All language subtitles for Dark Side Of The Ring s04e01 Chris and Tammy.eng

Tammy and Chris'
story is everything.

It was a love story,
it was a cautionary tale.

It was a success story.
It was a failure story.

[narrator]
High school sweethearts,

Chris Candito
and Tammy Sytch,

soared to wrestling stardom,
fuelled by their talent,

ambition, and devotion
to one another.

Anybody who met
Chris loved Chris.

You couldn't help it.

From the first time that
I saw Chris in the ring,

I knew he had
exceptional talent.

He was a natural, and
he loved wrestling.

I went from seeing Chris
and Tammy backstage to

seeing them as two of
the biggest stars.

But as Tammy's star rose
higher and brighter

than Chris', the bond
between the young lovers

was put to the test.

Tammy was the first female
internet sensation

in professional wrestling.

And, when she came
onto the scene...

she took all of the
attention away from him.

Until a series of devastating
injuries and ill-fated

choices sent them
hurtling towards disaster.

There was substance abuse.

There was alcohol abuse.

There were rumours
of infidelity.

If you are ----ing
around with a top guy,

have enough decorum to
shut your ----ing mouth.

They were the two
cleanest kids that

you could
possibly imagine.

What has happened?

What's happened
to these two?

I know my son loved her.

Loved her.

As addicted to opioids
as Chris became,

his biggest addiction
was to Tammy.

Tammy's legacy in
wrestling is both

a meteoric rise and
a meteoric fall.

What happened was
bound to happen.

You don't live like that
and not go away

without paying the piper.

♪

If you would've came down to
13-year-old Chris Candito

and said, "Listen,
you're gonna die at 33,

but you're gonna be
a WWF champion..."

[Indistinct shouting]
Phineas, wait a minute!

"You're gonna have more
belts than you can count.

You're not gonna have
kids or get married,

but you'll be a wrestling
star who's gonna be

remembered by the people
and by other wrestlers."

And I'll win one
for Candito, baby!

"Do you accept?"
He would say, "Yes."

You know, like he
took what came.

I'm Johnny Rae, also
known as Johnny Candito.

I'm Chris Candito's
younger brother.

♪

This is the office.

This is where he concocted
all of the, ah...

his wrestling
ideas and stuff.

My brother hung this fan,

that's why I haven't
taken it down.

He's got all the
old pictures.

I mean, just, there's
stuff everywhere.

And, in Chris' spare time,

he would draw
wrestling in here.

Wish there was
a date on this.

This is probably
before I was even born.

'Cook', is what me,
my family,

everybody in the
neighbourhood calls him, Cook.

When I was a, when
I was a baby,

I couldn't say Chris.
I called him Cook.

It kind of stuck.

So, he started the Eastern
Kids Wrestling Federation.

He took this platter...

that was, that was left
behind at somebody's wedding.

And, yeah, so he just made
this out of a weight belt.

It looks like a legit
wrestling belt,

and he made it
when he was 13.

Like, how the ---- do you
make that at 13, right?

Him and his friend,
Scott, would say-

Chris would say, "I'm
sleeping at Scott's house."

Scott would tell his mom
he's sleeping over here.

And the two of them,
they were 13,

they'd get on a bus,
go to Brooklyn,

and they would wrestle
at the Galaxian Bar.

You know, then they would
take a bus back home

the next morning and,
you know,

wash off their
gig marks and

come back home like they were
just at a regular sleep over.

Like, that's how
determined he was.

Oh, way behind my back.

I had no clue he
was doing that.

I wouldn't have allowed it.

It was not my dream or
wish for him at all.

Hi, my name
is Peggy Rae,

and I'm
Chris Candito's mom.

He was confident that he
was gonna be a wrestler.

It was what he wanted
for his future,

that's what he
wanted to do.

He was in a
wrestling match at

Madison Regional
High School.

And, I went to watch
the match that night.

I think he was working
with Johnny Hotbody.

And, Johnny Hotbody had him
in a headlock,

and he's like, "Hey,
dude, you know,

check out the blonde
in the front."

♪

I actually saw Tammy

while I was sitting in
the bleachers.

And I said to him,
"Oh, my God,

I saw this girl and she
was all dressed in white,

and she looked
so heavenly."

And, he told me that,

"Yeah, Mom, I met
that girl too.

Actually, we all went
back to her house."

