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Danielle Fishel
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Every year I think I'm ready for the holidays and then suddenly I'm the one hosting. This year though, Whole Foods Market low key saved me. Maybe even high key.
Will Friedle
Same Susan and I walked in for one thing and walked out with a whole game plan. Their heat, neat sides, lifesavers and 365 staples like stuffing mix, cream of mushroom soup and green beans have made my pantry the quintessential Thanksgiving haven't. And Whole Foods has single handedly made me the best host gift giver around. Their curated cheeses or cookie gift boxes Instant hero status for Maine's I grabbed.
Danielle Fishel
Their bone in rib roast and I'm not kidding. It's a showstopper.
Will Friedle
So if you're scrambling like we always are, just order, pickup or delivery. Whole Foods is truly the holiday headquarters. New traditions, Zero Chaos Shop for everything you need at Whole Foods Market your holiday headquarters.
Danielle Fishel
If you're like me, you're juggling a million things during the holiday season. Buying gifts, planning family vacations, prepping for holiday parties. It's never ending. But CVS is here for all of it. Just imagine going to one store to buy everything you need. From same day photo cards to calendars, ornaments and photo books to delicious candy and stocking stuffers galore, CVS has you covered. Plus CVS is introducing joyword, their new brand which includes trendy, cute and colorful holiday staples like nutcrackers, snack, snow globes and more. Visit cvs.comholiday or your local CVS for everything you need this holiday season. Coca Cola for the big for the small, the short and the tall. Peacemakers, Risk takers for the optimists, pessimists for long distance love for introverts and extroverts, the thinkers and the doers for old friends and new Coca Cola for everyone. Pick up some Coca Cola at a store near you. So you're telling me that the AI that's meant to make everyone's job easier.
Joe Hendry
To manage just adds more to manage?
Danielle Fishel
On top of the thousands of apps.
Joe Hendry
The IT department already manages?
Danielle Fishel
Funny how that works. Any business can add AI. IBM helps you scale and manage AI.
Joe Hendry
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Danielle Fishel
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Will Friedle
Have either of you watched Age of Disclosure?
Danielle Fishel
What?
Will Friedle
No.
Danielle Fishel
Never even heard of it. So what is it?
Will Friedle
It is a documentary. Ok. About how. And you're going to be like, come on. How since the 1940s, the government has absolutely has alien spacecraft and the bodies.
Joe Hendry
Come on.
Danielle Fishel
I see.
Will Friedle
Dude, the entire documentary. I think it just won south by or Sundance Documentary. The same way that there's like the documentaries about alien civilizations building the pyramids. No, no, no, no, no. Who's making this documentary? Everybody that was interviewed was senators or congressmen or people that work for the CIA or the dia. And I'm not talking about like, oh, I was a senator. It's like Marco Rubio and all people that are currently senators or national security advisors. Go watch the documentary. It just won, like all of your favorite festivals. Writer. It's like the biggest documentary, one of the biggest documentaries in the world. It was done by. Oh, I forget. But sue and I watched it. So X Files is real. Well, what they're talking about. So they've now had. So starting in 2023, they've now had full congressional hearings on the Hill. Yeah, I remember about all of this stuff going on. And now it's one of the, one of the few completely and totally bipartisan things going on. So they've released all the footage of the fact that apparently over the last, especially five or 10 years, all of these pilots from the Air Force, from the Navy, have been following these, these specific crafts that have technology that we can't possibly understand. And so the government, the way that they came at it is by going, okay, let's say it isn't aliens. Let's say it's something we have or something another China has. Yeah, whatever. It's still a serious national security threat that there's stuff flying over our air bases. Right. And we have to figure out what it is which led to this thing called the Legend. You have to watch this thing because I'm one of those people. I fully believe there. There are alien species out there. I don't know if we've been visited. And then I finished watching this, I'm like, oh, yeah, no, this is all real. And everybody's saying within the next year or two, the president or somebody major, while not giving us total, all the information, will come out and say, yes, we have alien spacecraft and yes, we have been visited by another alien. They're like, It's. We're within 12 months of somebody like literally taking the microphone, the President, United States, saying, yes, we have the technology, we have the crafts from other planets, we have been visited.
