The Powerpuff Girls

“Impeach Fuzz”
Season 1, Episode 10
1/27/1999

The Show
The Powerpuff Girls are a team of super heroes made of sugar, spice, and whatever Chemical X is. This wrestling episode features them taking a backseat to some of their supporting characters.

What the World is Watching highlights a wrestling episode from a non-wrestling show and explores that particular episode’s use of the tropes most commonly associated with wrestling episodes. Does that make sense? You can watch this episode on HBO Max.

The Wrestling Episode
The Mayor of Townsville, named Mayor, is running unopposed in his most recent bid for mayor of Townsville. His increasingly annoying campaign to “vote for him” eventually irritates Fuzzy Lumpkins, a hillbilly version of Rainbow Brite’s Lurky. Fuzzy yells at Mayor to shut up, which appeals to the people of Townsville and somehow gains traction as his campaign speech. Soon Fuzzy is voted Mayor of Townsville. Fuzzy abuses his mayoral privileges of calling on the Powerpuff Girls for emergencies by asking them to help catch his loose pig to playing in a jug band for his delight.

Eventually, the girls get fed up and work with the mayor’s secretary, Sara Bellum, to convince Mayor, the old mayor, to take back his position. The defeated Mayor is over it and perfectly fine sulking in his filth, until they tell him that Fuzzy is wearing his old mayor’s hat. Mayor demands his hat back, but Fuzzy wants Mayor to wrestle him for it. The match takes place in what can only be described as an allegorical prediction of Trumpian politics.

The Tropes
Does one of the show’s main characters have to wrestle?
Mayor, the mayor of Townsville, is forced to wrestle Fuzzy Lumpkins, the town’s country bumpkin, in order to take back his title of mayor. I’m assuming both are side characters who regularly pop up on this show.

Are they filling in for another wrestler?
Nope.

Did they enter a contest to wrestle for prize/money?
No, this was an agreed upon match for the right to be the mayor of Townsville.

Is the wrestler an actual professional wrestler making a cameo appearance?
There’s no cameo appearance, in either cartoon form or as a voice over.

Is there a masked wrestler present?
No, just a group of pink fuzzy ones. Apparently, Mayor signed on for a handicap match against all the Lumpkins. #TheNumbersGame

Is the wrestling predetermined or legitimate?
It’s cartoonishly real.

Was an airplane spin performed?
Close. Fuzzy grabs Mayor and winds him up like a baseball before hurling him into the ropes. Only for Mayor to bounce back and catch a face full of Fuzzy’s ass.

Other Observations

• Those double turnbuckles on the sides of the ring posts is a first for wrestling episodes. It also defeats the purpose of turnbuckles.
• Mayor throws up the “I love you” hand signal before leaping off the top rope for the finishing splash. Clearly an homage to “Superly” Jimmy Snuka that has not aged well.
• In case you’re wondering, the Powerpuff Girls do get involved to even the odds against the Lumpkins. Although briefly.
• The Mayor no-sells the entire Lumpkins’ beat down after seeing Fuzzy wear his hat.
• There’s a weird scene were Fuzzy asks Bellum to come into his office so he can take a gander at her. Under the Fuzzy administration, Bellum is now wearing daisy dukes and a knotted shirt displaying some midriff. Fuzzy is just an all-around creep, isn’t he?
• Something something, politics equals wrestling. Am I right?