Wrestlers Episode 1 Recap: The Muppet Show

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It’s finally here. We’ve heard about it in all of its various forms, from “secret project” to “a show on a streaming service,” and now Wrestlers is finally on Netflix. The seven-part documentary about Ohio Valley Wrestling, and its very crucial summer, dropped today.

Before getting into the details of the episode, let me say: this show is BEAUTIFULLY shot. The crew at BBC production made all of these athletes, and The Davis Arena (OVW’s home), look amazing. When it’s not just documentary content, the show has a very GLOW/80s wrestling aesthetic and really pulls you into the world of professional wrestling. Okay, now to the recap.

The series opens up with an explanation of professional wrestling itself. It’s important to look at the profession as a whole, as there are sure to be eyes on the show who may not exactly know the history or terminology that exists in the business. I was excited to see David Shoemaker, wrestling historian and journalist from The Ringer, be the person to give a lesson on why wrestling works.

“It’s not just that [wrestling fans] are forgiving, it’s that they’re in on it. The ultimate goal is not to make it look like a real fight. The ultimate goal is to entertain, to make you feel something. It’s a morality play…good vs. evil.”

He notes OVW is in the “loosely defined third tier,” as one of the “last remnants of the regional wrestling system.” OVW, previously a training ground for WWE, produced a number of stars including John Cena, Batista, and Brock Lesnar. As OVW no longer has that WWE affiliation, it will require a lot more work for wrestlers to get from Louisville to the big-time.

While we are sure to meet MANY of the wrestlers of OVW, here are a few of the standouts from Episode 1:

Ca$h Flo – An OVW Heavyweight, who has been around the scene for a while. We catch up with him at a tanning salon, where we find out that he’s the breadwinner of his family. Eight years ago he was making $60/night wrestling; now, he’s doing $300-400/night.
Shera (The Indian Lion) – A wrestling star from India, and OVW’s Heavyweight Champion, has made his way to the US to try and leave a mark (ala Arnold Schwarzenegger) in the world. While not wrestling, he is doing an Uber Eats/Q’doba-style job to make extra money, as he’s sending about $600/month to help support his family back in India
The Amazing Maria – A wrestling veteran who also works as a “segment producer” for OVW. While not wrestling, she runs a hotel. She is also the real-life mother of…
Hollyhood Haley J – Haley is a young wrestler who has aspirations to be a star, but her immaturity is an obstacle for her to overcome. Haley will be a star in this series and is certainly the star in this episode. She’s lived a rough life early on, having been robbed at gunpoint, with that same gun being pointed at her child. She moved to Louisville to get her and her son out of that situation, and to start a career in wrestling.

Then, the spotlight finds its way to our very own Matt Jones. Matt has alluded many times on the radio about how in the first couple of episodes he’s set up to be the villain of the show, and he’s not wrong.

In January 2021, Matt and Craig Greenberg (now mayor of Louisville Metro), bought into Ohio Valley Wrestling. Matt and Craig are quickly portrayed by the wrestlers and staff as outsiders who want to run the business despite not having worked/”taken a bump” in wrestling. We get a few shots of Matt backstage giving stern direction to some of the performers, while a couple of the wrestlers claim they’ve “butted heads/cussed out” Matt during his early days.

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His goal stated succinctly is to make OVW successful, and leverage the radio show to get more people to see/care about OVW than just “wrestling dorks…who don’t spend much money.” We find that OVW is losing about $30,000 a month and some changes need to be made, even if Al and company don’t feel they’re the right ones. Matt notes that Al is a great wrestling mind, but not the best with money.

The seven episodes take place over a summer tour of 33 wrestling shows leading up to a pay-per-view called “The Big One”. The PPV serves as a decision point of “Is this working?” or “Will OVW have to close its doors?”.

In the final moments, we’re given a great look at this dichotomy of Snow in the trenches on show night, while Matt and Craig are chatting in an office crunching the numbers. Matt is hesitant to step on toes but also stresses the importance of convincing Al that he knows how to get more people in the seats than Al does. That includes doing “gimmicky stuff,” without making Snow feel like the storylines of OVW aren’t important. Matt and Craig agree they are, but only to people already coming to shows. However, getting outside the OVW bubble is the way to build an audience.

As a self-proclaimed “wrestling dork,” watching Al, Maria, and Haley build a moment on the fly gave me goosebumps. With a monitor not working, Al has to produce a live TV segment blind, with the hopes that Haley and the crew in the ring can stay on task and time. As Haley’s laying people out left and right with her “sock of rocks,” Al sends Maria out in character to reel Haley in, and magic happens. The episode does a great job building on Haley/Maria’s relationship, and with that special something, they turn a bad situation into a great piece of television.

The show is fantastically produced and already has made some characters very star-worthy. Here’s to seeing how Matt and crew come off in Episode 2 and beyond.

Bonding that bridge, so to speak (Bonus KSR Notes)

First appearance of Matt, Ryan, and Drew – 6:09 (Ryan screaming, surprisingly with his shirt on, while Drew & Matt laugh. Bonus points for Drew’s Brooks & Dunn shirt.)
First full appearance of Shannon The Dude – 14:22
The KSR Office is looking clean for Matt’s shots, with no signs of Steven Peake or Drew Franklin sleeping there.
I’m not going to say he wasn’t, but I think Matt was trying hard to make sure we saw him wearing the Lamelo MB 01 Rick and Morty Purple & Green kicks. Also with the production value, they do look pretty sweet.