Wrestlers (2023) s01e01 Episode Script
Ohio Valley Wrestling
1
[truck horn honks]
[woman] I'm going in.
[croaks playfully] Thunder!
It's finna come.
Dark clouds coming.
[shouts] Hello!
[man] Hello.
[woman yells] Hi!
- [indistinct chatter]
- [woman] I knew you was talking to me.
What time is it? It's almost game time.
- [man] What's up, HollyHood?
- How are you guys?
- Hi.
- Hi.
- How are you?
- [HollyHood] Good. You smell good.
- Michelle.
- [Michelle] Yeah?
[HollyHood] Leila, superstar.
[HollyHood] I'm not even gonna lie to you.
Every one of us are a little bit insane.
But I also think that it's a way
to let out emotions for us.
[indistinct chatter]
Oh my God.
[commotion outside]
[sentimental music playing]
- [man] Wrestling saved your life?
- [HollyHood] Absolutely.
I started wrestling as kind of, like,
a last-resort-type thing.
You can only take so many hits
before you get angry.
- [sentimental music continues]
- [HollyHood] Nobody knows why I'm angry.
It's just this little angry girl here,
like, "What are you so angry for?"
I'm glad I get to hit people.
'Cause I don't wanna do
any bad things anymore.
- [indistinct chatter]
- [yells playfully] Oh!
[man] Do I have some regrets?
Of course. That's the journey
of professional wrestling.
You're gonna regret stuff.
You're gonna think twice
about the sacrifices you have to make,
but I just wanna be more than what I am.
And would I make those decisions again?
I would, over and over and over and over.
[sentimental music continues]
[woman] Them is not tights.
If you wear these, they hold your in.
- We don't need to see your cookie.
- [woman 2] Not for free.
- [woman] Not for free, baby.
- [laughter]
[woman] Wrestling is like a light switch.
You won't get it, you won't get it,
and one day, it's like, ding!
"Oh! I got it."
I've been through
a lot of things in my life, so,
I say wrestling saved me.
I found a way to channel my anger.
[fan] Let's go!
- [man] Who's your fave?
- Mr. Pectacular.
[yells] He has huge pecs!
Anything that I do that comes to this,
this is my business.
Yeah.
- [man] We'll add a little sparkle.
- [Maria] Okay. Okay.
[man 2 laughing]
Professional wrestling is an art form.
It's the art of physical storytelling.
I remember taking every single punch,
so tonight, I'm gonna hit you
- Fuck me.
- [director] All right. Relax. Have fun.
It's not, "I'm gonna see you in the ring.
Fuck you, man!"
This is fun. We get to jazz.
We get to dance. We get to be different.
Play that up. If you go too far,
that's probably where you need to be.
[man] It's based on
real-life pain, fear, trauma.
You've got to believe in
who you are and why you're doing it,
to where you're almost a method actor,
to where you lose touch with reality.
You've got to be a little mad
to live in this world
and have even a chance of success.
["Juke Box Hero" playing]
[doorman] Here goes the door.
[doorman 2] Doors, guys!
Standing in the rain ♪
There we go.
[indistinct chatter]
[HollyHood]
I can feel the energy when I go out there.
Couldn't get a ticket
It was a sold-out show ♪
[HollyHood] It's like a switch.
Heard the roar of the crowd ♪
[HollyHood] This is my show.
I'm controlling this.
I literally feel like a superstar.
You don't feel like a nobody anymore.
I'm HollyHood Haley J.
He heard one guitar ♪
[crowd cheering]
[Haley] It's really like a drug.
It's like crack.
As soon as you go through the curtain
once, it's, like, a game-changer.
Just one guitar ♪
[announcer] If you're ready
for a night full of hot wrestling action,
make some noise!
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Welcome to OVW!
[crowd cheering]
There's nothing
about professional wrestling that is fake,
other than the intent.
- [bell ringing]
- [crowd cheering]
[crowd whooping]
[man] These men and women
are going in that ring,
and they're sacrificing themselves
to allow you to believe.
Juke box hero
Got stars in his eyes ♪
He heard one guitar ♪
The art and the creativity
of this industry, it's endless.
He'll come alive tonight ♪
[man] You're a rock star. It's euphoric.
- There's nothing like it.
- [man] Everyone loves them being together.
- [man 2] You see that?
- Yes.
When that person
walks through that curtain,
it's not about beating somebody up.
To work an audience
is to make someone believe
to the point
where you can control directly
when they stand up, when they sit down,
when they cheer,
when they boo, when they cry.
There's nothing else like it.
That boy has got to stay on top ♪
And be a juke box hero
Got stars in his eyes ♪
He's a juke box hero
Got stars in his eyes ♪
Just one guitar
Juke box hero ♪
Juke box hero ♪
He's got stars in his eyes ♪
Three, two, one. And out.
[muted cheering in distance]
[cheering grows louder]
[commentator] The Hulkster
just withering away here.
Referee checking the arm.
- Look.
- [commentator 2] One more and it's over.
[commentator] Look! It's up there!
- [cheering]
- [commentator] Listen to these fans.
[fans cheering loudly]
- [commentator 2] He has to break the hold.
- He's still the champion.
[man] Wrestling fans,
it's not just that they're forgiving.
It's that they're in on it.
The ultimate goal
is not to make it look like a real fight.
The ultimate goal is to entertain.
The ultimate goal is
to make you feel something.
Wrestling is, like, an inherent part
of who we are as human beings.
Right? I mean, it's the most basic sport.
It's two people fighting.
[sentimental music playing]
[David] It goes back
to almost the beginning of time.
In the 1920s, a group of guys
called the Gold Dust Trio,
they started fixing matches.
This is where
professional wrestling really begins.
[commentator] Off the ropes,
attacks, Bundy picks him up in a bear hug!
[David] Pro wrestling
is a folktale, right?
It's a morality play.
It's good versus evil.
[announcer] King Kong Bundy!
[commentator] History made
at WrestleMania.
[David]
Wrestling always reflects the society.
[yells] I can't stand to see
our enemy's flag in the ring.
[David] In the '80s,
WWF was about flag waving
and having Hulk Hogan beat up foreigners.
[commentator 2] Hulk Hogan
against Nikolai Volkoff.
[David] In the '90s,
Steve Austin got to beat up his boss.
You can kiss my ass.
- [cheering]
- [David] It's fantasy fulfillment.
You look at your heroes, and you imagine
yourself doing what they're doing.
[commentator 3] Oh my God!
[David] The modern wrestling world,
on the top, there's WWE
and AEW,
but OVW sort of exists
on the loosely defined third tier.
[rock music playing]
[David] One of the last remnants
of the regional wrestling system.
[announcer] Welcome. Ohio Valley
Championship Wrestling is on the air.
I'd like to thank
the great fans in the Ohio Valley
for supporting us since March of 1993,
when we started
As far as indie wrestling goes,
I don't know if there's a bigger platform.
[commentator] Neckbreaker
from the All-American. The Intern is down
[man] OVW was
WWE's developmental territory.
If they had someone who needed work,
new talent they were interested in,
they'd send 'em to get seasoned.
[commentator 2] Big clothesline!
Flanagan is fired up!
[Bryan] The whole reason people know OVW
is because of that golden group
of people that came out of OVW.
John Cena, Brock Lesnar.
[man] Randy Orton, Dave Batista.
Batista was right here,
naked, in this building.
[man 2] CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler,
The Miz, The Big Show.
[commentator 3] Former World Wrestling
Federation champion, the Big Show!
[man 3] Who in the hell are you?
I'm John Cena.
[commentator 4] Reversal. Angle whipped
across the ring, slammed by Cena.
[man] The relationship with WWE ended.
They had moved
their developmental program to Florida.
[man 2] Any other company
that did business with WWE
went out of business.
There's only one that did not,
and that was OVW.
[man 3] It comes down to one thing,
one of the most legendary
professional wrestling trainers ever,
Al Snow.
[man 4] Without money,
it's kind of hard to run,
but Al had the passion to keep
OVW running and continue the OVW legacy.
It's all part of Al's vision
to preserve OVW.
We're trying to put
asses in seats out here.
Al, if you're watching,
I want you to feel pressure
because I want you to keep this going.
[Al] If you want to live a life
others don't live,
you have to do things others don't do.
You have to sell who the fuck are you
and why are you out there.
- [whistle blows]
- [Al] Go.
Let's move.
[Doug] Al's trying to create here,
in OVW, a platform.
He wants to see everybody succeed here,
and it's tough whenever you're
relying on people to come to your event
to keep the lights on.
But he kept it afloat, and kudos to Al.
You want all the activity
to take place in the center
because it's the spotlight of the ring,
everybody here can see it the best,
and it's the place
that's easiest to take the bump.
- Yeah.
- You don't wanna make things harder.
- Okay.
- So get in there.
[grunting]
- [Doug] You duck and elbow.
- [wrestler] Yep.
[Doug] Gonna clothesline. Then an elbow.
Stiffest headlock
in the sport of wrestling, Al. [grunts]
I believe it. It looks it.
Get all the way up, Freya.
My role at OVW
- Like, do you want the stupid title, or
- [producer] Yeah. Just the title.
I'm CEO and co-owner of OVW.
I will do everything I can
to make you succeed, so that I succeed.
I will push you, all right?
But the rest is up to you.
I would book every live event,
what talent worked with who,
who should win, why.
[shouts] Hold it, now!
No way in hell are you two
winning the Southern Tag Team title!
What you have to do in the match,
I've gotta see a heel.
I've gotta see a babyface.
I gotta get a babyface over.
I gotta get the heel heat.
Then we gotta go home.
You gotta tell me a story.
[female wrestler yelling and grunting]
[Al] Somebody ate her Wheaties today.
- [female wrestler yells]
- [Al] One, two.
Cut him off, KT.
- [KT yells]
- [Al] Stop him.
- [KT groans]
- [Al] That was weird.
- [KT groaning]
- [thud]
[Al] Use your imagination.
The one thing none of you fucking use.
You don't use your creativity
or imagination when you're in the ring.
If you're gonna be a part of this,
you now carry my name,
my reputation on you.
My legal name is Allen Ray Sarven.
And my wrestling name is Al Snow.
Anybody that knows anything
about wrestling knows who Al Snow is.
[crowd cheering]
[Bryan] He's a legend
I grew up watching in the '90s on WWE,
knowing that this guy
carries a mannequin head,
it looks cool, and everyone's doing this.
[crowd chanting] We want Head!
We want Head!
[Al] I was known as
the best kept secret in wrestling.
[commentator] The Rock and Al Snow
[commentator 2]
Al's taking it to the Great One.
I did very, very, very well.
Who is this roody poo?
You know me, from last week.
You knew me from before.
Shut up, Al. It's Al.
He wants to be our partner.
I had that definable, describable persona
or character and personality.
Will you sign this?
[Al] My action figure.
Do I need to sign it to somebody?
- [fan] No. That's my personal one. That's
- [Al] Oh, okay.
[man] Nice!
I teach you based on my experience,
where I have made these mistakes,
and now I'm trying to give you
the opportunity to avoid them.
You guys are terrified
about making a mistake.
You blow a move, who cares?
It cannot always look like
a gymnastics display or a dance.
It has to sometimes look
a little ugly and a little sloppy,
so that it can feel real.
And you can make these people
believe anything you want 'em to believe,
if it's within the context
of you trying to win.
I made people believe I could knock
another human out with a plastic head.
It's not physically possible.
So that's what you're here to learn.
Otherwise, they won't believe in it.
They won't believe in you.
That's what makes somebody a star.
[David] OVW Wrestling was a launching pad
for an entire generation of stars.
People would watch OVW shows
because you'd get the first glimpse
at potentially the next big thing
in pro wrestling.
[Bryan] Welcome back to OVW TV.
What a night we have had so far.
Am I right, Davis Arena?
[Al] Outside of WWE or AEW,
we're the only other company,
I think, that do live television.
[shouts angrily] Tonight,
I am gonna rip your freaking head off!
We're coming up on our 1,200th
consecutive episode of television.
That's 52 episodes a year.
- [commentator] We see a streak
- [commentator 2] Whoa!
A lot of people that come here,
they can get live TV experience.
We are the future.
