Pro Wrestling & Pop Culture
Pro Wrestling has been around for ages, and as many things that have been around for a very long time, pop culture will always play a role or reference for them. Pro Wrestling is no exception here.
Things from professional wrestling have been referenced in pop culture in so many ways, and so many times, we could be here for many years trying to highlight it all. But in this article, we’ll point out of few…
Married… with Children
The producers of Married… with Children were huge pro wrestling fans and the last names of the two most important families (Bundy & Rhoades) were named after King Kong Bundy and Dusty Rhodes.
There’s also the fact King Kong Bundy appeared in two episodes of the show as well. He first did it in Season 2 as Peggy’s Uncle Irwin, and on Season 10 as himself.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best animated shows Nickelodeon has ever produced, and has a very interesting pro wrestling cameos. The character The Boulder was inspired by The Rock, and even talks in The Rock’s now classic third-person style. Even better, Mick Foley is the person that voiced The Boulder in the four episodes the character appears.
Originally, the production team wanted to have The Rock voice The Boulder, but they weren’t able to get him for the role. Instead, they got a worthy replacement in Foley.
Yu-Gi-Oh!
The popular card game Yu-Gi-Oh! has several references to pro wrestling… From Joey Wheeler’s face meme being inspired by a face made by Antonio Inoki during a match, to several archetypes in the actual card game having many references. There are also two archetypes that have a lot of designs based on pro wrestling, like with the Dinowrestlers and Goukis archetypes.
A special mention has to be given to the Destiny HERO Dynatag card, whose design and name are a reference and pay tribute to the legendary British pro wrestler Dynamite Kid.
Other References
A very popular reference or cameo we’ve seen is that of Bret Hart applying his sharpshooter in the opening credits of the popular show Malcolm in the Middle. Even shows in Spain have paid a small tribute to wrestling, like the one seen in the show La que se avecina with the character of Amador Rivas wearing the winged eagle WWF Championship in his alter ego of Capitan Salami.
Tell us, what your favorite pro wrestling references in pop culture are below in the comments section…
About Post Author
Juan Carlos Reneo
About Post Author
Juan Carlos Reneo
Juan Carlos Reneo is one of the original writers at The Scrap, contributing since the site’s inception. Hailing from Spain, he is a passionate professional wrestling enthusiast who primarily writes opinionated articles focused on AEW. With a large and devoted following on X, Juan brings unique insights and a dedicated perspective to his coverage of the wrestling world.
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