Professional wrestling, brought to you by pop culture and the make believe world of mass media.
“The Wrestler”
Season 2, Episode 12
1/7/1962
Yes. Mister Ed had a wrestling-themed episode. Sadly, it didn’t involve Mister Ed wrestling against a human wrestler. They could’ve at least used him as part of a grand spectacle of an entrance. Then again, it was 1962 and that sort of thing would’ve probably caused granny plantsĀ in the audience to faint.
The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco
11/5/2003
Season 5 Episode 6
Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s spin-off show, Angel, tackles Aztec demons, Day of the Dead lore, and numbered luchadores who happen to be brothers and are not named Los Villanos.
While I’m sure there’s quite a bit of manga and anime based on wrestling, or puroresu, they’re not all easy to come by. Luckily, thanks to my Hulu Plus subscription, I stumbled across the oddly sexually-charged, hard-hitting, competitive world of joshi wrestling that isĀ Wanna be the Strongest in the World. And it was a lot better than I expected.
FrontĀ Yard Wrestling
1/21/2015
Season 5, Episode 2
Based on some research, I found thatĀ Workaholics references wrestling A LOT. From Lou Albano costumes to them scrambling to find a place to watch Monday Night Raw. AndĀ Blake’s first showbiz gig was actually doing backyard wrestling on public access TV. But this is the first episode that actually centers on wrestling as the main plot. And they do a hell of a job sending up both pro and backyard wrestling.
“Metal Militia”
Season 2, Episode 13
10/1/2006
With the announcement of Camp WWE being a new show on the WWE Network, along with a bunch of other shows that add little to no value to the network (just give us new episodes of Legends of Wrestling already, dammit!), it’s only fitting we take a look at this wrestling-themed sketch from Robot Chicken since it’s brought to you by the same people who are making Camp WWE: Seth Green and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios.
Host: The Rock
“WWE Promo Shoot”
Season 40, Episode 16
3/29/2015
It only took him four tries, but finally… The Rock did an actual wrestling-related sketch on Saturday Night Live. And it was pretty damn good. Hell, the entire episode was pretty damn good and hilarious. It also didn’t hurt that the promo had WWE logos all over and was pretty much an ad for WrestleMania 31 “Press Play”.
Tag Team
Pilot
1/26/1991
In the late 80’s/early 90’s, Hulk Hogan wasn’t the only household wrestling name when it came to outside film and TV projects. In fact, Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura were in A LOT better movies than Hogan was. I’ll always choose Jesse Ventura in The Running Man over any Hogan vehicle, except for maybe No Holds Barred. That movie is an undeniable classic to seven-year-old me. And Roddy Piper is basically pro wrestling’s Samuel L. Jackson, he’ll take any role so long as the check clears. As of this writing he has five projects in post-production.Yet, Ventura and Piper’s combined star power wasn’t enough to get their one-hour pilot, Tag Team, picked up for a full season. Which is a shame when you consider Thunder in Paradise ran for 22 episodes.
“El-Trainmania IV”
Season 3, Episode 10
10/16/1999
Peter Engel, famed TV producer who brought us Saved by the Bell and California Dreams decided he needed to extend beyond suburbia and reach these keeds living in the big city. Basically, AC Slater and Lisa Turtle weren’t “urban” enough so out came City Guys in 1997. City Guys was a more diverse Saved by the Bell set in the concrete jungle of New York City. This particular episode came out in 1999 during the height of the Attitude Era and features ECW’s Rob Van Dam.
“Body Slam”
Season 4, Episode 7
11/12/1985
80’s Television. It was nonsensical, over the top, cheesy, and most of all, terribly awesome. So it would make sense that a show like The A-Team would have wrestling’s Hulk Hogan guest star as wrestling’s Hulk Hogan. This episode alone could serve as the sole time capsule that epitomizes everything 80’s about 80’s TV shows.
“Wrassle Mania”
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