The 'Girl In White'
was Tamara Lynn Sytch,

a bright high school student
preparing for college,

unaware that her life was
about to take a sharp turn.

When Chris and Tammy
started dating,

they were very
into each other.

Together all the time.

And he would say,
"Mom, Tammy's coming.

Please be nice."
I was always pleasant.

That relationship was
his other obsession.

He actually had a prom date.
She was just-

Tammy was just an
acquaintance at that time,

but he left the
prom with the girl,

and she was sitting
there in her convertible.

♪

And, he left the date, and
got in the car with her.

♪

Which I didn't
think was very nice.

[Laughing]

♪

I thought, in the
very beginning,

that she was lovely.

♪

After graduating
from high school,

Chris does everything in his
power to establish himself

in the wrestling business.

My brother was
constantly on the phone

trying to get booked,
driving to shows.

Even if he's not booked,
he's still gonna

drive there and see
if he can get on.

And, he wanted to go
to Smoky Mountain,

he was calling
Jim Cornette.

He started sending me
VHS tapes of all of

his matches on the
independent circuit.

I saw a lot of natural
talent in Chris Candito.

I'm Jim Cornette.

I was the promoter of
Smoky Mountain Wrestling,

and I'm the one who
brought Chris Candito and

Tammy Sytch to
mainstream wrestling.

The drawback for me bringing
Chris Candito to

Smoky Mountain Wrestling
was that I couldn't pay

him enough to justify
asking this kid...

to move from New Jersey to
east Tennessee for

75 bucks a night, 4 times
a week or whatever.

At the same time,

Tammy had never been
involved in wrestling.

She was Chris' girlfriend.

She would go and do some
ringside photography or

just support him.

But I was looking
at her, I said,

"There's something
about her,

she's got charisma.
She's a very pretty girl,

but she seems quick
and intelligent."

Finally,
I got an idea.

What if Tammy
was a manager?

What if she could talk?
I don't know, can she?

I'm not sure,
she's never done it before.

But if she can talk,

then I could pay them
both a little bit.

So, I called him and
pitched him the idea.

And I said, "You're not
gonna leave school."

So, he applied to the
University of Tennessee

and got accepted.

And I said,
"Well, that's great.

Yeah, you can take
that little road trip.

And, go see Mr. Cornette,

as long as you
go to school."

Yeah, I thought it was
gonna be temporary.

Of course, he had to
wear a baby bonnet.

[Off-screen]
[Laughing] What?

[Laughing]

[Announcer] And he gets that
baby bonnet, count of 2-

And no!
Ah, can't...

Like, wrestling just
makes me so crazy.

They make up
these stories so,

there was Christopher
walking around in

a baby bonnet
and a diaper.

[Announcer] The Suicide Blonde,
Chris Candito!

I guess it makes
sense to some people.

It made no sense
at all to me.

Oh, Chris was such a
student of the game,

and he understood that it
took more than great

moves or a great match
to get 'over'.

He realized he had
to be a character.

My name is Mick Foley.

I am a three-time
WWE champion.

I'm known as the
'Hardcore Legend'.

And I was a colleague
of Chris and Tammy's.

It's just more fun
to be a bad guy.

Bad guys have more fun.

He embraced the
heel mannerisms.

He liked to be a jerk.

He was one of the best jerks
I've seen in our business.

Though Chris relishes
playing the bad guy,

it's Tammy who is destined
to be the ultimate villain.

We were in east Tennessee
in the early 90s,

and it was a highly
republican area.

Everybody hated the Clintons.

He's president.

Hillary has tons of heat
with all the republicans.

I suppose I could have stayed
home and baked cookies and

had teas, but what I
decided to do was to

fulfill my profession,
which is-

I saw an opportunity to
basically piss off every

republican and every
hillbilly in east Tennessee

and surrounding states.

This young lady
is Tammy Fytch.

Now, the Smoky Mountain
Wrestling attorneys have

advised us to let her have
her say here on the program.

And I gave her notes.

I said, "Here, this is the
story we'd like you

to tell on your
first interview.

Put it in your own words,
make it sound natural."

Tammy?

My name is Tammy Fytch,
of the New England Fytchs.

I'm sure you've
heard of us.

One take.
One take, she did.

Mrs. Clinton has
proven that a woman

can do anything she wants.

Here is this woman who
idolizes the person

that they all can't stand.

And she was coming to
Smoky Mountain Wrestling

because she demanded
equal opportunity.

