Some families may argue at the dinner table, but this family takes its scuffles straight to the wrestling ring. The critically acclaimed series Heels follows two brothers who work for their family wrestling company in small-town Georgia. After their father’s death, the fictional stories they tell in the ring slowly begin to trickle into their real lives.   

The Starz series, produced by Lionsgate Television and created by Michael Waldron (Loki, Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), is now streaming on Netflix in the US — here’s everything you’ll need to wrestle with before you watch. 

What’s the show Heels about? 

Every great wrestling rivalry has a villain known as the “heel” and a hero known as the “face.” In this series, they also happen to be brothers. After his father’s unexpected death, Jack Spade (Stephen Amell) is working overtime to keep the family wrestling promotion, Duffy Wrestling League, in business while also performing as the “heel.” Jack’s brother Ace (Alexander Ludwig) is the “face” of the league, playing the crowd favorite as the company’s golden boy. But over time, their identities within the ring aren’t so clear-cut and start to bleed over into real life as their rivalry becomes personal. The brothers battle each other over their different visions for the family business. After a pivotal headline fight between the Spade brothers in the show’s first season — when the theatrical grappling of professional wrestling turns into a real-life smash fest — Ace, too, starts leaning into his inner villain.  

In a message posted on X, Waldron described the series as “Friday Night Lights in the world of small town pro wrestling, but every character is Tim Riggins.”

Who’s in the cast of Heels? 

• Stephen Amell (Arrow) as Jack Spade  
• Alexander Ludwig (Vikings) as Ace Spade  
• Allen Maldonado as Rooster Robbins 
• Alison Luff (New Amsterdam) as Staci Spade 
• Chris Bauer (True Blood) as Wild Bill Hancock 
• Kelli Berglund as Crystal Tyler 
• Mary McCormack (The West Wing) as Willie Day 
• Robby Ramos as Diego Cottonmouth 
• Trey Tucker as Bobby Pin 
• Roxton Garcia as Thomas Spade
• James Harrison as Apocalypse
• Marcia DeBonis (Uncut Gems) as Debbie Haynes 
• AJ Mendez as Elle Dorado
• Phil Brooks, aka CM Punk, as Ricky Rabies

Is Heels based on a true story? 

No, but it does provide a fascinating glimpse into the indie wrestling world — and uses the premise to delve into lots of outside-the-ring drama. 

“I always felt that it wasn’t just a wrestling show,” Ludwig said in 2023. “Wrestling is such an incredible world to explore, but underneath it all, it’s about identity and it’s about people — and flawed people at that.”

When is the show Heels coming to Netflix?

Ready to go against the ropes with the Spade brothers? Stream both seasons of the series now.  

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