[Doug] And some bigger companies
will sign you to big-time contracts
because you're already ready.
[commentator] He's tasing Tony Gunn!
- [Al] Goddamn head.
- [woman laughing]
If they get a contract with WWE,
their life changes dramatically.
They'll get significant money
I'm the biggest star here.
That's why you're all here.
[Al]but immediately be thrown
into the deep end of the pool,
and they're going to sink or swim.
[commentator] It's a classic case
of good versus evil.
[man chuckles]
Our whole job is to tell this story
of good versus evil.
[commentator] No, no!
[Al] Like, in Hollywood, you've got
suspense, betrayal, and violation,
moments of strife, romance
[sentimental music playing]
[Al] A little bit of blood and guts.
[commentator]
Right to the barbed-wire table!
[Al] We're trying to convince an audience
that win and loss has gravity,
that it really means something,
like it's a real competition.
In any storytelling, you have
an antagonist and a protagonist.
So you have a heel and a babyface.
[crowd whooping and cheering]
[Al] The job of the babyface,
it's to make a character
that that audience
wants to live vicariously though.
Have to have it.
[moody disco music playing]
[Al] Shera eats,
breathes, shits wrestling.
[announcer] Mahabali Shera!
We made him the National Heavyweight
Champion because, I mean, look at him.
[Bryan] He's not just a man.
He is a force of nature.
He is the Indian Lion.
He looks the part. He believes the part.
He's one of those guys
that makes you believe in what he's doing.
- [crowd cheering]
- [commentator] God!
[commentator 2] The man
started a bank roll. Cash Flo.
- [Al] Cash has been around a long time.
- [commentator] Cash Flo.
To the chest,
like chopping down an oak tree.
Cash Flo,
the meanest hands in the business.
[commentator] The Reverend
looking to save souls or dig holes.
He's talented as hell,
entertaining as hell.
He's got some experience
a lot of these other athletes don't have.
[Haley] Leila, Leila, Leila!
The look, the charisma.
She has that "it" factor.
[commentator] The new
OVW Women's Champion!
[announcer] Leila Grey!
[Haley] Started at AEW,
where everyone's trying to go.
I would love to get to wrestle her.
Being a babyface, you have to go out
and kiss people's babies
and shake everyone's hand and "whoo!"
And as the bad guy,
it's really on me to be like, "Ugh."
[rock music playing]
[Al] Think of it like a dance. The heel
leads the dance. They control everything.
[Bryan] The heel gets heat.
He gives the middle finger to an old lady.
Mad at him 'cause he gave
that lady a middle finger. That's heat.
Amon sends Luscious to hell.
[Amon] The more boos I get,
the more cheers the good guy's gonna get.
If I'm not booed, babyface isn't cheered,
and our story means nothing.
[shouts] This is my ring!
If you're a heel, you're willing to cheat.
- [Bryan] Freya cheated with a leg drop!
- You're willing to do anything
[Bryan] You can't overpower
the Queen of the North.
[Freya] even if it puts you
in a bad light.
[announcer] Freya the Slaya!
[man] I am the cream of the crop,
the first ever
National OVW Heavyweight Champeen!
[announcer] Mr. Pectacular
with a face to wreck the place.
[Mr. Pectacular] The show is here.
You're welcome!
[announcer] Look at Darkstorm
kicking butt and talking trash.
[man] They'll let anybody
into the wrestling game.
Somebody's gotta be like,
"Hold on. That's some bullshit."
"No, that's some bullshit." That's me.
There's two things
you can do about that, son.
Nothing.
I got my bullshit detector on,
and I see through all y'all.
Bunch of fake wannabe little soy boys.
He's not a gimmick.
In and out the ring, he's the same guy.
[Al] My job is to build that desire
to see the babyface overcome the heel.
[announcer] Satan's favorite sinner, Amon!
You've got Amon, who's a demon.
[Bryan] Just so evil. Just so devious.
Hold on. The Amazing Maria in there.
Maria firmly believes she still has
one more run in her. We all do.
Five minutes. Five minutes.
[Al] She's now a segment producer,
or "agent" is what we call it.
The Amazing Maria, who brought
HollyHood Haley J into this world.
[Al] And she's Haley's mom.
[rock music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[Haley] I am a heel.
[Bryan] She is disgusting.
She is reprehensible.
But I'm so funny and entertaining.
I can be yelling, "You suck."
They'll still be like, "Yay, Haley."
[Bryan] Haley J, a piece of trash.
[Al] She wants to be a star.
But Haley is young.
She's very immature.
She's going to grow up in this business,
and she has a lot to learn.
You got another think coming
This is The Muppets.
We're I'm Kermit the Frog.
"What a rib." I'm Kermit the Frog.
And I literally run
The Muppet Show every week.
[chuckles]
You guys did a hell of a job.
Give yourselves a big hand.
Seriously, you guys earned it.
[shouts] Hey! Give us a hand!
[Al] And in some sick,
twisted way, I enjoy this.
If I'm not being creative
in some fashion, I think that I would be
I don't know what I would be.
I'd be a mess.
I'm a mess now.
I'd be even more of a mess then.
One o'clock, please.
We need everybody to make this happen.
Wrestling, for a lot of these people,
gives them a purpose in life.
A reason to live.
You guys don't have to go home,
but you can't stay here. Get the fuck out.
Even if it's what some people
would attest to being pointless,
it's not pointless for them.
Well, thank you, Al.
- [Al] Thank you.
- Another opportunity out there.
- All right.
- Thanks, Deget.
We are very much a family business
because we're a family here.
Al loves these people
that he helps develop.
They're his kids.
[man] Every single person
that wrestles in OVW,
I respect the dedication
and the love they put forth with it.
Like, I genuinely love it.
With that said,
it's a business full of awesome people
who have a sort of
delusional view of the world.
- [Freya shouts] What did you do?
- [man] I didn't do
- Hold this.
- [man groans]
Five, four, three, two, one.
Out.
We got it in.
Al is one of the best wrestling minds
in the world. That's not an exaggeration.
- [Al] Thank you, guys. Thank you.
- Did that kinda get it over? Okay.
[Matt] I like how creative he is.
I like his vision. But you know what?
Al's not the best with money.
[Al] I should have gotten
more balloons. Fuck me.
I thought 100 balloons
would cover the whole ring.
Current financial situation at OVW is
what it's always been, which is the shits.
Financially, it was getting to a point,
we were like, "Ugh, we need help."
And that was about the time
that Matt and Craig bought into it.
- [thud]
- [all groan]
[man] I've been a wrestling fan
my entire life.
My father used to take me
to the Louisville Gardens
for live Tuesday night wrestling.
I'm Craig Greenberg.
I'm running for mayor
to stop studying problems
and start taking action.
[shouts] Let's go, Doug!
I've always loved Louisville.
I was laying in bed one night, put on OVW,
and I was just thinking to myself,
"This is a great Louisville icon."
And I reached out to Matt,
out of the blue, and said,
"I've got this crazy idea."
Craig Greenberg calls me up
and says, "Hey, OVW's in financial peril."
"I'm thinking about buying it.
Will you go in with me?"
And I said, "Why not?"
Welcome, everyone. Kentucky Sports Radio.
I am Matt Jones,
here on an absolutely beautiful day in
I'm well-known in Kentucky.
I have a show that's listened to all over.
I'm trying to leverage
that sports radio show
to create an OVW audience.
Craig and I got into this
to take it to the next level.
This is the summer
to take it to the next level.
We are of the belief
that we need to create a summer tour.
It's probably gonna require
sending you out on the road
to do a dog and pony show.
We would culminate the summer tour
with a final show here.
[Craig] We wanna bring OVW
to a wider range of people
than just wrestling fans.
People coming out 'cause we're
in their town and it's something to do.
Just so you know, I took that tact,
and running in a different venue,
it didn't build. It didn't translate
to where those 20,000 fans
[Matt] Here's why I like them.
For every summer tour date booked,
that's two to 3,000 in profit this summer.
[Craig] We're still losing
about $30,000 a month right now, still.
But at some point, if after
- [Matt] We can't keep losing money.
- Right.
At some point,
we need to start breaking even,
making money,
or we need to adjust the business model.
- [whimsical music playing]
- There was certainly skepticism about us.
"What do they know
about professional wrestling?"
The wrestling world
really doesn't like outsiders.
You know, they are
very much an insular community.
- Good luck.
- [wrestler] Thank you.
I do appreciate that they came in
and were willing to invest in it.
But it hasn't always been positive.
[Matt] He's put on a bunch of weight.
His whole gimmick is being
this sexy guy, and he's just gotten big.
I really wish that Matt and Craig
would have taken more time
to learn about what we do,
instead of just coming in
and saying, "Oh, we're the owners."
I don't need your part.
I've talked with 'em.
I know you think you can come in
and make the final decision
[Haley] Somebody who knows nothing
about wrestling.
He comes in and wants to make changes
and do all this stuff.
I think that he thinks he means well,
but for everyone else, we're like,
"What the fuck is going on?
I just don't trust you."
[laughs] Simple as that.
[Matt] Will you just do what I'm asking?
Is that a yes?
[man] Me and him butted heads one time.
I cussed him out,
and he threatened to fire me.
I told him, "Suck my dick.
You can't fire me, bitch. Let's go."
He said, "We'll go to Al's office."
Went to Al's office.
Guess who didn't get fired?
Matt Jones made me promise
to never talk like that again. So I did.
You've never taken a bump.
You're not a trained wrestler.
We're not gonna ever listen to you
the way that we listen to Al.
[Maria] Matt's role
was supposed to be marketing.
The wrestling was supposed to be
strictly left to Al, for Al to run.
Hasn't worked out like that.
- [Al] We're on the right track.
- [Matt] We are.
So it takes time.
I'm sounding unhappy. I'm very happy.
But I just think
we all need to be realistic.
[Al] A lot of times
[sighs] I gotta eat a shit sandwich,
because I get told something to do
from people that really quite honestly
have no fucking clue how it works,
but want to feel like they're involved.
The thing I love is, when we go out
on the road, we make people happy.
I gotta add some stuff
to get people besides wrestling dorks
to care about this.
'Cause wrestling dorks love wrestling,
but there ain't that many of 'em.
And they don't spend that much money.
Now, over the course of summer,
we're gonna have 33 shows.
August 27th will be the final day.
We're calling it "The Big One."
That's gonna be a pay-per-view.
Your goal You wanna be on every show.
And you certainly
wanna be on the last one.
Call times are mandatory.
If you're not there, you'll be
dropped down for the next week.
With a lot of opportunity
becomes accountability.
This is the most important summer
in the history of this company.
Folks, thank you all very much.
Are you guys ready for a big summer?
[whooping and cheering]
- [woman] Let me see that paper.
- [woman 2] You're on the road.
I'm on the road?
Do I worry we're gonna go out of business?
Yeah, I worry about that every day.
- That's all I think about.
- [somber music plays]
[Matt] If things
don't go great this summer,
where we're breaking even or close,
we can't justify keeping doing it.
If we don't start doing better,
there won't be an OVW.
All right. Everybody knows
why we're here. We had an incident.
Um, we wanna clear it up.
[woman] You snuck from behind
and punched me.
You freaked out
'cause I brought up drugs and alcohol
'cause you smoke before matches.
I don't wrestle people
that smoke or drink, 'cause it's not safe.
[Haley] Absolutely.
I'll admit it. I'm not gonna lie.
- [Jessica] Moving forward, in the future
- Absolutely.
[Jessica] Knock that out.
- [Al] You do smoke before matches?
- Absolutely.
I do, absolutely. I have
a medical condition, and I do smoke.
Right before my match,
I don't go outside and smoke.
But I will smoke on my way
to this building. Absolutely, I do.
There might be a hint of it on me.
And I'll smoke when I'm leaving.
Let me make this clear. I don't care
what any of you do on your own time.
But you do not do anything on our time
that is unprofessional.
I will not tolerate somebody smoking
before they go out to the ring.
- Yeah.
- [Al] I will not.
This is the most important summer
in OVW in a decade.
If you care about OVW,
please do what I'm asking.
[Haley] I work for the man,
so I'm not gonna disrespect him,
but I don't give a fuck what Matt Jones
has to say, if we're being honest.
