Strap yourself into an Atlasphere and find out what your favorite old school Gladiators did once returning to the real world.

THE '80S
In 1988, one year before 'Cops' began asking the bad boys of America “What'cha gonna do when they come for you?,” noted victims’ advocate John Walsh was turning every American with access to Fox into a potential crime-solver on 'America’s Most Wanted'.
'The Super Bowl Shuffle' was billed as a song to "feed the needy." The Chicago Bears nearly fumbled it.
'The Wonder Years'—the award-winning and much-beloved 1960s-set coming-of-age series—was based on 'A Christmas Story.'
It was only a matter of time before the television remake trend found its way back to Hannibal, Murdock, Face, and B.A. Baracus, the four mercenaries better known as The A-Team.
The spooky TV ads for Time-Life's encyclopedia of the bizarre inspired the nightmares of countless '80s kids.
Until the impressive record was surpassed by 'The West Wing in 2000', 'Hill Street Blues' held the title of most Emmy-awarded freshman series, with eight trophies for its debut season alone (despite its basement-level ratings).
The nighttime soap you have to thank for the 1980s shoulder pad trend made its debut on this day in 1981.
Classrooms didn't have computer monitors when the game debuted in 1971, so kids had to use more of their imagination when shooting deer or succumbing to typhoid fever.
The famed retailer's Christmas 1987 catalog had something for everyone—including someone with $10,000 to shell out on a pair of alligator jeans.
The Simpsons—Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie—and their fellow Springfield residents made their Fox debut on December 17, 1989.
What do you get when you mix one part action movie with one part holiday flick and add in a dash of sweaty tank top? Why, 'Die Hard,' of course.
The late Bob Einstein's alter ego, faux-stuntman “Super Dave” Osborne, was famous for his cartoonish sketches—but a tank nearly crushed him for real.
Even by the standards of pro wrestling and its exaggerated personalities, there’s never been anyone quite like Randy “Macho Man” Savage (1952-2011).
The First Lady's catchphrase was everywhere in the 1980s. The problem? It didn't really keep kids from experimenting with drugs.
Smart home technology isn’t perfect (as anyone who owns an Amazon Echo that’s been activated by an episode of South Park knows), but it’s come a long way since the 1980s.
The quintessential annoying neighbor went from pitching milk and pizza in regional commercials to starring in 10 feature films. Let's see the Pillsbury Doughboy do that.
'Blade Runner 2049' star Ryan Gosling was just a few months shy of his second birthday when Ridley Scott's iconic sci-fi film hit theaters.
It's time to go through the attic, the garage, and the boxes at your parents' house. If you saved your old Happy Meal toys, you could be sitting on a goldmine.
The 1980s NFL alternative became so cash-strapped that athletes had to ride school buses to practice.
The Nazi invasion allegory was one of the highest-rated miniseries in television history, and the first to feature a leading character eating a guinea pig.
Erik Estrada once broke eight ribs, his wrist, his collarbone, and his sterum shooting an episode. The man was dedicated.