Michael Waldron And Mike O’Malley Excited To Bring The ‘Fun And The Lunacy’ Of Wrestling To ‘Heels’
The Heels series premiere aired on Sunday, and the reviews have been extremely positive for the new STARZ series thus far. Fans are excited to see what happens next on the Stephen Amell-led series, and it looks like viewers can expect some more amusing moments in the weeks to come.
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard recently sat down with Michael Waldron and Mike O’Malley, the team behind Heels, to discuss the show. Waldron was asked about his love for including animals in his shows, including an alligator in the Disney+ series Loki and the “critters” that are associated with CM Punk‘s character Ricky Rabies on the show. He joked that it’s all about the merch, but then he and O’Malley explained how using non-human characters helps drive their new show.
“Well, like any good wrestling promoter, I’m just all about the merch,” Michael Waldron joked. “That any kind of animal just equates to merch. I don’t know what that is. Maybe I’m just a little bit of a redneck. I love gators and armadillos and possums and that stuff, and I just think there’s something funny about seeing those critters show up. I don’t know if people like it.”
O’Malley also added that he believes CM Punk‘s “Ricky Rabies” helps promote the wackiness of professional wrestling, and that will be on display when Punk’s character debuts in episode three.
“Well, I think one of the things that Michael wanted to show in this world was the fun and the lunacy of wrestling,” Mike O’Malley said. “It’s all the drama, right? It’s just like good guy [versus] bad guy, but then there was just this idea of having Ricky Rabies and the goofiness of it, and the goofiness of his valet and the goofiness of his family being involved in it. There’s a lot of people who go out to these independent wrestling promotions; they just want to laugh, right? They love it when [a wrestler] takes their beer and drinks it. It’s that inner personal connection, and I think that’s—without having a spoiler alert of what Ricky Rabies brings to the event—that sort of laughter and joy was something we wanted to put in the show too.”
You can catch new episodes of Heels every Sunday on STARZ and the STARZ app.
Did you check out the season premiere of Heels? If so, what did you think? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use this transcription, credit WrestleZone and link back to this post.
.@michaelwaldron spoke about the inspiration behind characters like #AlligatorLoki and @CMPunk's Ricky Rabies. @TheMikeOMalley says it's cool exploring “the fun and the lunacy” of wrestling, and you get to see that interesting dynamic between fan and wrestler on #HeelsSTARZ pic.twitter.com/rbhuREA0LR
— WrestleZone (@WRESTLEZONEcom) August 17, 2021
If you use this transcription, credit WrestleZone and link back to this post.