Summary
Although Wrestlers gives us a first-hand look at the world of professional wrestling, it fails to deliver anything worthy of applause.
This review of the Netflix series Wrestlers Season 1 does not contain spoilers.
The Emmy Award-winning director Greg Whiteley, responsible for popular docuseries on Netflix, including Cheer and Last Chance U, is stepping inside the world of professional wrestling. A seven-episode docuseries titled Wrestlers follows a professional wrestling company responsible for some of the profession’s biggest stars.
Wrestlers Season 1 review and plot summary
Wrestlers follow the team at Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky whose alums include WWE Superstars John Cena, Dave Bautista, and Randy Orton. However, the company has fallen on hard times and is trying to bring its name back into the fold with trainer Al Snow leading the way.
When the docuseries begins, we get a back story of the history of professional wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling. OVW was at its highest when it was the “minor leagues” for the WWE. However, that ended, and the promotion has since struggled. Enter co-owner and head trainer Al Snow, who is trying to keep the love of the sport alive while trying to keep the doors open to keep these wrestlers’ dreams achievable.
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Being a professional wrestler is not easy, and the art of it is often misunderstood. Oh, it’s fake, it’s not, it doesn’t hurt, it does, it’s not hard, it is. I remember the first time I stepped foot into a wrestling ring, and it was one of the greatest feelings in the world. For these wrestlers, you are chasing a high every time you step foot in the ring, and this series perfectly depicts that.
Wrestlers does a great job of highlighting the good of the wrestling world, but it also shines even brighter on the bad. OVW is owned by Matt Jones, Craig Greenberg, and Al Snow, and the former are the money men, while Al is the guy who handles the wrestling part of it. No matter how good the in-ring product is, the company lost almost two thousand dollars a show. We saw the power dynamic between the three unfold before our eyes.
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This has a few glaring holes that I can’t ignore. First, this being seven 60-minute episodes is absolutely absurd. Almost every episode feels like the last, putting you in a spot after three or four where you want to throw in the towel. Also, Al Snow is a well-respected wrestler, but his off-putting attitude makes this a rough watch.
Is Wrestlers Season 1 good or bad?
Although Wrestlers takes liberties with its story, the heart and soul of the show is Al Snow providing a context of the sport in a way we haven’t seen before. You cling onto this cast of characters like you do when watching basketball hopefuls in Last Chance U.
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Like professional wrestling, Wrestlers provides a form of entertainment, but in a way that shows you how the wrestlers are built from the ground up.
Is Wrestlers Season 1 worth watching?
The biggest problem with Wrestlers is that professional wrestling fans will see right through most of the bullshit that the docuseries spews. The series does provide a lot of context that casual fans will learn from and understand the art of wrestling. However, it lacks the glaring whole of selling it to the casual audience that isn’t a fan of the sport. This will have a niche audience, and for those people, I say it’s worth checking out.
What did you think of Wrestlers Season 1? Comment below.
