Heels season two ended with a dramatic cliffhanger, which we won’t reveal, but sadly, it does not appear that fans will get to find out the fate of Jack Spade and the Duffy Wrestling League. Variety reports that Starz is canceling three of its series following their second season, including Heels. The other two series are Run The World and Blindspotting. The Venery of Samantha Bird was also canceled, but that series was still in production for its first season, which will not be airing. The series’ production was halted when the WGA strike began.
Heels was created by Michael Waldron, and its debut episode aired on August 15, 2021. The first season revolved around Jack and Ace Space, played by Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig, respectively, two brothers looking to keep their family’s local pro wrestling promotion, the DWL, afloat. The first season also saw former WWE and AEW World Champion CM Punk debut his character Ricky Rabies, a journeyman pro wrestler who traveled with his family and used a variety of over-the-top gimmicks in his matches. Noticeably, Rabies has a drone wrapped in possum fur that spits blood in the eyes of his opponents.
The second season of the show had a delayed release as it sat waiting to hit the airwaves due to corporate restructuring when Lionsgate and Starz ended their partnership. In the second season, Punk’s wife, AJ Mendez, formally known as AJ Lee in WWE, joined the cast playing Elle Dorado. Similarly to Punk’s Rabies’ character, Dorado was not a regular for DWL and came in to put over another talent.
The cancellation of Heels comes less than a day after the WGA and AMPTP came to a tentative agreement to end the writers’ strike that has persisted for nearly five months. While the writers may be able to get back to work, penning episodes of future pro-wrestling-themed TV series, the actors in them are still unable to do the same. The SAG/AFTRA strike is still going on, and while it has, notable pro wrestling celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena have made their returns to WWE, which is non-union.