After Homer wins a storage locker at an auction filled with feather boas and 1950s muscle magazines, Grampa Simpson confronts his past as Springfield's most reviled pro-wrestler, especially when Bart begins following in his footsteps and Mr. Burns reveals that he was — and still is — Grampa's biggest fan.
Tropes:
- All-American Face: What Abe becomes for his sudden Heel–Face Turn, calling himself "Honest Abe" and re-introducing Bart as "Laddie Liberty."
- Card-Carrying Villain: Mr. Burns included himself as an example during the "High to be Loathed" song.
- Coax Them Out of the Closet: Subverted. After finding wigs, makeup, and feminine clothing that belongs to Grampa Simpson, Marge tries to coax him into admitting he's gay or trans and has been hiding it for decades; his actual secret is that he was once a flamboyant, Gorgeous George-esque pro wrestler called "Glamorous Godfrey." Ironically, Mr. Burns (a huge fan of the villainous Godfrey) then manages to tempt Grampa back into the ring and his old gimmick.
- Comically Missing the Point: An example Marge gives of how much more tolerant society has become is that there was a gay float in the Pride Parade.
- Dastardly Whiplash: While singing about the perks of being hated, Mr. Burns got somebody's wig to use as a moustache.
- Department of Redundancy Department: "Oh, my gay dad is gay for gays."
- Gilligan Cut: Homer angrily tries to call off Bart and Abe wrestling together. It doesn't work.Homer: Why must everything I forbid always happen?
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Burns pals around with Abe and Bart (both of whom he's tried to kill aside from numerous other grudges held between them as individuals and as members of the Simpson family as a whole). Homer is the only one who has a problem with it.
- Gorgeous George: Grandpa's wrestling persona, Gorgeous Godfrey.You're the luckiest people in the world. You get to look at me.
- Heel–Face Turn: Grandpa changes from Gorgeous Godfrey to Honest Abe mid-match.
- Impossible Shadow Puppets: While singing his Villain Song, Mr. Burns' shadow morphs into perfect silhouettes of the villains he names.
- Little Brother Is Watching: Grandpa gets second thoughts about playing the heel after seeing Bart imitate his antics.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Despite his long-standing enmity with Abe as seen in previous episodes, Burns was, and is, a huge fan of his pro-wrestling Heel persona.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: Abe is an In-Universe example of a Heel.
- Mistaken for Gay: When the Simpsons first find that Grampa's storage locker is filled with feather boas, wigs, and old muscle magazines from the 1950s, they assume that he's a closet homosexual who's angry all the time because he lived during a time when expressing homosexuality meant you were insane or sexually deviant.
- Painting the Fourth Wall: Gag adverts, in the form of lower screen animations used to promote other shows on the network, for fictional Storage Wars-esque shows pop up later in the episode after their involvement at the start of the episode.
- Pro Wrestling Episode: Grampa is revealed to have been a Heel in his youth and returns to the world of pro-wrestling due to Mr. Burns' influence.
- Pro Wrestling Is Real: To the surprise of absolutely no one, it turns out that Mr. Burns still believes this.
- Series Continuity Error:
- Mr. Burns being Abe's biggest fan completely contradicts past episodes that have depicted the two as mortal enemies since World War II (and especially after what Burns did in "Curse of the Flying Hellfish"). This may be justified as Burns not being aware of Godfrey's real identity until now, coupled with his notoriously erratic memory considering his continued inability to remember Homer's name.
- Marge said she wanted a gay relative, even though she already has one (her sister Patty). Considering that she didn't handle it well when Patty came out despite being supportive of gay relationships up to that point, it may be that she'd prefer the gay relative to be an in-law.
- Shout-Out: The list of villains Mr. Burns mentioned in his song includes: Skeletor, Megatronnote , Donkey Kongnote , Chucky, Eric Cartman, Vader, Iago, all three (at the time) Terminators, The Joker, Simon LeGree, Mr. Burns and Voldemort.
- Take That!:
- When Mr. Burns was told wrestling is fake, he looked at the camera and said it'd make an idiot out of every wrestling fan.
- The entire first act involving the locker is a potshot to shows like Storage Wars (here named Storage Battles) and Reality TV's popularity at the time.
- Several real-life people are mentioned by Mr. Burns as villains in "High to be Loathed" which makes it technically a Take That! to Josef Stalin, activist and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader and tennis player John McEnroe.
- Third-Person Person: During his "High to be Loathed" song, Mr. Burns calls himself "Mr. Burns".
- Villain Song: "High to be Loathed", sung by Mr. Burns describing the fame that comes with being hated.
