Showtime - A New Chapter
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast:
Barry Keoghan .... Ben Carr
Joe Manganiello .... Ricky Santana
Dacre Montgomery .... Thunderjack Haynes
Nick Offerman .... Bill Gundy
Cooper Andrews .... Loto the Evil Islander
Zoey Deutch .... Sweet Tea
Clayne Crawford .... Brad "The Superior" Wolfe
Tom Hopper .... Tom Jackson
Alan Ritchson .... Don Jackson
Paul Rust .... "Loudmouth" Dicky Sanders
Anna Gunn .... Diane Brown
Toby Huss .... Paul Martin

Plot: Diane Brown (Anna Gunn) puts the phone following her game-changing call with fellow promoter Paul Martin. She takes a deep breath and peeks out in the locker room. The wrestlers are still shocked by Santana’s departure and unsure how to react after Loto’s (Cooper Andrews) title win. She sees his manager “Loudmouth” Dicky Ray (Paul Rust) all smiles and taking in all the praise and applauses. She leaves her office and instantly gets the locker room attention. Brad Wolfe (Clayne Crawford) asks her what’s going on with TCW since Santana left and if she knew about it. Diane says she didn’t and gives a mean look to Dicky. She says she doesn’t know yet and perhaps she’ll know more tomorrow, she needs to process this. As she heads back to her office, she bites her lips, as she can’t believe she folded under the pressure and couldn’t tell the truth to her roster. Loto asks everyone to come with him to have a few drinks for Ricky. They probably despise him by now, but he was a loyal and respected member of this locker room and it would be a fitting end for his TCW career. The response is mixed, but everyone eventually agrees to go.

Ben Carr (Barry Keoghan) sits with veteran Bill Gundy (Nick Offerman) and asks him what Santana’s departure means for TCW and if he should try to find work elsewhere. Bill says he has been here a long time and this company has seen some dark times, but that was under the late Roy Browne’s leadership. The only thing worrying him is Diane. It’s a tough industry for women and it remains to be seen if she’s tough enough to dig TCW out of its hole. The Jackson brothers, Tom (Tom Hopper) and Don (Alan Ritchson) discuss with Wolfe about what’s next for them. While the Jacksons are sad to see Ricky go, Brad reminds them that TCW lost its figurehead and he can take that spot and they could climb in the ranks too. They say that’s a real possibility and it will be exciting to see what will happen. Thunderjack Haynes (Dacre Montgomery) and Sweet Tea (Zoey Deutch) debate whether they should go to Santana’s goodbye party or head home to celebrate his big win. Thunderjack desperately wants to go home as he thinks they’ll have more fun there, but Sweet Tea, who doesn’t have sex on mind, suggests to go to the bar with everyone else and perhaps he could get Santana’s blessing, allowing him to be his true successor. Avid of success, he accepts.

Everyone is at the bar, even Loto who doesn’t drink and Bill Gundy despite his bad experiences. Ricky (Joe Manganiello) tries to explain his decision, saying he’s sorry that he’s leaving them, but he saw the opportunity and he took it. He wants to be the best wrestler in the world and he’s not getting any younger. There’s no better way to do it than to go on the grandest stage of them all and that’s where he’s going. He jokes, saying he’ll think of them when he wins the APW Championship. Joking aside, he praises the incredible wrestlers in the locker rooms and recalls the matches he had with everyone of them, saying everyone made him better and helped him to achieve his dream. He’s leaving tomorrow and he doesn’t regret his decision. Dicky asks Ricky what does his wife think about the move and the look on Ricky’s face changes. He ends his speech abruptly and stays silent for a while.

As the get together is wrapping up, Ricky pulls Ben aside and congratulates him on his performance on the big stage. He tells him he sees big things in him. Looking on from afar, Thunderjack is seething in anger as he had been waiting for this moment all night. He complains to Tea, who tells him that at least the crowd thought he was the star. She looks affectionately from afar at Ben, who is clearly more humble than Thunderjack. Haynes says he is going grab that top spot, whether anyone else likes it or not. Wolfe overhears this and rolls his eyes.

24 Hours Later

Ricky's plane lands at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. He leaves first class to find Shirley (Sofia Black-D'Elia) seated further back in the plane. They leave the airport and take in the big city, the first time for the both of them. He says he better get to his meeting with Buck Gordon at the APW offices. She says she needs to start getting new sources for her newsletter so she'll be on her way as well. They kiss and part ways.

Ricky meets with Buck Gordon (Max Minghella), the hot-shot owner of APW. Buck gives his usual spiel about the company when welcoming new talent, talking about how his grandfather founded the company in the 30s and how it has been handed down to him. He's built it into the tri-state's most premiere wrestling promotion and America's as well. And now Ricky is on board. He tells him he has big plans in store for Santana. Ricky smiles and they shake hands.

Back in Houston, Diane tells the talent to meet at the arena early as she's got something big to tell them. At the meeting, everyone sits around nervously. Diane tells them not to be, these are exciting times (although her delivery isn't fully convincing).Before she can continue, the door slings open and Paul Martin (Toby Huss) enters. A lot of people are confused, while Ben knows his wrestling industry and whispers to the himself that that is Paul Martin, head of the Martin Wrestling Association out of Georgia. He apologizes for being late and he starts to make the announcement but she says that she wants to be the one who tells her roster. She announces that TCW has joined into an alliance with MWA and some other companies to fight back against the rising dominance of APW. The alliance will have one champion who will travel from territory to territory and to defend the belt. As such, the MWA's Heavyweight Champion will be arriving tomorrow along to join TCW and fight Loto in a unification match. Martin, a charismatic fella, makes a toast to bright days ahead. Meanwhile, everyone in the locker room are still unsure how to process this news. As they leave, Paul chides Diane for continuing to talk over him and tells him that that is not going to work in their new partnership.

 Showtime - The Wrath of Khan
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast:
Barry Keoghan .... Ben Carr
Dacre Montgomery .... Thunderjack Haynes
Nick Offerman .... Bill Gundy
Cooper Andrews .... Loto the Evil Islander
Zoey Deutch .... Sweet Tea
Clayne Crawford .... Brad "The Superior" Wolfe
Tom Hopper .... Tom Jackson
Alan Ritchson .... Don Jackson
Paul Rust .... "Loudmouth" Dicky Sanders
Anna Gunn .... Diane Brown
Toby Huss .... Paul Martin
O'Shea Jackson Jr. .... Cain Khan
Samara Weaving .... Honey Moon

Plot: In a doctor's office, Bill Gundy (Nick Offerman) sits staring at a blank wall. The doctor walks in and tells him the update on his scans. They have a frank discussion about his body being pretty banged up and he is advised to take an extended period off to heal or just to retire straight up. The doctor apologizes, knowing Bill doesn't want to hear this. He tells the doc not to worry about it. The doctor leaves and Bill sits in loneliness.

The show cuts to a newcomer (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), built like a Mack Truck and a certain air of confidence about him. He flirts with the women as he leaves the airport, a big gold belt strapped around his waist.

At the TCW show, Dicky (Paul Rust), Loto (Cooper Andrews), the Bruiser Brothers (Tom Hopper and Alan Ritchson) and Brad Wolfe (Clayne Crawford) debate and brainstorm who they think will be arriving. They then wonder if that means Loto will be leaving TCW if he wins. Thunderjack Haynes (Dacre Montgomery) is above this type of gossip as he prepares in isolation for his match outside of the arena. This leaves Ben Carr (Barry Keoghan) sitting alone, looking concerned. Sweet Tea (Zoey Deutch) approaches him and asks what's up. He says that he is concerned that Bill hasn't shown up yet and is worried about his mentor's injury. She tells him he'll be fine. Bill is like the dad of the locker room and dads are always there for you. Ben makes a face that begs to differ. She asks him who he thinks it will be showing up and he says he knows one of them because he knows who the MWA Heavyweight Champion is and some people will not be happy. She is confused and asks what he means by this before Paul Martin (Toby Huss) and Diane Brown (Anna Gunn) enter the locker room. Brad casts a suspicious eye on them, concerned to see Diane around another man. Paul says that his champion has arrived as Cain Kahn (whom we saw earlier) strides into the locker room. Brad and the Bruisers subtly scoff as Loto whispers to Dicky "I wonder if they know that TCW has never had a black wrestler before". Dicky points out that Loto is Samoan and Loto says they're not the same thing. Diane says that Kahn has been put on the card for later tonight.

