Netflix’s upcoming documentary series Muscles & Mayhem will give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the larger-than-life ’90s reality competition show American Gladiators when it hits the streamer later this month, but you can get a preview now with the newly released trailer below.
“We had groupies, we had sex, we had drugs,” one Gladiator says in a voiceover, “and we were coming to a town to kick the shit out of you.” The clip continues by depicting the darker side of being a Gladiator when another competitor admits, “As an athlete, you gotta make the decision [of ]what you’re willing to do to perform. There is such a thing as roid rage.”
The five-part “unauthorized” documentary premieres on June 28th and features the firsthand accounts of many of the stars of the show, including Dan “Nitro” Clark, Debbie “Storm” Clark, Erika “Diamond” Andersch Bunker, Jim “Laser” Kalafat, Lori “Ice” Fetrick, Michael “Gemini” Horton, Raye “Zap” Olson, Shari E “Blaze” Pendleton Mitchell, Shirley “Sky” Eson-Korito, and Steve “Tower” Hennebery.
Per the official logline, it will chronicle “the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and gripping behind-the-scenes stories of one of the biggest spectacles on television during the height of the ’90s” while revealing untold tales of the Gladiators’ “triumph, turmoil, and ultimate price of fame.”
Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators was directed by Tony Vainuku and Jared Hess, who both also served as executive producers alongside Ross M. Dinerstein, Kyle McCutcheon, Danny Lee Clark, Peter Sussman, and Chris Koras.
The story of American Gladiators was also the subject of a recent installment of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series.
