All language subtitles for Dark Side Of The Ring s03e04 The Collision in Korea.eng

♪

[Narrator] In 1995, a group of
professional wrestlers

were deployed to
communist-ruled North Korea,

to partake in one of the
most bizarre diplomatic

missions ever conceived.

What could be more
international than having

two big shows in
Pyongyang, North Korea?

Vince can't do that.
[laughs]

I run out and I look up,
and I actually see the stadium,

and the crowd,
and the people.

And I just stop.

Over 300,000 locals gathered
to witness Collision in Korea.

It was unbelievable.

A wrestling extravaganza
orchestrated in the name of

world peace,
which in reality,

casts wrestlers as unwitting
players in a high-risk act

of political theatre.

You realize you're
surrounded by a bunch of

people that think
you're the devil.

I mean, we were
totally under their control.

You walk out the room,
bam, they're there.

You go in the library,
bam, those guys was there.

Under the strict surveillance
of North Korean authorities...

We're living the
wrestling life.

You hit North Korea, man,
that shit stops, like boom!

Wrestlers found
themselves trapped

in a surreal nightmare.

It was like being in
The Twilight Zone.

And helplessly in
over their heads,

leaving some
fighting for their lives.

Next thing we know,
somebody's punching somebody.

I'm gonna run,
jump off these stairs,

and I'm gonna curb
stomp him to death.

I mean, it was just like,
thumbs down, kill 'em.

♪

[birds chirping]

♪

My name is Eric Bischoff,

coming to you from
Cody, Wyoming.

Spent a couple minutes in the

professional wrestling business...

And now I spend all my
time looking back upon it.

[chuckles]

Well, as I said when
I first got to WCW

as a announcer, I was like a
fly on the wall, you know.

I got to see things
happening from a perspective

that sometimes the current
management didn't see.

There was a lot of
financial abuse,

and some fraud and theft
that I saw a lot of in WCW

as that fly on the wall.

So, when I finally got the
opportunity to run WCW and

was made Vice President,
I instituted a lot of changes.

By 1994, WCW was still seen
as a regional promotion,

and if it had any chance
of competing against the

powerhouse brand of WWF,
Eric Bischoff had to reach

a wider, global
wrestling audience.

Make no mistake about it,
WCW is set to dominate the

globe when it comes to
professional wrestling.

[Eric] One of the first things I
did was reestablish a

failed relationship with
New Japan Pro Wrestling.

You know, WCW had
engaged in some...

shaky tactics and, and left
the Japanese with a very

bitter taste in their mouth
in terms of doing business

with Americans.

[Announcer] From the land
of the rising sun, The Great...

Muta!

So, we wanted to reengage
New Japan Pro Wrestling and,

just to see if I could
possibly resurrect that

relationship and it went
really well and we did,

and I started bringing a lot
of the top Japanese stars

over to the United States
on a real consistent basis.

[Japanese Announcer]
Steiner Brothers!

But also, to do the
same thing with our

WCW talent over in Japan.

[Japanese commentary]

Because that way, our talent
was getting more exposure

in that market, their talent
was getting great exposure

in our market and
everybody's happy.

With increased
international exposure,

WCW was gaining traction,
but still lagged behind WWF

when it came to
drawing power and

staging mammoth events.

Over 80,000 fans!

All that was about to change
when Eric Bischoff was

offered a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.

Antonio Inoki, who was
the Chairman of

New Japan Pro Wrestling,
founder,

reached out to me,
asking me if I would be

willing and interested in
bringing all our WCW roster

over to North Korea
to compete in a peace festival.

Antonio Inoki, wow, he's,
he's really kind of an enigma.

He was the Vince McMahon
of Japan is probably

the best way to say it.

He was one of the most
well-known wrestling

personalities in Japan,
and a great athlete.

[cheering]

He was just the most popular
professional wrestler

I've ever seen in my life,

and I've been around
almost off of 'em.

I'm Professional Wrestler,
Scott Norton.

[Commentary]
Now... oh!

I was touring in Japan,
doing my arm wrestling stuff.

I was the world champion,
and that's what led me

to be a professional wrestler.

And so, that's when I
started learning about Inoki.

One of his favourite
moves in wrestling,

he would slap the
taste buds out your mouth.

And when he slapped you,
it was in there.

What's up?
How y'all doing?

This is 2 Cold Scorpio.

One of the most famous
high flyers in the world.

Waz up!