Meanwhile, as Thunderjack trains, he is approached by a gorgeous scantily-clad blonde (Samara Weaving) who asks if he is Thunderjack Haynes. Before seeing her, he says he doesn't have time for fans as he is training. When he turns around, he changes his tune and says that yes it is. She says she's not a fan, which slightly offends him. She laughs and says that's because she's never seen him before. No, she's not a fan, she's a valet. From MWA. Honey Moon is the name. Thunderjack cracks a smile and says he'll show her to the arena.


Cain Khan introduces himself to the TCW locker room. He lists his accolades with pride and he reminds everyone that he played college football, so they better not mess with him, because he’s physical beast. He says that as long as they stay on his good side, they’ll be good. Thunderjack enters the locker room with an arm around Honey Moon’s shoulder. Cain Khan notices him and he yells at Thunderjack to get his hands off her. He introduces everyone to Honey Moon and he adds that you can’t touch her, you can’t hurt her and you can’t flirt with her, because she’s his valet and no one else’s. Brad whispers to the Jacksons that he doesn’t like him already. Diane interrupts him and she says they have a show to prepare for so everyone better get ready. As Paul and her get back to her office, he stares at her for interrupting Cain.


Brad, Tom and Don approach Cain and they introduce themselves as the leaders of this locker room. He says it’s a good thing, because the competition doesn’t seem to stiff. Things are about to change here and if they’re the ones standing in his way, then his job is going to be way easier than he thought it would. He tells Brad to stay out of his way, they’re not in the same league. Paul interrupts them. He tells Cain that he’s facing the Jackson brothers tonight in an handicap match and Cain will dominate the bout. They need to establish his dominance. Furious, Brad runs into Diane’s office and he asks her if she agrees with what Paul came up with. She says she doesn’t have the time to caress his ego and change Paul’s mind. She has her hands full with him already. He asks her if they have a plan for him tonight and she says they don’t. Brad leaves the locker room and slams the door on his way out.

The TCW show is ongoing with a rematch between Thunderjack Haynes and Ben Carr. The crowd is demanding more from the wrestlers as it feels like they are just turning around in the ring. Ben decided to give Thunderjack the reigns to see what he’s truly capable of. He doesn’t know what to do, having no in-ring psychology, so Ben taunts him. It enrages Thunderjack who starts to bully him in the ring and stiffs him a couple of times. Ben knows he awakened the beast in Thuderjack, but he doesn’t want to get injured, so he puts Thunderjack in technical submission holds. Backstage, Paul says he’s impressed by Ben so far. In the end, Thunderjack wins, as expected.

They walk back to the locker room, and as the Jackson brothers make their way to the ring, Tunderjack is pissed at Ben for making him look like a fool out there. Sweet Tea calms him down, saying he brought this on himself and Ben was just defending himself. Ben mouths her thank you and finds a monitor to watch Cain Khan’s debut.

Cain makes his way to the ring with Honey Moon. The crowd is unsure how to react at first and one man yells a racial insult at Cain from the crowd and it’s enough to kickstart a wave of racial slurs directed towards Cain. It pisses him off and Honey Moon tries to calm him down, to no avail. The match starts and you can see that Cain knows his way around a ring. He tries to forget the hostile crowd reaction, but it’s way too loud. The Jacksons’ hearts aren’t in it and they job to Cain quickly. The crowd is upset the main event was so short and that Cain won. They throw trash in the ring as Cain yells at the crowd that they haven’t seen the last of him.

 Showtime - Two Bosses
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast:
Barry Keoghan .... Ben Carr
Dacre Montgomery .... Thunderjack Haynes
Nick Offerman .... Bill Gundy
Cooper Andrews .... Loto the Evil Islander
Zoey Deutch .... Sweet Tea
Clayne Crawford .... Brad "The Superior" Wolfe
Tom Hopper .... Tom Jackson
Alan Ritchson .... Don Jackson
Paul Rust .... "Loudmouth" Dicky Sanders
Anna Gunn .... Diane Brown
Toby Huss .... Paul Martin
O'Shea Jackson Jr. .... Cain Khan
Samara Weaving .... Honey Moon
Joe Manganiello .... Ricky Santana


Plot: Ben Carr (Barry Keoghan) is watching old wrestling tapes by himself in the locker room when he hears someone entering. Bill Gundy (Nick Offerman), without even seeing him knows that Ben is the one still in there and he asks him how it went tonight. Ben says it surely was chaotic, but it went great for him. Bill points out a visible bruise on Ben’s thigh and he asks him if he’s sure. He says he defended himself the best he could and Bill suggests they watch that instead of decades-old tapes. They share a laugh as they watch Ben embarrass Thunderjack with submission holds. After the match is over, Bill turns the television off and he tells Ben he has something to tell him, but he must not tell anyone. Ben is confused, but accepts.

Brad Wolfe (Clayne Crawford) paces around his hotel room, venting his frustration about the company’s situation to Diane (Anna Gunn) and she says there’s nothing she can do about it, as of right now. They need Paul’s support to keep going, because whether they like it or not, losing Ricky has really hurt TCW. Brad sits on the bed and he asks Diane if he’s still her best wrestler and she says he is. As they get ready to leave and go back to the arena, Brad asks her to win the TCW title before Cain does. She saw and heard the reaction he got out there, it can’t be good for business. She disagrees and she says he had one of the loudest reactions she has seen and it can be really good their business. They are now in a car and he says she doesn’t seem to understand his point of view. They are both hated by the crowd and he wouldn’t want Cain to take his place. They are now in the parking lot and Diane forces him out of the car before she has a chance to answer.

Loto (Cooper Andrews) and Dicky (Paul Rust) are already there and they try and get close with Thunderjack Haynes (Dacre Montgomery) and Sweet Tea (Zoey Deutch). Loto offers some advice to Thunderjack about how to control his anger in the ring, while Dicky tries to give Sweet Tea manager tricks, but he grosses her out and leaves. She sees Ben, by himself, nursing the bruise Thunderjack gave him. Honey Moon (Samara Weaving), on her end, is waiting for Cain Khan (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) to leave Paul Martin’s (Toby Huss) office, as they are having a private, but heated conversation, most possibly about what happened at the last show. After Loto leaves Thunderjack, she sits close to him and Sweet Tea goes over to Ben, as Thunderjack flirts with Honey Moon. She asks him if he’s alright and he says he will be. She apologizes for Thunderjack’s behaviour, but she compliments him on his in-ring skill. He thanks her and blushes. Brad meets with the Jackson brothers (Tom Hopper and Alan Ritchson) in the parking lot and he says they need to do something about Cain. They all agree to go speak with Diane. They won’t allow someone else to steal their thunder.

As Diane converses with Paul in their office, Ben enters the office. With Ben clearly there to talk to Diane, Paul sees himself out. Ben tells her that he has a storyline request for tonight's show. With hesitation, he says that he thinks they should return Bill tonight but that Bill will turn heel on Ben to set up a heated match at next week's big pay-per-view event, Southern Showdown. Diane turns this down immediately and says that Bill and Ben work too well as a team and that she doesn't think the crowd would boo Bill. Ben is adamant that the change should happen but she puts her foot down.

In the locker room, Thunderjack and Honey Moon are nowhere to be found so Tea approaches Cain. She asks him what he thinks about those other two and he says he doesn't mind. This surprises Tea. She says "aren't you two dating?". He says no, that's all a show. Character stuff. There's not much that makes the white crowds more angry than seeing a pretty white woman with a black man. On that topic, Tea asks him if he is alright after the verbal abuse he experienced at his first Texas show. He shrugs it off and says he's used to it. He then starts to open, showing a more tender side than the swagger he has been projecting so far. He says that after a while it does get tiring. He feels like he is doing his job well because he consistently gets the loudest crowd reactions. But at the same time, he wonders if it is because of his acting skills or his skin color. She tells him that she thinks he can the work the crowd pretty well, from what she's seen so far. He thanks her for the compliment. Thunderjack and Honey Moon saunter in, laughing about a previous conversation.

