The Jeff Foxworthy Show

“Wrestling Opera”
Season 2, Episode 21
4/28/1997

If you watched The Jeff Foxworthy Show you might’ve been a redneck. Or one of the very few people who watched this sad attempt at capturing the magic of the TGIF-style family sitcom. It was another in a long list of examples that not all comedians’ material translates to the sitcom format.

The Wrestling Episode
In this episode, Jeff Foxworthy tries to score tickets to WCW’s Slamboree. His buddy Bill buys the wrong tickets from a scalper and Jeff’s forced to break the bad news to his son, Matt. Jeff’s wife, Karen, explains that it might be a good thing because Matt has a school field trip to the opera the same day as Slamboree. However, Jeff’s dad comes through with tickets and Jeff has Matt skip the opera without telling Karen. Instead of watching Aida, Matt is treated to front row seats at Slamboree featuring the stars of WCW, like “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Spider-Head, and Cro Magnon.

The Tropes
Does one of the show’s main characters have to wrestle?
Unfortunately, no. However, Jeff Foxworthy damn near craps his pants when the Macho Man gets in his face at ringside, mistaking Jeff for a heckler.

Are they filling in for another wrestler?
No, but it does seem like the producers of The Jeff Foxworthy Show decided to recast WCW’s roster, at least in name.

Do they enter a contest to wrestle for prize/money?
No, the big prize here is attending WCW’s Slamboree, which during this era of professional wrestling was harder to get into than scoring tickets to Hamilton.

Is the wrestler an actual professional wrestler making a cameo appearance?
Yes. It’s the one and only “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Weirdly enough, Macho Man was making more TV appearances during his WCW/nWo era run than he ever did when he was with the WWF. Then again, said appearances were on shows like, The Jeff Foxworthy Show and The WB’s Nikki. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see Macho Man’s opponent, Spider-Head, aside from his legs. I guess the show would’ve rather had Eric Bischoff make an appearance. You’re telling me they couldn’t get Kenny Kaos for at-scale pay to eat a pin for the Macho Man?

Is there a masked wrestler present?
There might’ve been. A wrestler called Spider-Head definitely brings to mind a wrestler with a spider-themed mask.

Is the wrestling predetermined or legitimate?
Seems pretty legit.

Was an airplane spin performed?
No. In fact, no wrestling holds were performed whatsoever. Just some good old trash talking.

Where can I watch it?
It’s currently streaming on Crackle. Yes, that is still a streaming service.

Other Observations

• Whenever somebody mentions Andre the Giant, everyone bows their head and collectively says, “God rest his soul.” It’s a pretty good running gag, but also out of place for a WCW wrestling episode considering Andre never wrestled for them.
• WCW’s Slamboree takes place in a high school gym. No wonder tickets were hard to come by. I get that there’s limitations in trying to portray a giant wrestling event on a studio sound stage, but they could’ve gotten a little creative. Thankfully, they didn’t call it Starrcade. Just goes to show how small time WCW presented itself outside the wrestling bubble.
• You’d think with the cooperation and involvement of WCW they’d keep it consistent with using WCW pay-per-view names throughout the episode. Like why use Slamboree, then later refer to a previous event called Rumblethon? Which is way too close to the WWE’s Royal Rumble. Why not the actual previous WCW show, Spring Stampede? This is why WCW was the worst at promoting itself in the mainstream. However, they did manage to mention Slamboree 50 times throughout the episode.
• Macho Man facing Spider-Head is some great foreshadowing to his eventual Spider-Man cameo appearance. Bonesaw is ready!
• Eric Bischoff pulls double duty as ring announcer and commentator, which is a go-to trope for wrestling episodes.
• This episode aired roughly three weeks before the actual Slamboree pay-per-view. Macho Man didn’t wrestle on the show.