Scorpio's going to the top.

- Oh!
- [cheering]

Oh, my!
Oh, my gosh!

After me being trained in Japan
and being there for years,

I would have
to let people know,

Inoki is somebody
like Hulk Hogan,

but two times above
that level in Japan.

While Inoki was operating
his wrestling company,

he was also a fairly
high profile politician.

And, became really one of
the most famous people in Japan.

Inoki constantly
defied the limits

of professional wrestling

by staging events that made
international headlines

for their shocking audacity.

In 1976, Inoki boldly
combined wrestling and

boxing for a match against
the legendary Muhammad Ali.

He also used the sport to
successfully negotiate the

release of Japanese
hostages held in Iraq.

But bringing wrestlers into
the heart of North Korea

was designed to
eclipse them all.

[speaking Japanese]

Among Inoki's more
unpopular moves

were frequent trips to
North Korea and meeting with

officials from the
reclusive regime.

Antonio Inoki asked me
if I could help him

get a meeting with Muhammad Ali.

You know, I called Muhammad Ali
and he got excited about it

immediately because
he lived most of his life

trying to be an ambassador
to world peace and he really

believed in breaking down
barriers of cultures and

religion and race,
and he didn't hesitate, at all.

So, I thought, man,
if I put that piece of the

puzzle together, I get the rest
of my team together...

sure, I've never been
to Pyongyang, North Korea.

Let's do that!

[laughs]
That was a comedy.

Inoki wanted Hogan.

Hulk was the biggest name in
wrestling at that point in time.

It would make a lot of news,
it would be good for Inoki

and his political career.

I did ask, but it
was a short answer.

"Hm... can't make
that one, brother."

[laughs]
That was it, man.

It was a five-minute
conversation.

Ric Flair.

- Woo!
- [cheering]

While he may not have been

quite as popular as
Hulk Hogan, nationwide,

he had such a fantastic
reputation of being able to

put on a great match with
just about anybody...

to my face,
he was all for it,

he was excited about it.

I think, subsequently, I learned
that his feelings were hurt

just a little bit knowing he
was the second choice.

Alright... we're sitting in
the locker room,

just got done
working out before a show.

Hattori and Masa come
into the locker room.

They go, "Scott-san?"
I said, "Yes?"

He says, "We have big match,
North Korea, next month.

You on it."

Then I look around the
locker room and the

Japanese boys are
just going nuts,

and they're squabbling back
and forth, they're talking.

I'm going, what the
hell is going on?

So, I went over
to Chono, I says,

"Chono," I says,
"What's going on?"

He says,
"We go North Korea?"

And I says, "That's what
Masa just told me,

we're going to North Korea."
He says, "They want us dead.

They don't like
us very much."

[laughing]
And I go, "Okay."

[Eric] It was a little
bit controversial,

which is one of the reasons
that Inoki was trying to

establish this rapport with
the North Koreans because

the Japanese and
North Koreans had been

killing each other for
thousands of years,

and there's no
love lost between

North Koreans and Japanese.

And tonight, after just
returning from

a tour of Japan...

For me, I was very
excited to go to

another place in the world.

Every place I've ever been,
South Africa, India,

everything I've ever been
is because of wrestling.

So, for me to be able to
have a chance to go over to

North Korea was like,
man, I've never been

to a communist country.

I had no idea what
it was gonna be like.

I didn't know the
difference being in America,

being in a
communist country,

I had no clue,
none whatsoever.

Ah... It's definitely a
different experience for me.

[Eric] When it came to
traveling to North Korea,

the United States
government, even then,

viewed North Korea as a
much more hostile

potential enemy, so
Americans were not

supposed to be in North Korea.

And even going to the
federal government to get

permission to do something,
it could take 6 months to

get a yes or a no,
so I just said,

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go."

My boss didn't even
know I was doing it.

Joining Ric Flair,
Scott Norton,

and 2 Cold Scorpio on
the trip would be

Road Warrior Hawk,

the Steiner Brothers,
Chris Benoit,

and some of New Japan Pro
Wrestling's top performers.

But no one could match the
star power of one of

the world's most
recognizable celebrities.

We found out that
Muhammad Ali was gonna be

on the tour, biggest...

boxing hero of
all time, you know,

and I'm just going,
holy smokes.

So, when we got to
the airport in Japan,

it's me, Flair,
Steiners, Hawk, Benoit.

We're all standing there,
and the airport's just packed.

