‘Heels’ Star Chris Bauer Says Wild Bill Is ‘Looking for Shelter’ in Season 2 (Exclusive)

Season 2 of the professional wrestling drama Heels is now airing on Starz, which means fans will get to see more of Wild Bill Hancock. The first season ended with him losing the Duffy Wrestling League and having an accident during the process. But what’s in store for the veteran professional wrestler this season? PopCulture.com spoke exclusively to Chis Bauer who plays Wild Bill on Heels, and he shared his character’s storyline for the new season.

“Wild Bill in Season 2 is really looking for shelter, and he is coming to terms with his own limitations,” Bauer told PopCulture. “He’s coming to terms with some of the consequences of his own values, and realizing that between age and life, everybody has a weakness. And he has spent so little time cultivating personal relationships that he finds himself pretty quickly in a situation with basically no shelter, no love, and no purpose. And tragically, it could be a story of someone who gave it all in the ring and had nothing left, but he does have something left. And the DWL becomes the mode of growth for him. And once he realizes he can contribute to their venture and make it better, it gives them a sense of purpose again.”

Wild Bill has reached the top of the wrestling world but has fallen back on tough times recently, which led to him joining DWL. And it’s possible we could learn more about Wild Bill’s history since the second season takes a deeper dive into the characters. 

Ultimately, Bauer believes Wild Bill has some big goals for DWL. “I think he actually wants to make the DWL a legitimate viable international wrestling brand, and that he believes that the folksy, family-based atmosphere of the DWL has enormous value and that the passion and the level of skill that the DWL wrestlers have is worth sharing globally,” he said. “And he’s the only person in that environment who’s ever seen wrestling, sports entertainment, show business at a level beyond south Georgia. So I think he feels like not only is it his responsibility to try to guide them there, but it’s almost like it becomes his life’s purpose.”

Bauer loves being on the show because he’s a big fan of wrestling. In fact, the Wild Bill character is based on an iconic figure in the sport, WWE Hall of Fame Terry Funk. “That was my main inspiration,” Bauer revealed. “There’s a lot of wrestlers in the DNA of Wild Bill, but I actually saw Terry Funk towards, in the last 10 years of his career, at a Battle Royal, I think, at some hotel out by LAX. And I could not take my eyes off him because he entered the ring and there was something so extraordinarily real about his presence.”

New episodes of Heels air on Starz every Friday at 10 p.m. ET. The show also streams on the Starz app and all Starz streaming and on-demand platforms.