“The Wrestling Match”
Season 1, Episode 17
3/27/1953
Settle in for a classic show featuring some old school wrestling with more comedic gags than a Colt Cabana match.
Tag: Colt Cabana
Maron
“Cold Turkey”
Season 3, Episode 12
7/30/2015
Sadly, Marc Maron has decided to end his show Maron after it’s fourth season. Personally, I thought it was just as as good as his podcast. Especially, if you wanted to actually see Maron work through his personal issues instead of just hearing him talk about them. Anyway, here’s a wrestling-ish episode that features CM Punk and Colt Cabana, both of whom were guests on previous episodes of WTF with Marc Maron.
Kyle’s Wrestling T-Shirts on Maron
Season four of IFC’s Maron premieres tomorrow, and since I haven’t gotten around to reviewing the episode that features “MMA fighter” CM Punk and Colt Cabana, I figured I’d just list the ten best wrestling t-shirts that Marc’s assistant, Kyle, has worn over the past three seasons. By the way, is actor Josh Brener an actual wrestling fan? Has he been spotted at PWG shows? Can he start sporting wrestling tees on Silicon Valley, as well? Anyway…
Wanna Be the Strongest in the World
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 is Wanna be the Strongest in the World. And it was a lot better than I expected.
Box of Moonlight (1996)
After having heard Buddy Landel on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast recently, and getting to know more about him other than my limited knowledge of his cup of coffee that was his WWF run, I realized he was an entertaining story teller and another tragic “what could’ve been” wrestling tale, and not just some poor man’s Ric Flair. So in honor of Buddy Landel, I figured I’d post this brief cameo of his in the movie Box of Moonlight. RIP “Nature Boy”.
Merrie Melodies
“Bunny Hugged”
3/10/1951
Pro wrestling seems to be good fodder for cartoons. It’s already outlandish and slapstick as it is. Wrestling is built on magnifying everything related to the real world to a ridiculously excessive interpretation. Within the boundaries, or lack thereof, of the animated world that ridiculous interpretation is further heightened to even more preposterous levels of absurdity. This is exactly why every cartoon should have at least one wrestling-themed episode. Wrestling and cartoons go hand in hand. They’re the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups of the entertainment medium.
Comedians Who Are Legit Wrestling Fans
Wrestling fans love to know about celebrities who actually enjoy watching wrestling. It makes them more like us! However, we don’t care for the ones that were somehow coerced into being at a WWE event, despite getting awesome front-row seats, for the sole purpose of reminding non-wrestling fans how mainstream and culturally relevant WWE is. Nor do we care for the ones that are guest hosting Raw for the simple reason of pimping out their latest movie/show. No, we like the ones that actually watch on their own accord and are fans of the product. Whether they’ve just gotten on the bandwagon or have been fans for years. It’s even better when those fans happen to be comedians. Especially, when you consider the several parallels between the lives of professional wrestlers and stand-up comedians. Plus, it helps to have a sense of humor and a healthy dose of self-hatred when watching wrestling. Which is why it makes sense that comedians would be legit wrestling fans. And here’s a PWI 500-ish ranking of them.
Quantum Leap
“Heart of a Champion – July 23, 1955”
Season 3 Episode 20
5/8/1991
Watching the opening title credits for Quantum Leap made me nostalgic for 80’s and 90’s cheesy TV opening credit sequences. I’m sure I’m not the only one who pines for the days of edited footage from previous episodes with terrible music and actors turning at the right time just as their name is displayed across the screen. Why else would WWE.com decide to reimagine Raw as a 90’s sitcom? Other than that bit of nostalgia, I don’t know much about Quantum Leap other than it used to be on after Monday Night Raw back in the day. Having watched this particular episode I kind of want to binge on the entire series courtesy of Hulu Plus. Then again, I’m sure the other episodes cannot compete with Scott Bakula time traveling to 1950s professional wrestling as a kayfabe Russian heel.
The Effeminate Wrestler
It’s often a good idea to have posts with tie-ins that are current and/or relevant, and seeing as October is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) History Month, this week’s Art of Gimmickry will focus on the effeminate wrestler. What’s that? Halloween’s also this month? Shit.
Since the Golden Age of Television, pro wrestling fans have been indoctrinated to boo anything and everything that’s remotely gay…or at the very least laugh at it. Granted, it’s rare that the wrestler is actually referred to as being gay, but the insinuation is usually there. For example, when Vince McMahon would throw around the phrase “mind games,” whenever referring to a feud involving Goldust, what he really meant was “gay shenanigans.”
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