10 Weird Times TV Shows Had Wrestling Storylines
7. Futurama
In too many other mediums, pro wrestling is framed as this clearly predetermined farce that its fans are just too thick to realise is fake. In a seminal LOLWCW moment, the company treated its own audience as morons in 'Ready To Rumble' through proxy f*ckwits Gordie and Sean.
Futurama also buried pro wrestling in its depiction of it - but in a warranted, bluntly hilarious manner. The episode in question, entitled 'Raging Bender', which somehow wasn't adapted for British audiences, sees Bender stumble a*se-backwards into Ultimate Robot Fighting success. He is subsequently advised that it is fixed, but proceeds to act as if he is legitimately successful, in a probably unintentional dig at Bret Hart.
Some brilliant digs at various wrestling tropes ensue. Particularly inspired is the portrayal of the foreign menace, simply called 'The Foreigner', who riles up the crowd by shouting "I'm not from here!" and, very fairly, "I have my own customs!"
This beautifully satirises the lack of imagination inherent to the gimmick, and how emanating from a different country is a bad thing by default. "Look at my crazy passport!" he says, holding an oversized prop you can't believe Vince McMahon hasn't repurposed for WWE TV.
Ultimately, the defeated Bender receives a Bed Bath & Beyond voucher as payment, in a neat, sad assessment of the scant financial rewards the painful graft is deemed worth.