Dark Side Of The Ring - Bikers, Bombs & Bedlam Johnny K9 FULL RECAP
Johnny K9 led a double life as an in-ring superstar and the leader of a biker gang implicated in drug trafficking, the bombing of a police station, and a gruesome double murder. Read the full recap.
The Intro
Wrestler Johnny K9 was a complex man. In the ring, he played a vicious heel, but in the locker room, he was a big-hearted teddy bear. Away from the ring, he led a life of violence and mayhem that was shockingly real.
He was a high-ranking member of Satan’s Choice biker gang where power and infamy were both top of mind. Johnny’s goal was to rise to the top as quickly as he could.
Both sides of his duel life would ultimately implode, leaving a defeated and broken man in the wake.
The Episode
Footage from Johnny K-9 vs Sam Houston from WWF in 1987 kicks off the episode.
Scott D’Amore (Executive Vice President of Impact Wrestling) notes that if you were a star in the mid-late 80s, you likely beat Johnny K-9.
Chris Jericho recalls Johnny as a jobber on WWF television in the mid-80s.
Tracy Edward, widow of Johnny K-9 makes her official introduction where she recalls meeting him after he was released from prison. She met him in 1993 in Hamilton, Ontario while she was an exotic dancer.
After gigs dried up for Johnny in WWF, he pursued stardom on the independent wrestling circuit.
Scott D’Amore first came across Johnny during a show in Chatham, Ontario at a show for Ricky Bolton. At the time, Johnny was known at K-9 Dog of War and Scott was set to wrestle him. A’Dmore knew this was the same Johnny who wrestled in WWF, but he was physically transformed and much more muscular. Their match is what led to Scott getting booked more often in the US.
Tracy recalls Johnny coming across as frightening on-screen with bulging eyes and an intimidating demeanour. Tracy brought up how Johnny encourages his opponents to hit him as hard as they wanted until they drew blood. Johnny desired to be tougher than everyone around him due to his childhood as he grew up in a very abusive home. At Christmas time, his dad would get so drunk that he would beat his wife and the kids, which included Johnny. The dad would chase the family around with a broom. Johnny was merely 5 years old and would climb under his bed to avoid the broom. This difficult upbringing would fuel his tough-guy persona.
Scott brings up a story where he and Johnny were working together in Ohio. When you’re young, you’re always scared to check your envelope because you always got paid in cash. Scott didn’t want to disrespect the promoter by checking the money in front of him, so you just thank him. By the time Scott got into the car, he looked in the envelope and was underpaid. Johnny was furious that Scott was shorted on the cash, so ran back and grabbed the promoted by the throat about 18 inches off the ground. Johnny demanded that the promoter give Scott his well-deserved money. The promoter dropped to his knees, gasping for air and just started throwing money at them. When Scott and Johnny got into the truck, K-9 had a big smile on his face and felt good about what he just accomplished.
While Johnny was incredibly intimidating, Tracy pointed out that he was more of a comedian. He would order a pizza then answer the door naked just to mess with the delivery person.
Scott believed that Johnny craved to be the center of attention with all eyes on him.
There was a place in Taylor, Michigan where they wrestled for MTW. There was a band who was going to play before the show. Johnny asked if he could play the drums and actually wasn’t half bad. He would then start singing, which wasn’t his strong suit, as wrestlers started falling off of chairs laughing. This was the same promotion where Jim Cornette discovered him.
Jim Cornette makes his introduction, where he was the promoter and booker for Smoky Mountain Wrestling. It was one of the last of the pro wrestling territories in the United States with a southern wrestling feel. Jim depended on a mix of veterans and new stars. Upon coming across Johnny in Michigan, Cornette described him as a turn of the century strongman. Jim’s goal was to bring K-9 to Tennesee and make a believable animal out of him. The two came to an agreement where K-9 would work for Smoky Mountain 3-4 days a week. Jim would describe K-9’s True to the Crew tattoo on his stomach, which derived from prison. K-9 noted that the guys made a promise that when leaving prison, they would all receive it. This was the first time Jim heard about his checkered past and wasn’t sure if Johnny chose the life of crime or if the life of crime chose him.
Jim didn’t feel that Johnny K-9 was a great wrestling name, so rechristened him Bruiser Bedlam after Bruiser Bedlam Wrestling.
Lance Storm gets introduced and brings up having worked at Smoky Mountain Wrestling with Chris Jericho as The Thrillseekers tag-team.
Storm described Bedlam’s demeanour as a big teddy bear.
