Episode 2: Cheap Heat
This episode starts off with Al Snow and a few of the wrestlers at his house watching WWE and giving their critiques on what they feel is missing from wrestling right now. They feel that there is a stark difference between the real, unscripted promos of the 90s and the heavily scripted and monitored promos and mic work of wrestlers now in the WWE.
Al agrees and feels that these younger wrestlers sell what they do and not why they do it.
He does agree that OVW has the same goal as WWE, which is to make the wrestlers into stars.
We cut to a segment that takes the viewers down memory lane on how Al Snow got his start in WWE. He made his debut with the company, in 1993, with a masked gimmick.
Then was paired off with Marty Jannety to create the new Midnight Rockers tag team that wasn’t successful.
Al admits that he had an attitude during his first run in WWE. He finally found his gimmick with a schizophrenic character that he created in 1998 during his stint in ECW that was a relatable and imaginable character that led him back to WWE. He stopped thinking about just the wrestling moves and made finding a good character that registered fans a priority.
Hollyhood Haley J is back in training mode and getting some tips on locking up in the ring from Dark Storm aka Eric. Her real-life boyfriend.
There are issues because of competition between the two. He’s worried that the early success that Haley J is getting, could possibly go to her head.
We get the treat of seeing Al Snow and his team, which includes Maria working on the stories for the weekly shows and that leads to the pay-per-views.
One match in particular, for the upcoming pay-per-view, is a Hair vs. Hair match with Haley J. She’s a trooper and is completely okay with getting her hair shaved.
Al Snow’s dilemma is that he has to promote this pay-per-view to make sure that they can get 500 purchases to break even. You can see the stress of achieving that goal weighing down on him.
We then get a historic recap into why TV and wrestling go hand in hand and why pay-per-views are so important to a wrestling company from a revenue standpoint.
OVW certainly doesn’t make money from ad revenue from their weekly shows, because they don’t get high ratings yet.
Matt, one of the co-owners of the OWV is pushing for more traveling shows because that is the one time that he actually makes a profit. So the summer is set to be a traveling carnival ride for all of the roster.
Three days before the pay-per-view, Haley J. and her mother Maria are cutting backstage promos that really help to show the intensity of their impending feud.
Al Snow is being hounded by the talent that wants to be on the PPV.
It is absolutely hilarious seeing how drained he is hearing every wrestler's idea for what their match should entail. And Al has to say no many times.
In the end, the co-owners Matt and Craig, are laying down the law and making it clear that if they don’t see a change in ticket sales over the summer, some of the staff will be let go. So the pressure is on.
We get to see the hard work and hours upon hours of filming that is put into a specialty match that will take place in hell for the upcoming PPV and requires a special location and a great deal of acting and props to make it perfect. This behind-the-scenes look gives you a glimpse into how hard these wrestlers and crew work to make these specialty matches happen.
You see Bryan, who works as a cameraman, announcer and graphic designer for OVW being told that he’s not doing enough to justify his salary. So now he’s putting in more hours and putting more pressure on himself.
This results in him losing that quality time with his family that he loves.
It’s crushing to see him call his son and have to cancel his plans because he’s working.
Bryan doesn’t care about being fired because he needs the money. He cares about OVW and what it represents.
The next scene shows Dark Storm aka Eric once again bringing up that Haley J has more merchandise and attention towards her, but he feels confident that he will sell a good amount of merchandise during the event.
Haley is backstage talking to Leila Grey about how some fans are leaving comments on social media saying that they are only watching the pay-per-view because of her.
Leila is excited to participate in this women’s hair vs. hair match and you can see the joy bubbling over for both ladies leading up to this match.
As the Pay-Per-View is set to go live, Al Snow is greatly disappointed with the turnout for the live audience and can’t understand why it is so hard to sell out this building.
Haley J. and Leila Grey’s match is one of the last matches of the pay-per-view and it gets gritty. Leila comes in as the women’s champion. There are no rules or countouts. Early on in the match, the ladies take it out of the ring and this leads to trash bins being used and all hell breaking loose.
The producers backstage are very pleased with this women's match.
In the end, Leila gets the win and Haley J of course, tries to leave the arena, but Maria makes sure that she follows the rules of this stipulations match. Leila grabs the scissors and hacks a huge chunk of Haley’s hair. To the crowds' satisfaction. This is another great showing for the women’s division.
Even though it was a good match, Haley J is seen confiding in her Mom that she is a bit disappointed that there weren’t more people in the crowd.
Maria feels the same way. It is very clear that OVW still has an uphill battle to climb.
This episode ends with Bryan describing what makes OVW special.
It’s not overproduced. It has depth, It makes you think and overall it is unique.
The question is, can this indie promotion stay on track to see the light at the end of the tunnel?
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