At any rate, the reason I'm
here today is because

I have filed a sexual
discrimination lawsuit

against Smoky
Mountain Wrestling.

And the people
hated that shit.

[Booing & shouting]

She leaned into
the idea that

she could make
people hate her.

She wasn't scared
of it at all.

I'm ready to become
the first lady of

Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

Hi, This is Tammy Fytch,

and I'm here with
Tammy's Tips.

You'll be amazed at how
I can make Margie

into an acceptable
human being.

Tune in next week for
more of Tammy's Tips.

I'll make something
out of you yet.

As soon as
she was on screen...

she lit it up, you know,

like she just
popped onscreen.

And Jim Cornette put her
in a perfect spot

because she was that.

She wasn't playing
a part either.

That was Tammy.

My name is Dr. Tom Prichard,

and I was Chris Candito's
tag team partner in WWE.

It's time to get
down to business.

Chris with stars
in his eyes and,

this love for this one woman
that he's gonna

spend the rest
of his life with.

Why wouldn't you want
to be with your partner?

From the time they
first came to Tennessee,

they were inseparable.
They rode together,

they lived together,
obviously.

They seemed
to be the most

romantic,
loving couple.

You know, Tammy had
no idea that wrestling

was going to
pan out for her.

She thought it was something
that Chris was gonna do.

And then, actually, it made
it all the more surprising

when she got over
quicker than he did.

They're obviously insecure
about their masculinity.

In early 1995,

Tammy's charisma and
Chris' dynamic

wrestling style catch
the attention of the WWF.

Signing with the company,

the pair finally achieve
their ultimate dream.

My relationship with Chris
and Tammy was,

obviously, as a mentor,
as well as a boss.

But I genuinely believed
in both of their talents,

and I wanted to
see them succeed,

even past my promotion.

He said, "Yeah, I'm gonna go
wrestle for the WWF,"

which I thought was, well,
okay, so you did make it.

That means you're
dropping out of school,

but I guess you
did make it.

His ultimate dream was
get into the WWF...

and being a top talent.

He attained his goal.

And, a lot of people just
never attain their goal.

And he did it without any
encouragement from me.

Tammy,
from the beginning,

was ready to
conquer the world.

And didn't care
who knew it,

didn't care what anybody
thought about her.

Yes, I do think with
the success, her,

her head grew...

her head grew pretty big.

But the transformation
that she was undergoing,

personally, inside and
underneath all that

was even more...

remarkable, and honestly,
much more dangerous.

-Hi, I'm Skip.
-And I'm Sunny.

And we're The Body Donnas.

At that time, a lot of people
in WWE were vocations.

They were Mounties,
they were IRS agents,

they were repo men.

I love my job! Ha!

They made them
fitness gurus.

The Body Donnas.

Chris was the young, jacked
guy that would work out,

and she was the
pretty girl

that would exercise
along with him.

Come on, get up and work,
work, work, work, work!

He would have been much more
comfortable being himself,

but he, I think he just
thought of it

as a rite of passage.

See where it goes,
and it went...

I mean, they won
the tag titles.

[Indistinct shouting]
No, no, no, no!

-What is this?
-Look at this!

Did you see- did you
just see what Phineas-

Wait a minute!
Three, no!

When they added the tag
partner and they made

Tom Prichard who had,
you know, long, curly hair,

that he was a big fan of,
shave his head, and I'm like,

they should have
just called me.

It's like, I had
the hair already.

Hi, I'm Lance Storm,
a professional wrestler

who worked with
Chris and Tammy

in Smoky Mountain
Wrestling,

as well as Extreme
Championship Wrestling.

[Crowd chatter]

I could have
been Zip, yeah.

Although, in hindsight
being 20/20, I mean,

thank God they didn't.

It sucked!
It was horrible!

It was the worst God
damn time of my life!

Shit!

Just, it was rotten-
it was a rotten gimmick.

And, that's what
Chris Candito off on

the wrong foot with the
fans in the WWF is

they saw this as
preliminary foolishness.

And, they weren't mad at
Tammy anymore because

she wasn't this bitchy
heel manager.

She was this girl doing
jumping jacks and

she's pretty, so they
started loving her.

She was amazing
on the mike.

She was amazing
as a manager.

She was amazing at any
damn thing in the business

that you could possibly
ask of her.

I am Terri Runnels.

Former diva,
manager, wrestler.

