Welcome to Wrexham (series): Seriously worth watching

Even if you don't like sports you have probably heard the news about Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchasing a football club in Wales and turning the entire process into a documentary. I found the idea really intriguing but not interesting enough to run out and get it straight away. It has been available since the tail end of 2022 but I only recently started watching it.

It is one of the most entertaining reality shows that I have seen in quite some time.

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Like most people, you have likely never heard of Wrexham and I don't know many Welsh people but when I spoke to one of them and asked them about the city, they had no idea what I was talking about as well.

The decision to purchase this particular team by Ryan and Rob probably wasn't just their idea and they likely have the funding of the producers of the show behind them as well. I think that the choice to purchase this particular team was made because of the fact that it includes the oldest functioning international stadium in the world and because they would be able to acquire the team for relatively little money. Wrexham is (or was, I am just in season 1) a team at the bottom of the table so while the big teams go for hundreds of millions of dollars or even billions, Wrexham was probably something they were able to acquire for under $20 million or so. I don't really have any idea but based on what information we are given in the show, that seems like a reasonable amount.

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What makes this show so interesting isn't just the underdog story aspect of it, but also because Ryan and Rob are extremely funny people in a general sense, but it is also quite clear that they don't really even know very much about a sport that they probably reluctantly refer to as "football." Rob is American and Ryan is Canadian, so they almost certainly grew up playing "soccer" if they played at all.

The way in which they tell the story of the history of Wrexham is really interesting as well. The story isn't just about Rob and Ryan and actually focuses on the people of the city much more than they do the two Hollywood stars. The stories of working-class football fans are quite touching and some of the tragic stories had me nearly in tears. I found it quite silly that here I am on my sofa, getting all emotional watching a documentary / reality show about a sport team.

While I am quite certain a lot of this is due to editing, things don't go wonderfully either even though with the star-power of Ryan Reynolds on their side, the team is able to secure massive global sponsors as well as global attention for the club. In one of the pretty intense moments of the first season, they approach a rather famous manager to take over the team and he refuses until Rob and Ryan personally make phone calls to him and talk him into it. I am sure having Deadpool call you on the phone has a pretty dramatic effect on whether or not you are going to end up doing something.

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While they present the show as one of the two of them losing tons of money by investing in the club, I am quite certain they are making their money back because they plug all of the sponsors of the team constantly throughout the show. I would be willing to bet that this alone is providing them with millions of dollars to help with the progress of the team.

Because the two of them are so naturally funny, they make no secret of what they are doing and do it in a very obvious way. One of the best episodes I have seen so far includes them being guest hosts for Sports Center

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During this episode, which was obviously scripted, it is made apparent that not only do they not know a great deal about Wrexham or football but also about sports just in a general sense. They also pretend to not really like one another and this just makes it more hilarious.

Should I watch it?

This is going to be one of the most recommended things that I have ever spoken of in the hundreds of series and movies that I have ever featured on here. This series is just perfectly produced and it will bring about a wide range of emotions that you probably wouldn't expect from a sports documentary. It truly is, in my mind, perfect. The fact that each episode is only 22 minutes long makes it very easy to binge watch as well and even though my phone was available to me right in front of me the entire time, I never touched it.

Seriously, if you haven't seen this show, get out there and watch it immediately. You do not need to enjoy football, Wales, or even sports to end up loving this story.