Brad and his boys have recruited Loto to join them in their demand that the unified title stay on Loto (and thus with TCW). They storm Diane's office, ready to exert their will, but are surprised to find that she is not there and it is Paul instead. Paul asks if he can help them and they aren't sure what to say. Loto asks what the current plans are for Southern Showdown main event, the match between Loto and Cain. Paul cracks a smile and says they haven't decided yet. This frustrates the wrestlers, who wanted to hear that Loto would win. They want to say more but then decide it is best to leave and re-formulate their plan.

Meanwhile, Ben sees them leave the office and complain about Paul. It is as if a lightbulb pops up above his head. He makes his way back to the office and Paul tells him that Diane isn't here this time. Ben says that's OK, it's Paul he wants to talk to.

Cut to the ring, where we see Ben being attacked by the Bruiser Brothers 2-on-1. To the crowd's surprise, Bill Gundy makes his return to a huge pop. He fends off the Bruiser Brothers and, afterwards, offers Ben a hand. The crowd is ready for them to take on the Bruiser Brothers and the referee rings the bell. However, when Ben goes to tag in Bill, Bill pulls his hand away and says that he is not fully healed (even though he looked fine when he made the save). He jumps off the apron and walks to the back, to mild boos by a confused audience. Ben is left to fight in a handicap match against the brothers, which he promptly loses. In the back, Diane looks furious at Bill's actions. She looks to Paul, fuming. He shrugs his shoulders.

Backstage, Bill hands Ben a few more tapes, without saying a word, his usual homework assignment. At his apartment, Ben looks through the various tapes, from wrestling promotions new old, from Europe to Japan. He finally decides on which one to watch: last week's APW show from Madison Square Garden. He puts the tape into the VCR.

Cut to the Madison Square Garden locker room, where we see various wrestlers and valets. But the camera comes to focus on one familiar face in particular: Ricky Santana (Joe Mangianello).

 Showtime - The Garden
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast:
Joe Manganiello .... Ricky Santana
Sofia Black-D'Elia .... Shirley
Max Minghella .... Buck Gordon
Channing Tatum .... "The Diamond" Ken Simon
Rachael Harris .... Gwen Szymanski
Nick Frost .... Happy Gallagher
Dalip Singh .... Mighty Shiva
Lake Bell .... Nadine
Jackson Robert Scott .... Kyle
Zackary Arthur .... Justin

Plot: Ricky Santana (Joe Manganiello) runs around the arena, desperate to find his boss. He has a fake moustache on and he’s dressed in his formal attire. He’s given looks around the corridors, as he asks around for Buck Gordon. Everyone tells him he’s unavailable, but he keeps looking. He finally sees Buck (Max Minghella) in a room and he enters. Gordon tells him he still has the mustache on and Ricky tears it off in anger. He says he told him it wouldn’t work and Buck, indifferent, says it worked fine. They escort Ricky out of the room and he storms out of the arena out of anger.

Nadine (Lake Bell), Ricky Santana’s ex-wife, answers the phone and Ricky is on the line. He’s standing outside the arena, he just wrestled his first show for APW. She’s cold towards him, but Santana asks him if the kids watched him. She says they did and they invited their friends over for it. He asks him if he can speak to them and she doesn’t answer. He asks her if they at least enjoyed it and she hangs the phone up. Ricky hits his head against the wall out of anger and sadness. He’s interrupted by a reporter, Gwen Szymanski (Rachael Harris) and she asks if he’s willing to speak to her now. He lashes out at her, saying he already told her that he wouldn’t and he leaves.

When he gets back home to Shirley (Sofia Black-D’Elia), he complains that he told his boss that it wouldn’t work and he made a fool of himself. She says it wasn’t that bad. They are interrupted by another phone call. It’s Ricky’s sons, who hid from their mother and they called their father. Kyle (Jackson Robert Scott) and Justin (Zackary Arthur) say that although he lost, they are proud of him and they are sure he will win the next time. He tells them he loves them with all his heart and they tell him the same. Nadine picks up the phone and hangs up when she realises who they are talking to. Ricky was moved to tears by his sons’ call and he tells Shirley that he will forever disappoint them. He’s jobber and nothing else. He misses them dearly. She hugs him and says it’s going to be alright.

Earlier today, Ricky arrives at the arena for his first ever match with APW. He carpooled with Happy Gallagher (Nick Frost), a happy-go-lucky loudmouth and perennial jobber for the company. He’s proud to show Ricky his latest attire. Ricky looks confused. He asks Happy if he really wants to compete as a mailman and he’s sure, saying kids will have a laugh and people will laugh at him, but at least he’ll be entertaining. Ricky’s glad that Happy enjoys his job despite always losing and Happy says he doesn’t do it for glory and fame, he does it to entertain and to put smiles on the kids’ face. Ricky says it’s honorable, but he’s in it for the glory, especially at his age. He will work his way to the top here. Happy wishes him luck with that, their stars will be hard to replace and the bottom card is basically a purgatory for everyone, except for him, who enjoys being in this position. They enter the arena and Ricky looks for Buck to talk about his gimmick, he has good ideas that he wants to pitch to him.

Ricky meets face to face with Buck Gordon and he shakes his hand confidently. Ricky is anxious to ask him who he will face in his first match, as he's ready to shock the world and make a splash in APW. Buck smiles at his ambition and he tells Ricky that he will be billed as "the best thing the independent scene has to offer". Ricky thanks him for the compliments, but he also notes that it's true. Buck asks him if he has his gear with him and when Ricky says he does, he asks him to throw it all away, as they have brand new gear for him. He unveils a mariachi costume to Ricky, complete with the sombrero and the guitar. Ricky is perplexed and asks if it's a joke, but Gordon is serious. He tells Ricky that he will come out as a mariachi. He's Hispanic, so it won't be racist. They needed a good gimmick for someone working in the undercard other than Happy and Ricky fits the bill perfectly. Ricky is furious because Buck promised him the moon and Buck says he never did. Ricky reminds him about his salary, but Gordon laughs it off. He gave him an undercard salary, but of course it's a lot for him. Gordon doesn't play by the indies rule and Ricky has no input on his character. Gordon didn't build his company by listening to complaints. He will face Mighty Shiva tonight and he will lose. That's a final decision and he better accept it. Ricky says it will never work, but Gordon simply doesn't care.

In the locker room, things feel out of place for Ricky as he is used to be the big man on campus. This is clearly not the case here, especially when APW's top star enters: "The Diamond" Ken Simon (Channing Tatum). Simon is everything that Santana used to be: charming, creative control, the loudest voice in the room. Simon struts with his cronies, giving Santana Brad Wolfe vibes and has him becoming self-aware about his own pompousness. Simon introduces Ricky to APW and tells him that he has a task on this day of his initiation: he must run a complete rotation around the concourse of the arena, Madison Square Garden. Ricky asks what's the catch. Another wrestler tells him he has to do it in the nude. While Ricky's not ashamed of his body, he is still firmly against this. Simon insists that all wrestlers here had to do it on their first day. While Ricky thinks his status should abstain him from hazing, he resigns to doing it so he doesn't make a bad impression on his first day.

Using his sombrero to cover his nether regions, Ricky streaks around the concourse of the arena before the fans have arrived - awkwardly waving to concessions workers as he does. He passes Buck's office and tries to scurry past without being seen. However, he hears his name come from the office so he backtracks and stands next to the door to listen in. Buck is joking to someone about how he gave Ricky the mariachi gimmick to piss him off since he's a Mexican. They laugh about how he's going to hate it. The conversation moves to a different topic and Ricky tries to sneak away but Buck spots the tip of the sombrero from the door frame. He encounters Ricky in the concourse and asks what the hell he is doing dressed like that. Ricky isn't sure what to say so he just waves goodbye and runs off back to the locker room.