To establish Bedlam as a top heel, Jim Cornette would book him in the main event against Bullet Bob Armstrong. Defeating Bob Armstrong gave Bedlam instant credibility in the area.
Bedlam would film vignettes of punching nails through boards and breaking beer bottles over his head.
Jim was asked by a producer, “at the time, what did you think he did for a living?” Cornette laughed and said, “I don’t know!”
Johnny grew up in a rough neighbourhood where criminality was another option. A retired journalist, Bill Dunphy gets introduced.
Tracy pointed out that Johnny grew up borderline poor and barely scraped by.
Retired Detective Staff Sergeant Len Isnor makes his first appearance and notes that Johnny had acquaintances with all of the organized crime families. People who had debts would give a percentage of the debt to somebody such as Johnny K-9.
Being a lower-level enforcer, Johnny had bigger crimes related to his life of crime. Johnny’s older brother was associated with the Red Devil’s, which was a biker gang. Johnny always desired to join a bike gang. K-9 would then join one of Canada’s most notorious motorcycle clubs, Satan’s Choice. They proposed an offer for Johnny to open a Hamilton chapter and he jumped over the opportunity and was elected The President.
Mark Carlos, a former member of Satan’s Choice makes his introduction. He didn’t like Johnny, nobody he knew ever came up that quickly.
Tracy believed that if you backed Johnny, you made more money since people were instantly scared. It was easy for Johnny to make $20,000 - $30,000 in a matter of 20 minutes.
Police attention was immediately placed on Johnny since he was opening up restaurants and bars in town.
By this point, Johnny was making a lot of money illegally, but he loved wrestling due to his love and passion for the business.
As Bruiser Bedlam, he was crash at Chris Jericho’s place with other wrestlers and contributed by doing the dishes. Bruiser’s idea of doing the dishes was holding them underneath the water and then putting them away.
Jericho joked that he was pleasant enough to hang out with, but did not contribute to the living situation.
During Bruiser’s first month with Smoky Mountain, Jim paired him with any wrestler who knew enough to get a monster over.
Bruiser Bedlam was scheduled to face Randy Savage in the main event at Knoxville, Coliseum in 1994. The Macho Man noted that he should put Bruiser over, which obviously shocked Jim since Randy was one of the biggest stars in wrestling. Bedlam ultimately pinned Randy, which proved he was no longer a jobber.
By Thanksgiving/Christmas time, Jim had to change talent over again and couldn’t find a spot for Bruiser. As opposed to being upset or disappointed, Bedlam thanked Jim and noted he had a great time. In 9 months, Jim didn’t recall one issue with Bruiser Bedlam.
After Smoky Mountain, Johnny continued to work on smaller shows but wasn’t happy with the small attendance.
Lance Storm speculated that Johnny wanted to become the star he always wanted to be to escape the other life, but perhaps that was merely Storm making Johnny out to be the person that he wished he was.
Johnny would choose to go down the wrong path as an outlaw biker.
With the police outside monitoring him, Johnny would actually approach them and ask why they were wasting the taxpayer’s money. The golden rule is to never interact with the police, but Johnny felt untouchable.
Unbeknownst to him, Johnny disclosed information to the police in little pieces such as when and where he would be picking up his bike.
Along with constant visual surveillance, the OPP wiretapped Johnny and his gang. The police discovered a relationship between Hamilton’s Satan’s Choice gang and a Sudbury chapter. Johnny formed a relationship with Michael, who Retired Detective Staff Sergeant Len Isnor labelled as “the most dangerous biker I’ve ever met.”
One particular night, Johnny and Michael would attend Solid Gold, which was a strip club. The members removed their colours, but Johnny decided to wear his anyway. The staff refused to serve him since it was a no-colour policy. They refused to leave and Sudbury police were contacted. Satan’s Choice backed down from the police when they arrived, but Johnny and Michael were upset about the confrontation. The two decided to bomb the strip club. It was Johnny and another Hamilton chapter member who arranged to get the bombs/explosives. Michael decided that the bomb would go to the Sudbury police station instead.
The bomb was placed in the alley, where it blew a hole in the police station brick wall.
A call was made to Johnny informing him that the police station got bombed instead, which confused him since he arranged for it at the strip club. Johnny was manipulated when arranging the bomb, so it was his downfall.
Months following the bombing, law enforcement arranged an elaborate takedown of Satan’s Choice.
Despite prevention from entering with barriers, law enforcement would enter the Hamilton chapter clubhouse after blowing a hole in the wall. Upon entering, law enforcement was forced to use flashbangs and laser scopes.