I really am an angry little person.
Couldn't tell you what it is.
I'm sure if I reflected on my life,
we could figure it out,
but I keep saying
I'm gonna be a sophisticated woman.
So the hotheadedness
and the yelling and going crazy on people,
that's not something that I wanna do.
It just happens.
I got some shit to be angry about,
but I try to let it go.
I haven't learned to do that yet.
I'm 22, but I feel like I'm 38.
I've had a lot of life experience,
and that's why I'm constantly feeling like
I need it now or something.
Just gotta make it.
And this climb is a tough one.
[Haley laughs]
[man] There you go.
Yeah, now you got her. Now you got her.
- [Haley] What are you doing?
- [man] What you gonna do?
[shouts] A potato to the ear.
[man] You get in the ring with kids
at your own risk.
[Haley groans]
You realize we're creating monsters.
- [Zayden] I don't want to
- [Haley] Hey! [grunts]
[Reverend] He's comfortable.
Is it good or bad?
- Zayden, I'm sorry.
- [Zayden] Okay.
- Shake my hand.
- Okay. [giggles]
- [Haley yells]
- [Reverend] You fell for it!
- Oh man.
- [Haley shouting]
[Haley] Oh, that hurt!
Maybe I should pin you, then!
[Reverend] That kid had a spark
from the day I met her.
Oh, you kick out at one?
[Reverend] She hit me up
and said she wants to be a wrestler.
She decided, "I'll throw myself into this
and go for it."
Back then, she had
chubby little cheeks, little freckles.
I became a bit of a father figure.
Just guide her in the right place.
You crazy. Oh, you crazy.
Louisville's a fresh start for me.
Before this, I was staying
in all these fucked-up living situations.
Only so much you can take before,
"All right, that's enough."
Somebody ran up in my house to rob me,
and they put a loaded gun on me.
Whatever. If you're gonna pull it,
pull it. But then they put it on my child.
[Zayden giggles] One, two, three.
He's just in there with a gun to his face,
and I never wanna see that
ever again in my life, so I moved.
And then, when I moved,
I moved here to start wrestling.
Once you have a child, you kind of
have to start making better decisions,
and wrestling is my escape.
Take your time.
Slow it all down. Work to your moments.
I do, but then now I'm more concerned
about wrestling, and now I'm thinking.
[Reverend] I told her,
"When you start, you'll train with me."
"Nobody else will train you. I'll do it."
I didn't trust anybody else.
Can you not think by going
[mimics groaning]
- Apparently not.
- [Reverend] Gotta do the Yes.
- You gotta
- I can do all the wrestling shit. I just
Just because you know the next spot
doesn't mean you have to hurry to it.
If she can control that mouth
and use this more, she'll be all right.
Clearly, we're still working on it.
You're in such a hurry to get to
the next spot that you forget the moment.
If you don't take care of this moment now,
your next spot ain't gonna mean shit.
See ya.
Just kidding!
And
[mimics anguished groaning]
Ow!
[groaning]
Back her up. Oh yeah.
Hell yeah.
I definitely messed up my opportunities,
shut my own doors sometimes.
It's kept me
from progressing in life. [scoffs]
Still working on that.
[producer] How does somebody
make it to WWE?
[exhales] Good question.
I'm trying to find out right now.
I don't know how to get there,
or I'd be there now.
I feel like I'm on my way there,
but I can't really tell you
how to get there.
[Cash Flo] Another day at the office.
I don't have my tag on me.
- You're cool. I know who you are.
- [Cash Flo] Goodness gracious.
[receptionist] The last time you did it,
you did the "Malibu double dark."
- Don't do the double dark.
- Just regular dark?
Yeah, just the regular,
'cause it made my face so brown.
- Okay. You got it.
- It looked a bit unnatural.
[tanning machine loudly hissing]
Spray tans, or tanning in general,
is essential.
[Cash Flo] Because it
Wrestling is a very aesthetic business,
and you have to look your best.
It's very expensive.
You know,
there's an old saying in wrestling,
"You have to work a regular job
to support your wrestling habit."
Eight years ago,
I was making about 60 bucks a night.
This year, with merch, three to
three to 400.
When I'm not making any money, the family,
they go through a rough time.
So I'm the breadwinner.
I'm the man of the family.
If I'm struggling,
my whole family's struggling.
Before Matt Jones and those guys,
OVW was about to go under,
and we weren't getting paid nothing.
Us little guys down here,
begging for this thing to succeed
so we can make money.
If OVW were to close,
it would be
immensely devastating for my family.
[Mr. Pectacular] If you're
going to make it to the next level,
you need to look your best,
and you have to be able to pick out
the person that you can take their spot,
and you're taking their paycheck.
Because we are fighters.
I, myself, Jessie Godderz, Mr. Pectacular,
in all my glory,
the face that runs the place,
needs to be able to elicit
somebody to get out of their home,
come to OVW in Davis Arena,
pay for a ticket, and watch
whoever I fight try and beat me.
It's gonna take a while, but they can try.
But my point is,
this is natural selection.
Whoever's the best
is going to be on television, period.
[groans]
[Shera] I'm still doing hustling,
like, you know, extra job
to pay my bills,
you know, and help my family.
I'm not making that much money right now.
So that's why I have to do this stuff.
I'm huge in India, so I'm a big superstar.
So these are small jobs,
you know, and it's not bothered me,
but I feel like it's not comfortable,
what I've been doing,
because I just wanna do bigger things.
I have my house over there
and my mom, my sister, and my family,
so I send, every month, around $600.
So I don't wanna be sat at home
and doing nothing, you know,
because my family's everything for me.
Hello. Food.
If I wanna do my best,
they can live a good life, you know.
I'm trying my best.
[sentimental music playing]
[Shera] OVW is a huge deal for me
because OVW have a huge, huge name.
All the biggest superstars go from here.
I was trying to figure it out,
how to get in America,
and how to leave the mark in this world,
like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
If you wanna give me a tip
or something, add here, sign.
Okay.
[sentimental music continues]
- [Shera] Thanks.
- [woman] No problem.
[Shera] That's why
I'm very serious with OVW.
I want to be top of the mountain
and everyone looked up to me, you know?
[Maria] Where the fuck
is the dry food stuff?
- This was out here?
- [man] Yes.
[Maria] This goes in the fucking cooler.
Why the fuck would they do this?
- [man] Leaving it here.
- [Maria] That's fucking $200 of steaks.
[Haley] Yeah!
Put the liquor out, big dawg.
[Maria] Everything in the dry stock area
is not even in the fucking cooler.
You gotta be fucking kidding me. They left
all my refrigerated shit in the hallway.
- [Haley] Quit yelling.
- Goddammit.
[Haley] Calm down.
They got no problems with the bartenders.
I was serving at Cracker Barrel,
but I stopped that so I could work
at my mom's hotel as a bartender.
- Did you fix the drawer for me?
- [Maria] No, not yet.
- [coins jangle]
- [Maria] Twenty.
Five. Fifty.
- This is your money.
- [Haley] All right.
[producer] Do you gals
like working together?
Yeah. I don't have to
deal with her that much.
Wrestling's pretty much the reason
why me and my mom have a relationship.
- [Maria] You're good to go.
- [Haley] Thanks.
- [Maria] Glad doing business.
- [Haley] Yeah.
We're always around each other now.
She works with me. She bosses me around.
And before, I was, like, running from her.
[Maria] I was always tough
on both my kids,
but I was tough on Haley more
because she was a girl.
I know what it's like
for a girl to grow up.
[sentimental music playing]
Why are all these down here?
I don't know.
I don't know what any of it is.
I still have all this anger towards her.
Things that, I guess,
I'm not over from when I was a kid.
[Maria] I was 21, I think,
got this new baby.
I'm working a dead-end job,
bills piling up,
so I started dealing drugs to, um,
have money to support my kids, make sure
my kids had the things they needed.
The first time I go to jail,
Haley is getting ready to turn two.
In 2006, I went to jail again.
They caught me with a kilo of cocaine.
[producer] How old was Haley?
Seven, yeah.
[Haley] You can't sit here.
Sit at the booth.
I get a big money fine, $10,000.
You got $10,000?
Nope. You gotta sit in the booth.
Go sit down.
You want some Fruit Loops or something?
Been on my own since 15.
Moved outta my mother's house.
And I was just
a hardheaded little hood rat.
Don't make a mess, or I'm gonna
beat you up, okay? Now, be good.
I love wrestling
with all my heart and soul.
Haley It was, "Wrestling's terrible.
You're not gonna wrestle."
But something in wrestling
just kept drawing her back to it.
And she was like, "Okay, well,
I've had a baby. I've been robbed."
"You know what? There's money
to be made in this business."
"If there's money to be made,
I'm gonna make it."
Like, it's all business for her.
- You're an interesting person.
- I am that.
I've never met a woman wrestler.
So, you know, something new.
You got any belts or anything?
Not right now. I'm a loser.
- [man] I bet she's got a belt or two.
- Actually, I think she does.
- Probably got, like, three.
- I got five.
[Haley] Still, five.
I'm in the game. I got zero.
As a mother, I don't want
my child to grow up and be like,
"Oh yeah, my mom was in and out of jail."
I want him to be proud.
[Matt] Welcome back!
It is Kentucky Sports Radio.
A little reminder to everybody.
Big show at OVW.
Big heavyweights going at it.
The biggest stars
in independent wrestling.
I am trying to print
this fucking thing. It will not
[man] I got you.
[Al groans angrily]
I need to look at that real quick,
or I can adjust times and stuff.
- How are you, Ricky?
- How you doing?
- [Al] Good to see you.
- Here, Al. This will be your copy.
[Haley] Where's Becky?
- [woman] We got
- [Haley] We kinda match. Yeah, we do.
[Al] We have
an extra two and a half minutes.
Give that two and a half minutes
to Haley and Jada.
- How are you?
- [Haley] You just get this?
- Yeah. You noticed?
- You did not have a tattoo last time.
The table is so thick
that in order to score it well enough to
- [Al] It'll be obvious that it's scored.
- It'll collapse from its own weight.
- Yeah.
- [Adam] Is there another way to do this?
- [man] Who's going through a table?
- [Adam] No one is now.
Could we do it where Floyd smashes Cash
with a chair and Cash goes down to a knee?
- Why doesn't he punch
- [Adam] Punch through the chair?
- You like that?
- [Al] Yeah, it'll work.
- He doesn't love it, but
- [Adam] It'll work.
[Craig] We now have a template,
and it will be
what a Thursday night looks like.
The revenue from concessions,
from door, online,
TV advertising income, sponsorship.
That's the total revenue
and what the expenses are.
We averaged a loss
of over $2,000 every Thursday.
So it's a tit for tat
going back and forth each week.
Joe came out the first week
and powerbombed
Pushed him off and then powerbombed.
Do you want him
to come with another powerbomb?
That's simple and direct.
Al's business model
and his view of the business
is the same as it was
when he was coming up.
There was no Internet.
It was a very different time.
I don't wanna be the dude
that's sitting there telling these folks
how to do what they're doing.
But the way you pack that place,
you gotta get out of our little bubble,
and I can't get Al to see that.
We've got to do gimmicky stuff.
He just won't do that
because that requires him to accept
that I know how to put people
in these seats more than he does.
[Doug] During the match,
to tell the story, do you want Kripke
to be distracted by Luke and it
No, because we have a pre-tape
that we're airing of Luke
reciting a nursery rhyme
to his "unborn child."
One of the things that makes us unique,
I think, are the storylines.
Yes, he does a great job.
We have all these intricate storylines,
like we are WWE.
What percentage of people
do you think care and watch week to week?
Here's the tough part.
I think it's a tiny part.
But that's something
I don't think we can say to him.
Because he does need to believe
those storylines matter,
or what's the point of doing it?
He has to think like this
to do what he's doing.
[man raps] I got on
And I made 'em be Mad Max ♪
Coming up like a bomb over Baghdad ♪
[rap music playing]
Keep talking
Don't know who you're messing with ♪
It's HollyHood Haley J, you irrelevant ♪
[upbeat music playing]
[doorman] We're ready.
[shouts] Doors, guys!
- [doorman 2] Here we go!
