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

7. The Real Wrestling References

Of course, a show likes Heels is always going to lure in wrestling fans. And for those fans, there were some nice references to keep an eye out for.

Interestingly, Kayfabe established that Heels takes place in a world where the very real wrestling promotions of today and yesteryear are present and accounted for. For example, as Jack Spade proposes a heel turn to 'Big' Jim Kitchen (Duke Davis Roberts), Jake recounts a tale of Sting battling Ric Flair, seemingly at WCW's Great American Bash back in 1990.

Likewise, there's a mention of Vince McMahon, 'Wild' Bill Hancock is said to work "up north" - a nod to WWE - and the DWL's rival promotion of FWD is positioned to be similar to ECW and its unique brand of hardcore wrestling from back during the '90s.

Sticking with FWD, the brief glimpses of footage shown from this promotion are largely made up of old TNA clips, with Samoa Joe and Abyss just two of the former TNA stars visible.

Going further than showing classic clips featuring real-life wrestling, mind, Kayfabe also includes Luke Gallows as an entrant in the Battle Royal that DWL puts on towards the end of the episode. Currently one half of the IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team Champions, the Big LG takes a crossbody off the top rope from Rooster Robbins.

In Kayfabe, Heels lets you know that it exists within the shadow of the wrestling promotions of the real world, yet it does so in a way that doesn't slap you around the face.

Andrew Pollard

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.

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