Dark Side of the Ring: Why Evan Husney and Jason Eisener Made a Plane Ride From Hell Episode

Dark Side of the Ring returned with the first episode of the second half of Season 3 this week, recapping the infamous Plane Ride From Hell from 2002. While many of the incidents from the flight have been recapped over the years in various interviews and lawsuits, fans were given a stark look at just how depraved some of the wrestlers' actions were, particularly when a flight attendant, Heidi Doyle, recapped being allegedly sexually assaulted by both Ric Flair and a heavily drugged Scott Hall. 

The show's creators, Evan Husney and Jason Eisener, sat down with ComicBook prior to the episode's premiere and explained why they chose to cover this particular incident.

"Since the beginning of the show, it's been any time we've interfaced with friends, family, or fans, it's always been when are doing the Plane Ride From Hell? It's always been at the forefront of an episode suggestion and truth be told, I think that the knowledge of what's out there about the events that took place on that ill-fated flight is I think for us always been us trying to wrap our heads around how it could be an episode," Husney said. "Where's the human angle? Where's that quality that's going to transcend it beyond just a party gone crazy in the sky?

"And so, we always put it off, but the demand was so overwhelming for it, but once we started to dig into researching it and talking to some people who were on the flight, man, it was really eyeopening," he continued. "And that story, that real Dark Side of the Ring human story really did start to emerge from it. And I do think that for us, I think, yeah. It really surprised us in terms of how well it sort of came together as a story. But I think it's definitely going to be a conversation, water cooler moment in the wrestling sphere when this thing drops next week."

Since the episode first aired both Ric Flair and Tommy Dreamer (who repeatedly defended Flair and downplayed Doyle's accusations throughout the episode) have been reprimanded. Dreamer has been suspended indefinitely from his position at Impact Wrestling, while Flair had his ad campaign with Car Shield halted. Flair has been a free agent since WWE granted him his release back in August. 

Dark Side of the Ring will return with a new episode this coming Thursday, covering the life of Chris Kanyon.