- [doorman] Last call.
- [Haley] Shoo.
- [man] Is that what that smell is?
- [man] Have any times changed
- [Al] Lots, yes.
They're out on the board
because I can't even remember right now.
[man] You're good.
If they're there, I'll get 'em.
- Okay.
- [man] Yeah, thank you.
[Al] No, fuck off.
[groans] Oh, here we go.
Let's see what chaos
we can create this week.
- [fan] Two ringsides.
- [cashier] Two ringsides? That'll be 30.
- [Haley] Hell yeah.
- Exciting, ain't it?
[Haley] Yeah.
That's what I'm talking about.
[electrical whirring]
[stimulating rock music playing]
[Al] What the fuck is going on?
Goddammit.
- [man over radio] We have no video.
- [Al] We have no monitor.
We gotta get word to Daniel
that he has to fix whatever's fucked up.
[announcer] Another match
I'm looking forward to.
HollyHood Haley J in action tonight,
taking on "The Spark" Jada Stone.
[Al] At least we're going out.
We're broadcasting, at least.
They're up there rebooting the computer.
I will tell you
what we need to do as we go along.
[Adam] Forty seconds left to break.
- [commentator] OVW Luau Night after
- [wrestler yells]
[Bryan] This beating
he's getting from Shera.
- [Al] We got the monitor back. Thank you.
- [Maria] Yay, superhero!
You gotta reboot a computer,
stand on one foot,
spin around the air,
put your finger up your ass,
maybe it'll fall into place,
and it'll work.
[Al shouts] Turn around, Cash! Fuck!
- Keep going.
- [Bryan] Confusion here.
- Turbo pushes to Cash.
- [Al] Do it!
- [Adam] Motherfuckers!
- [Al] Thirteen, twelve.
Keep talking, keep selling.
[Bryan] There's mass confusion
in the ring.
- No one knows Oh God!
- [crowd groaning]
[Haley] What match am I? How many more?
[woman] This one.
- [man] After this.
- Perfect.
[Bryan] Jared Kripke is not
in the greatest of moods. Rightfully so.
[commentator] He's not the father
of the child
he thought he was the father of.
- Bryan.
- [Bryan] Yes?
[Al] Who can blame Kripke
for being like this?
- [Bryan] Who wouldn't be furious?
- [Al] Taking out that anger and hatred.
[Bryan] taking out that anger
and hatred for Luke Kurtis.
[Haley] Are we going right now?
Okay. Excuse me.
- [Doug] God, he ripped off a turnbuckle.
- [Al] Holy shit.
[man] Only three and a half remain.
We do not need this tonight.
[rowdy fan] You kicked
that turnbuckle's ass!
- [Adam] When you hear your music, go.
- Okay.
- [Adam] We're missing a turnbuckle pad.
- [Al] Do we have another?
[Maria] Eight, seven
[Al] We need another pad.
[Maria]five
- [Al] Fuck, we need one.
- [Adam]three, two, one.
- We're up.
- [dance music playing]
- Where's our turnbuckle? What happened?
- It fell.
[announcer] HollyHood Haley J.
[Bryan] HollyHood Haley J making
her big return to Davis Arena, guys.
There's no turnbuckle pad, Haley.
- [dance music playing]
- [Haley] Where?
Behind you, there's no turnbuckle pad.
[announcer] "The Spark" Jada Stone!
[cheering]
[crowd shouting and cheering]
- [Maria] Get. Go.
- Go.
[Bryan] This is a grudge match.
Jada Stone's been seething for weeks,
wanting to get her hands on Haley J.
[announcer] HollyHood
doesn't have her coat off.
- [Maria] Seven minutes.
- [Doug] Seven minutes in the segment.
Aaron, keep them
away from the exposed turnbuckle.
- [commentator] Looking to inflict damage.
- [Aaron] Out of the corner!
- Where does she go? Right to it.
- Keep them away.
- Goddammit.
- Get them out of that corner.
[Bryan] Jada Stone
beating the hell out of Haley J.
- Be careful.
- Get 'em out of that corner!
[Bryan] Jada Stone
just laying in those fists.
[Al] Pace. Pace.
Aaron, tell them to pace themselves.
Pace themselves
so they don't blow themselves up.
[Aaron] Pace.
Slow down a little bit. Pace. Pace.
- [Al] Don't blow yourself up, kid.
- [Maria] She will.
[Al] Hit her from behind. What the fuck?
- [Jada cries out]
- [crowd shouting]
Well, that was real.
- [Adam] Six minutes.
- [Maria] Six minutes. Six minutes.
[Aaron] Got six, Haley.
[crowd shouting]
- [Al] Don't be fancy. Beat her ass.
- [Maria] Don't be fancy. Beat her ass.
[Al] Okay, Jada, cut her off.
[Maria] Cut her off.
Tell Jada to get on her.
[electrical crackling]
[Al] Can't see shit.
I'm not fucking seeing her.
It's that fucking cable again.
Just so you guys are aware,
we have no monitor.
It's next to impossible
to be able to run a show and produce it
without being able
to see the goddamn thing.
I knew something was gonna go tits up.
[wrestlers grunting]
[Aaron shouts] Pull out! One, two, three!
[sentimental music playing]
We're flying blind, guys.
Fuck.
Wrestlers desperately fear
making a mistake,
and the beauty of what we do
is that no one knows you made a mistake.
[Aaron] Outta the corner. Go!
[Al] It's a violent, competitive act.
It should get ugly once in a while.
Aw, dammit.
[Haley] I learned
from every mistake I've made,
every dumb thing that I've said,
every person I've laid hands on.
For example, my neighbor went crazy,
talking about I want her man.
I could've kept walking,
what any adult would have done.
[Bryan] What's Holly going for?
[Haley] Instead, I went
and grabbed a sock of rocks.
It's classic.
- [Bryan] Uh-oh!
- [commentator] A sock of rocks.
[Al] All we are is stories.
If you ain't got a lot of good stories,
you ain't made a bunch of mistakes.
[Haley] I had that locked and loaded.
- [Al] I don't know what's going on.
- Ran down the stairs, ready
- [commentator] Are you kidding me?
- I would have been in jail right now.
And I was like,
"Whoa, take a deep breath."
But yeah.
Psycho Haley was on,
and I was ready to fight.
["Hallelujah" playing]
- [commentator] Come on!
- [bell rings]
[announcer] The winner,
as the result of a disqualification,
Jada Stone.
- [commentator] Are you kidding me?
- [Bryan] Oh my God!
[crowd cheering]
[fan whistling excitedly]
[rhythmic applause]
- [commentator] He had it coming.
- [Bryan] Are you kidding me?
[fan whistling excitedly]
[bell ringing persistently]
[crowd chanting] One more time!
- [crowd groaning]
- [bell ringing]
[Al] Can you hear me, Michael?
I don't Is Aaron mic'd?
- [Al] No audio.
- [Adam] That is correct. No audio.
[Al] What else could go fucking wrong?
We have two minutes to fill.
Doug, tell them to keep going at it
in that fucking ring.
- [bell ringing]
- [Al] Go. Go. Go tell them.
[Bryan] OVW producer Doug Basham here,
trying to get something
- Oh!
- [commentator] Oh my God!
- Right between the eyes.
- [Bryan] She just bashed Doug Basham!
[Al] Oh, for fuck's sake though.
[commentator] Don't just beat up Basham!
- [Al] Maria, go out there. Make this work.
- [Maria] Make it work. Yes, sir.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Maria shouts] Haley, that's enough!
That's enough. Get out!
- [commentator] The Amazing Maria.
- Enough! Come on!
[Bryan] Haley's mother.
- [commentator 2] Haley's mom is here.
- [Al laughs sarcastically]
We got the monitor back. Thank God.
[sighs in relief]
I need to hear it. Get the camera up there
to where I can hear 'em.
Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't!
Don't touch that fucking cable.
- [Maria] Come on.
- [Al] Come on, Maria. Yell.
- Come on!
- [Al] Get it heated. Keep arguing.
[Adam] They could argue
for a full three minutes.
They could argue for three days.
[yells] We gotta save your job!
Come on, Haley!
[shouts] You wanna save my job?
How about you protect your daughter?
That's it. That's it.
Make it real.
- I'm trying to protect you!
- How about you quit trying to be me?
'Cause guess what, sweetie?
You'll never ever be me, the princess!
- It's my fault. It's my fault.
- It's your fault! This whole thing is you.
[laughs excitedly] Oh yes.
Yes. Oh!
- [yells] I'm trying to save your job!
- No, you're not saving any
[crowd yells in shock]
[Bryan] Oh no!
[crowd shouting]
[Bryan] God, you believe that?
- Oh! She got the boo boo face.
- [Adam] That's so good.
- [Al] There we go.
- [sentimental music plays over soundtrack]
[Haley] Get off me!
- [yells] Ow!
- I've had
[commentator yells] Oh!
- [crowd shouting]
- [commentator] She had it coming.
[crowd clapping and cheering]
- [loud cheering]
- [fan in crowd whistling]
- [fan 2] Haley, how does it feel?
- [Haley] Yeah!
- [Maria mumbles] Keep going.
- [Haley yells] Yeah!
[commentator] Haley J chopped
a branch off her family tree.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
You're creating a moment that's
only gonna live for that moment.
Even if it's videoed,
they'll never be able
to replay that moment with that audience
like you live it at that time.
In that moment, you are everything.
You're an actor.
You're an athlete. You're a rock star.
It's fireworks. It's sex.
You know, that's why they call it a pop.
Pop is short for "pop their nut."
[sentimental music playing]
[Al] And to make an audience believe,
to where it culminates
and you get 'em to
[mimics popping sound]
have an emotional orgasm,
there's nothing else like it.
Oh my God. Oh my God.
- Good?
- [Al] You did it.
- [Haley] Good.
- [Al] Fucking home run, dude.
- [man] Yes.
- Fucking home run.
[Adam] Ninety seconds remain.
Ninety seconds of break.
- You should watch it back.
- [Al] Yeah.
[Adam] It was one of the best things.
Performance-wise?
- [Al] Brilliant.
- Perform
- Fucking awesome.
- Thank you, thank you.
- [Al] Yes!
- [Adam] That was good.
[sentimental music playing]
[Freya] She no-sells all the heat,
sprints across the ring and made a tag.
[Haley] Oh my God.
[man] I gave a lap dance tonight.
I made $20.
It's a hard living. Go get what you want.
Well, please.
[Freya] We gave each other wedgies
for every move.
He had a list
of different wedgies he wanted.
- [Haley] Wedgie over the head?
- A wedgie DDT.
And that's the weirdest thing.
- This stuff isn't sexual. It's weird.
- [Haley] Yeah.
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile ♪
- I'm gonna rename it to "Scottish Pie."
- [man] Yes!
[in Scottish accent] You don't like
no Scottish pie, buddy.
That doesn't get washed for weeks.
[laughter]
I knew if I had my chance ♪
I could make those people dance ♪
And maybe they'd be happy for a while ♪
[Matt] I don't think the wrestlers knew
how close we were
to closing the doors when we bought it.
What they don't understand is,
every week Craig and I are losing money.
And we can't do it forever.
So, at some point,
we've got to turn it around,
and we've got to start making a profit.
I'm sort of using
August 27th almost as, like, a test.
It's the final show of the summer.
And if that doesn't work,
if we put out the best thing that we have,
and we can't get a full house,
we gotta ask, what are we doing here?
[Al] Everything changes.
Everything dies. Everything has
a beginning, middle, and end.
At some point,
something's gonna come to an end,
and you've gotta be able
to adapt and change and move on,
especially in the wrestling business.
[inspirational music playing]
[Al] But I've spent 40 years
making a name for myself in this business,
and I'll be damned
if I'm gonna let anybody ruin it.
And the three men I admire most ♪
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost ♪
They caught the last train
For the coast ♪
The day the music died ♪
And they were singing ♪
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie ♪
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry ♪
And them good old boys
Were drinking whiskey and rye ♪
Singing
"This'll be the day that I die" ♪
"This'll be the day that I die" ♪
They were singing ♪
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie ♪
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry ♪
Them good old boys
Were drinking whiskey and rye ♪
Singing
"This'll be the day that I die" ♪
[truck horn honks]
[woman] I'm going in.
