Heels is returning for its sophomore installment. The Stephen Amell-led professional wrestling drama left off with the Duffy Wrestling League reaching its highest of highs while simultaneously hitting its lowest of lows. Jack Spade (Amell) was able to successfully sell out a full-size arena for the Georgia State Fair but fractured his relationship with brother Ace Spade (Alexander Ludwig) in the process. Jack and Ace’s dynamic personified the show’s namesake, as their babyface-heel dynamic inside the squared circle bled to their real-life brotherhood, leading to Ace occasionally labelling his brother as a heel outside of the ring.
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Wrestler speak like that tends to become everyday jargon for the people behind the over-the-top personas, and that has become the case for the Heels cast themselves. Speaking to ComicBook.com during the Heels Season 2 press junket, Amell joked that “pop” and “heat” have slipped into his lingo.
“Pop. Like, ‘I really popped when my wife brought out the mint chocolate chip ice cream,’” Amell joked. “‘How’re things with your wife right now?’ ‘It’s okay. I got a little heat.’”
Ludwig echoed Amell’s words, noting he uses “pop” fairly often.
“Honestly, he took the word right out of my mouth, It’s pop for me,” Ludwig said. “I’ll be like, ‘Oh, that got a big pop’ and I’ll be talking about a film I went to go screen or something.”
Within professional wrestling, “pop” is a term to describe when there is a big, positive fan reaction to something while “heat” refers to a negative reaction to a wrestler, either from the fans or backstage personnel.
“Most of the words I learned I can’t repeat on camera,” Trey Tucker, who plays Bobby Pin, joked. “And most of them came from Phil Brooks (CM Punk). No, I’m kidding. I think kayfabe was definitely one.”
Kayfabe is a complicated term, but it boils down to presenting a staged performance as authentic. A wrestler using his on-screen persona in an interview would be considered “kayfabe.”
“I’ll say heel,” Mary McCormack, who plays Willie Day, revealed. “I don’t think I say face very much or kayfabe. I don’t think I use a lot of wrestling terminology in my real life. I should.”
Heel is arguably the most mainstream wrestling term. It is the label for an in-ring bad guy. The greater sports world have often utilized it to describe when a popular star goes to a rival franchise, like Kevin Durant “turning heel” on the Oklahoma City Thunder when he signed with the Golden State Warriors.
Heels Season 2 premieres this Friday, July 28th on Starz.
Editor’s note: This interview was conducted prior to the SAG actors’ strike.
