411’s Dark Side of The Ring Report: ‘Chris and Tammy’

-Season Four is upon us and starts with this episode on Chris Candido and Tammy “Sunny” Sytch. There are ten episodes total this season and the rundown has some interesting topics. Let’s get to it!

-As a reminder Chris Jericho is back again as our narrator.

-The teaser shows Jim Cornette, Mick Foley, and Terri Runnels as talking heads plus Chris’ mom, and it seems phone interviews with Tammy.

-We start with Johnny Candito, the brother of Chris. He says that if you told young Chris he would be dead by 33, but be a champion in the WWF, have no kids or wife, but be a wrestling star that is remembered he would say yes. He takes us to Chris’ office where the walls are plastered with wrestling posters, drawings, etc. Johnny called Chris, “Cook” since he was younger and couldn’t say Chris, so the name stuck. Chris started his own wrestling promotion for him and his friends. He shows off an impressive belt that Chris made for the promotion.

-Next we meet Chris’ mom, Peggy Rae, and she says she would not have allowed him to be a wrestler, but he started behind her back. She says Chris always wanted to be a wrestler and tells a story of seeing Chris wrestle in New York against Johnny Hot Body. While in a headlock, Johnny tells Chris to check out the hot blonde in the front, and it’s Tammy. Peggy remembers seeing Tammy in the front row and thought she looked heavenly. Chris told his mom he noticed her too, and went back to her house after the show.

-Tammy was a bright, high school kid preparing for college and then started dating Chris. They were way into each other and Johnny notes that Tammy became Chris’ other obsession. His mom tells a story of Chris taking a girl to prom and leaving her there to go be with Tammy who showed up in a convertible. His mom makes sure to note she didn’t approve of that. She did think Tammy was very nice in the beginning.

-After high school, Chris was doing everything to get booked and really wanted to work in Smokey Mountain. Jim Cornette, who ran Smokey Mountain, notes he is the one that brought Chris and Tammy to mainstream wrestling. The drawback was he couldn’t pay Chris enough to justify him moving from New Jersey to Tennessee for what was $75 a night. Tammy had no interest in the business but Cornette realized she had some charisma and was obviously a smoke show. He had the idea to make Tammy a manager so they both could be paid and justify moving. Peggy didn’t want him quitting school so made him apply to college in Tennessee and once accepted, she allowed him to go meet Mr. Cornette. She thought it was going to be temporary and notes he had to wear a baby bonnet. She says this is why wrestling drives her crazy and makes no sense to her, but to some people it does make sense.

-Mick Foley is here and says bad guys have more fun and Chris liked being a jerk. We see him smash a “cat” in a bag with a leg drop from the top rope. Chris enjoyed playing the bad guy, but Tammy ended up being the ultimate villain. We get Tammy audio from 2020 and she says wrestling was Chris’ thing, and she wanted to be a plastic surgeon and kind of fell backwards into the wrestling business.

-Cornette says that Tennessee was highly Republican and everyone hated President Clinton and Hilary Clinton. He saw an opportunity to piss off every “Republican and hillbilly in East Tennessee and surrounding states.” He gave Tammy a character of a New England woman that idolized Hilary Clinton and she nailed it in one take. Some good SMW footage here! Tammy leaned into then idea that she could make people hate her and wasn’t afraid of it. Foley says that Tammy lit up the screen.

-Dr. Tom Prichard, who played Zip (Chris’ tag partner) in WWE is our next talking head, but doesn’t say much and we go back to Cornette. He says that wrestling was Chris’ dream and it was all the more surprising when Tammy got over quicker than he did.

-Tammy and Chris sign with the WWF in 1995. Cornette says he believed in both and knew they were better off going to a bigger promotion. Peggy was okay with Chris dropping out of college at this point because making it to the WWF was making it as a wrestler in her eyes. Chris’ dream was getting to the WWF and he accomplished his goal. Dr. Tom says Tammy was ready to conquer the world from the beginning and they agree her head grew pretty big with the success.

-Commercials!

-Next a brief history lesson of the mid 90s WWF as we had Repo Men, IRS agents, etc and in this case Chris and Tammy were turned into fitness gurus: Skip and Sunny. Johnny notes Chris would have rather been himself, but he went with it and quickly he won the tag titles at WrestleMania XII with Zip (Dr. Tom). Lance Storm pops up and says they made Dr. Tom shave his head, and they should have just called him as he already had the buzz cut to play Chris’ partner. Storm tells us he worked with Chris and Tammy in SMW and ECW. “I could have been Zip, although in hindsight thank God they didn’t.” Dr. Tom: “It sucked. It was horrible. It was the worst time of my life.” Cornette calls it a rotten gimmick and it got Chris off on the wrong foot with WWF fans who could see it was a jobber gimmick.