[croaks playfully] Thunder!
It's finna come.
Dark clouds coming.
[shouts] Hello!
[man] Hello.
[woman yells] Hi!
- [indistinct chatter]
- [woman] I knew you was talking to me.
What time is it? It's almost game time.
- [man] What's up, HollyHood?
- How are you guys?
- Hi.
- Hi.
- How are you?
- [HollyHood] Good. You smell good.
- Michelle.
- [Michelle] Yeah?
[HollyHood] Leila, superstar.
[HollyHood] I'm not even gonna lie to you.
Every one of us are a little bit insane.
But I also think that it's a way
to let out emotions for us.
[indistinct chatter]
Oh my God.
[commotion outside]
[sentimental music playing]
- [man] Wrestling saved your life?
- [HollyHood] Absolutely.
I started wrestling as kind of, like,
a last-resort-type thing.
You can only take so many hits
before you get angry.
- [sentimental music continues]
- [HollyHood] Nobody knows why I'm angry.
It's just this little angry girl here,
like, "What are you so angry for?"
I'm glad I get to hit people.
'Cause I don't wanna do
any bad things anymore.
- [indistinct chatter]
- [yells playfully] Oh!
[man] Do I have some regrets?
Of course. That's the journey
of professional wrestling.
You're gonna regret stuff.
You're gonna think twice
about the sacrifices you have to make,
but I just wanna be more than what I am.
And would I make those decisions again?
I would, over and over and over and over.
[sentimental music continues]
[woman] Them is not tights.
If you wear these, they hold your in.
- We don't need to see your cookie.
- [woman 2] Not for free.
- [woman] Not for free, baby.
- [laughter]
[woman] Wrestling is like a light switch.
You won't get it, you won't get it,
and one day, it's like, ding!
"Oh! I got it."
I've been through
a lot of things in my life, so,
I say wrestling saved me.
I found a way to channel my anger.
[fan] Let's go!
- [man] Who's your fave?
- Mr. Pectacular.
[yells] He has huge pecs!
Anything that I do that comes to this,
this is my business.
Yeah.
- [man] We'll add a little sparkle.
- [Maria] Okay. Okay.
[man 2 laughing]
Professional wrestling is an art form.
It's the art of physical storytelling.
I remember taking every single punch,
so tonight, I'm gonna hit you
- Fuck me.
- [director] All right. Relax. Have fun.
It's not, "I'm gonna see you in the ring.
Fuck you, man!"
This is fun. We get to jazz.
We get to dance. We get to be different.
Play that up. If you go too far,
that's probably where you need to be.
[man] It's based on
real-life pain, fear, trauma.
You've got to believe in
who you are and why you're doing it,
to where you're almost a method actor,
to where you lose touch with reality.
You've got to be a little mad
to live in this world
and have even a chance of success.
["Juke Box Hero" playing]
[doorman] Here goes the door.
[doorman 2] Doors, guys!
Standing in the rain ♪
There we go.
[indistinct chatter]
[HollyHood]
I can feel the energy when I go out there.
Couldn't get a ticket
It was a sold-out show ♪
[HollyHood] It's like a switch.
Heard the roar of the crowd ♪
[HollyHood] This is my show.
I'm controlling this.
I literally feel like a superstar.
You don't feel like a nobody anymore.
I'm HollyHood Haley J.
He heard one guitar ♪
[crowd cheering]
[Haley] It's really like a drug.
It's like crack.
As soon as you go through the curtain
once, it's, like, a game-changer.
Just one guitar ♪
[announcer] If you're ready
for a night full of hot wrestling action,
make some noise!
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Welcome to OVW!
[crowd cheering]
There's nothing
about professional wrestling that is fake,
other than the intent.
- [bell ringing]
- [crowd cheering]
[crowd whooping]
[man] These men and women
are going in that ring,
and they're sacrificing themselves
to allow you to believe.
Juke box hero
Got stars in his eyes ♪
He heard one guitar ♪
The art and the creativity
of this industry, it's endless.
He'll come alive tonight ♪
[man] You're a rock star. It's euphoric.
- There's nothing like it.
- [man] Everyone loves them being together.
- [man 2] You see that?
- Yes.
When that person
walks through that curtain,
it's not about beating somebody up.
To work an audience
is to make someone believe
to the point
where you can control directly
when they stand up, when they sit down,
when they cheer,
when they boo, when they cry.
There's nothing else like it.
That boy has got to stay on top ♪
And be a juke box hero
Got stars in his eyes ♪
He's a juke box hero
Got stars in his eyes ♪
Just one guitar
Juke box hero ♪
Juke box hero ♪
He's got stars in his eyes ♪
Three, two, one. And out.
[muted cheering in distance]
[cheering grows louder]
[commentator] The Hulkster
just withering away here.
Referee checking the arm.
- Look.
- [commentator 2] One more and it's over.
[commentator] Look! It's up there!
- [cheering]
- [commentator] Listen to these fans.
[fans cheering loudly]
- [commentator 2] He has to break the hold.
- He's still the champion.
[man] Wrestling fans,
it's not just that they're forgiving.
It's that they're in on it.
The ultimate goal
is not to make it look like a real fight.
The ultimate goal is to entertain.
The ultimate goal is
to make you feel something.
Wrestling is, like, an inherent part
of who we are as human beings.
Right? I mean, it's the most basic sport.
It's two people fighting.
[sentimental music playing]
[David] It goes back
to almost the beginning of time.
In the 1920s, a group of guys
called the Gold Dust Trio,
they started fixing matches.
This is where
professional wrestling really begins.
[commentator] Off the ropes,
attacks, Bundy picks him up in a bear hug!
[David] Pro wrestling
is a folktale, right?
It's a morality play.
It's good versus evil.
[announcer] King Kong Bundy!
[commentator] History made
at WrestleMania.
[David]
Wrestling always reflects the society.
[yells] I can't stand to see
our enemy's flag in the ring.
[David] In the '80s,
WWF was about flag waving
and having Hulk Hogan beat up foreigners.
[commentator 2] Hulk Hogan
against Nikolai Volkoff.
[David] In the '90s,
Steve Austin got to beat up his boss.
You can kiss my ass.
- [cheering]
- [David] It's fantasy fulfillment.
You look at your heroes, and you imagine
yourself doing what they're doing.
[commentator 3] Oh my God!
[David] The modern wrestling world,
on the top, there's WWE
and AEW,
but OVW sort of exists
on the loosely defined third tier.
[rock music playing]
[David] One of the last remnants
of the regional wrestling system.
[announcer] Welcome. Ohio Valley
Championship Wrestling is on the air.
I'd like to thank
the great fans in the Ohio Valley
for supporting us since March of 1993,
when we started
As far as indie wrestling goes,
I don't know if there's a bigger platform.
[commentator] Neckbreaker
from the All-American. The Intern is down
[man] OVW was
WWE's developmental territory.
If they had someone who needed work,
new talent they were interested in,
they'd send 'em to get seasoned.
[commentator 2] Big clothesline!
Flanagan is fired up!
[Bryan] The whole reason people know OVW
is because of that golden group
of people that came out of OVW.
John Cena, Brock Lesnar.
[man] Randy Orton, Dave Batista.
Batista was right here,
naked, in this building.
[man 2] CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler,
The Miz, The Big Show.
[commentator 3] Former World Wrestling
Federation champion, the Big Show!
[man 3] Who in the hell are you?
I'm John Cena.
[commentator 4] Reversal. Angle whipped
across the ring, slammed by Cena.
[man] The relationship with WWE ended.
They had moved
their developmental program to Florida.
[man 2] Any other company
that did business with WWE
went out of business.
There's only one that did not,
and that was OVW.
[man 3] It comes down to one thing,
one of the most legendary
professional wrestling trainers ever,
Al Snow.
[man 4] Without money,
it's kind of hard to run,
but Al had the passion to keep
OVW running and continue the OVW legacy.
It's all part of Al's vision
to preserve OVW.
We're trying to put
asses in seats out here.
Al, if you're watching,
I want you to feel pressure
because I want you to keep this going.
[Al] If you want to live a life
others don't live,
you have to do things others don't do.
You have to sell who the fuck are you
and why are you out there.
- [whistle blows]
- [Al] Go.
Let's move.
[Doug] Al's trying to create here,
in OVW, a platform.
He wants to see everybody succeed here,
and it's tough whenever you're
relying on people to come to your event
to keep the lights on.
But he kept it afloat, and kudos to Al.
You want all the activity
to take place in the center
because it's the spotlight of the ring,
everybody here can see it the best,
and it's the place
that's easiest to take the bump.
- Yeah.
- You don't wanna make things harder.
- Okay.
- So get in there.
[grunting]
- [Doug] You duck and elbow.
- [wrestler] Yep.
[Doug] Gonna clothesline. Then an elbow.
Stiffest headlock
in the sport of wrestling, Al. [grunts]
I believe it. It looks it.
Get all the way up, Freya.
My role at OVW
- Like, do you want the stupid title, or
- [producer] Yeah. Just the title.
I'm CEO and co-owner of OVW.
I will do everything I can
to make you succeed, so that I succeed.
I will push you, all right?
But the rest is up to you.
I would book every live event,
what talent worked with who,
who should win, why.
[shouts] Hold it, now!
No way in hell are you two
winning the Southern Tag Team title!
What you have to do in the match,
I've gotta see a heel.
I've gotta see a babyface.
I gotta get a babyface over.
I gotta get the heel heat.
Then we gotta go home.
You gotta tell me a story.
[female wrestler yelling and grunting]
[Al] Somebody ate her Wheaties today.
- [female wrestler yells]
- [Al] One, two.
Cut him off, KT.
- [KT yells]
- [Al] Stop him.
- [KT groans]
- [Al] That was weird.
- [KT groaning]
- [thud]
[Al] Use your imagination.
The one thing none of you fucking use.
You don't use your creativity
or imagination when you're in the ring.
If you're gonna be a part of this,
you now carry my name,
my reputation on you.
My legal name is Allen Ray Sarven.
And my wrestling name is Al Snow.
Anybody that knows anything
about wrestling knows who Al Snow is.
[crowd cheering]
[Bryan] He's a legend
I grew up watching in the '90s on WWE,
knowing that this guy
carries a mannequin head,
it looks cool, and everyone's doing this.
[crowd chanting] We want Head!
We want Head!
[Al] I was known as
the best kept secret in wrestling.
[commentator] The Rock and Al Snow
[commentator 2]
Al's taking it to the Great One.
I did very, very, very well.
Who is this roody poo?
You know me, from last week.
You knew me from before.
Shut up, Al. It's Al.
He wants to be our partner.
I had that definable, describable persona
or character and personality.
Will you sign this?
[Al] My action figure.
Do I need to sign it to somebody?
- [fan] No. That's my personal one. That's
- [Al] Oh, okay.
[man] Nice!
I teach you based on my experience,
where I have made these mistakes,
and now I'm trying to give you
the opportunity to avoid them.
You guys are terrified
about making a mistake.
You blow a move, who cares?
It cannot always look like
a gymnastics display or a dance.
It has to sometimes look
a little ugly and a little sloppy,
so that it can feel real.
And you can make these people
believe anything you want 'em to believe,
if it's within the context
of you trying to win.
I made people believe I could knock
another human out with a plastic head.
It's not physically possible.
So that's what you're here to learn.
Otherwise, they won't believe in it.
They won't believe in you.
That's what makes somebody a star.
[David] OVW Wrestling was a launching pad
for an entire generation of stars.
People would watch OVW shows
because you'd get the first glimpse
at potentially the next big thing
in pro wrestling.
[Bryan] Welcome back to OVW TV.
What a night we have had so far.
Am I right, Davis Arena?
[Al] Outside of WWE or AEW,
we're the only other company,
I think, that do live television.
[shouts angrily] Tonight,
I am gonna rip your freaking head off!
We're coming up on our 1,200th
consecutive episode of television.
That's 52 episodes a year.
- [commentator] We see a streak
- [commentator 2] Whoa!
A lot of people that come here,
they can get live TV experience.
We are the future.
[Doug] And some bigger companies
will sign you to big-time contracts
because you're already ready.