Oh!

She was,
back in the day,

the most downloaded
female on AOL.

And if you don't know
what AOL is, well...

[Laughing] It was back in
the day, like way-

like, back when Christ
was born, we had AOL.

Anyway!
She was gorgeous.

She just,
she had it all.

Viewer discretion is advised.

She went from a
19-year-old kid...

to a 24-year-old
sex symbol.

I think it timed
well with, you know,

the explosion
of the internet,

and all of a sudden,
it's you know,

everyone's downloading sexy
pictures of attractive women.

Hit it, boys!

And, Tammy was just hitting
at the right time as this new

sex symbol character on
wrestling television.

And, there was a lot of
teenage or younger boys that

thought that was a
pretty damn good thing.

In the beginning, a lot of
people liked Tammy because

she could come across
as very charming.

But once you got to know her,
you understood that was...

just a front.

And Tammy was
all about Tammy.

I had heard Tammy
was divisive.

I always liked Tammy.

I understood she was
ambitious, like...

that's not a negative.

But it can be if you're a
women, in a man's business.

So, there was one time on
television before they had

taken her off the road as
The Body Donnas manager.

Henry and Phineas
Godwinn, the pig farmers.

They carried a slop
bucket around and,

they would dump the slop over
the head of their opponents

and people would cheer,
and they just loved it.

Henry's got the slop!

On a particular night,

I remember the
Godwinns coming in,

putting the bucket down
in the locker room, said,

"Guys, the bucket is
going on Tammy tonight,

so don't anybody do
anything in this bucket."

And you can imagine.

[Indistinct shouting]
Oh, no, no!

[Indistinct shouting]

And there must have
been DNA from

20 different
people in there.

Tammy seemed to have heat
in the dressing room.

I don't know why.

If cockiness was a penalty,

then we wouldn't have
much of a business.

[Screaming & shouting]

Everybody needs to have
the performer's ego.

Yes, you must have
an ego, no doubt,

and Tammy didn't lack...

an ego. But, she went
off the rails because

she didn't know
how to control it.

Tammy skyrockets to fame
as one of the first

female megastars
in the WWF.

But her rise to the top
is plagued by

a culture of drugs
and alcohol.

Soon, she's caught up in
the hard, partying lifestyle.

Well, at the time
that Tammy and

Shawn Michaels
started their...

liaison, ah, I didn't
know about it originally.

Most people didn't.
Then,

the rumours started
circulating, and then

it started to become more
of an out in the open thing.

[Announcer] She's mesmerized
by Shawn Michaels!

Will she come
into the ring?

In the mid 90s, Shawn Michaels,
the Heartbreak Kid,

was the top
star in the WWF.

He was the champion.

He defeated Bret Hart in
1996 at WrestleMania and

carried the belt through
the end of 1997.

I think Michaels did it
'cause he could,

and he could get
away with it.

You know, I'm feeling
awfully randy, you know that?

Can you feel it?

Oh, yeah, I can,
I can feel it.

Did Chris find out
about Shawn and Tammy?

I don't know if he,
if he actually caught 'em

red-handed, but how could
you not know, is my point.

Of course he knew.
Everybody knew!

I, I really- I have to
believe that he knew it,

and just could
not accept it.

[Announcer]
Oh, my goodness!

She was a little girl that
just wanted to be loved and,

you know, being loved
by the top guy...

felt a whole lot better than
being loved by, you know,

her boyfriend that was
down here, I assume.

If Shawn Michaels hadn't
been Shawn Michaels...

and, he got sideways
with Chris Candito,

Chris Candito would've
broke him in 15 pieces and

shoved him up
his own ass.

But, Chris wasn't gonna do
that because Michaels is

a big star, this is Chris'
dream to work for

the biggest promotion.

He took it, and he
internalized it, I think.

My brother and Tammy had
an altercation in a hotel.

It was too much, I, I...

I couldn't watch my brother
get treated like that so,

I grabbed him, I threw him
out of the room

into the hallway...

He's trying to fight
to get back in,

I'm not letting him.
I'm like, "Dude,

let's get in the car and let's
get the ---- out of here."

And he's like,
"I can't do that, dude."

He's like, "Dude, I brought
her into this business.

It's my responsibility to
take care of her."

I'm like, "That's bullshit,
dude." Like,

"Let's get the ---- out
of here."

And, he's like,
"I can't do it."