-Terri Runnels (former Diva, Marlena) is next and she brings up that Tammy was the most downloaded female on AOL. She makes a joke about people probably not knowing what AOL is. “Back in the day, when Christ was born.” That was funny, though I know AOL and now I am sad because I am old. SUNNY IN THE RED NIGHTIE PLAYING POOL! Yeah, it’s a mystery why she got over and Skip and Zip didn’t. Cornette: “she went from a 19 year old kid to a 24 year old sex symbol.” Storm says Tammy hit at the right time with the internet boom and we found there are a lot of horny teenage boys watching wrestling.

-Mick notes he heard Tammy had some that liked her and some that didn’t, but he always liked her and got along with her. It seems all the Divas loved Mick! Cornette tells a story about The Bodydonnas being off the road, but Tammy was still touring. The Godwins brough their bucket to the back and said “guys, this bucket is going on Tammy tonight so don’t do anything to the bucket.” Yep! Cornette doesn’t want to think about all the DNA that went into that bucket.

-Tammy gets caught up in the party lifestyle and starts a relationship with Shawn Michaels. Cornette notes Shawn was the top star in the WWF in the mid 90s. He felt Shawn started the relationship with Tammy because he knew he could. Here we go! They show the promo he cut at One Night Only in England where it sure seemed like he was fingering Sunny on camera. Dr. Tom isn’t sure if Chris knew about Shawn and Tammy, but notes it probably would have been hard not to know. Terri: “of course he knew. Everyone knew!” She believes Chris knew and just didn’t want to accept it. Terri continues: “Being loved by the top guy felt better than being loved by your boyfriend who was down here.” DAMN!

-Cornette says that if Shawn wasn’t Shawn, the top guy, Chris would have broken him in fifteen pieces and shoved him up his own ass. Johnny says Tammy and his brother had an issue in a hotel and he had to pull him away, but Chris wouldn’t leave Tammy as he told his brother he brought her into this business. Tammy (2020) says they were together for seven years and she was tired of the same thing, so they split and that’s when she started seeing Shawn. She wonders to this day if Chris knew everything, but she will never know.

-Chris falls down the card and then gets injured in match where he breaks his neck. He is given pills to help the pain and Johnny says that is the first time his brother ever took any kind of drug. Mick says he was surprised to hear Chris fell into that kind of trap because he had always been so clean. The pill started for pain and got to the point he used them to sleep and then to control his emotions.

-Tammy is a massive star and Chris is not well liked by a few key people on the roster as noted by Mick. Chris leaves the WWF and joins ECW. Paul Heyman was in charge of ECW and Mick says Chris knew he would be well utilized there. Cornette says the ECW fans loved Chris because he was good in the ring and a throw back to an old school wrestler. They discuss Chris’ finisher in ECW being the top rope powerbomb called The Blonde Bombshell. He worked so hard in ECW that a doctor thought he was in a car accident based off x-rays and images, but Chris told him he was a pro-wrestler.

-Back to Cornette who talks about the 90s fans who demanded craziness in ECW and the wrestlers crippled themselves and that meant more drugs which most of the ECW wrestlers were already taking. This brings up a discussion about Somas and how they are a muscle relaxer to be taken with food, but guys were taking 6-7 and it gave them a euphoric state.

-Meanwhile Tammy had no physical issues, but was partying with Shawn and company and started taking the drugs socially. Next Sable shows up in the WWF and now Tammy’s rise slows as Sable is the shiny new object and her star shines brighter. Tammy ends up in ECW with Chris and they continue to have issues with drugs.

-Paul Heyman has Tammy do a tell-all video where she talks about her drug use and Cornette notes it was heartbreaking. Tammy is crying saying she hoped she didn’t wake up the next morning and off camera you hear Paul, “tell us about that. Describe that feeling.” Well, this isn’t painting Paul in a flattering light. Cornette was pissed at Heyman for a long time and could still get worked up about it. He felt Paul did it for ratings. “Well Paul, people would watch two dogs fuck on the side of the road too, but I wouldn’t put it on my television.” Storm says it did nobody any favors, but perhaps if they have gone to rehab and get clean and we get the happy ending to the story, but that’s not what happened.

-Commercials!

-Chris and Tammy continue to have issues with alcohol and somas and it leads to domestic issues. Johnny remembers seeing Tammy pulling knives out of butcher’s block and Chris would run away, and then the next minute Chris would tell him that Tammy is waiting to put together some furniture.

-Dr. Tom says Chris would be in the ring while Tammy was in the back apparently smashing a guy. They were suspended from ECW on screen, but Paul gave them office jobs to keep them on payroll. The problem was ECW was in debt and they didn’t know and that caused them to end up in debt. Also, they had the drug issue and Chris ended up having a seizure and bit his tongue. The paramedics are asking Chris what day it is as he is coming out of the seizure and his brother has them move and asks him “how many times did Ric Flair win the NWA Title?” Chris gets that right and his brother notes that he is alive. He would then check himself out of the hospital.