Joe Hendry
Right.
Will Friedle
Because none of that has actually been said. Right. At this point. It's all just like, there are government.
Joe Hendry
Investigations looking into this.
Will Friedle
Exactly. So they've changed it, obviously. And one of the smartest things they did was rebranded it, which is what everybody does. So they're no longer UFOs, which everybody's like conjures tinfoil hats and all the kind. They're UAPs, which is unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. And there's again interviewing like Harry Reid and leaders of the Senate and like the House Armed Services Committee going, I can't tell you exactly the information I have, but let's just say I've actually seen the wreckage and the bodies. And these are people that are like massive people in the Senate and Congress. It was crazy.
Danielle Fishel
Is it scary? Is this scary? Cuz, like, I.
Will Friedle
It depends on how you think about it. So one of the things they talk about, which apparently. And here's the other thing. They're like, look, I know you might not believe this one camera, but it's. If this aircraft, this craft, whatever it is, this unidentified flying object is caught by.
Danielle Fishel
It's a UAP.
Will Friedle
UAP, exactly. Is caught by one radar system, then it's caught by 10 radar systems. It's not like it was found on one thing. It's like we can track it by a satellite. We can track it by this. And so they're interviewing people going like, oh, no, it went from. And they're sitting, they're talking about this under oath in front of Congress, where they're like, oh, no, I was sitting there in my aircraft. You know, I'm a Navy pilot. I have been for 35 years. It hovered in front of us an entire squadron for 15 minutes and then shot up 80,000ft instantaneously. It's like, he's like, there's nothing that we have that is anything like this. It's crazy. And so what they're talking about is it's actually the Defense Department and the defense contractors that are trying to stop everybody from finding out what it is, because they're not just crashing here, but they're crashing in China and they're crashing in Russia. So there's an arms race that we don't know about of collecting these spacecraft and reverse engineering their technology. I'm just getting used To AI is going to have nothing. And there's onto. Dude, watch this documentary. It was Su and I sitting there like, so I'd heard about it and. Because apparently one of the other things was the Fableman's was supposed to be Steven Spielberg's like, last big movie. And he watched this documentary and is coming out of retirement to do a film based on the guy. The whole thing is about. So it's one we're. We're sitting there watching. I was like, oh, I heard about this thing. It won all these awards, I think south by. And it won the, like a Sundance Award. Like one. I won all this stuff. It's like, let's watch it. It's about aliens. And neither of us spoke for 90 minutes. We sat there with our jaws open like, this can't be real. This can't be real. And it's starting with again Senator Harry Reid and all the people that are the heads of Congress and the Senate going like, oh, yeah, this is all. This is real. This is all real.
Danielle Fishel
Sure, I believe it. But like, why is. I don't know why it's such a. I don't know why it's such a big. Just because it's never been said before. Because it's like, okay, cool.
Will Friedle
It's never been. Well, they're talking about. So one of the things. This is one of the things they interestingly talk about in the documentary is kind of like, why not just tell everybody? Yeah. And one of the guys is like, are you kidding? I was getting stopped by people in the Pentagon. He goes, high officials in the Pentagon that were telling me that just saying there were aliens out there was the equivalent of saying there were, that it's against Christianity and they were looking for the devils and demons. He's like, these were top generals telling me I was. I was. I'm trying to find demons. He's like, there's people that wouldn't be able to handle the fact that we're not alone and there's other species around. I mean, it was. You guys have to watch this thing.
Joe Hendry
It is.
Will Friedle
It's so. It was one of the craziest. We just finished and we're like, I'm going to bed. Like, I don't want to. I don't want to talk anymore. I'm scared. I'm going to bed. It was crazy. Yeah.
Danielle Fishel
Interesting.
Will Friedle
Age of disclosure. It is so worth the watch because for Tom Delong. Yes, exactly. It's so true. Blink 182 is right. The entire time, Tom Delong just the one. Just one blink. One was right.
