Heels Review: 10 Ups & 1 Down For Episode 1: 'Kayfabe'

Starz's pro wrestling drama series hits a homerun right out of the gate.

by Andrew Pollard
Heels Stephen Amell Alexander Ludwig
Starz

After much anticipation, the first episode of Starz' Heels is now out in the wild.

Headlined by Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig as Jack and Ace Spade, respectively, Heels is a drama series that focusses on a small-town wrestling promotion and those tied to it.

After the Spades' legendary father Tom passes away, the Duffy Wrestling League is left to Jack to run. With himself as the company's top bad guy and DWL Champion, Jack also has to deal with balancing the books and mapping out the promotion's storylines and matches.

For Ace, he's the youngest Spade sibling, positioned as the hot young hero of the DWL who's destined for superstardom in the big leagues. While's he's far from a hero outside of the ring, Ace's wrestling future is in the hands of his older sibling, with Jack hesitant to make Ace the DWL Champion when he's already eyeing up the DWL exit door in the hopes of fame and fortune.

Written by Michael Waldron (Rick and Morty, Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Heels' debut offering Kayfabe is a smart entry into the world of the DWL, its key characters, and the fictional town of Duffy, Georgia. Most importantly, it has you eagerly chomping at the bit for the next episode - which is always a good thing.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.