In his debut match, Ricky is fed to the towering 7-foot Mighty Shiva (Dalip Singh). Not only is Ricky humiliated by his gimmick and not being allowed to show his skill in the ring, but he also starts to hear racist jeers from the crowd (something he never heard in Texas). Shiva is not a good wrestler at all so the match is dreadful.

The next day, Ricky is driving to the arena with Happy and venting about the day before. He asks how Happy's streaking went on his first day and Happy doesn't know what he's talking about. Ricky soon realizes that he was set up and the only one who was hazed that way. He is seething in anger. After he parks, Happy walks into the arena but Ricky hears some strange noises and stops to follow them. He finds a storage room where it is clear that it is kissing that he hears. The kissing stops as a voice says he hears footsteps. Ricky goes to hide and sees Ken Simon emerge from the room and says that the coast is clear. He straightens up his shirt and heads leaves. Instead of a female groupie, it is a handsome man who follows Simon out of the room. Ricky's eyes light up.

He heads to a payphone and calls Shirley. He asks her if she is working on her newsletter and she confirms. He tells her he might have some good dirt for her.

 Showtime - Southern Showdown
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast:
Barry Keoghan .... Ben Carr
Dacre Montgomery .... Thunderjack Haynes
Nick Offerman .... Bill Gundy
Cooper Andrews .... Loto the Evil Islander
Zoey Deutch .... Sweet Tea
Clayne Crawford .... Brad "The Superior" Wolfe
Tom Hopper .... Tom Jackson
Alan Ritchson .... Don Jackson
Paul Rust .... "Loudmouth" Dicky Sanders
Anna Gunn .... Diane Brown
Toby Huss .... Paul Martin
O'Shea Jackson Jr. .... Cain Khan
Samara Weaving .... Honey Moon

Plot: The wrestlers arrive of TCW arrive in Dallas for Southern Showdown, their first big event since joining with Paul Martin (Toby Huss) and his alliance. Loto (Cooper Andrews) and Dicky (Paul Rust) go out for a drink before his big title fight tonight against Cain Kahn (O'Shea Jackson Jr.). Dicky asks why they aren't at the arena like everybody else. Loto raises his glass and says he fancies a drink over nerves.

We cut to the nervous faces of TCW's wrestlers in the locker room, all looking at the same thing: the office of Paul and Diane (Anna Gunn). A meeting is underway to determine tonight's results, which has left the wrestlers anxious. Brad Wolfe (Clayne Crawford) and Don (Alan Ritchson) and Tom Jackson (Tom Hopper) look ready to be angry. Despite being directly involved in the result, Cain is rather nonchalant, likely because he has faith in Paul to make the right decision. Honey Moon (Samara Weaving) sits next to him but is mainly preoccupied with locking eyes with Thunderjack Haynes (Dacre Montgomery). Sweet Tea (Zoey Deutch), at Thunderjack's side, obviously notices this but tries to ignore it. Voices are raised from within the office, which piques the interest of the wrestlers.

Paul emerges from the office and the wrestlers are eager to hear what he has to say. He hands them the match-card, revealing that Loto is set to retain his title tonight. Wolfe and gang let out a big sigh of relief while Cain still seems unbothered. Thunderjack gets up to leave and eyes to Honey Moon to follow him out and she does. Brad rushes into the office to thank Diane but she is nearly in tears. Before either can even say anything, Bill Gundy (Nick Offerman) enters the office and tells Brad to leave. Brad tries to protest but Bill's demeanor is nothing to mess with and he sees himself out. Bill is blunt with Diane about why he is here. He's beat up. His knees are beat up. His lower back is in pain. His hand injury still hasn't fully healed. And he's gotten as high as he ever will on the card here. He's almost 45 and is eager to try something different before he retires. So tonight's match against Ben will be his last in the United States because he is heading to Japan to ride out his twilight years as a wrestler. Diane, getting annoyed by people abruptly leaving her company, tries to convince him to reconsider but it is clear he made up his mind. He said he didn't want to totally blindside her so that is why he's telling her upfront. He wishes that Ben didn't have to go around her back to get the angle done but he knows that giving Ben the rub on the way out is the way to go, and Paul was the one willing to do it. She asks if anyone else knows and he says just Ben. He doesn't want this to be about him so he doesn't want a big exit. He just wants to go quietly into the night. Knowing that Bill is well-respected, she accepts this request and says that she wishes him the best.

Loto and Dicky are the last to arrive at the arena. Before they can be given the card, Paul pulls the two of them aside to have a talk. Outside, Thunderjack is flirting with Honey Moon. He complains to her about how Tea never puts out and how he'd always like a little "good luck" something before big shows like this. Moon playfully turns him down, saying that she would only do something like that in the state of Georgia. He is frustrated by her teasing but still determined.

When Loto and Dicky enter the locker room, they are greeted by Brad, Don and Tom, saying they will do TCW proud by keeping the title where it belongs. Loto is evasive and Dicky uses his quick wit to change the subject. He notices on the match card that they are all scheduled to face jobbers so that should boost their egos and they will too, make TCW proud. The show is about to start and Sweet Tea is asking around if anyone has seen Thunderjack. Ben says he saw him head outside with Honey Moon and she thanks him. On her way out, Honey Moon comes back inside and they stare at each other. She takes Thunderjack by the hand and they head out as they are the first match scheduled on the card.

In a quick montage, Thunderjack, Brad Wolfe and the Jackson Brothers all win their match against TCW opponents in quick fashion, pumping up the crowd and boosting their egos in the process. Back in the locker room, Brad taunts Cain Khan, saying TCW is better than the MWA and Cain keeps his cool. He simply smiles. The next match on the card is Ben Carr and Bill Gundy vs the famed ???. Everyone wonders who they may be facing. In the corner of the locker room, Bill asks Ben if the kid is ready to do this and Ben nods. They head out to make their entrance together one last time. Once they get into the ring, Ben builds the anticipation and Bill takes a microphone, asking out loud who they may be facing tonight. He stands next to Ben and he hits him with his famed patented piledriver. He says Ben will face him tonight and the crowd is shocked and so is the locker room. They work a long, but technical match, much different from everything else they’ve seen from TCW. Ben locks Bill in a sharpshooter, targeting his knee and lower back, as he did during the entire bout and Bill finally taps out. Ben drops to the ground and whispers a thank you to Ben as the crowd goes nuts. Ben leaves the ring, leaving Bill to wander in the ring, looking around, before he heads back to the locker room. Everyone congratulates them for their spectacular match, but Bill gives all credit to Ben. He shakes hands with him one last time and leaves the locker room, without saying anything. He always was a man of few words.


Everyone quickly forgets about their match to concentrate on the next one as Loto is out with Dicky to face Cain Khan accompanied by Honey Moon in an unification match. They already know the results, but they are looking forward to see these two heavyweights battle it out. Loto is visibly nervous, uncharacteristic for the big Samoan, who’s used to these big matches. The crowd is once again hostile to Cain Khan, but he uses it to its advantage, drawing incredible heat. The match is near the end as Loto is getting ready to hit his finisher when Paul Martin makes his way to the ring. Loto his his finisher and as the referee starts the count, Paul drags him out of the ring. He gives Honey Moon some brass knuckles and she gives them to Cain who uses them on Loto. Dicky tries to interfere, but he’s knocked out by Cain. He covers Loto and Paul makes the count. Cain celebrates his title win and he symbolicaly throws the TCW championship in a trash can and lits it on fire, standing alongside Honey Moon and Paul Martin. The crowd is upset and they throw things at them, but they all stand smiling.

 Showtime - Treason
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast:
Barry Keoghan .... Ben Carr
Dacre Montgomery .... Thunderjack Haynes
Cooper Andrews .... Loto the Evil Islander
Zoey Deutch .... Sweet Tea
Clayne Crawford .... Brad "The Superior" Wolfe
Tom Hopper .... Tom Jackson
Alan Ritchson .... Don Jackson
Paul Rust .... "Loudmouth" Dicky Sanders
Anna Gunn .... Diane Brown
Toby Huss .... Paul Martin
O'Shea Jackson Jr. .... Cain Khan
Samara Weaving .... Honey Moon
Rachael Harris .... Gwen Szymanski

Plot: Paul Martin (Toby Huss) stands in the ring with his protege Cain Khan (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and his valet Honey Moon (Samara Weaving). Martin is holding a trash can with TCW’s championship belt on fire in it. He gives Khan his MWA title belt and they name Khan the official unified champion. The crowd doesn’t care and doesn’t listen at this point, it looks like Paul underestimated TCWs strong cult following and devoted fan base. They taunt the crowd a bit, but once the cameras cut they quickly head to the back to avoid the raucous crowd.

