Dark Side of the Ring's third season is nearing its end and this latest run of episodes may have caused more waves in the industry than any to have come before it. Between the allegations made against Ric Flair and the reminder of the on-air phone calls made to Chris Kanyon more than a decade ago, it has been a particularly dark few weeks for Dark Side of the Ring.
This week, the docuseries tackled someone many wrestling fans might have never even heard of. Known as Johnny K-9 to some and Bruiser Bedlam to others, the episode on the wrestler very much paints two different stories. One of an intimidating man who couldn't have been nicer, but also of a man involved in biker gangs, bombings, and who went to prison for his role in a murder towards the end of his life.
Working WWE And Meeting The Love Of His Life
One of the first clips shown explains how Johnny K-9 came to get that name. It really is as simple as it sounds. While under arrest, he noticed a police dog van with K-9 written on it. That was all it took to persuade Johnny that should be his wrestling name.
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Johnny first rose to prominence in the 1980s as an enhancement talent for WWE. He would wrestle and lose to all of the company's biggest stars, making a name for himself in the process. That run would eventually come to an end at which point Johnny bulked up and attempted to make a name for himself on the indies.
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It's at that time he met his future wife Tracy Edwards. Edwards is a big part of the episode. She was an exotic dancer at the time and she met Johnny in a club during the early '90s. Tracy claims she knew the two of them were destined to be together as soon as she saw him walk in.
Tracy details the rough upbringing Johnny had, explaining that his father would beat him up as a child. That made Johnny want to prove he was the toughest in the room from a young age. Impact EVP Scott D'Amore was close friends with Johnny and explains he had a switch that could go off at any point. That happened one time when a promoter underpaid D'Amore. Johnny threatened him and got D'Amore his money.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Johnny's wrestling career peaked when he was asked to come to Smoky Mountain Wrestling by Jim Cornette. Cornette saw Johnny on an independent show and brought him in to be his top heel. That's where Johnny was renamed Bruiser Bedlam. Johnny beat Bob Armstrong on his first night in Smoky Mountain which was a big deal.
A package from Smoky Mountain is shown of Johnny hitting nails into a plank of wood with his bare hands. Cornette also tells a story about Johnny wanting to break a real glass bottle over his own head. He hits himself with it three times but it doesn't break. Cornette finally convinces Johnny to let him weaken the bottle so it will break over his head more easily.
Randy Savage comes to wrestle at Smoky Mountain for a one-off show. Savage asks Cornette if Johnny is his top guy, and when he tells him yes, Macho Man insists that Johnny win their match. That makes Johnny a big deal in Smoky Mountain, but after his run on top, Cornette says he has nothing else for him and Johnny moves on.
A Life Of Crime
Tracy says that even though Johnny was making good money wrestling at that time in his life, there was still another side to him that he couldn't give up. Johnny was a high-ranking member of the Satan's Choice motorcycle club. That involved working for an organized crime family in Hamilton, Ontario. Tracy says he would often come home with blood on his hands and boots.
His involvement with the criminal world wouldn't become a major issue until an incident with another chapter of Satan's Choice in Sudbury, Ontario. Johnny visits a club called Solid Gold with other members of Satan's Choice. They refuse to remove their club's colors which is against the rules and results in them having a standoff with the police.
The leader of the other club arranges for the club to be bombed, something Johnny is on board and involved with. However, without Johnny knowing, the target is changed from the club to a police station. The bomb is placed in an alley next to the station and blows a hole in the wall.
The police eventually take down the gang after the bombing and Johnny is taken in for questioning. Johnny gives up the name of the other chapter's leader who is responsible for changing the location of the bombing. Johnny is subsequently kicked out of the gang for being a “rat”. He eventually goes to prison for the bombing in 2000, at which point Tracy takes their child and moves to Vancouver.
All Paths Lead Back To Jail
Johnny is released in 2002 and tracks Tracy down. He tries to convince her he's a changed man but is arrested again a little while later and charged with a double murder that happened four years prior. Johnny spends 20 months in jail but is eventually released due to a lack of evidence.Johnny sues afterwards and receives an undisclosed settlement.
Tracy and Johnny end up getting remarried in 2007, at which point the wrestler makes some headway in the movie business. He can't resist a life of crime though and becomes a member of the UN gang. A clash between the UN and another gang goes wrong and results in the death of an innocent man. This time Johnny does go to prison for it and is in there for four years for the part he played.
After four years Johnny is released from prison but only to a halfway house. In 2017, police officers show up at Tracy's door asking if she knows Johnny. She's expecting to be told he is wanted for something else, so is left in a state of shock when they reveal Johnny has passed away at the age of 53.
Johnny's cause of death is the topic of a lot of controversy. Each of the people talking about him during the episode gives a different explanation. While the official cause seems to be a heart attack, there's a belief among some that it was caused via an injection from someone wanting to kill him. Others claim his lungs needed to be scraped after his death which suggests being maced by officers caused his death. In the papers, his death is covered as a high level gang affiliate not being able to outrun natural causes.