Chris Candito's undeniable
talent isn't enough to

make him a top star in the
eyes of the company.

After falling down
the ranks of the WWF,

a serious injury makes
his prospects even worse.

It was in Madison
Square Garden.

And, he came back to
the dressing room...

He said,
"I got a hurt neck."

Well, they found out that
it was more than hurt,

it was broke.

And this kid's going out
there busting his ass.

You know, having a broken
neck, aching back...

everything else in life.

Somebody says,
"Here, try this."

Well, if one's good,
six must be even better.

My brother never
touched a drink,

a drug, anything,
until he was in WWF.

And it was out
of necessity.

He was in pain. He was hurt,
he broke his neck.

I was surprised when
I heard that

Chris had fallen
into that trap.

Because he'd always
been so clean.

Didn't even drink.

[Johnny ] It started for pain,
obviously.

But then it became
he could use it

to just go to sleep
and forget about it.

And I think he used it for
his emotions at times, yes.

While Tammy Sytch
revels in the fame and

excitement of being
on top in the WWF,

Chris Candito finds himself
squeezed out and

even bullied by the toxic
culture of the locker room.

He wasn't well liked by...

a few key people in
the locker room.

And life can be really tough
for somebody who's not

well-liked by the key
people in the locker room.

Battling injuries and
frustration with

his mid-card status,
Chris leaves the WWF

in search of the
main event spotlight,

and joins the hardcore and
controversial,

Extreme Championship
Wrestling.

Paul Heyman was
in charge of ECW.

Chris knew he would be
well utilized there.

And he was.

♪

The thing that the fans
liked about Chris was that

he was a throwback to
an old-time wrestler.

He was exciting and
fast and strong,

and he could talk,
and he looked good.

That in-ring portrayal was
the best thing that

Chris Candito ever did.

[Shouting & cheering]

Here's the Blonde Bomb
from the top!

It's like, and people think-
and we were insane,

but it's like, in ECW
when we were working,

it's like his finisher
was the Blonde Bombshell.

The Powerbomb
off the top rope.

And depending on
which one of us won,

we would give the other one
the Powerbomb

off the top rope
every night.

There it is, the
Blonde Bombshell!

And he had injuries
from these Bombs.

I remember there
was one time,

in the middle of the night,
his back was bothering him

so much they caved in and
took him to the hospital.

And when they went in and
first looked at his back,

the doctor looked and
said, "Well, I need

to see the accident report."
And Chris was like,

"What do you mean?"
He's like,

"Well, you were in a car
accident, right?"

He's like, "No."
They're like,

"Well, how did your back
end up this messed up?"

He's like, "Um,
I wrestle professionally."

[Jim] The fans for that
90s grunge era

loved that kind of shit.

And as a result, all those
guys crippled themselves.

Had to face the reality
of breaking my neck twice!

And that fed the drug use
that most of the people

involved on the
ECW roster were

already heavily
involved with.

Somas were a drug of choice
for a lot of wrestlers,

especially in the
90s and 2000s.

It's a muscle relaxer,
heavy duty muscle relaxer.

They're really great
for back pain.

The intended use
for Somas is,

take one or two
with food.

However, if you take 6, 7,
chew 'em up,

swallow 'em, and it's like-
[Snaps]- insta...

I was gonna say,
"insta drunk,"

but it's not drunk,
it's like...

it's like a euphoric state,
is pretty much what it is.

It seems to me like people
can be addicted with

one prescription with
30 pills, by the time...

that week is up,
you can be an addict.

Tammy, she didn't have
any of that problem.

It was the jackoffs that she
was going out and

partying with,
they're all drinking,

they're all doing Somas.

She didn't have any
of those issues,

she just started
doing it socially.

Tammy's meteoric rise in the
WWF hits a sudden obstacle

with the arrival of Sable,
a new diva who quickly

outshines Tammy in
the eyes of both

the company
and the fans.

Shut up,
I'm reading.

In the hopes of
revitalizing her career,

Tammy joins Chris at ECW
as his onscreen manager,

but her struggles with
substance abuse continue,

affecting her
performance in the ring.

She would, walking on
her high heels,

her ankles would be
vibrating and shaking,

and she'd be stumbling.

And the audience noticed
that on her entrance.

As Chris and Tammy's drug
use spirals out of control,

it becomes
impossible to ignore,

both for audiences and for
ECW owner, Paul Heyman.