Before they come back in the locker room, the TCW faithful are looking everywhere for Diane, but no one can find her. Brad (Clayne Crawford) recruits his usual acolytes the Bruiser brothers (Tom Hopper and Alan Ritchson) to confront Cain Khan and Paul when they come back, because they can’t shit over TCW like that, not while they’re still around. Diane is in fact hiding in the luxury boxes as she looks at the disgusted crowd, crying. She has the ticket sales numbers in front of her. It’s lower than the Astrodome show. Not only did her fusion with Paul hurt her business, she fears she will lose part of the locker room too. As Paul, Cain and Honey Moon disappear behind the curtain, she leaves her seat and cleans up her face, before heading back to the locker room to do some damage control.

Brad Wolfe is ready to fight Cain Khan right here right now and he throws a fit of rage when he sees him. He has to be restrained by Tom and Don Jackson. Wolfe threatens Paul and he says he will come to regret this. Thunderjack (Dacre Montgomery) who has remained quiet about all of this, approaches Cain Khan and he punches him in the face. A brawl breaks down in the locker room while Paul hides in his office. Loto also gets involved, but he’s just trying to separate everyone. Dicky subtly tries to give weapons to the TCW wrestlers, but Cain Khan is such a physical specimen that they are barely able to hit him. It looks more like a schoolyard scuffle now. Ben (Barry Keoghan) watches on alongside Sweet Tea (Zoey Deutch) and Honey Moon, sad to see that his mentor is now gone and when people think back on this event, they won’t remember his match with Bill, but rather Paul and Cain burning the TCW belt. Sweet Tea says she will remember it because he was so good and he thanks her for the compliment. Diane enters the locker room and orders everyone to be calm. It doesn’t work, so she has to get inventive. She steals a steel chair from Dicky and she smashes the office’s window. Everyone stops and looks at Diane. Paul comes out of the office, asking what this was all about. She says they need to talk. The locker room is completely silent now, divided into two sides. Wolfe, the Jacksons, Loto and Dicky are on one side, Ben, Cain and the women are on the other side. Brad tries to enter the office, but Diane hurls at him to stay out of the office. He insists, but she sends everybody home. She promises that if she finds out someone fought with another wrestler, they are fired. She enters the office and locks the door. Paul wants to start talking, but she refuses to until everyone is out.

As the wrestlers leave the locker room, they are harassed by a journalist named Gwen Szymanski (Rachael Harris). She asks them if they are willing to give an interview where they talk about the wrestling profession. Everyone denies the interview and she says she will be there at their next show in case someone changes his mind.

Paul and Diane sit in the office with a lingering silence. No one wants to budge first. Paul finally does, saying that it was clearly what needed to be done. She vehemently disagrees, pointing out the declining ticket sales and the hostile crowd reaction. He says that this is just the leftovers from Santana leaving. They need to establish Cain as their top star. Diane stands her ground and says she is sick of being two-timed and people going behind her back. This "alliance" was supposed to be a partnership not a dictatorship. Paul defends his decisions, saying that MWA had to establish dominance at first because they were the most well-known brand. Diane makes an off-hand remark about how no one knows them compared to APW. This irritates Paul but Diane says that it's true. She says that the smaller companies like them are going to start scraping for the leftovers until there is nothing left as APW continues to go national. She ponders which MWA wrestler will be the first to defect. She has clearly gotten under Paul's skin at this point and he storms out.

As he leaves the arena, he finds that not everyone has left. The backstage crew are still waiting to put down the ring because Ben is still working hard at training certain moves. Even after the previous tiff, this causes Paul to crack a smile. He approaches the ring and watches Ben hone his craft. He asks why he isn't leaving the building and signing autographs for all the young girls waiting outside. Ben, continuing training, laughs this off and says that is for Thunderjack, not him. Paul tells Ben that he likes what he saw out there. He knows the later events might have overshadowed the match but he thinks that Ben raised his profile a bit. Ben thanks him for the kind words. Paul lastly mentions that he needs a contender for his MWA Television Champion, Mark Cruz. He then mentions the time and says that he has to be going. Ben continues training.

In a rare occurrence, we follow Ben to his small apartment and follow a day in his life. He continues to watch wrestling tape and eating healthy meals. A few days pass and we see him continuing to do the same thing. It is clear that he is starting to feel a bit lonely in a foreign country at such a young age. He goes to a payphone and dials a number he has written down. It is Bill. They briefly catch up and we find out that Bill has recently landed in Japan. Ben catches Bill up on the kerfuffle and mentions what Paul said about the TV title. He asks Bill if he should take a side and Bill says to take things slow. All promoters are carnies at some point, so you're choosing between the lesser of two evils. Ben thanks him and says he can't wait to watch his tapes from Japan. Bill ends their conversation by asking Ben if he's asked the girl for her number yet. Ben blushes and says he doesn't know what Bill is talking about. Bill says he knows exactly what he's talking about and advises him not spend all of his life in the backseat. You've got to take the wheel sometimes. He hangs up the phone and Ben ponders those final words and exits the payphone.

 Showtime - Down with Sickness
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast:
Barry Keoghan .... Ben Carr
Dacre Montgomery .... Thunderjack Haynes
Cooper Andrews .... Loto the Evil Islander
Zoey Deutch .... Sweet Tea
Clayne Crawford .... Brad "The Superior" Wolfe
Tom Hopper .... Tom Jackson
Alan Ritchson .... Don Jackson
Paul Rust .... "Loudmouth" Dicky Sanders
Anna Gunn .... Diane Brown
Toby Huss .... Paul Martin
O'Shea Jackson Jr. .... Cain Khan
Samara Weaving .... Honey Moon
Rachael Harris .... Gwen Szymanski

Plot: Brad Wolfe (Clayne Crawford) lays naked in bed with Diane (Anna Gunn) laying next to him, cuddling. He caresses her hair and kisses her head, He asks her what is she going to do about all of this and she says she doesn’t want to think about it right now. He gets up and opens the blinds, letting the sunlight flood the room. He says she’ll have to confront him today, it’s inevitable. She agrees, but it doesn’t change the fact that she doesn’t want to. She reluctantly gets up and goes on about her morning routine with Brad.

Paul Martin (Toby Huss) is already at the arena, going over various paperwork in his office. A worker is here to repair the broken window. Cain Khan (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) is the first wrestler here and he enters Paul’s office. He asks him if he’s satisfied with how things went after his title win and he says it was everything that he dreamed of. He had insane heat, people hate him even more now, they will come in hoards to see him fail and that’s where he will make his money. Cain says that Diane didn’t seem to see him like and neither did the original TCW wrestlers and he’s worried about that. Paul tells him to let him handle that. He asks Cain where Honey Moon is and he says he doesn’t know. Paul says it’s a shame, because he wanted to reward them for their good work.

Diane is about to leave her condo alongside Brad when she receives a call from a panicked Dicky (Paul Rust), telling Diane that Loto woke up and is sick, so he won’t be able to wrestle tonight. She curses and tells Dicky to leave Loto alone for the day. They’ll do an angle tonight to explain Loto’s absence. She hangs up and tells Brad that it derails her plan for the evening. She receives another call from Thunderjack (Dacre Montgomery) and he says that he’s sick too, he threw up all night. Diane is getting angrier by the minute and asks him if Sweet Tea spent the night with him and he says she didn’t. Immediately after she hangs up, Tom Jackson (Tom Hopper) calls Diane to tell them his brother is sick and won’t be able to wrestle tonight. He also threw up all night. Diane hangs up and rips her phone off the wall and throws it across the room. Brad calms her down and he says everything will be alright.

