Professional Wrestling was huge in the 1980s; and thus seemed a good focus for an episode, as Kid’s mouth gets him in over his head when he finds himself in a wrestling match with “The Masked Mauler”.
We start off with “Angel” before the kids go on a quick break (during which Riley is watching a wrestling match involving a wrestler using the ring name of “The Masked Mauler”). At the end of the match, the Mauler announced that he would bet $100 that no one could beat him. For whatever reason, Kid - in front of the others - decides to take him on; bragging about how he could beat him, at which time it’s learned the Mauler is coming to town for a match. The others attempt to talk him out, but when Mario agrees to coach himnote , the others agree rather reluctantly (“Call Me”).
Kid stumbles off the stage after the song, hinting at the rough training period as the bout nears (“The Heat is On”); and in short order the main event is here; with Kid - over Ryan’s belated attempts to get him to change his mind - deciding to go ahead, and when pressed for advice by Kid (wrestling under the ring name “Kid Crusher”); Ryan suggests: Sing - leading to “How Did I Wind Up Here?” as Kid decides to use the tactic of trying to run away from the Mauler’s attempts to bear hug him, only for the frustrated Mauler to instead slam Ryan to the canvas, then adding the salt of trash-talking to the wound.
Big mistake; as a now-enraged Kid proceeds to unmask the Mauler; who is revealed to have much less menacing once the mask is removed. Following the victory; Kid asks the others to stop him if he ever shot his mouth off like that again, setting up Ryan joking that he’d do a half-nelson and closing song “Music for the Modern World”.
Songs performed in this episode:
- “Angel” (Madonna cover; performed by Renee)
- “Call Me” (Go West cover; performed by Ryan and Stacy)
- “The Heat is On” (Glenn Frey cover; performed by Ryan and Kid)note
- “How Did I Wind Up Here?” (Kids Incorporated original; performed by Kid)
- “Music for the Modern World” (Kids Incorporated original; performed by Gloria, Kid and Stacy)note
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Berserk Button: Kid’s reaction to seeing Ryan slammed to the mat.
- Pro Wrestling Episode: This episode includes a wrestling match.
- Training Montage: The Imagine Spot for “The Heat is On” is set during one.
- We Need a Distraction: The reasoning behind “How Did I Wind Up Here?”
