Heels debuted its premiere episode on Starz on Sunday night, introducing fans to Spade brothers and the Duffy Wrestling League. The show takes place in the fictional town of Duffy, Georgia, and major wrestling promotions like the WWE and All Elite Wrestling aren't mentioned outright. But the show does sprinkle in a few hints of the greater wrestling world beyond the DWL, many of which eagle-eyed wrestling fans will either spot or hear.
The majority of the first episode centers around Wild Bill Hancock (Chris Bauer) returning to his old promotion to potentially scout Ace Spade (Alexander Ludwig) for a developmental contract. It's heavily implied he's working for the WWE, but the company is only ever referred to as "up north."
Charlie Gully (Mike O'Malley, also the series' showrunner) is introduced early in the show as the promoter of Florida Wrestling Dystopia, the hardcore wrestling promotion that serves as direct competition to the DWL. Stephen Amell's Jack Spade casually mocks Gully for considering himself "Vince McMahon," and footage to represent the FWD is made up of old clips of Impact Wrestling (back when it was known as TNA).
Late in the episode, Jack talks with Big Jim Kitchen (Duke Davis Roberts) on top of a water tower. Before Kitchen can tell Spade that he plans on retiring following the latest DWL show, Jack tells him about how he used to sneak around and watch old WCW pay-per-views while his father and friends broke down the show. He mentions Ric Flair vs. Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (likely referencing when Sting beat Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at the 1990 Great American Bash). He then tries to convince Kitchen to turn heel in the main event between Jack and Ace, but Kitchen turns the idea down.
The show closes with the latest DWL event, featuring a battle royale where current Impact Wrestling and AEW star Luke Gallows can be spotted. He's seen preparing in the locker room with other wrestlers, then takes a diving crossbody from Rooster Robbins (Allen Maldanado) during a battle royal.
Show creator Michael Waldron recently spoke with ComicBook about casting Amell, a well-known wrestling fan, as Jack. He said, "Well, casting the lead of any show is hard, because they've just got to be an awesome, tremendous actor who can carry a show on their shoulders. Playing Jack Spade, there's the added requirement of you have to have the physicality of a great wrestler. We had to have somebody who could believably pull off this stuff in the ring and outside of the ring, when framed against his wife and kids, and other people in the town, you'd believe this is a pro wrestler who lives here.
"There's not a lot of people who look like that who are also great actors. Steven Amell is one of those people," he added. "We were so fortunate to get him, coming off of the success of Arrow, with the ultimate added bonus of the guy loves wrestling. He might be the biggest fan of all of us, and he's actually wrestled with WWE. So I mean, God, we were lucky to get Steve."
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