There's reporters everywhere.

Then all of a sudden, this
commotion comes rolling in.

And it's Muhammad Ali
with his entourage.

And all the reporters
that were on us just went...

[shuffling]

And all of a sudden,
he comes right to me,

and he started doing
magic tricks for everybody.

♪

And we all, "Whoa!"

And he had the
biggest smile on his face.

It just made him happy.

Then a lot of people were a
lot more comfortable

because you got Inoki
and Muhammad Ali,

they're huge, huge names.

The North Korean military
sent over a plane...

to Tokyo. You know,
you couldn't, you know,

call up Delta and get
a flight to Pyongyang.

That was the moment, when we
all got on that plane, and...

realized it was a
military transport,

wasn't the
safest-looking plane.

Certainly, not comfortable,
you know,

not what the
guys were used to.

This plane was
like made in the 40s,

and I'm telling ya,
it was a piece of garbage.

Flair was the funniest.
"We can't fly on this thing.

We can't--" He's just
losing it, I mean...

[laughs]

[Eric] And it just kind of set
the tone before we even got

out of Japan, you knew
you were, you were about

to do something quite different.

I think that's when I
started sensing people

getting a little nervous.

[Scorpio] So, we're flying
over and, man,

that was quite scary to me.

I had the window
seat so, for me,

I seen the south
side of South Korea,

then all of a sudden, as you
get closer to the border,

you see all these cannons and,
you know, set up,

and army stuff set up,
aiming toward the north.

But we kept flying over,
we seen all the north tanks and

shit pointing toward the
south on this ridge,

it's like, man,
this look like war time.

I was like, okay, what am I
really getting myself into?

And when the plane landed,
they finally brought

the stairs out, and we
got off the plane.

We were all
standing around...

Looking around
and there's nobody.

And, we're getting our bags.

We're walking
to the airport.

Once we got inside, it was
caked with dust this high.

It was unbelievable.

Nobody's been in
this room forever.

And all of a sudden,
these military people

started coming up to us.
"Where's your passport?"

I had it in an
inside pocket,

and I went in and I grabbed
my passport like this and

I'm looking back at my bag,
and he just snatched it.

I said, "What the
.... are you doing?"

You don't lose your passport
when you do what we do.

They took my Walkman,
they took the tapes.

Anything to do with America,

they didn't want it
in their country.

And Flair went nuts.

He goes, "Scott,
they got our passports.

Why would they
take everything?"

They hated us. I mean,
you got that right away.

I'm in a communist country.
You took my passport.

Now what's
gonna happen to us?

♪

♪

Going to North Korea is a
really strange experience.

It's like going
through the looking glass.

It's an utterly different
society for somebody like

myself who'd grown
up in the States.

We are accompanied
by guides,

and we do have some
limits on where else

we can go in the country.

I'm Mike Chinoy.

I was a foreign
correspondent for CNN,

and one of the assignments
that I had was to cover

this big wrestling event
in North Korea.

The wrestling event in 1995

has to rank as one
of the weirdest,

most bizarre experiences
that I witnessed

as a journalist because
you had this combination

of North Korea,
which is remote,

isolated, highly regimented,

largely cut off from the
rest of the world

and certainly cut off
from North America.

And then, suddenly,
in the middle of this,

you had this collection of
eccentric characters from

the world of wrestling,
and Muhammad Ali,

showing up in the capitol of
North Korea and being

part of one of the mass events
which the North Koreans

are masters of staging so,
it was this absolutely

bizarre collision of what
almost, you could call,

alien civilizations.

Upon their arrival,
the wrestlers are greeted

with unsettling hostility,
but unbeknownst to them,

this is only the
beginning of what's to come.

We were paired
off into two's.

And we were escorted to
our cars that assigned

an attaché who was going
to be with us 24/7.

And, driven into Pyongyang.

My attaché, she told me that
I was only the 7th American

to step foot in North Korea
that hadn't been

either shot down or captured.

Right there, that moment,

that puts everything
into perspective.

And this is the pass
that they gave us,

when we got there.

It's in Korean.
My nationality.

They wanted to
keep track of us,

you know, that was,
that was the big, main thing.

My name is Sonny Onoo.

I was the evil
Japanese manager

for World Championship
Wrestling.

My job started
out with, you know,

liaison officer between WCW
and New Japan Pro Wrestling.

I was told by my
government, "Hey,

we can't guarantee your safety.
You shouldn't go."