[commentator] He's tasing Tony Gunn!
- [Al] Goddamn head.
- [woman laughing]
If they get a contract with WWE,
their life changes dramatically.
They'll get significant money
I'm the biggest star here.
That's why you're all here.
[Al]but immediately be thrown
into the deep end of the pool,
and they're going to sink or swim.
[commentator] It's a classic case
of good versus evil.
[man chuckles]
Our whole job is to tell this story
of good versus evil.
[commentator] No, no!
[Al] Like, in Hollywood, you've got
suspense, betrayal, and violation,
moments of strife, romance
[sentimental music playing]
[Al] A little bit of blood and guts.
[commentator]
Right to the barbed-wire table!
[Al] We're trying to convince an audience
that win and loss has gravity,
that it really means something,
like it's a real competition.
In any storytelling, you have
an antagonist and a protagonist.
So you have a heel and a babyface.
[crowd whooping and cheering]
[Al] The job of the babyface,
it's to make a character
that that audience
wants to live vicariously though.
Have to have it.
[moody disco music playing]
[Al] Shera eats,
breathes, shits wrestling.
[announcer] Mahabali Shera!
We made him the National Heavyweight
Champion because, I mean, look at him.
[Bryan] He's not just a man.
He is a force of nature.
He is the Indian Lion.
He looks the part. He believes the part.
He's one of those guys
that makes you believe in what he's doing.
- [crowd cheering]
- [commentator] God!
[commentator 2] The man
started a bank roll. Cash Flo.
- [Al] Cash has been around a long time.
- [commentator] Cash Flo.
To the chest,
like chopping down an oak tree.
Cash Flo,
the meanest hands in the business.
[commentator] The Reverend
looking to save souls or dig holes.
He's talented as hell,
entertaining as hell.
He's got some experience
a lot of these other athletes don't have.
[Haley] Leila, Leila, Leila!
The look, the charisma.
She has that "it" factor.
[commentator] The new
OVW Women's Champion!
[announcer] Leila Grey!
[Haley] Started at AEW,
where everyone's trying to go.
I would love to get to wrestle her.
Being a babyface, you have to go out
and kiss people's babies
and shake everyone's hand and "whoo!"
And as the bad guy,
it's really on me to be like, "Ugh."
[rock music playing]
[Al] Think of it like a dance. The heel
leads the dance. They control everything.
[Bryan] The heel gets heat.
He gives the middle finger to an old lady.
Mad at him 'cause he gave
that lady a middle finger. That's heat.
Amon sends Luscious to hell.
[Amon] The more boos I get,
the more cheers the good guy's gonna get.
If I'm not booed, babyface isn't cheered,
and our story means nothing.
[shouts] This is my ring!
If you're a heel, you're willing to cheat.
- [Bryan] Freya cheated with a leg drop!
- You're willing to do anything
[Bryan] You can't overpower
the Queen of the North.
[Freya] even if it puts you
in a bad light.
[announcer] Freya the Slaya!
[man] I am the cream of the crop,
the first ever
National OVW Heavyweight Champeen!
[announcer] Mr. Pectacular
with a face to wreck the place.
[Mr. Pectacular] The show is here.
You're welcome!
[announcer] Look at Darkstorm
kicking butt and talking trash.
[man] They'll let anybody
into the wrestling game.
Somebody's gotta be like,
"Hold on. That's some bullshit."
"No, that's some bullshit." That's me.
There's two things
you can do about that, son.
Nothing.
I got my bullshit detector on,
and I see through all y'all.
Bunch of fake wannabe little soy boys.
He's not a gimmick.
In and out the ring, he's the same guy.
[Al] My job is to build that desire
to see the babyface overcome the heel.
[announcer] Satan's favorite sinner, Amon!
You've got Amon, who's a demon.
[Bryan] Just so evil. Just so devious.
Hold on. The Amazing Maria in there.
Maria firmly believes she still has
one more run in her. We all do.
Five minutes. Five minutes.
[Al] She's now a segment producer,
or "agent" is what we call it.
The Amazing Maria, who brought
HollyHood Haley J into this world.
[Al] And she's Haley's mom.
[rock music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[Haley] I am a heel.
[Bryan] She is disgusting.
She is reprehensible.
But I'm so funny and entertaining.
I can be yelling, "You suck."
They'll still be like, "Yay, Haley."
[Bryan] Haley J, a piece of trash.
[Al] She wants to be a star.
But Haley is young.
She's very immature.
She's going to grow up in this business,
and she has a lot to learn.
You got another think coming
This is The Muppets.
We're I'm Kermit the Frog.
"What a rib." I'm Kermit the Frog.
And I literally run
The Muppet Show every week.
[chuckles]
You guys did a hell of a job.
Give yourselves a big hand.
Seriously, you guys earned it.
[shouts] Hey! Give us a hand!
[Al] And in some sick,
twisted way, I enjoy this.
If I'm not being creative
in some fashion, I think that I would be
I don't know what I would be.
I'd be a mess.
I'm a mess now.
I'd be even more of a mess then.
One o'clock, please.
We need everybody to make this happen.
Wrestling, for a lot of these people,
gives them a purpose in life.
A reason to live.
You guys don't have to go home,
but you can't stay here. Get the fuck out.
Even if it's what some people
would attest to being pointless,
it's not pointless for them.
Well, thank you, Al.
- [Al] Thank you.
- Another opportunity out there.
- All right.
- Thanks, Deget.
We are very much a family business
because we're a family here.
Al loves these people
that he helps develop.
They're his kids.
[man] Every single person
that wrestles in OVW,
I respect the dedication
and the love they put forth with it.
Like, I genuinely love it.
With that said,
it's a business full of awesome people
who have a sort of
delusional view of the world.
- [Freya shouts] What did you do?
- [man] I didn't do
- Hold this.
- [man groans]
Five, four, three, two, one.
Out.
We got it in.
Al is one of the best wrestling minds
in the world. That's not an exaggeration.
- [Al] Thank you, guys. Thank you.
- Did that kinda get it over? Okay.
[Matt] I like how creative he is.
I like his vision. But you know what?
Al's not the best with money.
[Al] I should have gotten
more balloons. Fuck me.
I thought 100 balloons
would cover the whole ring.
Current financial situation at OVW is
what it's always been, which is the shits.
Financially, it was getting to a point,
we were like, "Ugh, we need help."
And that was about the time
that Matt and Craig bought into it.
- [thud]
- [all groan]
[man] I've been a wrestling fan
my entire life.
My father used to take me
to the Louisville Gardens
for live Tuesday night wrestling.
I'm Craig Greenberg.
I'm running for mayor
to stop studying problems
and start taking action.
[shouts] Let's go, Doug!
I've always loved Louisville.
I was laying in bed one night, put on OVW,
and I was just thinking to myself,
"This is a great Louisville icon."
And I reached out to Matt,
out of the blue, and said,
"I've got this crazy idea."
Craig Greenberg calls me up
and says, "Hey, OVW's in financial peril."
"I'm thinking about buying it.
Will you go in with me?"
And I said, "Why not?"
Welcome, everyone. Kentucky Sports Radio.
I am Matt Jones,
here on an absolutely beautiful day in
I'm well-known in Kentucky.
I have a show that's listened to all over.
I'm trying to leverage
that sports radio show
to create an OVW audience.
Craig and I got into this
to take it to the next level.
This is the summer
to take it to the next level.
We are of the belief
that we need to create a summer tour.
It's probably gonna require
sending you out on the road
to do a dog and pony show.
We would culminate the summer tour
with a final show here.
[Craig] We wanna bring OVW
to a wider range of people
than just wrestling fans.
People coming out 'cause we're
in their town and it's something to do.
Just so you know, I took that tact,
and running in a different venue,
it didn't build. It didn't translate
to where those 20,000 fans
[Matt] Here's why I like them.
For every summer tour date booked,
that's two to 3,000 in profit this summer.
[Craig] We're still losing
about $30,000 a month right now, still.
But at some point, if after
- [Matt] We can't keep losing money.
- Right.
At some point,
we need to start breaking even,
making money,
or we need to adjust the business model.
- [whimsical music playing]
- There was certainly skepticism about us.
"What do they know
about professional wrestling?"
The wrestling world
really doesn't like outsiders.
You know, they are
very much an insular community.
- Good luck.
- [wrestler] Thank you.
I do appreciate that they came in
and were willing to invest in it.
But it hasn't always been positive.
[Matt] He's put on a bunch of weight.
His whole gimmick is being
this sexy guy, and he's just gotten big.
I really wish that Matt and Craig
would have taken more time
to learn about what we do,
instead of just coming in
and saying, "Oh, we're the owners."
I don't need your part.
I've talked with 'em.
I know you think you can come in
and make the final decision
[Haley] Somebody who knows nothing
about wrestling.
He comes in and wants to make changes
and do all this stuff.
I think that he thinks he means well,
but for everyone else, we're like,
"What the fuck is going on?
I just don't trust you."
[laughs] Simple as that.
[Matt] Will you just do what I'm asking?
Is that a yes?
[man] Me and him butted heads one time.
I cussed him out,
and he threatened to fire me.
I told him, "Suck my dick.
You can't fire me, bitch. Let's go."
He said, "We'll go to Al's office."
Went to Al's office.
Guess who didn't get fired?
Matt Jones made me promise
to never talk like that again. So I did.
You've never taken a bump.
You're not a trained wrestler.
We're not gonna ever listen to you
the way that we listen to Al.
[Maria] Matt's role
was supposed to be marketing.
The wrestling was supposed to be
strictly left to Al, for Al to run.
Hasn't worked out like that.
- [Al] We're on the right track.
- [Matt] We are.
So it takes time.
I'm sounding unhappy. I'm very happy.
But I just think
we all need to be realistic.
[Al] A lot of times
[sighs] I gotta eat a shit sandwich,
because I get told something to do
from people that really quite honestly
have no fucking clue how it works,
but want to feel like they're involved.
The thing I love is, when we go out
on the road, we make people happy.
I gotta add some stuff
to get people besides wrestling dorks
to care about this.
'Cause wrestling dorks love wrestling,
but there ain't that many of 'em.
And they don't spend that much money.
Now, over the course of summer,
we're gonna have 33 shows.
August 27th will be the final day.
We're calling it "The Big One."
That's gonna be a pay-per-view.
Your goal You wanna be on every show.
And you certainly
wanna be on the last one.
Call times are mandatory.
If you're not there, you'll be
dropped down for the next week.
With a lot of opportunity
becomes accountability.
This is the most important summer
in the history of this company.
Folks, thank you all very much.
Are you guys ready for a big summer?
[whooping and cheering]
- [woman] Let me see that paper.
- [woman 2] You're on the road.
I'm on the road?
Do I worry we're gonna go out of business?
Yeah, I worry about that every day.
- That's all I think about.
- [somber music plays]
[Matt] If things
don't go great this summer,
where we're breaking even or close,
we can't justify keeping doing it.
If we don't start doing better,
there won't be an OVW.
All right. Everybody knows
why we're here. We had an incident.
Um, we wanna clear it up.
[woman] You snuck from behind
and punched me.
You freaked out
'cause I brought up drugs and alcohol
'cause you smoke before matches.
I don't wrestle people
that smoke or drink, 'cause it's not safe.
[Haley] Absolutely.
I'll admit it. I'm not gonna lie.
- [Jessica] Moving forward, in the future
- Absolutely.
[Jessica] Knock that out.
- [Al] You do smoke before matches?
- Absolutely.
I do, absolutely. I have
a medical condition, and I do smoke.
Right before my match,
I don't go outside and smoke.
But I will smoke on my way
to this building. Absolutely, I do.
There might be a hint of it on me.
And I'll smoke when I'm leaving.
Let me make this clear. I don't care
what any of you do on your own time.
But you do not do anything on our time
that is unprofessional.
I will not tolerate somebody smoking
before they go out to the ring.
- Yeah.
- [Al] I will not.
This is the most important summer
in OVW in a decade.
If you care about OVW,
please do what I'm asking.
[Haley] I work for the man,
so I'm not gonna disrespect him,
but I don't give a fuck what Matt Jones
has to say, if we're being honest.