-Next up they join an Indy promotion in Puerto Rico in hopes of turning their careers around. Tammy says the buildings were old and some were outside. They had batteries thrown at them and had piss dumped on their heads. Also, somas were all over the place in Puerto Rico. Chris told his brother that he was okay with living fast and dying young and wanted to leave behind a tanned corpse. Chris would bitch that the guys on the independents don’t look good anymore and his brother told him that’s why he made it to WWF so quickly. Chris realized he screwed things up and his brother told him he had time to turn it around. Chris then realized his addiction and love for wrestling could overcome the addiction to somas.

-Commercials!

-Chris gets himself clean and gets back in shape. He ends up in TNA and everyone could see he had the drive back. Johnny says Chris had the happiness back he had when he first signed with WWF. He apologized to his brother for everything he did to him, and Storm says he seemed like SMW Chris.

-Then tragedy strikes in a crazy way. Chris is wrestling in a Six Sides of Steel Cage Match in TNA and take a bump off a dropkick. He tries to bump away from a nearby camera man and breaks his shin. Oh, that is nasty! Chris can’t stand and gets taken to the hospital. He is embarrassed that he had to leave the ring like that. He goes through extensive ankle surgery and then shows up on TNA TV just a few days later. He boards a flight home not knowing the tragedy that awaits. He made it home and called his mom and said he didn’t feel good. She told him he probably shouldn’t have flown home and needed to rest and that was the last time she talked to him. Johnny says Chris was fine on the phone and the next morning he gets a call that Cook is in the hospital. He tried to open his eyes and wake him up and when he grabbed his hand he realized he had passed away as the blood stopped flowing. He just started walking, found a church and said some prayers. His brother breaks down and needs a break. Lance Storm breaks down, and so does Dr. Tom. This is heartbreaking!

-Tammy (2006) says the doctor came in, knelt by her, and said “sorry, he’s gone.” She thought the doctor meant that he got up and walked out. He told her they lost him and she still didn’t comprehend that. She was informed Chris had a blood clot after the surgery and it went to his lungs, which caused pneumonia and then went to his heart and there was nothing they could have done.

-Chris’ mom says he was gone by the time she got to the hospital. “I let him down.” Oh man! This poor woman! The producer even asks why she would say that. “I should have been there and not let him gone through surgery by himself. I miss him. I miss him all the time. I feel sad that he didn’t get the opportunity to enjoy more life as he had a lot more life to live.” Again, just heartbreaking!

-Cornette is in tears as he says this kid didn’t do anything to anyone and he got over his problems. He was so dedicated to the wrestling business that he died. He could have stayed home and should have stayed home and he would have been paid, but he wanted to be there. He shouldn’t have flown as it can cause blood clots. “A broken ankle killed him.” Cornette needs a minute and says he doesn’t get sentimental about many people. This is just getting rough!

-Commercials!

-Next week it’s Magnum T.A.

-Footage from TNA’s 10-Bell Salute for Candido. Cornette says if Candido was around today he would be a massive star as the style has changed. The fans like smaller, faster guys. Storm says Chris paved the road most traveled and he has left a bigger legacy even though Tammy was the bigger star. Terri heard Tammy say she has no regrets and she doesn’t know if anyone can utter those words and mean them.

-Terri says she last talked to Tammy when she got out of jail. We get a quick history of Tammy’s legal issues and it’s disgusting hearing her laugh about having seven DUIs and a couple of jail stints. Cornette says you hold out hope that people can get straight but then Tammy kills someone driving a car while drunk when she had no license because of all the other DUIs. We see court footage of her bail hearing in 2022 and Dr. Tom says Tammy just keeps denying everything and he hopes she doesn’t come out as he doesn’t want her to do anymore damage.

-Cornette says he never would have seen what happened to Tammy coming as he didn’t think she would have lost track of her life like this. He also says again he feels Chris would be a big star today. Chris mom says his legacy is that he lived his life to the fullest and chased his dream. “He was special. He was my special kid and was special to a lot of people, and I am thankful for that.”

-What a way to start the season. This was more Chris’ story which is fine because they could probably do another hour just on Tammy and her issues. It sucks that Chris was able to get things back on track for it to end the way it did for him. I assume his death didn’t help Tammy, but it seems she has never wanted to fix her life like Chris eventually did. Seeing everyone break down and then hearing the words from his mom were tough. It does seem like she has found peace and I hope she has. Other than Tammy, this one didn’t flatter Shawn Michaels or Paul Heyman, but there was nothing horrible like what happened to Flair with The Plane Ride from Hell episode. Shawn was just a full of himself, alpha male picking up a co-workers hot girlfriend, which is a douche thing to do, but that’s their business. Heyman was just a wrestling promoter. Tammy laughing about 7 DUIs before killing someone in another one is the thing that angered me the most in this one. Let’s just hope she gets things figured out for good at some point soon. Thanks for reading!