Stephen Amell has a new show, and AEW sounds pretty excited

Arrow, the long-running CW series based on DC Comics’ Green Arrow, is almost over. The eighth and final season begins airing this October, leaving star Stephen Amell looking for his next project.

Over the course of eight seasons (and several crossovers with the “Arrowverse” shows its popularity helped spawn), Amell met Cody Rhodes when he started guest starring on Arrow. The Canadian actor took his wrestling fandom to the next level. Amell now has a 2 - 1 record in pro matches, coming out on the winning side of tag matches SummerSlam in 2015 & ROH Survival of the Fittest in 2017, and losing to Christopher Daniels in singles action at last summer’s All In.

Which is why it’s not a shock that the new gig Amell just signed up for is a drama set in the world of pro wrestling.

The hero who protected Star City will now run an independent wrestling promotion while headlining as its main villain on Starz’ Heels. With Amell signed on, the cable network approved the show for eight episodes. In its article on the show, Deadline described it thusly:

“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?”

The show is written by Michael Waldon, who’s worked on Dan Harmon shows like Community & Rick and Morty, and who will be writing the MCU series Loki for Disney+. Veteran actor and producer Mike O’Malley is attached as the showrunner.

Once the news was out, Amell quickly hit up his buddy Cody, and the All Elite Wrestling Executive Vice-President is available to lend a hand...

His company is also joining in... just for signal boosting purposes so far, but possibly more down the road?

Stay tuned.