Sitting on the bed of her cheap hotel room, Gwen Szymanski (Rachael Harris) looks at her notes, speaking on the phone to her boss, who’s back in Dallas. She says that he spilled the beans alright. The interview will air shortly and she has enough information that didn’t make the cut that she’ll try to turn this into a book if he agrees. She agrees that it would be a good idea. She’ll use the company credit card to send him a thank you gift. She hangs up, smiling, as she falls back on the bed.

Diane, meanwhile, is in crisis mode. She begrudgingly calls Paul, wanting to avoid any discussion of the Southern Showdown debacle. Instead, she gets to the point about the illnesses and he says he has heard the same thing. In total, around two-thirds of their roster has come down with something. She tells him that they need to cancel the show. Paul tells her to pump the breaks, which boils her skin. He says that the show must go on while she insists that they do no have enough people to stage an event. He tells her that while she may be in the wrestling business, he's in the business business and those losing those gates would hurt them financially. He's already thought of some things they could do. For one, Dicky could sub in as a wrestler to be squashed in a short match with Cain. And he says he really like what he's seen from Ben Carr so he's confident that he and Brad could go out there and have a forty minute match, which will take up a significant portion of the show. At this point, Diane has succeeded defeat and says fine.

When Dicky is told that he is going to have to wrestle tonight, he tells Diane that that is a very bad idea. Diane, mad at him for going behind her back and making a deal with Paul, says that he's going to have to take one for the team. Sweet Tea, who remains healthy, overhears this and says that she'd be willing to take one for the team as well. She jokingly (but not so jokingly) says she'd love to fight Honey Moon (Samara Weaving). Diane says that cannot happen. She admires Tea's ambition but the fans will not accept two women out there fighting, especially two who aren't trained fighters. Tea points out that Dicky isn't a trained fighter but Diane says that he's not going out there to fight - he's going there to get his ass kicked.

Dicky's match with Cain unsurprisingly goes terribly. His timing is off and he sustains real injuries from Cain's moves. Diane is red with embarrassment while Paul doesn't seem to mind as it is her roster member who looks bad, not his. Meanwhile, as Ben prepares for his big main event match, he is unexpectedly approached by Tea. She says she asks something big to ask him but he has to keep it a secret. He is stammering in his response, especially as Brad has them in the corner of his eye. She takes the seat next to him and, in a soft voice, asks if he can train her to be a wrestler. This is not what he was expecting, not that he had really any clue what she was going to say. However, he is quick in his response: absolutely. She thanks him, saying she was going to ask her brother but feels that he is of the old-school mindset that women don't belong in the ring. With no Thunderjack around, she gives Ben hug before his match. As they prepare to head out to the ring, Brad suspiciously asks what that was about and Ben stays mum.

The impromptu match between Ben and Brad starts off well but starts to go off the rails as Brad fails to pace himself and runs out of steam only 15 minutes in. Ben, being the young ring general that he is, tries to call moves in the ring to slow things down but Brad is not good going off script. The crowd is starting to get bored and the two wrestlers agree to end things only, with Brad winning on a roll-up. When they get to the back, the crowd starts booing realizing how short the show is. Brad is pissed at himself, while Ben also wants to take the blame. Diane is pissed but seems resolute. Brad wants to confront Paul about everything but Diane tells him that he just left town for Georgia, mid-show. When Cain and Honey are out of view, Diane pulls Ben, Dicky, Brad, and Tom Jackson aside and asks if they're sick of Paul's decision-making. They all adamantly agree (although Ben is more timid). After seeing these responses, Diane tells them that their voices are heard and she agrees. She doesn't want to take his shit anymore.

 Showtime - Business Blues 
Genre : Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer : Chad Taylor & Mo Buck
Cast:
Barry Keoghan .... Ben Carr
Dacre Montgomrey .... Thunderjack Haynes
Nick Offerman .... Bill Gundy
Cooper Andrews .... Loto
Anna Gunn .... Diane Browne
Clayne Crawford .... Brad Wolfe
Alan Ritchson .... Don Jackson
Paul Rust .... Dicky Sanders
Toby Huss .... Paul Martin
O'Shea Jackson Jr. .... Cain Khan
Samara Weaving .... Honey Moon
Rachael Harris .... Gwen Szymanski


Plot: Diane (Anna Gunn) rests her head on Brad Wolfe’s (Clayne Crawford) lap as he turns on the television to watch the so-called tell-all interview that will send the professional wrestling business six feet under. The program opens with Gwen Szymanski (Rachael Harris) introducing us to tonight’s subject. She then goes on and on about the wrestling business, boring Brad who wants to change the channel, but Diane just wants to know which wrestler is stupid enough to flush his career down the toilet by doing this interview. That guy will never be hired again after this interview. A quick montage shows that everyone else is watching the interview from their home: Ben (Barry Keoghan), Thunderjack (Dacre Montgomery) and Sweet Tea (Zoey Deutch), Paul Martin (Toby Huss), the Jacksons (Tom Hopper and Alan Ritchson) and Loto (Cooper Andrews) and Dicky (Paul Rust) who has frozen pea bags all over his body to heal the bruises he suffered during his squash against Cain. Cain (O’Shea Jackson) doesn’t watch the interview, he just want to have sex with Honey Moon (Samara Weaving), but she doesn’t feel like it and it frustrates him.

The interview starts and the wrestler is under a shadow. Gwen says they may know him as a long-time tag team wrestler in the Southern region and he has found a more stable home at the Texas Championship Wrestling company, it’s Don Jackson. Diane can’t believe it and neither can everybody else. When Paul sees this, he takes his phone and calls Diane, berating her because she can’t keep control of her roster and she reminds him that it’s his roster too and she hangs up on him. During the interview, Don tells how the wrestling business destroyed his family. The Jacksons live, breathe and eat wrestling, but at what cost? He used to have a second brother, but he was killed in an in-ring accident. His family received nothing and he was told to wrestle the next day, all because the promoters want to tell everyone that it’s real, when everything about pro wrestling is fake. The guys don’t hate each others, the strikes aren’t real. It’s all a setup, a staged choreography, in a business run by big egos and show-offs. Diane has had enough, she turns off the television herself, asking herself how she’s going to deal with that.

In the Jackson household, they listened to the interview in its entirety and no one said a word for the entire thing. Once the interview is over, someone knocks at the door and it’s Gwen giving Don a gift basket. He has a concerned look on his face and he slams the door on her without saying a word. He puts the gift basket on the table and Tom throws it on the floor. Tom asks his brother what this is all about and Don says he only did what he had to do. Tom asks him if he really understands what’s going on. Don’s career is over and maybe his own career is over, they are the Jackson brothers first and foremost, he can’t be Tom Jackson without Don. Don says he’s just sick of the business and everything that comes with it and if Tom can’t understand that, then he will never understand his decision. Don is on his way out and he asks Tom to think about quitting, before wrestling destroys his life, like it ended their brother’s.

Ben calls Bill Gundy (Nick Offerman) early in the morning as that is the only time they can match time zones. Ben is worried that the interview is going to ruin the wrestling business and thus Ben's career before it even got started. Bill is more optimistic and says that there have been people and moments like this throughout wrestling history. It will come and go. There's an enduring appeal of wrestling. Bill cheers him up by saying that he should be receiving his first tapes from Bill's Japanese matches so far. He's really hit it off nicely as the big burly gaijn (foreigner) but Ben might not what to expect of the matches so Bill tells him not to judge. Ben says that's preposterous and tells Bill he is excited for anything his mentor does. He then tells Bill he misses him and Bill tells Ben that he's proud of him.

Diane's phone is ringing off the hook and she knows it is Paul but doesn't want to answer it. Brad asks her if she is coming to the arena for their next show and she tells him she is going to wait as she tries to figure out how to spin this. Diane finally answers the phone and it is not Paul - it is Buck Gordon (Max Minghella), the young head of American Pro Wrestling. He is fuming and lays into Diane for allowing one of her wrestlers to do this. She insists that she didn't know but Buck is having none of it and says then she needs to have better control of her wrestlers. He says that this will affect everyone, not just her. After the call, Diane is so angry that she begins trashing her home. She rips up every piece of TCW merchandise she owns.