We were evil,
including the Japanese.

That's what
their propaganda is,

and so, the first
thing we were told is,

"You can't do this.
You can't do that."

And, you know, "By the way,
don't rape our women."

Japan colonized North Korea
at the beginning of the

20th century, and the Japanese
ruled North Korea

until the end of World War II.

It was a brutal colonial rule
and there is tremendous

bad feeling toward
the Japanese

that persists until this day.

The first stop on our way to
the hotel was to

pay homage to the
dear leader, Kim Il-sung,

who had died a year before.

North Korean government
would hand us bouquets of

flowers and we all were
forced to walk up the steps

and lay our flowers at the
foot of the statue

of the dear leader.

And then, the North Korean
news media would film us.

They wanted it to look like
we were so excited to be in

North Korea, we flew all the
way there so we could

pay homage to the dear leader.

We are all very touched and
honoured to be here today.

The North Koreans were
always trying to leverage

these visits for propaganda
purposes and

subtlety is not a
North Korean strong point.

When we got to the hotel,

we had to carry our
luggage up 7 floors.

We're big guys, man.
We don't do stairs very well.

The military guys, they would
follow you around.

When I got to my room,
he stopped about

10 feet from the hall...

Opened my door and I
stepped inside my room.

I take my bags and I
looked around the room...

the guy is following us,

they're just hanging
outside your room.

We had like four guys
spying on us,

watching us at all times.

It's like, man,
we can't do nothing.

So, as far as really
trying to pass the time,

sit in your room,
try to watch TV,

and all you get is
three government channels,

all political.

So, it was like,
why even bother?

So, it was really kind of,
drive you kind of nuts.

♪

[Scott] Hawk was right in the
room next to me, right?

So, I step out the door, and as
soon as I started walking,

that little dude started
following me.

Then I realized...

that the other guy's
about 10 feet down here,

that's at Hawk's room.

♪

I'm talking to Hawk,
I'm going, you know,

"One of these little bastard's
gonna .... with me, Mike,

and I'm gonna
take him out."

I mean, there was no reason
to stay in this hotel room.

Me, Benoit, Hawk, and
a couple guys go down

to the lobby, and they
had a pool table.

And I was just as surprised
as hell they had a pool table.

I said, "Well, let's
play some pool.'

Anyways, I mean,
do something.

It took me two hours for
that gal at the desk

to give me the balls.

They had to clear it
through the military guys.

It was crazy.
So, one time I shot...

and the ball jumped and
it went off the table...

[thud]

That ball went
bing, bing, bing,

on hard marble floors.

It pissed them off
so damn bad.

The pool game was over and,
for that ball leaving the table,

they looked at you like,
"How dare you?

How dare you to do
something like that."

They took the
balls away from us.

You know,
he starts smashing 'em,

boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom.

So, we're just standing
there like, what the...?

We were getting pissed off,
the way we were being treated.

Hawk didn't like it,
Scottie Steiner didn't like it.

And I was pissed
to a point where...

grab one of these
little bastards and,

you know, give it to 'em.

Masa just got me
off to the side, said,

"Scott, you've
got to settle down.

Just promise me you'll get
through these next four days."

And I says, "Alright, man."
I mean, in my mind, I'm going,

what the 'F' are we
doing in this country?

Nobody wants us here.

As the harsh reality of
their situation comes

crashing down, the wrestlers
find themselves

strangers in a strange land.

With tensions on the
rise and tempers flaring,

they must adapt to their
surroundings or face

the dire consequences
that await.

♪

Struggling to adjust to
the surreal circumstances

in North Korea,
the wrestling outsiders

search for ways to cope.

[Eric] So, by the time I
got to North Korea,

I was kind of craving a run.

So, I went to bed one night
and planned on

getting up early and running.

Didn't even think that
I should probably

let my attaché know.

I thought, well, I'm just
gonna get up and

go for a run.

I'll be back before I'm
supposed to be anywhere else

and boom, it'll be fine.
I took off by myself.

It's dark out, the streets
were completely deserted.

I'm running, I'm running,
I'm running. Sun's coming up.

Now, all of a sudden,
I see people

starting to come
out into the street,

and as I'm running through
the streets of Pyongyang,

they're parting.

They were looking at me like

something out of
a monster movie.

Now the school kids
are coming out.

The look of terror...

they weren't afraid of me,

they were terrorized
by my presence.

