Netflix’s ‘Wrestlers’ Will Make Even the Biggest Haters Fall in Love With Wrestling
Wrestling might be choreographed, but in his latest docuseries, Cheer and Last Chance U director Greg Whiteley proves just how real the emotions that form its foundation really are.
Thanks to his past hit Netflix series, Whiteley has risen to prominence as a devout chronicler of underdogs. That impulse is alive and well in this riveting seven-part documentary which made its debut on the streaming service Wednesday. The series observes the many, many triumphs and challenges unfolding within the Louisville, Kentucky-based Ohio Valley Wrestling—which has given us legends like John Cena and Dave Bautista.
Run by former WWE legend Al Snow, OVW is part of America’s crumbling regional wrestling infrastructure, and as such, it’s also chronically underfunded. In 2021, Snow sold a majority stake to Lexington, Kentucky attorney and radio host Matt Jones and his business partner Craig Greenberg. As seen in Wrestlers, the three men’s temperaments and interpersonal styles are quite different, and the wrestlers within OVW are understandably leery of their new, collared-shirt-wearing overlord.