At the show, the wrestlers are all talking about what happens. Since Diane is a no-show and Paul is already back in Georgia preparing for his big dome show, Brad finds himself to be the elder statesman and the impromptu man running the show. He sheds off his usual cocky persona to be a more serious boss as he writes up a card for the the night. Ben has received his tapes from Bill and is watching them in disbelief: Bill is taking place in Japanese deathmatches. While they are not actual fights to the death, they are much more violent than American wrestling as the ropes are lined with barbed wire and use weapons while the wrestlers - including Bill - are bleeding all over the ring. Some of the other wrestlers notice and start watching with him. This gathering catches Brad's eye and he goes over the shut down the commotion. He is at first disgusted by what he sees on TV but before he leaves, asks Ben if that was Bill and Ben confirms. Brad is surprised but then goes back to his boss persona and tells Ben he needs to focus on his match.

Thinking about what Honey said about what they'll do in Georgia, Thunderjack realizes that he has no real long-term need for her so he is going to re-commit to Tea (while he still plans on sleeping with Honey for the one night stand). He is tearfully apologetic to her and it is the first hint of real emotion she has seen in him since the merger. She tells him she needs him to be serious about this as it affects their on-screen chemistry, which affects their careers. He says he is ready to be the top guy at TCW and with her by his side. This makes her smile and she gives him a kiss. Ben nervously approaches Tea afterwards and asks if there is a day she wants to plan to start her training. She says that she isn't sure when Thunderjack will let her so maybe it is best they just do it for about a half hour after the shows when Thunderjack is off signing autographs and kissing babies outside of the shows. Ben isn't sure how much she will be able to improve in those short windows but says that they can make it work.

The show that night is a success, to everyone's surprise. Attendance is lower - an undeniable effect of the Don Jackson interview. But the fans who are there love what they see and everyone congratulates Brad. Tea and Ben begin their first training session after the show, practicing some of the very basics. Meanwhile, Brad arrives at Diane's home with flowers. He is surprised to see everything trashed at the home. She says that she is happy to hear that the show was successful. After a beat, Brad reminds her of what she said last week about TCW needing to have a new plan going forward so they don't get lost in the shuffle. He sees a ripped up TCW logo on the floor and pieces it together, still leaving it a bit uneven and jagged. He asks her if she has Bill Gundy's new number.

Showtime - Retribution Part I
Genre : Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer : Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast:
Joe Manganiello .... Ricky Santana
Sofia Black-D'Elia .... Shirley
Max Minghella .... Buck Gordon
Channing Tatum .... "The Diamond" Ken Simon
Nick Frost .... Happy Gallagher
Lake Bell .... Nadine
John Hennigan .... Pleasure
Sheamus .... Pain
Jackson Robert Scott .... Kyle
Zackary Arthur .... Justin


Plot: Ricky Santana (Joe Manganiello) stands in the ring, clad with his now signature sombrero. He is in a tag team match with Happy Gallagher (Nick Frost) as they take on APW's premier tag team, Pleasure (John Hennigan) and Pain (Sheamus). Ricky's team is demolished. When he gets to the back, he bites his tongue as he feels humiliated. "The Diamond" Ken Simon (Channing Tatum) sarcastically congratulates him on the match, which does not help matters. Ken mentions there's one more thing: Buck wants to talk to him in his office.

Ricky enters the office of Buck Gordon (Max Minghella), who is fuming. He puts in a tape that turns out to be Gwen Syzmanski's news program, where Don Jackson revealed some of the unspoken secrets of pro wrestling. Buck vents his anger on Ricky, which pisses Santana off as he is making him guilty by association since he used to be on the TCW roster. Gordon tells him that it might not be best to use anyone for TCW for a while so he is going to be keeping Ricky off TV at the moment. Ricky, who looks angry, is about to lash out but instead says that he understands and laments how unfortunate it is what Jackson did.

At his apartment, Ricky is so mad he can barely eat. Shirley (Sofia D'Elia Black) tries to reason with him at first but she is getting annoyed at his attitude and gets back to work on her newsletter. Ricky goes over to her to give her message to let off his steam. She tells him she knows what he is going to ask and the answer is still no. He says that outing Ken could both help him ascend the APW ladder and garner her more readers. She puts her foot down and says that it is not the right way to get payback. Ken may be a dick but no one deserves the kind of hate that would come his way if she revealed his sexuality. Ricky says that he gets that kind of hate when he pretends to be Mexican and she gently slaps him for not being able to tell the difference. Ken has to act straight everyday so he doesn't have to experience that. This gets through to Ricky and he realizes why his own homophobia is wrong. He kisses her and apologizes for trying to pressure her into doing something she didn't want to do.

The weeks start to pass and Ricky is getting paid but not used. He's counting his paychecks and saving up his money. He tries to talk to his kids but him and Nadine find it hard coordinating times to do so. We see him walk along the New York streets and stop at a jewelry store, where engagement rings sit in the window. He looks long and hard at them and then goes inside. He gets a call from Buck, who tells him that the time has passed and he wants to use them on their next big Madison Square Garden show.

After Ricky leaves the store with a package, he goes back to his place he shares with Shirley and he makes sure to quickly hide his recent purchase before she sees it. He tells her the good news and she’s happy for him of course. Ricky is bittersweet as he feels Gordon will use this as an opportunity to ridicule him once again. Shirley says he always sees everything negatively. He should be thankful for the opportunity and make the best of it, after all, he’s the one who’s complaining about his situation in the company.
Ricky walks backstage in Madison Square Garden and he meets with Happy to talk about their upcoming match as he wants to make sure it’s the best possible match. Ken Simon passes and teases them, saying their match won’t matter, so they should stop talking about this and find themselves another job, because they’re not made to do this. Ricky thinks about arguing back, but he bites his tongue and lets it go. Happy says that in all his years here, he learned that it’s best not to trash talk with guys like him. Ricky agrees and he tells Happy he’s a saint to not mind his bullshit attitude for years.

The show is well underway when Happy tries to find Ricky, as their match is about to start. Pleasure and Pain tease him, saying he lost his friend and screwed up again and Happy, ever the optimist, says Ricky won’t let him down like that. Happy has no choice but to seek Buck Gordon’s help.

Ricky is dressed up in a casual attire, a far cry from his in-ring gear and making his way in the crowd. He finds Shirley and he taps on her shoulder. She’s surprised to see him as his match is up next and he gets down on one knee and he proposes to her and asks her to move back to Texas with him. She asks about his career and he says he’s ready to retire and spend the rest of her days with her. She accepts gladly and they share a kiss. Shirley wants to get out of here, but Ricky needs to do something first.

Buck Gordon is furious and looking for Ricky with Happy behind him. He runs around, asking everyone if they saw Ricky. He finally bumps into him and Shirley and before he has the chance to say anything, Ricky tells him he quits and he’s getting out of here. Happy is sad and asks Ricky how he can do this to him and Ricky says he didn’t let Happy down. He deserves better than this place. Happy doesn’t know what Ricky means and as Ricky is walking away, he looks back at Happy and he says he’ll find out soon enough.

Buck orders Happy out and he gets squashed by Pleasure & Pain, right before the main event, featuring Ken Simon. To add insult to the injury, Happy is beaten up by Simon as he makes his way to the ring. Happy’s morale is down and for the first time, he’s not smiling when he gets backstage. He goes to his locker and he finds a business card with the TCW written on it and Diane Brown’s phone number, alongside a note from Ricky that says Happy deserves to be… happy.

Some time later, Ricky gets home after bringing in the last box from his car and he’s greeted by his two boys, Kyle (Jackson Robert Scott) and Justin (Zackary Arthur) who tell their father they’re glad he’s back so he can spend more time with them. He says this time he’s here to stay and he’s not going anywhere as Shirley joins the group hug. He tells his sons to go out back to play ball, he’ll join them soon and as they head outside, Shirley asks him if he made the right decision and he says he doesn’t regret anything.