You know, I don't want to
see terror in anybody's eyes,

especially kids.

You got this American
that's supposed to be

the idea of evil...

That they have never--
mind you,

most of these people have
never seen an American so,

you know, this guy's
coming, running at them.

Can you imagine what
these people thought?

When I saw the look of
terror in people's eyes as

I was running down the street,
it really made a big

impression on me and made me
realize just how easy it is

to foment hate and fear,
and how dangerous that is.

I got back to the hotel and,
my attaché was there.

She was livid.

And I thought, God, if I
don't see her tomorrow,

it's because they're gonna
shoot her for letting me

go out and run through the
streets in downtown Pyongyang.

I was literally
concerned for her.

♪

Yeah.

No.

No, that...

Not until this moment.

[laughs] Wow. Well,
it all started out with,

prior to even
going to North Korea,

I had heat with Flair
because of an incident that

happened overseas on
one of Ric Flair's trips that

he had booked, I got
into some trouble.

I felt like Ric Flair
was messing with me,

I got fired from WCW.

And still to this day,
I don't give a damn

what he say, I still will
feel that, truly,

that it was because of him.

I let it build up,
7, 8 years,

and I'm still holding a
grudge against somebody

who I think was the cause
of me getting fired.

And so now,
we're all in North Korea,

going to all of
these sights.

And everywhere we went,
Hawk was riding with Flair.

Well, Hawk decided this
day he wants to

ride the bus this day.
So, he comes out on the bus.

So, Ric Flair comes
out of the hotel,

we're all on the bus.

So, Ric Flair, he's kind
of looking around like this and,

Hawk goes, "Man, he, he looks
like he's looking for somebody.

Maybe he's looking for me.

Maybe he wants me to
ride with him again."

".... that pussy.
Let him ride by himself."

Hawk said,
"What did you say?"

I says, "You didn't hear me?"
I says, ".... that pussy.

Let him ride by himself."

I said, "What part of
it you didn't hear,

was it the '.... him,
let him ride by himself?'

or was it the 'pussy' part?"

And he got mad about it and
he came back there and

he called me the
N word, he said,

"You ......," and
he swung, he missed.

I hit that mother....er
about five, six times,

and I was wearing
his ....ing ass out.

Scorp said
something to Hawk,

and Mike responded
back in his typical way,

and I guess Scorp...

hit him and dazed him
a couple times.

Now he's bleeding
from his face,

bleeding from his mouth,
and all this.

Japanese boys grab me,
I fall down in the seat.

You know,
they're holding me down.

He comes over, gets on me,
he's trying to punch me.

I'm ducking and dodging,
he can't hit me.

I jumped on him, stuck my
finger in his eye and

I was on my way
out with his eye.

I had his eye halfway out
of its socket and stuff and,

the Japanese
boys jumped on me.

"Oh, Scorp, stop"...

And then we kind of got up,
I ripped open my shirt and

I just gave him a 'wow',

a straight kick
right in the face.

Backed him up, you know,
and that's when it

slowed him down and the
boys had enough distance

to get between us
and calm us down.

He gave me his
best shot and, tell ya,

if that's his best shot,
bro, you in trouble.

This was when Mike was
battling his Hepatitis C and

he was on Interferon.

When you take
that Interferon,

it makes you very sick,

very flu like symptoms
and just very ill.

And, you know, Scorp can
think what he wants...

but, the regular Mike...

would 'a killed his ass.

♪

When we got
back to the hotel,

I wanted to call home
and call my wife.

I've been trying to
contact her for three days.

I get through to my wife.
I says, "Hey, babe."

She goes,
"Where the hell you been?"

I said, "Tammy, you don't
understand what kind of,

what we're going through here,"
and I'm trying to

explain to her
the situation.

She ain't gonna have
nothing to do with it.

She thinks that I'm out
partying with the guys.

And I says, "Tammy,
you don't understand

what kind of shithole
I'm in here."

And all of a sudden,
the phone went click.

I thought she hung up on me.

I took the phone,
I'm throwing it down,

I'm just going,
"What the 'F'?"

♪

Then all of a sudden,
somebody pounds on my door.

♪

And here's some guy,

this guy could speak
perfect English.

And he's telling me,
"You're coming with us."

With a dangerous
new line crossed,

their fate now hangs
in the balance

between life and death.