Danielle Fishel
Right.
Will Friedle
The entire time. 82. Still just non believers. But this is one of those things. You ever watch a documentary where you're like, okay, yeah. Everything they just said makes sense that that was this documentary. And I'm not one of those guys. I'm not. Yes. Aliens. It was like, okay, I guess I'll watch this. It was insane.
Joe Hendry
You guys have to watch this.
Danielle Fishel
What's it called again? Age of Disclosure.
Will Friedle
Of Disclosure. And it is just. It was. It was also just a beautifully done documentary. It was very pretty to watch, but.
Joe Hendry
It was the, the.
Will Friedle
All the technology, it's all there. And they really. It's all. The government is releasing all this stuff. So there's footage of these craft and they're going straight from space through our atmosphere, then right into the ocean without ever being like, without stopping, without having to change anything. They're. They're just going, it's nuts.
Joe Hendry
It's nuts.
Will Friedle
I can't even describe it.
Joe Hendry
It's great.
Danielle Fishel
Well, we'll check it out. Maybe we'll do a recap. Maybe we'll do a recap of Age.
Will Friedle
Of Disclosure if they'll let us. Yeah.
Danielle Fishel
True, true.
Will Friedle
That's all I'm saying.
Danielle Fishel
Welcome to Pod Meets World. I'm Danielle Fishel.
Will Friedle
I'm Ryder Strong. And I know that we're not alone. I'm Will Fred. The holidays bring up stories for all of us. For example, I know Danielle gets together with her family in Orange county to eat an open presents, but the night actually begins when they bust out the scratchers. Meanwhile, in the woods, Ryder and Shiloh carve their own gifts, grappling from tree to tree, making fun of the kids who waited up for Santa. And since my family lives across the country, and for most of my life, I've been working here in la. Sometimes a phone call had to go a long way because especially during the holidays, hearing someone's voice can spark the same emotional response as a hug. So many people have parents, grandparents, or older relatives who live far away. And tech might not be their love language. And that's why AT&T's digital literacy workshops really mean something. They help older adults learn the simple tech most of us take for granted. Video calling, sharing photos, staying connected. And it's changing lives. People like Nancy Shawn learned to video chat for the first time. So this year, she won't just hear about what happened. She'll be there on the screen, laughing, telling stories and watching the kids open presents. So this holiday season, reach out. Call your people stay connected no matter the distance. Connecting changes everything at and T every.
Danielle Fishel
Year I say I'm going to find the perfect holiday gift for friends and family and then suddenly it's December 22nd, 8pm and I'm panic buying a candle called Garage Sale Mystery Box.
Will Friedle
The goal is always the same. It must be personal, but not weirdly personal. It needs to convey I care about you, but not I had this custom carved with your baby teeth and this.
Danielle Fishel
Is why Aura Frames is the answer to the entire crisis. It's the easiest gift to give. I got one last year from my mom and dad and I swear it has changed their lives.
Will Friedle
You can preload photos before it ships so it arrives already special with all your favorite memories ready to digitally display. Add pics of your kids, your dog, that time of birthday cake lit your hair on fire. And then you just keep adding pics all year long straight from your phone and everyone can see them. Well, I mean the ones you want them to see.
Danielle Fishel
Unlimited free pictures and videos. Boom. It's the gift that keeps giving. No complicated setup either. Anyone can do it. Wi Fi app done.
Will Friedle
Honestly, it makes holiday shopping easier because it's so thoughtful. Without much work on your end, it looks like you planned ahead even if you definitely did not. Don't wait. Win the holidays now with Aura Frames.
Danielle Fishel
For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off or as best selling Carver Mat frames named number one by Wirecutter by using promo code podmeets world at checkout.
Will Friedle
That's a U R A frames.com promo code podmeets world. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast, so order yours now to get it in time for the holidays.
Danielle Fishel
Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. So let me get this straight.
Joe Hendry
Your company has data here, there and.
Danielle Fishel
Everywhere, but your AI can't use the data because it's here, there and everywhere?
Joe Hendry
Seems like something's missing.
