first kingdom.
Muhammad Ali then took off his jacket, ran up to the top of his temple and started shadow boxing. Scott noted being blown away with Scorpio also agreeing that it made his entire trip.
2 Cold Scorpio then attempted to apologize to Hawk but was met with a punch that didn’t take him down. Several Japanese wrestlers then intervened.
Scorpio then grabbed two steel chopsticks and slipped them in his pocket during dinner. Back in the room with Chris Benoit, Scorpio was sharpening the steel chopsticks on the window. Benoit said, don’t do it. If you kill Hawk over here, you will be here for the rest of your life.
Several surviving days of bizarre conditions, the wrestlers head to Rungrado 1st of May Stadium.
Scott Norton was riding with Ric Flair and said to Nature Boy, wow, look at all the people, we’re really going to draw a crowd. The driver noted that if these citizens didn’t show up, they would receive a bullet in the head. Forced attendance.
170,000 were present in the first evening.
Norton said the opening ceremony made the Superbowl look like a high school gig.
Bischoff noted when the first match started that he realized, no one in attendance had any clue what they were watching and why they were watching it.
It was eerily quiet.
Scott joked that Hawk got onto the second rope and cussed the crowd out.
A story was shared about how Antonio Inoki’s master was killed by the Japanese Mafia because they discovered he was North Korean.
With Inoki’s relation to his North Korean master, it gave him credibility with the audience.
During Inoki’s match with Flair, they eventually started to make some noise to support Inoki, which was the first time they reacted in two days.
When Inoki won, Scott Norton joked, this may have been the first time the audience experienced excitement in their lives.
As the event draws to a close, a final ceremonial dinner is about to take place.
Scorpio and Hawk end up face to face with Hawk admitting that he’s out of pills, booze etc and apologized for his behaviour, which Scorpio accepted.
On the day they left, Bischoff brought up how everyone was mentally and physically tired. Once the passports were handed back and they arrived back in Japan that they felt safe again.
Ric Flair literally got off the plane and kissed the ground.
Inoki lost his re-election bid and stayed out of politics for several years.
Scott Norton brought up that wrestling in front of Muhammad Ali made the trip worth it.
2 Cold Scorpio that wrestling in front of that massive audience is the only edge he has over Hulk Hogan.
Eric joked that Vince McMahon was probably made that a wrestling event outdrew WrestleMania, but at least those fans paid to attend since the audience in North Korea were forced to be there.
Scott Norton’s comparison to the Twilight Zone (one of my all-time favourites) was quite accurate as this entire event and episode felt particularly surreal.