♪

♪

After wrestler Scott Norton's
phone call with his wife

is intercepted, North Korean
officials materialize

and he is forcibly
taken from his hotel room.

And I'm looking at
these guys, man, and I mean...

They'd as soon shoot me
right there and then.

I'm just going, "What the
hell is going on here?"

Now, nobody
knows where I'm at.

I'm in this room...

I mean, it just felt
like at any point in time,

I was just gonna
be dealt with.

It was like a movie.

I swear to God,

and I'm just sitting there,
I'm going, oh, my lord,

they could care less
if I lived or died.

♪

Then, this guy comes in.
You could just tell,

the way he came in the room,
that he was the top dude.

And then he spoke English
to me and he told me,

he says, "You can't say nothing
wrong about North Korea."

And I says, "I mean, you know
what I said to my wife?"

I says, "We were
just back and forth.

I've been trying
to call home."

He says, "No more phone calls,
you don't talk to nobody.

We hear you say something
bad about North Korea.

That's it."

I mean, he's pointing his
finger at me, he's saying,

"You can't say anything
bad about North Korea.

This is a superior country."

He's telling me
all this bullshit,

and I'm getting it now.
I mean, I'm just like,

"I ain't gonna say a word
about North Korea."

And I was just soaked,
freaking.

I'll do anything to
get out of this room.

I apologized.
I mean, this is serious.

And the looks on
these people's face,

there's no doubt in my mind
they'd just put

a bullet in my head.

You know, after he'd
been interrogated,

then I think
Mr. Inoki's people,

or New Japan people,
got him out of there and,

and I'm sure they were told
to make sure to tell him

to watch what he says.

Finally, "You go now."

I got to my room
and I'm just going,

"Oh, my god.
What just happened here?"

Can't mess with
these people, Scott.

But, you think they might
have had a little talk with us

and give us a little
heads up on this stuff.

They just told
you as you went,

you know what I mean?

Before the grand event
is to finally kick off,

the wrestlers are
ushered to one last

propaganda opportunity,
a visit to a sacred tomb

honouring the founder of
Korea's first kingdom.

We finally get to this
5-year-old hundred

temple site that we
gotta go look at.

I ain't got no
damn clue who it is.

So, anyways, we're walking
and we're walking,

and the next thing you know,
we notice Muhammad Ali

is taking his jacket off.

And he rolled
his sleeves up,

and he started
jogging up the stairs.

And, you know,
we're following Ali,

and all of a sudden,
Ali got to the top.

♪

And he's shadow boxing.
It was unbelievable.

And here's Muhammad Ali
just snapping them off,

boom, boom, bang!

And he's dancing around
and he's doing like

all these,
shuffling a little bit.

And he was moving
like it was the old times, man.

He's just having
the time of his life.

I mean, we're the only
people in the world saw this.

And we're just
like blown away.

You know,
that's Ali, brother.

I mean, it was unbelievable.

That, within itself,
made my whole trip.

♪

So, as we make our way
out of the temple and...

we're making our
way down the stairs,

I finally go up to Hawk.

I says, "Look, bro," I said,
"we're supposed to be

over here on a peace treaty,"
and I said,

"and we're over here acting
like mother....ing fools.

We're fighting amongst
each other, Americans."

He walks three
steps in front of me,

turns and swings as hard
as he can,

hits me...

I don't go down.
I look at him like he's crazy.

I jump after him,
I go after him.

The Japanese boys grab me,
snatch me out of the air,

and I started going off.

Cameras are on us,
cameras is filming.

I'm saying,
"You ....ing pussy!"

I said, "That's all you got?
That's all you got?"

I was like, "You hit me
with your best shot,

that's all you got?"
I said, "I'm gonna kill you!"

And so, now,
I'm thinking street smarts.

I'm 'a get him,
I'm 'a hurt him.

♪

So, we had to go to
that special state dinner,

that's where they had the
stainless steel chopsticks.

So, I was taking one of
the pair of stainless steel

chopsticks, eat with it,
drop one,

pick it up,
slid it into my pocket.

Grabbed another one,
did the same thing,

dropped it,
slid it into my pocket.

♪

Me and Chris had to
share a room, Chris Benoit.

And we're back at the room
and Chris is sitting there

looking at me and
he's watching me and...

all of a sudden, I open up
the window sill and I pull

out the chopsticks,
and the window sill

is all rough concrete.

I'm sharpening the stainless
steel chopsticks on the window,

bringing 'em
to more of a point.