Danielle Fishel
Every business has unique data. IBM helps your AI access your data wherever it lives.
Joe Hendry
To change how you do business, let's create smarter business.
Danielle Fishel
IBM. Twentieth Century Studios presents the upcoming comedy Ella McKay from Academy Award winning writer director James L. Brooks books whose legendary credits include as Good as It Gets, Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News and the Simpsons. Emma Mackey plays Ella McKay, a passionate, idealistic young woman who juggles her family and work life in a heartfelt comedy brimming with hope about the people you love and how to survive them. Ella is highly intelligent and caring, finding purpose in taking care of and defending others, whether that be the public or even more difficult, her family. Ella McKay features an all star cast including Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Loudon, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Adebiri, Julie Kavanagh, Spike Fern, Rebecca Hall. With Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson. It's a perfect holiday comedy about an imperfect family. Ella McKay now playing only in theaters.
Will Friedle
You know what separates the pros from the rest? It's not just talent, it's how you respond.
Joe Hendry
When the game gets tough, you dig in, you fight back. And when it comes to your health, that same mindset matters. Yeah, especially if you or someone you care about is facing metastatic prostate cancer. There's a treatment called pluvicto lutetium Lou177 vapivotide, tetraxitan and it's changing the game. Plavicto isn't chemo. It's a different kind of treatment that targets PSMA positive cells, including prostate cancer cells. Plavicto can be used before chemotherapy for some people. Here's the official word.
Will Friedle
Pluvicto is a prescription treatment used to.
Joe Hendry
Treat adults with prostate specific membrane antigen positive metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer or.
Will Friedle
PSMA positive MCRPC who have already been treated with hormone therapy and are considered appropriate to delay chemotherapy.
Joe Hendry
Now let's talk safety. Pluvicto involves contact with radioactivity which may increase the risk for cancer and and cause fetal harm. Drink plenty of fluids, urinate often, use contraception and talk to your doctor about how to reduce the risk of exposing others to radiation during and after treatment. It can also cause low blood cell counts, kidney problems and infertility. Tell your doctor if you notice weakness, pale skin, shortness of breath, bleeding or bruising more easily an infection or changes in urination. Side effects include decreased blood cell counts, tiredness, dry mouth, nausea, appetite loss, joint or back pain and constipation. Look, every day matters and if you're in the fight or know someone who is, this is a conversation worth having. Ask your doctor about Plavicto because just like in football, every play, every decision, every second counts.
Will Friedle
Visit pluvicto.com to learn more. That's P L U V I c t o.com foreign.
Danielle Fishel
Tomorrow night, December 13th, live from Washington D.C. the WWE will be holding Saturday night's main event John Cena's final match ever where the evening's big match will see one of the company's all time icons facing the monster Foreign heel to known as Gunther Capping off a year long retirement tour from one of, if not the greatest wrestler of all time.
Will Friedle
I don't mean to stop you, but you're teaching me about wrestling, so I'm learning. Isn't this like the ninth last thing he's ever done? Hasn't he come back like 14 times?
Danielle Fishel
No, actually he's never gone anywhere. He's never had a, he's, this is, he has though had a one year retirement sendoff.
Will Friedle
Okay, so he was at the thing you brought me to.
Danielle Fishel
Yes. And it's, and that kick started the, this is my last year basically.
Will Friedle
And he came back as a heel.
Danielle Fishel
He came back, started as a baby.
Will Friedle
Face, back as a heel. I remember rider with terms.
Danielle Fishel
Here's the, here's the thing. Actor.
Will Friedle
Now hold on.
Danielle Fishel
In, in the year of the retirement sendoff, him being a heel hasn't really worked. Yeah. So he's back to being a good.
Will Friedle
Guy because just no one would buy him as a heel.
Danielle Fishel
No one wanted it. Everyone was like, bro, we love you and.
Will Friedle
Right.
Danielle Fishel
And we want to love you. And so he's, he's, he's now back to, you know, he's back to being a good guy. This is the guy who was known universally for having done the most Make a Wish visits in the history of Make a Wish Foundation.