I really am an angry little person.
Couldn't tell you what it is.
I'm sure if I reflected on my life,
we could figure it out,
but I keep saying
I'm gonna be a sophisticated woman.
So the hotheadedness
and the yelling and going crazy on people,
that's not something that I wanna do.
It just happens.
I got some shit to be angry about,
but I try to let it go.
I haven't learned to do that yet.
I'm 22, but I feel like I'm 38.
I've had a lot of life experience,
and that's why I'm constantly feeling like
I need it now or something.
Just gotta make it.
And this climb is a tough one.
[Haley laughs]
[man] There you go.
Yeah, now you got her. Now you got her.
- [Haley] What are you doing?
- [man] What you gonna do?
[shouts] A potato to the ear.
[man] You get in the ring with kids
at your own risk.
[Haley groans]
You realize we're creating monsters.
- [Zayden] I don't want to
- [Haley] Hey! [grunts]
[Reverend] He's comfortable.
Is it good or bad?
- Zayden, I'm sorry.
- [Zayden] Okay.
- Shake my hand.
- Okay. [giggles]
- [Haley yells]
- [Reverend] You fell for it!
- Oh man.
- [Haley shouting]
[Haley] Oh, that hurt!
Maybe I should pin you, then!
[Reverend] That kid had a spark
from the day I met her.
Oh, you kick out at one?
[Reverend] She hit me up
and said she wants to be a wrestler.
She decided, "I'll throw myself into this
and go for it."
Back then, she had
chubby little cheeks, little freckles.
I became a bit of a father figure.
Just guide her in the right place.
You crazy. Oh, you crazy.
Louisville's a fresh start for me.
Before this, I was staying
in all these fucked-up living situations.
Only so much you can take before,
"All right, that's enough."
Somebody ran up in my house to rob me,
and they put a loaded gun on me.
Whatever. If you're gonna pull it,
pull it. But then they put it on my child.
[Zayden giggles] One, two, three.
He's just in there with a gun to his face,
and I never wanna see that
ever again in my life, so I moved.
And then, when I moved,
I moved here to start wrestling.
Once you have a child, you kind of
have to start making better decisions,
and wrestling is my escape.
Take your time.
Slow it all down. Work to your moments.
I do, but then now I'm more concerned
about wrestling, and now I'm thinking.
[Reverend] I told her,
"When you start, you'll train with me."
"Nobody else will train you. I'll do it."
I didn't trust anybody else.
Can you not think by going
[mimics groaning]
- Apparently not.
- [Reverend] Gotta do the Yes.
- You gotta
- I can do all the wrestling shit. I just
Just because you know the next spot
doesn't mean you have to hurry to it.
If she can control that mouth
and use this more, she'll be all right.
Clearly, we're still working on it.
You're in such a hurry to get to
the next spot that you forget the moment.
If you don't take care of this moment now,
your next spot ain't gonna mean shit.
See ya.
Just kidding!
And
[mimics anguished groaning]
Ow!
[groaning]
Back her up. Oh yeah.
Hell yeah.
I definitely messed up my opportunities,
shut my own doors sometimes.
It's kept me
from progressing in life. [scoffs]
Still working on that.
[producer] How does somebody
make it to WWE?
[exhales] Good question.
I'm trying to find out right now.
I don't know how to get there,
or I'd be there now.
I feel like I'm on my way there,
but I can't really tell you
how to get there.
[Cash Flo] Another day at the office.
I don't have my tag on me.
- You're cool. I know who you are.
- [Cash Flo] Goodness gracious.
[receptionist] The last time you did it,
you did the "Malibu double dark."
- Don't do the double dark.
- Just regular dark?
Yeah, just the regular,
'cause it made my face so brown.
- Okay. You got it.
- It looked a bit unnatural.
[tanning machine loudly hissing]
Spray tans, or tanning in general,
is essential.
[Cash Flo] Because it
Wrestling is a very aesthetic business,
and you have to look your best.
It's very expensive.
You know,
there's an old saying in wrestling,
"You have to work a regular job
to support your wrestling habit."
Eight years ago,
I was making about 60 bucks a night.
This year, with merch, three to
three to 400.
When I'm not making any money, the family,
they go through a rough time.
So I'm the breadwinner.
I'm the man of the family.
If I'm struggling,
my whole family's struggling.
Before Matt Jones and those guys,
OVW was about to go under,
and we weren't getting paid nothing.
Us little guys down here,
begging for this thing to succeed
so we can make money.
If OVW were to close,
it would be
immensely devastating for my family.
[Mr. Pectacular] If you're
going to make it to the next level,
you need to look your best,
and you have to be able to pick out
the person that you can take their spot,
and you're taking their paycheck.
Because we are fighters.
I, myself, Jessie Godderz, Mr. Pectacular,
in all my glory,
the face that runs the place,
needs to be able to elicit
somebody to get out of their home,
come to OVW in Davis Arena,
pay for a ticket, and watch
whoever I fight try and beat me.
It's gonna take a while, but they can try.
But my point is,
this is natural selection.
Whoever's the best
is going to be on television, period.
[groans]
[Shera] I'm still doing hustling,
like, you know, extra job
to pay my bills,
you know, and help my family.
I'm not making that much money right now.
So that's why I have to do this stuff.
I'm huge in India, so I'm a big superstar.
So these are small jobs,
you know, and it's not bothered me,
but I feel like it's not comfortable,
what I've been doing,
because I just wanna do bigger things.
I have my house over there
and my mom, my sister, and my family,
so I send, every month, around $600.
So I don't wanna be sat at home
and doing nothing, you know,
because my family's everything for me.
Hello. Food.
If I wanna do my best,
they can live a good life, you know.
I'm trying my best.
[sentimental music playing]
[Shera] OVW is a huge deal for me
because OVW have a huge, huge name.
All the biggest superstars go from here.
I was trying to figure it out,
how to get in America,
and how to leave the mark in this world,
like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
If you wanna give me a tip
or something, add here, sign.
Okay.
[sentimental music continues]
- [Shera] Thanks.
- [woman] No problem.
[Shera] That's why
I'm very serious with OVW.
I want to be top of the mountain
and everyone looked up to me, you know?
[Maria] Where the fuck
is the dry food stuff?
- This was out here?
- [man] Yes.
[Maria] This goes in the fucking cooler.
Why the fuck would they do this?
- [man] Leaving it here.
- [Maria] That's fucking $200 of steaks.
[Haley] Yeah!
Put the liquor out, big dawg.
[Maria] Everything in the dry stock area
is not even in the fucking cooler.
You gotta be fucking kidding me. They left
all my refrigerated shit in the hallway.
- [Haley] Quit yelling.
- Goddammit.
[Haley] Calm down.
They got no problems with the bartenders.
I was serving at Cracker Barrel,
but I stopped that so I could work
at my mom's hotel as a bartender.
- Did you fix the drawer for me?
- [Maria] No, not yet.
- [coins jangle]
- [Maria] Twenty.
Five. Fifty.
- This is your money.
- [Haley] All right.
[producer] Do you gals
like working together?
Yeah. I don't have to
deal with her that much.
Wrestling's pretty much the reason
why me and my mom have a relationship.
- [Maria] You're good to go.
- [Haley] Thanks.
- [Maria] Glad doing business.
- [Haley] Yeah.
We're always around each other now.
She works with me. She bosses me around.
And before, I was, like, running from her.
[Maria] I was always tough
on both my kids,
but I was tough on Haley more
because she was a girl.
I know what it's like
for a girl to grow up.
[sentimental music playing]
Why are all these down here?
I don't know.
I don't know what any of it is.
I still have all this anger towards her.
Things that, I guess,
I'm not over from when I was a kid.
[Maria] I was 21, I think,
got this new baby.
I'm working a dead-end job,
bills piling up,
so I started dealing drugs to, um,
have money to support my kids, make sure
my kids had the things they needed.
The first time I go to jail,
Haley is getting ready to turn two.
In 2006, I went to jail again.
They caught me with a kilo of cocaine.
[producer] How old was Haley?
Seven, yeah.
[Haley] You can't sit here.
Sit at the booth.
I get a big money fine, $10,000.
You got $10,000?
Nope. You gotta sit in the booth.
Go sit down.
You want some Fruit Loops or something?
Been on my own since 15.
Moved outta my mother's house.
And I was just
a hardheaded little hood rat.
Don't make a mess, or I'm gonna
beat you up, okay? Now, be good.
I love wrestling
with all my heart and soul.
Haley It was, "Wrestling's terrible.
You're not gonna wrestle."
But something in wrestling
just kept drawing her back to it.
And she was like, "Okay, well,
I've had a baby. I've been robbed."
"You know what? There's money
to be made in this business."
"If there's money to be made,
I'm gonna make it."
Like, it's all business for her.
- You're an interesting person.
- I am that.
I've never met a woman wrestler.
So, you know, something new.
You got any belts or anything?
Not right now. I'm a loser.
- [man] I bet she's got a belt or two.
- Actually, I think she does.
- Probably got, like, three.
- I got five.
[Haley] Still, five.
I'm in the game. I got zero.
As a mother, I don't want
my child to grow up and be like,
"Oh yeah, my mom was in and out of jail."
I want him to be proud.
[Matt] Welcome back!
It is Kentucky Sports Radio.
A little reminder to everybody.
Big show at OVW.
Big heavyweights going at it.
The biggest stars
in independent wrestling.
I am trying to print
this fucking thing. It will not
[man] I got you.
[Al groans angrily]
I need to look at that real quick,
or I can adjust times and stuff.
- How are you, Ricky?
- How you doing?
- [Al] Good to see you.
- Here, Al. This will be your copy.
[Haley] Where's Becky?
- [woman] We got
- [Haley] We kinda match. Yeah, we do.
[Al] We have
an extra two and a half minutes.
Give that two and a half minutes
to Haley and Jada.
- How are you?
- [Haley] You just get this?
- Yeah. You noticed?
- You did not have a tattoo last time.
The table is so thick
that in order to score it well enough to
- [Al] It'll be obvious that it's scored.
- It'll collapse from its own weight.
- Yeah.
- [Adam] Is there another way to do this?
- [man] Who's going through a table?
- [Adam] No one is now.
Could we do it where Floyd smashes Cash
with a chair and Cash goes down to a knee?
- Why doesn't he punch
- [Adam] Punch through the chair?
- You like that?
- [Al] Yeah, it'll work.
- He doesn't love it, but
- [Adam] It'll work.
[Craig] We now have a template,
and it will be
what a Thursday night looks like.
The revenue from concessions,
from door, online,
TV advertising income, sponsorship.
That's the total revenue
and what the expenses are.
We averaged a loss
of over $2,000 every Thursday.
So it's a tit for tat
going back and forth each week.
Joe came out the first week
and powerbombed
Pushed him off and then powerbombed.
Do you want him
to come with another powerbomb?
That's simple and direct.
Al's business model
and his view of the business
is the same as it was
when he was coming up.
There was no Internet.
It was a very different time.
I don't wanna be the dude
that's sitting there telling these folks
how to do what they're doing.
But the way you pack that place,
you gotta get out of our little bubble,
and I can't get Al to see that.
We've got to do gimmicky stuff.
He just won't do that
because that requires him to accept
that I know how to put people
in these seats more than he does.
[Doug] During the match,
to tell the story, do you want Kripke
to be distracted by Luke and it
No, because we have a pre-tape
that we're airing of Luke
reciting a nursery rhyme
to his "unborn child."
One of the things that makes us unique,
I think, are the storylines.
Yes, he does a great job.
We have all these intricate storylines,
like we are WWE.
What percentage of people
do you think care and watch week to week?
Here's the tough part.
I think it's a tiny part.
But that's something
I don't think we can say to him.
Because he does need to believe
those storylines matter,
or what's the point of doing it?
He has to think like this
to do what he's doing.
[man raps] I got on
And I made 'em be Mad Max ♪
Coming up like a bomb over Baghdad ♪
[rap music playing]
Keep talking
Don't know who you're messing with ♪
It's HollyHood Haley J, you irrelevant ♪
[upbeat music playing]
[doorman] We're ready.
[shouts] Doors, guys!
- [doorman 2] Here we go!
- [doorman] Last call.