Chris is like,
"What are you doing?"

I said, "Man,
I'm making a shiv."

He goes, "What?"
I was, like,

"Yeah, I'm gonna
stab that mother....er."

I was taping the ends together,
like, I know how to make a shiv,

you know what I'm saying.
My dad ain't been to prison

and don't know how to do
this shit with no reason.

I know how to do this shit.

I'm like, okay,
I'm gonna get him.

I'm gonna take him out.
Chris just said,

"Man, don't do it, man."

He's like, "Man, you
don't want to do that, man.

If you kill Hawk over here,
you will just be here

for the rest of your life."
What am I gonna do?

I can't let this
punk get away with it.

You know, we're gonna
have to settle this.

♪

After surviving days of
grueling conditions and

life threatening situations,
the wrestlers head to the

massive May Day Stadium
where festivities

are about to commence.

And I'm riding with Ric,
and we're driving

down the road and two lanes...

Where nothing but
people walking to the show.

And I says, "Ric, man, we're
really drawing a crowd here.

I mean, these people
really want to see this."

And all of a sudden,
the driver goes, "No,"

he says,
"they don't want to come."

He says, "If they don't show up,
they get a bullet in the head.

Forced attendance."

And I'm just going,
"You got to be kidding me."

We got there
our first night,

170,000 people there.

And I thought, oh, my God.

Antonio Inoki is a genius.

This is... amazing!

We're leaving
WrestleMania in the dirt!

The way that you had over a
hundred and something

thousand people working and

moving together and flashing
all at the same time,

it was mind blowing.

You didn't even have to
be high to trip off that.

I mean, it was
straight up mind blowing.

Their show made the half
time of the Super Bowl

look like a high school.

I'm not kidding ya,
it was just unbelievable.

Before the matches started,
we were all jacked, man.

We thought, this is
gonna be awesome.

And then the matches start,
and I realize that none of

these people have a clue
what they're watching,

why they're watching it...

It makes no sense to them.

First match, went out there,
it was quieter than it is

in this room right now
doing this interview.

And that's hard to do.

♪

Hawk, during his match,
stood on the second rope

and yelled, and he says,
"What in the 'F'

are you even doing here,
you rotten--"

And he cussed the crowd out.
[laughs]

♪

This is a society where

this kind of extravagant display

of people throwing
themselves around,

especially, for example,
the female wrestlers...

must have been utterly
alien to the North Koreans.

I wrestled Hashimoto the
first night in a main event.

The North Koreans just
stood there and watched us.

We never got a
reaction to anything.

Just, this stuff doesn't
happen in this business.

And you're just busting your
tail trying to get these people

to respond
to you and nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

The challenge to engage the
crowd would now fall

on the shoulders of
promoter Antonio Inoki,

whose connection to the
people of North Korea

was even deeper than it seemed.

For Inoki, this event would
also pay tribute to his

fallen mentor Rikidozan,
a wrestling icon in Japan

who struggled to keep his
North Korean nationality

a secret until it was too late.

As the story goes,

he was murdered by
Japanese gangsters in a bar.

♪

The Japanese Yakuza,

which is their
version of the mafia,

killed him because
he was North Korean.

♪

And, he wasn't Japanese,

and he was becoming
very, very popular.

In the North Korean
mythology,

his death becomes this
glorious, tragic thing

wherein his final breaths
he expresses

his loyalty to North Korea.

♪

And the fact that Inoki had
this association with him

gave Inoki credibility in
North Korea eyes.

The North Koreans
understood the connection

between Inoki and Rikidozan.

He got kind of the
hometown treatment.

Ric Flair, they didn't know
what to make of Ric Flair.

Bleach blond hair,
sequins robe.

They didn't understand it.

Again, this match starts,
and it's quiet.

And I'm going, God, man.

Amazing to me that this
is the first ever matchup

between these two
wrestling legends.

They went to a
different place.

They kind of
went old school.

One to the chest,
one to the forehead.

And they kept working,
all of a sudden, you could--

you could hear the people
start coming with Inoki.

We hear the crowd for
one of the few times

at Collision in Korea.
Really responding to Inoki.

And about halfway
through that match,

that place is going
absolutely crazy.

Inoki now coming off the
ropes sets up--

firmly plants his feet
and takes the

Nature Boy
Ric Flair off his feet.

This is a testament to Ric
because Ric's job

was to get Inoki over.

