Stephen Amell on CM Punk Joining Heels Cast, Punk Possibly Signing With AEW

Stephen Amell broke the news back in January that former WWE Champion CM Punk would star in the upcoming pro wrestling dramatic series Heels. Amell appeared on Busted Open Radio this week to hype up the show’s upcoming premiere (Aug. 15) and talked about how Punk wound up being involved. He said (h/t Fightful), “Phil (Brooks) came, and it was a blessing. We had another actor, not a wrestler, set for the role of Ricky Rabies, but scheduling-wise it didn’t end up working out. All of a sudden, we got CM Punk on the show.

“I got to train with him a bit,” he added. “Phil was so great in and out of the ring that we ended up bringing him back for the finale. Ricky Rabies and Jack Spade shared some bonding moments, mostly with Phil on the toilet, but it still counts.”

The official synopsis for Heels reads, “Heels is about the men and women who chase their dreams in the world of small-town pro wrestling. Set in a close-knit Georgia community, it follows a family-owned wrestling promotion as two brothers and rivals — one of them played by Amell — war over their late father’s legacy. In the ring, somebody must play the good guy, and somebody must play their nemesis, the heel (Amell). But in the real world, those characters can be hard to live up to — or hard to leave behind.”

In the ring, Amell’s Jack Spade is the charismatic villain, or heel, of the Duffy Wrestling Association (DWA). In the real world, he’s its hard-working owner, a husband and father trying to make ends meet while fighting to realize his impossible dreams. He has the mind of an artist in the body of a warrior, and a Steve Jobs-ian need for perfection — and for control. He says he’ll do whatever it takes to build the DWA into an empire. Will he go so far as to risk his marriage, or his relationship with his brother?“

Amell was also asked about the recent rumors of Punk signing with AEW. He said, “I don’t want to betray stuff that I’ve talked about with Phil. I actually texted him when all this stuff broke like, ‘You coming back?’ He sent me back a photo of a cat shrugging. As a general rule, anything in the world of pro wrestling that is going to piss Vince McMahon off and get his competitive juices flowing, is probably good for business. The one thing I know for sure is that Phil can still go. He’s in great shape. I would love to see those guys in AEW or WWE. Phil vs. Triple H, you name it, it’d be great.”