With the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards airing tonight, it’s only fitting that I take a look at the ten best wrestling-themed sitcom episodes in TV history. As in situational comedy. No one-hour dramas or animated shows. None of which feature Hulk Hogan surprisingly enough.
Tag: Attitude Era
The Ultimate Bad Ass Wrestler
With Brock Lesnar having dominated John Cena at SummerSlam 2014 in a way nobody has ever done, and in a championship match no less, it’s only fitting The Art of Gimmickry explores the bad ass character. It’s safe to say that the idea or gimmick came about during the late 90’s, specifically around the Attitude Era. But not because of guys like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who was more of an anti-hero than a one-man wrecking machine. What really helped inform the creation of the bad ass gimmick was the rise of the UFC.
Wrestlemaniac (2006)
Finally, a wrestling-themed horror film. Minus all the things that make horror films good. Sadly, the wrestling concept is the least campiest thing about this movie. At least it stars a killer in a lucha libre mask! Although to be fair, it’s probably the least intimidating lucha libre mask ever. WCW’s Ciclope had a much scarier mask. Read on if you dare!
That 70’s Show
“That Wrestling Show”
Season 1 Episode 15
2/7/1999
As the Attitude Era continued growing in popularity and wrestlers were fast becoming household names once again, it wasn’t strange to see WWE or WCW guys make cameos on other TV shows. One of the better ones involved a few WWE wrestlers showing up on That 70’s Show as old school wrestlers. Most importantly, it had The Rock in his first-ever acting role. He was portraying his dad, Rocky Johnson, a former wrestler, so really there wasn’t a whole lot of acting involved. Still, it’s one of the better wrestling-themed TV episodes out there. Plus, it had Ken Shamrock and The Hardy Boyz in awful wigs.
Raging Against the Machine
This month’s 10 Count will feature the top moments in which wrestlers took matters into their own hands and unleashed their frustrations on upper level management. With this past week’s revelation of The Corporation 2.0, us wrestling fans will witness another boss vs. employee storyline that made the Attitude Era and Steve Austin famous. Despite how many times it’s been rehashed over and over again, from taking on the actual CEO of the company to the assistant to the regional general manager of Raw; anytime a popular wrestler goes up against any figure of authority it’s going to generate instant heat. Granted, I really wish this storyline had been dropped out of the pro wrestling storyline rotation, considering that it spawned the never-ending turnover rate of meaningless General Managers. But this time it’s a fresh of breath air, considering the involvement of head honcho himself, Vince McMahon, and the fact that Daniel Bryan is a superstar on the rise and not an already established one. At least not in the eyes of the WWE Universe. Hopefully we’ll get a few moments in which Daniel Bryan will make the figureheads of the WWE look foolish and get a few Busaiku Knee Kicks in for good measure. I really hope he gets in a few Busaiku Knee Kicks.
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