Ric's job was to
showcase Inoki.

There's nobody
better at that.

Flair in a lot of trouble.
Inoki tosses Flair!

And I remember the
finish of the match...

♪

Chest kick.

And, Inoki went over...

and the place
just came unglued.

♪

These people were
entertained for probably

the first time in their lives.

I mean, 'cause there was
no happiness in this place, man.

This was like going
to hell and living.

They had a little
fun that night, you know,

and I guess
that forced attendance,

they were glad they
were forced there,

you know, for that
one anyways.

That was the greatest match
that's ever happened

in this business. Ever.

With the largest wrestling
event in history

coming to a close,
and freedom within reach,

the Americans must stay in line
for just a few more hours,

or else this bizarre trip will
become a permanent stay.

♪

♪

As the epic event
draws to a close,

and with just hours remaining
before the group departs,

a final ceremonial
dinner is Scorpio's

last chance to settle
the score with Hawk.

I hear doors closing,
"ch-ch-ch,"

everybody's going
down to dinner.

I open my door, I go out,

I walk around the corner,
it's me and Hawk.

♪

We're face-to-face now.

We're looking at each other,
I'm looking at him,

I'm like, "What do you
want to do?

You want to finish
this right now?"

He pushes the button
for the elevator,

so I turn and I back
into the elevator,

keep my eye
on him at all times.

I got my shank with me.

He gets into the elevator.
He's not saying nothing,

we're just looking
at each other.

I'm like,
"What do you want to do?

You want to finish
this right now?"

And all of a sudden,
he says, "I ran out of pills.

I ain't got no steroids,
got no smoke,

I got no nothing.

My nerves got to me,
I was upset."

I said, "I accept
your apology," I said,

"But I'll tell you what,
we get back to Tokyo,

if you still want
to finish this,

we're gonna finish this."

I said, "Alright, man,
whatever you want to do."

We ended up squashing it
in North Korea,

got to Japan.
I was ready.

And that never
happened, man.

But he got an ass whooping
and learned that Scorpio

ain't the one to mess with,
I'll tell you that shit.

We were in North Korea
for four days.

It was a relatively
short period of time

that felt like a lifetime.

So, by the time it
was the day to leave...

Everybody was on edge.

We were physically tired,
we were mentally tired.

And there was a little
bit of a tension in the air

because we still didn't
have our passports yet.

But, once we physically had
our passports in our hand

and we were on the plane
and we were headed

back to Japan,
everything changed.

It wasn't until
the plane landed.

Ric Flair literally walked
down the stairs of the plane,

walked down to the tarmac,

got down on the ground
and kissed the pavement.

That's how
excited Ric Flair was.

♪

$3000 suit on,
alligator shoes.

Got down on his
hands and knees,

and kissed the ground,
says, "I love Japan."

And I mean,
he was woo'ing and--

now he's Ric Flair again.

He was happier
than a lark, man.

And we all felt
the same way.

The event failed to energize
Inoki's political ambitions

as he lost his reelection
bid and left politics behind

for almost two decades.

While this fusion of
staged combat and

international politics seems
like an unlikely pairing,

it revealed a fascinating
parallel between wrestling

and North Korea, as they are
both masters of

blurring the lines between
fantasy and reality.

The show, itself,
was super cool.

Meeting Muhammad Ali
on top of it,

wrestling in
front of that dude.

I mean, I remember
after my first match,

he told me, he says,
"Oh, you, you're really good.

You're very good."
I says, "Thank--"

I mean, this is
Muhammad Ali, brother.

So, being a part of
that was,

was absolutely... awesome.

And it's 2 Cold Scorpio
up and over!

Two nights in a row,

189,000 people.

I've, I've never seen that many
people together, ever.

That's the only thing that I
can ever brag about to Hogan

that I've done something
that he has not done,

is I wrestled for
199,000 people

two nights in a row, not one.

And that's all I got on him.
[laughs]

I've been a part of
WrestleMania and

I've been to Super Bowls.
I've, you know,

I've been to a lot of
different big events.

They pale in comparison

to what I saw in Pyongyang.

I knew...

that Vince McMahon
was probably...

livid that there was a
wrestling event that

drew a bigger house
than WrestleMania.

But, my joy is mitigated by
the fact that none of them

were paying customers and

they were kind of
forced to be there.

But technically,
if you go to Wikipedia, folks,

largest wrestling
event in the world...

you know, I did that.

♪

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