We tell a few jokes,
we get on the floor

and do the Curly Shuffle.
There's no more jokes now.

It's no more fun and games,
no more joking around.

To keep their jobs in ECW,
Tammy agrees to film a

provocative tell-all video
as directed by Paul Heyman.

My first drink was at home.

When there were no more pills
to make you go to sleep.

It was disheartening.

As their friend, I'm watching
it, sitting there, going,

"This is not productive.

This is not gonna help
these kids in any way."

I was hoping I wouldn't
wake up the next morning.

[Paul] Tell me about that.
Describe that for me.

The worst feeling
in the world.

I was mad at Heyman, for a
long time- actually, I still,

I could work up getting mad
at him now for doing that.

But it was all 'cause
Paul thought people

will watch this,
it'll get ratings.

Well, they'll watch
two dogs ----ing on

the side of the road,
too, Paul,

but I wouldn't put it
on my television.

I don't think it did
anyone any favours.

Now, the right answer
would have been that,

their time off, they had
gone to rehab and

got everything
worked out and...

we had the...

the triumphant story
on the return, but...

that's not what happened.

As their alcoholism and Soma
addictions grow more severe,

Chris and Tammy's domestic
problems escalate to

a whole new level
of intensity.

I would see something
really crazy.

Just crazy insanity.

Like, she's pulling knives
out of the butcher block.

He's, he's
running away and...

then she's locked in
the car, and then,

he picks me up from high
school the next day,

and he's like,
"Oh, dude, ah, ah,

Tammy's waiting
for you to put together

your bedroom set."
And he's like wondering

why I'm not stoked
to go put together

a bedroom set.

And we just never
talked about it.

We just slipped it under
the rug and that was it.

♪

Chris would be in
the ring, wrestling.

And, Tammy would be
somewhere else

with somebody else,
in the back.

While he's in the ring.

While he's in the ring!

You have to want to stop.

You have to want
to get better.

And, I don't think-
[Laughing]-

I don't think either one of
them knew how to live

any other way
at that time.

While serving their
suspension from ECW,

Paul Heyman keeps Chris
and Tammy on the payroll by

assigning them office jobs,
including arranging

travel plans for other
wrestlers on the road.

My brother had this
American Express card,

and he would book the boys'
flights and hotel rooms,

and then get
reimbursed with cash.

He'd do it, get
reimbursed with cash.

And then, he stopped getting
reimbursed with cash.

What Chris and Tammy
don't know is that ECW

is struggling with
crippling debt.

As the promotion
crumbles,

the couple is stuck with a
massive bill for

tens of thousands
of dollars in

unreimbursed
ECW expenses.

So, they ended up in
huge, huge debt.

And, ultimately, ended up
losing their home.

So, that was a
horrible time for them.

His drug use was probably
as bad as it ever was.

We knew of pharmacies
that were corrupted,

and we could go
there and get...

120 Somas every
other day, you know.

So, we were at this
pharmacy and,

we were waiting,
waiting, waiting.

And all of a sudden,
he goes, "Oh, no."

And he has a seizure,
and he bites his tongue,

and he's coughing
up blood.

And I'm holding him,
trying to get his eyes

to like look at me,
you know.

So, they call
an ambulance.

And, when you come
out of a seizure,

you don't know
what you're saying.

They're like, they're like,
"Sir, sir! What day is it?

Sir, what day is it?" I'm like,
"Move out of the way.

Ask him something he knows."
I'm like, "Cook,

how many times did Ric Flair
win the NWA title?"

He's like, "Ah, 16." I'm like,
"Alright, he's alive."

Then we had to go to
the hospital and he would,

you know, be like,
"Where am I?"

I'm like,
"You're in the hospital."

Then he'd be like,
"I'm in the hospital?

Get the ---- out of here."

He'd rip the things out of
his arm and we'd go.

After years of uncertainty,
Chris and Tammy receive

an invitation to join an
independent wrestling

promotion in Puerto Rico,

with the hope of
revitalizing their careers.

However, things quickly
take a turn for the worse.

[Johnny] The access in
Puerto Rico to Somas

was very easy,
you know.

It was well known
where you could go

to get Somas
just like that.

I heard Chris
was struggling.

Ah, man, I,
I heard it was bad.

He would just say,
you know, "Dude,

if I go out, I want to,
I want to leave a,

leave a good-looking corpse,

you know, blonde,
tanned, and...

you know, I want to like
live fast, die young."

