Dark Side Of The Ring Announced Its Season 6 Episodes, And There Are 2 I'm Really Fired Up About

A reenactment of Big Van Vader on Dark Side of the Ring

(Image credit: Vice)

Ever since Dark Side of the Ring debuted back in 2019, the Vice TV documentary series has pulled back the curtain, so to speak, on some of wrestling’s biggest controversies, tragedies, and stars going way back to the early days. With the show’s sixth season set to premiere on the 2025 TV schedule before the end of March, I’ve been getting fired up about what’s become one of the best wrestling shows around.

Though I’m excited to watch all 10 episodes, including the premiere about the infamous Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring ‘98, there are two stories that I’m particularly fired up about with Dark Side of the Ring Season 6. Come with me as I break down the pair of wrestlers whose stories I cannot wait to dive into when the show returns in a couple of weeks…

Big Van Vader

When I was a kid, few wrestlers captured my attention and imagination quite like Big Van Vader, a remarkably agile superheavyweight who had big moments in WCW, WWE, and pretty much any major promotion around the world. To this day, he’s always the first wrestler I unlock on the WWE 2K games just so I can hear “It’s time, it’s time, it’s Vader time” before that screeching guitar track picks up.

Leon Allen White, who passed away at 63 in 2018, just a few years before being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022, was always presented as one of the biggest, strongest, and most devastating heels in the wrestling world. However, from stories I’ve heard over the years, he was also a kind and gentle giant who was on the receiving end of some harsh treatment and bullying from his peers. I’m not sure how much Dark Side of the Ring will dig into that part of Vader’s story, but I really hope people come out of the episode having a better understanding of one of the greatest to ever step into the squared circle.

Tony Atlas

Tony Atlas (real name Anthony White), a transformative wrestler who helped pave the way for African-American stars in the ‘90s and beyond, was one of the strongest, fiercest, and hardest-working strong men in the history of the sport. From his days of dominating the NWA territorial system to working in WWE on multiple occasions to honing his craft in NJPW, there was nothing the bodybuilder-turned-wrestler couldn’t do in the ring.

But, the aspect of the 2006 WWE Hall of Fame inductee’s career that has me the most excited for his episode is the fact that he was a major force in the industry when some crazy stuff was going down. From being there the night Bruiser Brody was murdered in Puerto Rico (this was covered in the show’s first season) to working in a tense locker room in WWE, Atlas saw it all. With a full episode devoted to him, I can’t wait to see how this unfolds.

These are just two stories that will be explored in Dark Side of the Ring Season 6. Based on the show’s trailer, the return of this great true crime series will also focus on Hell in a Cell, Ludvig Borga, Billy Jack Haynes, “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert, “Superstar” Billy Graham, Daffney, The Original Sheik, and Muhammad Hassan when it premieres on March 25th.

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Philip grew up in Louisiana (not New Orleans) before moving to St. Louis after graduating from Louisiana State University-Shreveport. When he's not writing about movies or television, Philip can be found being chased by his three kids, telling his dogs to stop barking at the mailman, or chatting about professional wrestling to his wife. Writing gigs with school newspapers, multiple daily newspapers, and other varied job experiences led him to this point where he actually gets to write about movies, shows, wrestling, and documentaries (which is a huge win in his eyes). If the stars properly align, he will talk about For Love Of The Game being the best baseball movie of all time.