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

by Andrew Pollard

1. Where Do We Go From Here?

Heels Starz
Starz

Heels' debut episode ended with the sort of pipebomb that CM Punk (who will appear later in the series) would've been proud of.

Whereas the Second City Saint would verbally berate and beat down opponents with his own brand of pipebombs, the pipebomb at Kayfabe's conclusion was a physical one that saw Stephen Amell's Jack Spade impose his will on his younger brother.

Having spent all episode debating whether or not he should drop the DWL Championship to Ace, Jack instead screwed his brother over, instantly locking him in a legit shoot submission and forcing Ace to submit for fear of having his shoulder pulled out of place.

In terms of shocking endings, this was very much as shocking as Heels could have served up as a way to close out its first episode.

If anything, Kayfabe had audiences thinking that maybe Ace was about to go into business for himself in order to get the DWL Championship he felt he deserved and to make himself look like a star in front of Wild Bill. Instead, it was the older Spade who went rogue, ruining the company's top babyface in the process and scuppering Ace's chances of making it to the big time.

Now, we're all left with so many questions. When and why did Jack decide to do what he did? How badly hurt is Ace? Will Wild Bill still be interested in the younger Spade? How will the roster react to their booker and boss taking such a liberty? How will the rest of the Spade family deal with this? And how will DWL cope after their poster boy was made to look like a total chump?

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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 dayjob, 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.