I'm like, "Dude, don't
----ing say that shit."

He needed a change.

I think he even knew,
you know, that,

that he needed to change,
and it's not time to

throw in the towel
and just...

you know, stay there
and ----ing die.

♪

One day, you know,
we were sitting there...

having our lunch, and...

he's like, "Man, you know,
the guys on the indies

right now ----ing,"
you know, he's like,

"they really get under my skin."
He's like, "You know,

they don't look like
professional athletes."

He's like, "You know,
when I was 17, 18,

I was, I was already
big, muscular.

I was, I was going
to Smoky Mountain,

I was making moves.
I was doing all this stuff."

I'm like, "Yeah, dude,

that's why you
were a standout.

That's why you made it,
numb nuts."

And he's like...

He's like,
"Man, I really...

I really ----ed
everything up."

And I was like,
"Dude, no, you didn't."

Like, "You're, you're,
you're 32. 31.

Let's get back on
----ing track."

And he's like,
"Yeah, dude. ---- it."

It was at that point that
his love for wrestling

overcame his
addiction to the Somas.

Chris gets clean and
undergoes intense training

to regain his fighting form.

With Tammy by his side,
he returns to

the mainland to join a new
wrestling promotion

called Total Nonstop
Action Wrestling.

Back on television,
he's determined to work

his way to the top
of the industry.

What I noticed when
Chris got sober,

is being reinvigorated.

Getting that drive back, and
you could see it in his eyes.

You- I could see it
in his work.

He was as
happy as he was

when he first got
signed to WWF.

Like, he had that same
happiness, like, like,

dude, he was like
glowing, you know.

The thing he just said,
he's like, "Dude, like, I'm,

I'm really sorry for all
the stuff you saw at

such a young age,
you know. I apologize."

He's like,
"I shouldn't have, like,

you know, put you
in that situation."

I would just be like, "Dude,
you were a baby too,

you know.
You were 23, 24."

I had heard at that point
he had cleaned up,

and he certainly seemed...

like Smoky Mountain
Chris Candito again.

There was a camera
in the ring,

and he tried to bump
to get away from it.

And that got his boot hung up
a little bit in the canvas

when he was trying
to bump it, and...

his shin broke.

And, right away, he,
he wanted to stand up,

but he couldn't.

He got out of the ring,
and they, they took him...

to the hospital,
and I'm...

----ing freaking out.
I'm here, you know.

I call his phone, and he's
just like, he's like,

"Dude, I can't believe I
left the ring." He's like,

"I just couldn't stand up,"
you know.

He's like, "I'm just like
----ing embarrassed that

I left the ring." Like, "I
shouldn't have done that."

♪

I talked to him
on Monday.

And he said, "Hey, I'm
about to go in to the doctor.

I'll call you back."

After undergoing
extensive ankle surgery,

Chris makes a surprise
appearance at a

TNA event just
two days later.

He then boards
a flight home,

unaware of the
tragedy that awaits.

Everybody saw the
horrendous injury that

I sustained in lockdown.

On Wednesday,
he flew home,

and he called me
Wednesday night.

And he's like...

"Oh, Mom, I, I just don't
feel good." I said,

"Well, Chris, you probably
shouldn't have flown home.

You just, you just need
to go to bed."

And, that was the last
time I talked to him.

All I know is he, he was fine
on the phone, talking to me.

You know, the two
of us were chatting.

You know, last thing we said
to each other was,

"Hey, love you, Bro."
"Love you too."

It was the next morning that

I get a call that
Cook's in the hospital.

I go in there, and I
see him like laid on...

a hospital bed.

And, I get on top of him like
I've done a million times,

I'm like, "Cook, Cook, Cook!"
You know- [Clearing throat]-

I'm like, "Yo, wake up,
wake up."

And, you know,

I'm trying to like
open his eyes and shit.

And then, when I...

I was trying to grab,
once I grabbed his hand...

I realized he passed away
because the

blood stopped flowing,
and I was like...

Holy shit, like,
it was ----ing, like I...

It was the worst experience
of my entire life.

♪

I just go walking, and I
found a church and

I went and said a
couple prayers.

And then...

yo...

sorry, hold on.

The last interaction
I had with Chris...

Sorry.

[Sniffling & sighing]

Everything was off.
Everything, dude.

You know,
just ----ed.

And...

