Premiere date, trailer released for "Wrestlers," Netflix's OVW docuseries

Mark your calendars, KSR fans. “Wrestlers,” Netflix’s docuseries on Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), will premiere on Wednesday, September 13. As you know, our own Matt Jones co-owns OVW and will be featured prominently in the show, along with legendary professional wrestler Al Snow. According to the official synopsis, the relationship between Matt and Snow will be a focal point of the show, which is directed and executive produced by Greg Whitely, the creator of the docuseries “Cheer” and “Last Chance U” for Netflix.

From Variety:

 “Once a proud finishing school for aspiring pro wrestlers, the gym has since hit hard times. Acclaimed wrestler Al Snow clings to an old school wrestling philosophy with a heavy emphasis on storytelling, but in spite of the love of a few diehard fans, the gym struggles week to week to stay relevant enough to keep its doors open. Things have become so dire financially that Al has to sell a majority stake to a group of local businessmen including Matt Jones, the most popular radio personality in the state of Kentucky. Matt and the new ownership group have infused the struggling gym with much-needed cash but it still operates at a staggering loss. The new owners have given Al the summer to turn things around. Wrestlers chronicles the efforts Al and his band of aspiring wrestlers make as they struggle with their personal ambitions and each other while they attempt to come together to save this historic gym.”

Whitely told Variety he is excited to shine a spotlight on OVW, calling the series “perhaps the most uncompromisingly real thing we’ve ever filmed.”

“Before filming ‘Wrestlers,’ our cinematographer had recently invested in a set of vintage Minolta Prime lenses from the early ‘80s,” Whitely said. “We loved their cinematic look and figured the aesthetics of the Minolta would be appropriate for the garish acts inside the ring. But moving to these lenses made the job of our camera operators much more difficult. If they wanted a close-up, they had to physically approach the subject. Our fear was that the wrestlers might begin to edit themselves in more sensitive moments — but that’s not what happened. Ironically, filming this group of fake wrestlers is perhaps the most uncompromisingly real thing we’ve ever filmed. It was as if this little gym tucked away in Kentucky and the vintage Minolta lenses were trapped in the same era — working together to not be forgotten.”

The trailer also dropped, so drop what you’re doing and watch it.

Matt Jones, the villain?

The editors of Vulture, New York Magazine’s pop-culture website, included “Wrestlers” in their list of the 37 TV shows they can’t wait to see this fall. Based on their write-up, it’s time to brace ourselves for Matt being the villain.

“With Last Chance U and Cheer, director Greg Whiteley built a reputation as a man who likes to explore [Jamie Lee Curtis voice] trauma — mainly how it both drives and damages amateur athletes. It was only a matter of time before he found his way to the professional-wrestling ring: Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky, once served as the WWE’s developmental league and has seen the likes of John Cena and Dave Bautista grace its locker room, but has struggled to survive since that heyday. Much like Apple TV+’s Monster Factory, Wrestlers is a story about performers trying to make it to the big leagues as their gym owner struggles to keep things afloat. But while Factory’s villain was the existential threat of giving up, Wrestlers has Matt Jones, a radio personality who invested in the league with a group of local businessmen and has given gym owner Al Snow the summer to turn things around.”

September 13 can’t come soon enough.

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