Netflix yesterday revealed the official trailer for the upcoming docuseries, Wrestlers, centered on the Ohio Valley Wrestling of Louisville gym whose alumni include Brock Lesnar, The Miz, John Cena, Dave Bautista and Randy Orton. The 7-part series will premiere on September 13th and is directed by Emmy-Award winner Greg Whiteley (Cheer, Last Chance U).
Once a proud finishing school for aspiring pro wrestlers, the gym has since hit hard times. Acclaimed wrestler Al Snow clings to an old school wrestling philosophy with a heavy emphasis on storytelling, but in spite of the love of a few diehard fans, the gym struggles week to week to stay relevant enough to keep its doors open. Things have become so dire financially that Al has to sell a majority stake to a group of local businessmen including Matt Jones, the most popular radio personality in the state of Kentucky. Matt and the new ownership group have infused the struggling gym with much-needed cash but it still operates at a staggering loss. The new owners have given Al the summer to turn things around. Wrestlers chronicles the efforts Al and his band of aspiring wrestlers make as they struggle with their personal ambitions and each other while they attempt to come together to save this historic gym.
Netflix
“Before filming Wrestlers, our cinematographer had recently invested in a set of vintage Minolta Prime lenses from the early ’80s. We loved their cinematic look and figured the aesthetics of the Minolta would be appropriate for the garish acts inside the ring. But moving to these lenses made the job of our camera operators much more difficult. If they wanted a close-up, they had to physically approach the subject. Our fear was that the wrestlers might begin to edit themselves in more sensitive moments — but that’s not what happened. Ironically, filming this group of fake wrestlers is perhaps the most uncompromisingly real thing we’ve ever filmed. It was as if this little gym tucked away in Kentucky and the vintage Minolta lenses were trapped in the same era — working together to not be forgotten,” says director and executive producer Greg Whiteley.
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