Tracy recalled 50 SWAT team members entering their residence to apprehend Johnny. By this point, it was game over.
Lance Storm noted it was so perplexing having someone who was a friend commit such heinous acts of violence.
With wire-tap evidence and Johnny’s statement to authorities, Michael was implicated as the mastermind behind the police station bombing. Johnny would then be released on bail.
There are unwritten rules where you do not make any statements to the police system and their investigation. When Johnny got out of jail, he was removed from the club and accused of being a rat.
Tracy went from proud and happy to be with Johnny, to very nervous and scared for her life. Tracy would even be pulled over by police officers just for them to warn her that her life was in danger.
In January of 2000, Johnny went off to prison for bombing the police station. Their baby was about two years old at the time, so Tracy had to get far away from the troubles Johnny brought to their family. Tracy would move across the country to Vancouver.
While serving a prison sentence of 33 months for his role in the bombing, Tracy would divorce him to start a new life. In 2002, Johnny would follow her after he was released.
Despite getting away from Johnny, Tracy was still very much in love with him and wanted to believe what he was telling her. Let’s turn something bad into something good.
Johnny would return to prison once again after being arrested for a double murder committed in Ontario back in 1998.
A lawyer and her husband were shot in their house with a shotgun. In searching for motives, it was suggested this was an attempt to intimidate the legal community and other criminals.
Lance Storm received a voicemail from Scott A’Dmore asking if he heard about K-9. “He’s been charged with double murder.” What?!?, exclaimed Lance. This was not the Johnny Scott once knew.
The police didn’t have a strong case, so after 20 months in prison, Johnny was released. Therefore, he was deemed innocent of the crime and the charges were withdrawn.
Johnny returned to British Columbia in 2007, which is when Tracy remarried him.
Trying his hand at acting, a clip of Johnny appeared in Reaper was shown. When produced asked Tracy if Johnny was a good actor, she said no, but tried his best really had a lot of fun doing it.
At a gym, Johnny came across a member of the Hell’s Angels then started conversing with the United Nations.
On the west coast, Johnny became associated with the United Nations, which was a criminal gang that started in Vancouver, British Columbia. The name alludes to the various ethnic origins of the members.
Johnny attempted to hide this from his wife, but it didn’t last long, since she came across 100 pounds of weed in the kitchen while the children were in daycare. Johnny suggested he would spray the weed with whiskey and Coca-Cola since it would weigh more and make more money. Tracy felt he was crazy. He returned with $20,000 - $30,000 and returned to the same type of crime that got him into trouble in Hamilton.
In 2008, a botched hit on behalf of the United Nations gang resulted in the death of an innocent young man. Johnny was picked up in connection with the murder and charged with first-degree murder in 2009. Tracy was 9 months pregnant when he was arrested. This was the last day Johnny would ever be free.
Johnny K-9 plead guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, however, the first-degree murder charge was stayed. After serving four years of his prison sentence, Johnny was released to a halfway house in Toronto. He was supposed to return to Vancouver in six weeks, but Johnny (real name Ion Croitoru) passed away on February 21, 2017. The cause of his death is the subject of speculation.
Tracy noted that the cause of his death was due to getting maced by prison guards since his lungs had to be scrapped.
Johnny K-9 gets compared to Al Capone in the sense that he has become somewhat of a folk hero.
Tracy believes that hanging out with the wrong people and trying to make money is what did Johnny in, since he was hanging out with murderers. Retired Detective Staff Sergeant Len Isnor disagreed with Tracy and felt Johnny was a very dangerous individual and doesn’t doubt he was involved in a homicide.
Jim noted that if you ask the wrestlers in the locker room, Johnny was a nice guy, but if you ask the families of the individuals he allegedly murdered, you probably would receive a different answer.
An emotional Lance Storm won’t pretend that Johnny was a saint, but hoped for a happier ending for someone he knew, so when it doesn’t happen, it hits you pretty hard.
Former Satan’s Choice member, Mark Carlos, noted that in hindsight, he would have told Johnny to go be a dad and a husband and to avoid the life of an outlaw.
Lance Storm pointing out that a million people may never know about Johnny K-9, but perhaps there’s still one person who was in attendance to see him beat Randy Savage who still believes he’s frightening and has nightmares over him. Wrestling is subjective and it is to you what it is.
The episode concluded with Tracy saying “In my opinion, he was the baddest mother f*cker in the ring and he had a good time doing what he loved.”