I got home, and
Tommy Dreamer called me.

He said, "Chris is dead."
I said, "Chris who?"

Couldn't have been Candito,
I just talked to him Monday.

He said, "Candito,"
and he started crying.

I said, "Oh, my God."
Then I hung up,

he hung up, and I
started crying.

[Sighing]

♪

[Sighing] Yeah, dude,
I don't know-

really break up,
you know, but...

that, that image is, is
frigging stuck with me.

♪

By the time I got
to the hospital,

he was already gone.

Yeah, I let,
I let him down.

Because if I knew, I-

Maybe I could
have helped him.

Maybe I could have
saved him. Maybe, ah...

I should have been there,
I shouldn't have

let him gone through
surgery by himself.

You know, you think back
on things, and you say,

"Maybe if I was there,
things would be different."

♪

[Stammering]
I miss him, I...

I miss him all the time.

And, I just feel sad that...

he didn't get the
opportunity to

enjoy a lot more life

'cause he had a lot,
a lot more life to live.

[Indistinct speaking
off-screen]

Okay, bye.

♪

You know, here's the thing
about this whole deal...

is that this kid never did
anything wrong to anybody.

And he finally- he has
all those problems,

and then he finally is
getting straightened out.

And just when he gets...

his, his last chance...

it was because he was so
dedicated to the

wrestling business
that he died.

He could have sat at home,
and they would've paid him.

But after he had
that surgery,

he had to get on a
plane and go somewhere.

And, you shouldn't
fly after surgery.

You can get blood clots,
and the altitude and

the pressure,
whatever...

and that's what
happened.

A God damn broken ankle
killed him.

[Sniffling]

I need a minute.

-Sure.
-I'm sorry, it just...

That's, with Chris,
I don't get...

[Sighing] ...sentimental
about many people.

[Exhaling sharply]

[Bell chiming]

[Cheering]

If Chis Candito
was around today,

he'd be one of the biggest
stars in wrestling because

the style has changed.

And they like smaller,
younger, faster guys.

The road that Chris
helped pave

is now the road
most traveled.

And I think because of that,
he's left a bigger legacy,

even though she was by far
the bigger star at her peak.

Tammy was that
bridge to... divas.

The road she paved
at the time is

a road almost no
longer traveled.

I once heard her say
she has no regrets.

None, zero, zilch.

I don't know if
you are a living,

breathing human being...

that you can truly utter
those words and

mean them because...

mistakes are regrets,
in my opinion.

I think she'd just
gotten out of jail.

Real quick,
what's your last name?

Sytch.
S-Y-T-C-H.

-What's your first name?
-Tamara.

Okay, what's
your middle name?

Lynn.

You could still always
hold out hope that

she'd straighten up and
get her shit together.

People do.

And then, we got the news
and it- at this point,

it's never surprising,
but still it's like, oh, boy,

you know,
she's done it now.

[News] 49-year-old,
Tamara Sytch,

a former WWE wrestler,
crashed into the

back of a car, killing
its 75-year-old driver.

She's drunk,
she has no license...

with the multiple DUIs.

She has no business being
anywhere behind the wheel.

And is now charged
with DUI manslaughter,

up to 20-something
years in prison.

She's denying it, and
denying it, and denying it.

And, when you can't be
honest with yourself,

you're not gonna be honest
with anybody else, so...

I just don't think she's...

coming out.

I hope she doesn't.

Don't want her doing
any more damage.

It was surprising,
the way that

everything turned out,
to see...

both of 'em as young people,
and then especially

to see what happened
with Tammy.

Tammy changed.
Tammy...

lost track of
what was going on,

and Tammy lost
control of her life.

I wouldn't have
seen that coming...

from the girl I first met.

Chris Candito, the real
world heavyweight champion.

[Jim]
Chris...

the last 15 years, I,
I don't think

if he'd have lived
if he would have been

a significantly
different person.

Today, Chris would be one
of the biggest stars in the

business, because the
business is more accepting of

what Chris offered
and what he brought.

His legacy...

I think if you're happy
doing what you're doing...

you should just do it.

Just do it.

If you have a dream,
dream it.

Live your dream,
live your life to the fullest.

He did more in 33 years
than I've done in 73.

So, he's been everywhere,
he's seen so many things.

He's had so many
life experiences.

He was,
he was special.

He was my... special kid.

He was special to
a lot of people.

And I'm thankful for that.

♪

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