Showtime - Retribution Part II
Genre : Drama / Comedy / Sports
Showrunner: Steven Soderbergh
Writer : Chad Taylor & Mo Buck

Cast:
Barry Keoghan .... Ben Carr
Dacre Montgomery .... Thunderjack Haynes
Nick Offerman .... Bill Gundy
Cooper Andrews .... Loto
Zoey Deutch .... Sweet Tea
Anna Gunn .... Diane Brown
Clayne Crawford .... Brad Wolfe
Tom Hopper .... Tom Jackson
Paul Rust .... Dicky Sanders
Toby Huss .... Paul Martin
O'Shea Jackson Jr. .... Cain Khan
Samara Weaving .... Honey Moon
Pedro Pascal .... Oscar Sanchez
Chris Zylka .... Mark Cruz
Paul Walter Hauser .... Clem Sanders
Joe Manganiello .... Ricky Santana
Sofia Black-D'Elia .... Shirley


Plot: Bill Gundy (Nick Offerman) is on the phone with Brad Wolfe (Clayne Crawford) and he reminds him that even if he didn’t like him very much when back when he was in TCW, he still thinks this is a bad idea and he would hate to learn that anyone was seriously injured, because it is highly dangerous. Wolfe thanks the “old man” for his concerns, it will go on as planned. Wolfe then turns around and tells his TCW colleagues: Ben Carr (Barry Keoghan), Loto (Cooper Andrews), Sweet Tea (Zoey Deutch), Tom Jackson (Tom Hopper) and Dicky (Paul Rust) that it will go on as planned. He then tells then enters Diane’s (Anna Gunn) office and he tells her that it will go down tonight. She smiles and heads for Paul Martin’s (Toby Huss) office and he welcomes her with a cold attitude, saying tonight is his show and he’s the one pulling the strings. He didn’t book the Georgia Dome only for her and her wrestlers to derail the evening. She says she has a few adjustments in mind for tonight’s card and she wanted to run them by him. Martin says he’ll listen to them, but he makes no promises.

Ben looks at tapes with Sweet Tea before the event and they practice basic moves together, headlock, takedown, these kinds of things. They laugh and smile together, but they are interrupted by Brad Wolfe. Ben leaves immediately and says he was heading to the restroom anyway. Brad asks his sister what’s going on between her and Ben and Sweet Tea blushes before saying he’s training her so she can wrestle too. Brad laughs it off and says it’s a good joke, before going after Ben. Ben is backstage when he hears something coming from a room and he peaks inside, only to see Thunderjack (Dacre Montgomery) making out with Honey Moon (Samara Weaving). He leaves before they see him and walks away awkwardly. He’s joined by Brad who wants to remind him of what happens to anyone who gets too close to his sister. Ben tells him he understands, but Ben shouldn’t be his biggest concern for his sister right now, he has something to show him. He brings him over to the room and Brad enters and catches Thunderjack and Honey Moon in the act. Thunderjack tries to make up an excuse, but Brad is furious that he would cheat on his sister like that. He punches him in the eye and leaves Thunderjack. Ben froze, not knowing how to react and leaves awkwardly when Honey Moon, who is covering herself up, tells him to leave.

The first match of the night is between Loto and Mexican superstar Oscar “The Blue Tiger” Sanchez (Pedro Pascal). The match is supposed to be a long opener between two established wrestlers, but when the match gets underway, Loto’s breath is short and when Dicky notices, he calls an audible to Sanchez to cut the match short, but Sanchez, ever the cocky wrestler who wants to be right, refuses and wants to stick to the plan. Loto really can’t take it anymore and he overpowers Sanchez, brutally pinning him down while putting all his weight on him. When they get back in the locker room, Diane is there to ask him if he’s alright and he says everything is fine. Pedro immediately goes to complain to Paul Martin, who then complains to Diane that her wrestlers are taking over and he’s pissed.

Paul hunts through the backstage area, looking for someone. Finally he finds him: Ben preparing for his match for the mid-tier TV Title. Sensing something fishy, Paul gives Ben assurance that he is still high on him and that he is going to win this title in the rematch but will still lose tonight. That will leave the people wanting more and make his ultimate victory very sweet. Ben says that he understands and that he is looking forward to the match. If there is some kind of mutiny, Paul hopes that this will keep Ben on his side. He puts his hand on Ben’s shoulder and wishes him luck. When Paul leaves, Dicky approaches Ben and asks what that was about. He tries to make sure if Ben is still down with the plan and Ben inaudibly motions yes.

In his match against Mark Cruz (Chris Zylka), Ben is feeling nervous. Paul has constructed the match to be a showcase of Ben’s skills but, again, ultimately lose. Getting over without going over. However, his fellow TCW wrestlers watch from backstage and expect him to do like Loto and force a victory. Given that Cruz is twice his size, Ben finds this difficult. On top of that, he also kind of trusts Paul and would be OK with losing. He tries to pull a sneak roll-up but Cruz kicks out at two and is furious at him for going off script. Ben apologizes but Cruz isn’t having it and starts getting rough with Ben, treating him like a ragdoll. Backstage, Wolfe rallies his troops and says that they’re going to need to call an audible as it doesn’t look like Ben is going to be able to pull it off (or that he doesn’t want to).

As Cruz beats on Ben, wrestlers start to emerge from the crowd one by one. Tom Jackson is equipped with a Singapore cane. Loto has a steel chair in hand. Brad Wolfe is holding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. They approach the ring and all climb up on the apron. Cruz stops his beatdown and is unsure of what is going on and goes running from the ring. Tom hits himself in the head with cane a few times, cutting him open. He takes a hand swipe of the blood and smears it across his chest.

In Paul’s office, he is watching with a nervous eye and asks what’s going on. He is irate and tries to go to call security but Sweet Tea is blocking the door from the outside, with a smirk on her face. The men in the ring start tearing up the ring, while the tens of thousands in attendance don’t know what is going on. Ben rolls out of the ring to nurse his injuries so does not take place in these actions. Cain Kahn (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) runs down to the ring to defend his company’s honor but Brad fends him off with the bat. Cain isn’t joined by any of his fellow MWA as no one respects Paul that much.

Finally, the last piece of the puzzle emerges. Thunderjack, leather jacket and sunglasses on and toothpick in mouth, slowly makes his way to the ring with something in his hand. He grabs MWA’s TV Championship from the timekeeper and brings it into the ring. He lays it flat on the ring and pulls out his item: a can of red spray paint. He takes the toothpick out of his mouth and removes his sunglasses, revealing his black eye (which only adds to his badass look). He looks to the camera and says: “This is the start of a new era of Texas Championship Wrestling. And we want to start it by saying: FUCK PAUL MARTIN.” He flicks the toothpick at the camera and spray paints T C W over Martin’s championship belt.

The PPV carrier cuts the feed after what was said and being unable to get into contact with Martin. The live Georgia crowd is now in full riot mode and booing the TCW quartet, who are flipping them off. We see one fan in the crowd who is not booing and instead is cracking a smile on his face, nodding as if to say he likes what he saw. As the camera gets closer, we find out that it is former TCW jobber Clem Sanders (Paul Walter Hauser). Paul is fuming while Diane sits at his desk with a smug look on her face and wishes him luck with his “alliance”.

The TCW crew leave the building together while Paul scrambles to do something about his show while his ring is destroyed and PPV feed cut. Thunderjack tries to apologize to Tea but she tells him that she is breaking up with him for good. She asks Ben if she can ride back with him to hotel, which takes him by surprise but he says he will. Diane and Brad walk hand-in-hand and she tells him that felt good. He says “tell me about it” as the TCW crew walk proudly into a new era.

We see the latest copy of Shirley’s newsletter being printed, one of the most popular of the sorts in the United States. For the first time in a long time, TCW is the top story and not APW. It reads “TEXAS TAKEOVER: TCW marks shocking new direction as Paul Martin’s alliance abruptly dissolves.”

At his home, Ricky Santana (Joe Manganiello) reads this newest edition with a smile on his face. He congratulates Shirley (Sofia D’Elia Black) on the issue and says it might be her best one yet. She sits on his lap and asks if he’d be interested in returning to wrestling and TCW under this new deathmatch direction. He looks at her for an extended period of silence. He then cracks a big smile.

“Hell fucking no!”