INDIANAPOLIS — "Cheer," "Formula 1: Drive to Survive" and "Break Point" — Netflix has been honing in on giving behind-the-scenes looks at various sports and teams/players. Its next docuseries is an in-depth look into a wrestling organization.
"Wrestlers" follows Al Snow and the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) promotion in Louisville, Kentucky.
"It's about people chasing their dreams and their passions," said Snow, who currently runs OVW and used to compete in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
OVW was once the development program for WWE, but that relationship was severed in the late 2000s, with Snow describing the promotion as "the little engine that could."
Actors and famous wrestlers John Cena ("The Suicide Squad," "F9: The Fast Saga"), Dave Bautista ("Guardians of the Galaxy," "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery") and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin previously competed in OVW, and current OVW National Heavyweight champion Jessie Godderz — aka "Mr. Pectacular" — hopes to follow in their footsteps.
"Because of our relationship, I actually wanted to come back to OVW and take it to the next level," Godderz said of working with Snow. "It's a dream come true, sincerely, and I don't even think we've seen the ramifications or the ripple effect of how big it's going to be."
And wrestling isn't complete without its fun stage names.
"I needed to find one word that completely encapsulated me and my physique. We just took off the 's' in 'spectacular,' and bam, 'Mr. Pectacular' was born," Godderz said.
"Snow was a childhood nickname with my friends. They would call me 'snowman,' 'snowball,' 'Snow White,' and when I became a wrestler, it was just 'Al Snow,'" said Snow, who was known to wrestle with a plastic mannequin head. "I never imagined it would take off to the level it did — thank goodness it did."
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Despite wrestling having its dedicated following, there are many misconceptions about the sport.
"There's nothing in wrestling that's fake — just the outcome is the only thing that's predetermined. Everything else is physically quite real, and a lot of wrestlers suffer a lot of injuries," Snow said. "They are probably some of the most exceptional athletes in sports."
All seven episodes of "Wrestlers" are now streaming on Netflix.