That Wrestling Show

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“That Wrestling Show”
That '70s Show episode

Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 15
Guest stars	Ernie Ladd (Manager), Lisa Robin Kelly (Laurie}, Tim Turner (Therapist), The Rock (Rocky Johnson}, Ken Shamrock (Wrestler #1), Chris Hogan (Therapist #2), Gene Lebell (Referee)
Written by	Jeff Filgo, Jackie Behan
Directed by	Terry Hugues
Production no.	119
Original airdate	February 7, 1999
Episode chronology
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"Stolen Car"	"First Date"
List of That '70s Show episodes

That Wrestling Show is an episode from That 70s Show.

Red reluctantly attends a pro wrestling match with Eric and the gang after Kitty convinces him it would be a perfect opportunity to bond with him.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Plot summary

Saturday afternoon at 3:42 while the gang is watching wrestling on TV in the basement, Red tells Eric to go return some overdue library books. Eric stands up to his father and says "no", leading to a stare-down between the two. Kitty forces Red to try to develop a friendship with Eric by having him accompany the gang (and Bob) to a wrestling show in Kenosha.

Red constantly complains while they are at the event until Rocky Johnson (played by his son, The Rock) drops a midget on his head. In a later match, Red starts jawing with a wrestler (played by Ken Shamrock) but backs down when the wrestler gets in his face and tells Eric he's having a great time. Red and Eric break a rule and go into the locker room to get Rocky Johnson's autograph and argue over whether the autograph should be made out to Eric or Red. Back home, Eric proclaims that he is the king when he gets Red in a full nelson. But Eric lets go when Red pretends like his neck hurts, allowing Red to put Eric in a full nelson of his own.

Kelso brags to the guys that Jackie has been his "love-slave" ever since the two of them "did it." Jackie explains to Donna that she has been so nice to Kelso because she is afraid that he will get bored because they had sex. When Donna points out that Kelso will want to do it again, Jackie realizes that she "owns" Kelso, and goes back to her normal, domineering personality.

Bob is complaining to Fez and Hyde about his wife, Midge, going to therapy, but they won't listen to him if he won't buy them a beer. After initially refusing, he breaks down and gets them a beer. Fez and Hyde contentedly sip their beer as Bob laments how their relationship went down, starting with Midge's subscription to "Cosmo".

Back in Point Place, Kitty, Midge, and Laurie, who is home again, go to Midge's "therapy" session. Kitty shares that she thinks Laurie is an ungrateful spoiled brat when asked to share something. When the therapy session turns out to be a sex party, Kitty drags Midge and Laurie out. Midge goes to a real psychiatrist, who draws a picture of her breasts in his notebook during her session while listening to her and asks her if she wants to go to a party with him.

[edit] Pop Culture References

The show features wrestlers from the WWF, specifically The Rock (as his father, Rocky Johnson), Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy and Ken Shamrock. Although the event is supposedly put on by the WWF, it is an anachronism. At that time, the promotion was known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation, or the WWWF. The company did not change its name until 1979, two years after this episode of That 70s Show takes place. The WWF also did not adopt the logo used in the episode until 1983, and the company did not promote outside the Northeastern US until sometime after Vince McMahon took the WWF over in 1982 (the town the event in the episode is held in, Kenosha, is in the US Midwest, which was the promotional territory of the American Wrestling Association at the time).
The tri-colored WWF banner on the arena wall was used as the ring apron for Monday Night RAW and WWF Superstars from 1994 through 1997.
References to "Cosmo" pop up frequently throughout the series, like when Jackie and Kelso read the magazine during season 4 to figure out why they cheated on each other.
Rocky Johnson tells Red that one day, his son will be "the most electrifying man in sports entertainment" (the Rock's claim to fame). Red replies with a poorly veiled sarcasm: "good luck with that".