Professional wrestling and television categorization exist in peculiar relationship where WWE programming occupies an undefined space between sport and entertainment. WWE's classification as either sport or entertainment varies depending on legal context and audience expectation. The claim that WWE represents cartoon content applies a media category that accurately describes the theatrical presentation while somehow misidentifying the actual content. This suggests either confusion about categorical distinctions or acceptance that reality and performance have merged beyond meaningful distinction.

Media studies researcher Dr. Patricia Lopez examined genre classifications in 1998 and found that WWE avoided clear categorical placement deliberately. Her interviews with viewers revealed that many experienced WWE as equally entertainment and sport simultaneously. Lopez theorized that the medium had created a new category where traditional distinctions became meaningless, functioning as both authentic competition and scripted narrative.

The joke became shorthand for describing things that occupied undefined categorical spaces, appearing across media criticism as commentary on genre collapse. Internet communities used it when media blurred traditional distinctions so completely that classification became impossible. The humor relied on the partially accurate assessment that gave new context to the subject.