- [Haley] Shoo.
- [man] Is that what that smell is?
- [man] Have any times changed
- [Al] Lots, yes.
They're out on the board
because I can't even remember right now.
[man] You're good.
If they're there, I'll get 'em.
- Okay.
- [man] Yeah, thank you.
[Al] No, fuck off.
[groans] Oh, here we go.
Let's see what chaos
we can create this week.
- [fan] Two ringsides.
- [cashier] Two ringsides? That'll be 30.
- [Haley] Hell yeah.
- Exciting, ain't it?
[Haley] Yeah.
That's what I'm talking about.
[electrical whirring]
[stimulating rock music playing]
[Al] What the fuck is going on?
Goddammit.
- [man over radio] We have no video.
- [Al] We have no monitor.
We gotta get word to Daniel
that he has to fix whatever's fucked up.
[announcer] Another match
I'm looking forward to.
HollyHood Haley J in action tonight,
taking on "The Spark" Jada Stone.
[Al] At least we're going out.
We're broadcasting, at least.
They're up there rebooting the computer.
I will tell you
what we need to do as we go along.
[Adam] Forty seconds left to break.
- [commentator] OVW Luau Night after
- [wrestler yells]
[Bryan] This beating
he's getting from Shera.
- [Al] We got the monitor back. Thank you.
- [Maria] Yay, superhero!
You gotta reboot a computer,
stand on one foot,
spin around the air,
put your finger up your ass,
maybe it'll fall into place,
and it'll work.
[Al shouts] Turn around, Cash! Fuck!
- Keep going.
- [Bryan] Confusion here.
- Turbo pushes to Cash.
- [Al] Do it!
- [Adam] Motherfuckers!
- [Al] Thirteen, twelve.
Keep talking, keep selling.
[Bryan] There's mass confusion
in the ring.
- No one knows Oh God!
- [crowd groaning]
[Haley] What match am I? How many more?
[woman] This one.
- [man] After this.
- Perfect.
[Bryan] Jared Kripke is not
in the greatest of moods. Rightfully so.
[commentator] He's not the father
of the child
he thought he was the father of.
- Bryan.
- [Bryan] Yes?
[Al] Who can blame Kripke
for being like this?
- [Bryan] Who wouldn't be furious?
- [Al] Taking out that anger and hatred.
[Bryan] taking out that anger
and hatred for Luke Kurtis.
[Haley] Are we going right now?
Okay. Excuse me.
- [Doug] God, he ripped off a turnbuckle.
- [Al] Holy shit.
[man] Only three and a half remain.
We do not need this tonight.
[rowdy fan] You kicked
that turnbuckle's ass!
- [Adam] When you hear your music, go.
- Okay.
- [Adam] We're missing a turnbuckle pad.
- [Al] Do we have another?
[Maria] Eight, seven
[Al] We need another pad.
[Maria]five
- [Al] Fuck, we need one.
- [Adam]three, two, one.
- We're up.
- [dance music playing]
- Where's our turnbuckle? What happened?
- It fell.
[announcer] HollyHood Haley J.
[Bryan] HollyHood Haley J making
her big return to Davis Arena, guys.
There's no turnbuckle pad, Haley.
- [dance music playing]
- [Haley] Where?
Behind you, there's no turnbuckle pad.
[announcer] "The Spark" Jada Stone!
[cheering]
[crowd shouting and cheering]
- [Maria] Get. Go.
- Go.
[Bryan] This is a grudge match.
Jada Stone's been seething for weeks,
wanting to get her hands on Haley J.
[announcer] HollyHood
doesn't have her coat off.
- [Maria] Seven minutes.
- [Doug] Seven minutes in the segment.
Aaron, keep them
away from the exposed turnbuckle.
- [commentator] Looking to inflict damage.
- [Aaron] Out of the corner!
- Where does she go? Right to it.
- Keep them away.
- Goddammit.
- Get them out of that corner.
[Bryan] Jada Stone
beating the hell out of Haley J.
- Be careful.
- Get 'em out of that corner!
[Bryan] Jada Stone
just laying in those fists.
[Al] Pace. Pace.
Aaron, tell them to pace themselves.
Pace themselves
so they don't blow themselves up.
[Aaron] Pace.
Slow down a little bit. Pace. Pace.
- [Al] Don't blow yourself up, kid.
- [Maria] She will.
[Al] Hit her from behind. What the fuck?
- [Jada cries out]
- [crowd shouting]
Well, that was real.
- [Adam] Six minutes.
- [Maria] Six minutes. Six minutes.
[Aaron] Got six, Haley.
[crowd shouting]
- [Al] Don't be fancy. Beat her ass.
- [Maria] Don't be fancy. Beat her ass.
[Al] Okay, Jada, cut her off.
[Maria] Cut her off.
Tell Jada to get on her.
[electrical crackling]
[Al] Can't see shit.
I'm not fucking seeing her.
It's that fucking cable again.
Just so you guys are aware,
we have no monitor.
It's next to impossible
to be able to run a show and produce it
without being able
to see the goddamn thing.
I knew something was gonna go tits up.
[wrestlers grunting]
[Aaron shouts] Pull out! One, two, three!
[sentimental music playing]
We're flying blind, guys.
Fuck.
Wrestlers desperately fear
making a mistake,
and the beauty of what we do
is that no one knows you made a mistake.
[Aaron] Outta the corner. Go!
[Al] It's a violent, competitive act.
It should get ugly once in a while.
Aw, dammit.
[Haley] I learned
from every mistake I've made,
every dumb thing that I've said,
every person I've laid hands on.
For example, my neighbor went crazy,
talking about I want her man.
I could've kept walking,
what any adult would have done.
[Bryan] What's Holly going for?
[Haley] Instead, I went
and grabbed a sock of rocks.
It's classic.
- [Bryan] Uh-oh!
- [commentator] A sock of rocks.
[Al] All we are is stories.
If you ain't got a lot of good stories,
you ain't made a bunch of mistakes.
[Haley] I had that locked and loaded.
- [Al] I don't know what's going on.
- Ran down the stairs, ready
- [commentator] Are you kidding me?
- I would have been in jail right now.
And I was like,
"Whoa, take a deep breath."
But yeah.
Psycho Haley was on,
and I was ready to fight.
["Hallelujah" playing]
- [commentator] Come on!
- [bell rings]
[announcer] The winner,
as the result of a disqualification,
Jada Stone.
- [commentator] Are you kidding me?
- [Bryan] Oh my God!
[crowd cheering]
[fan whistling excitedly]
[rhythmic applause]
- [commentator] He had it coming.
- [Bryan] Are you kidding me?
[fan whistling excitedly]
[bell ringing persistently]
[crowd chanting] One more time!
- [crowd groaning]
- [bell ringing]
[Al] Can you hear me, Michael?
I don't Is Aaron mic'd?
- [Al] No audio.
- [Adam] That is correct. No audio.
[Al] What else could go fucking wrong?
We have two minutes to fill.
Doug, tell them to keep going at it
in that fucking ring.
- [bell ringing]
- [Al] Go. Go. Go tell them.
[Bryan] OVW producer Doug Basham here,
trying to get something
- Oh!
- [commentator] Oh my God!
- Right between the eyes.
- [Bryan] She just bashed Doug Basham!
[Al] Oh, for fuck's sake though.
[commentator] Don't just beat up Basham!
- [Al] Maria, go out there. Make this work.
- [Maria] Make it work. Yes, sir.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Maria shouts] Haley, that's enough!
That's enough. Get out!
- [commentator] The Amazing Maria.
- Enough! Come on!
[Bryan] Haley's mother.
- [commentator 2] Haley's mom is here.
- [Al laughs sarcastically]
We got the monitor back. Thank God.
[sighs in relief]
I need to hear it. Get the camera up there
to where I can hear 'em.
Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't!
Don't touch that fucking cable.
- [Maria] Come on.
- [Al] Come on, Maria. Yell.
- Come on!
- [Al] Get it heated. Keep arguing.
[Adam] They could argue
for a full three minutes.
They could argue for three days.
[yells] We gotta save your job!
Come on, Haley!
[shouts] You wanna save my job?
How about you protect your daughter?
That's it. That's it.
Make it real.
- I'm trying to protect you!
- How about you quit trying to be me?
'Cause guess what, sweetie?
You'll never ever be me, the princess!
- It's my fault. It's my fault.
- It's your fault! This whole thing is you.
[laughs excitedly] Oh yes.
Yes. Oh!
- [yells] I'm trying to save your job!
- No, you're not saving any
[crowd yells in shock]
[Bryan] Oh no!
[crowd shouting]
[Bryan] God, you believe that?
- Oh! She got the boo boo face.
- [Adam] That's so good.
- [Al] There we go.
- [sentimental music plays over soundtrack]
[Haley] Get off me!
- [yells] Ow!
- I've had
[commentator yells] Oh!
- [crowd shouting]
- [commentator] She had it coming.
[crowd clapping and cheering]
- [loud cheering]
- [fan in crowd whistling]
- [fan 2] Haley, how does it feel?
- [Haley] Yeah!
- [Maria mumbles] Keep going.
- [Haley yells] Yeah!
[commentator] Haley J chopped
a branch off her family tree.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
You're creating a moment that's
only gonna live for that moment.
Even if it's videoed,
they'll never be able
to replay that moment with that audience
like you live it at that time.
In that moment, you are everything.
You're an actor.
You're an athlete. You're a rock star.
It's fireworks. It's sex.
You know, that's why they call it a pop.
Pop is short for "pop their nut."
[sentimental music playing]
[Al] And to make an audience believe,
to where it culminates
and you get 'em to
[mimics popping sound]
have an emotional orgasm,
there's nothing else like it.
Oh my God. Oh my God.
- Good?
- [Al] You did it.
- [Haley] Good.
- [Al] Fucking home run, dude.
- [man] Yes.
- Fucking home run.
[Adam] Ninety seconds remain.
Ninety seconds of break.
- You should watch it back.
- [Al] Yeah.
[Adam] It was one of the best things.
Performance-wise?
- [Al] Brilliant.
- Perform
- Fucking awesome.
- Thank you, thank you.
- [Al] Yes!
- [Adam] That was good.
[sentimental music playing]
[Freya] She no-sells all the heat,
sprints across the ring and made a tag.
[Haley] Oh my God.
[man] I gave a lap dance tonight.
I made $20.
It's a hard living. Go get what you want.
Well, please.
[Freya] We gave each other wedgies
for every move.
He had a list
of different wedgies he wanted.
- [Haley] Wedgie over the head?
- A wedgie DDT.
And that's the weirdest thing.
- This stuff isn't sexual. It's weird.
- [Haley] Yeah.
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile ♪
- I'm gonna rename it to "Scottish Pie."
- [man] Yes!
[in Scottish accent] You don't like
no Scottish pie, buddy.
That doesn't get washed for weeks.
[laughter]
I knew if I had my chance ♪
I could make those people dance ♪
And maybe they'd be happy for a while ♪
[Matt] I don't think the wrestlers knew
how close we were
to closing the doors when we bought it.
What they don't understand is,
every week Craig and I are losing money.
And we can't do it forever.
So, at some point,
we've got to turn it around,
and we've got to start making a profit.
I'm sort of using
August 27th almost as, like, a test.
It's the final show of the summer.
And if that doesn't work,
if we put out the best thing that we have,
and we can't get a full house,
we gotta ask, what are we doing here?
[Al] Everything changes.
Everything dies. Everything has
a beginning, middle, and end.
At some point,
something's gonna come to an end,
and you've gotta be able
to adapt and change and move on,
especially in the wrestling business.
[inspirational music playing]
[Al] But I've spent 40 years
making a name for myself in this business,
and I'll be damned
if I'm gonna let anybody ruin it.
And the three men I admire most ♪
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost ♪
They caught the last train
For the coast ♪
The day the music died ♪
And they were singing ♪
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie ♪
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry ♪
And them good old boys
Were drinking whiskey and rye ♪
Singing
"This'll be the day that I die" ♪
"This'll be the day that I die" ♪
They were singing ♪
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie ♪
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry ♪
Them good old boys
Were drinking whiskey and rye ♪
Singing
"This'll be the day that I die" ♪