Will Friedle
Yeah. So you can't be the bad guy.
Danielle Fishel
All of a sudden. Now you want us to buy you as a bad guy. You're too beloved. We love you too much. We're not going to turn on. Even though it was a great heel turn for, for the time that it lasted. But anyway, it, it has been, it's been one year of a send off but Saturday is the final match and then it's where won't be able to see him. It's in Washington D.C. are you now.
Will Friedle
What time's your flight?
Danielle Fishel
My flight is, I'm taking a red eye actually. After you.
Will Friedle
Really?
Danielle Fishel
No, no, God no. I'm actually not going.
Will Friedle
I was like, Jesus, I would be surprised.
Danielle Fishel
Here's why I'm not going. I, I went last weekend. I went to Survivor Series in San Diego.
Will Friedle
Much closer and that. And John Cena was at that one.
Danielle Fishel
And John Cena was there and I got to survive. He, he did not win. Oh, but he did survive.
Will Friedle
So I mean the chances of him losing his final match are probably pretty slim.
Danielle Fishel
I mean I don't know what's going to happen. I actually think he will lose because if he, if he takes the belt and then goes, that's it.
Joe Hendry
I'M out of here.
Will Friedle
I'm done.
Danielle Fishel
No, I think, I think it's like a 99% thing that he's going to lo lose his last match. It's gonna be great though. It's, you know, he truly is, if not the greatest of all time. Absolutely. Up there.
Will Friedle
Yeah. In the conversation.
Danielle Fishel
Definitely in the conversation. Arguably the greatest wrestler of all time. And, and so to. To have this big send off has been. Has been really fun for the last year.
Will Friedle
Well, there's only been a few that have jumped out to where they become. You don't know. Yeah. If you don't know anything about wrestling, you still know them.
Danielle Fishel
Correct.
Will Friedle
So he's probably one of 10 men or women in the whole history of wrestling where everybody knows them, even if they've never watched wrestling. And I really, I know three names. Hulk Hogan, John Cena and the Rock. Right? Yeah.
Danielle Fishel
Yeah, there you go. Yeah, I know. It is funny to me that my kids knew of the Rock as. Isn't that Dwayne Johnson? Because they knew him from Jumani. They knew him as an. Exactly, exactly. They knew him as an actor before they got into wrestling. And it was like, oh, that just feels wrong. He's the Rock. But you know, he correct them.
Will Friedle
You let them.
Danielle Fishel
I know.
Will Friedle
Even the fantasy.
Joe Hendry
Yeah.
Will Friedle
Do you know why, Santa? You have to, you know, commit. All the ways are real. At least he's real. They're asking, man. You cannot tell that you've got Elf on a shelf for Dwayne Johnson. I hope you've told all your kids right from the second you brought them to a wrestling match that it's fake and there's no fantasy involved. I hope you told them that right away like Ryer would have. This is all unreal.
Danielle Fishel
Today we are talking to one of the emerging stars ready to take John Cena's spot. This Scottish born fan favorite turned his campy theme song, Zoolander esque stare, an independent success into a fast pass through the wwe, debuting at last year's Royal Rumble and then squaring off against Randy Orton at WrestleMania all before signing an official contract with the company. That is an unheard of accomplishment. It was an overnight success that took about 10 years to achieve. And now he is a WWE Superstar competing in their NXT brand, figuring out his new surroundings and getting ready for whatever comes next. Even if it's a podcast with three former child stars of a show we are not sure he's ever even heard of. But either way, we have called his name and as a result he is here welcome to Pod Meets world. Joe Hendry.
Will Friedle
Hello. Hello, Joe.
Danielle Fishel
Thank you so much for joining us. I will have you know I live in a massive Joe Hendry household. It. This will be the only time my children are jealous of this podcast. They're way more excited than when I told him them Punky Brewster was coming on.
Joe Hendry
So. So this. That's high praise. That's high praise.
Danielle Fishel
It's. It's a lot of. It's a lot of high praise. I have converted Will and Ryder into wrestling believers. Will, for sure. Writer is still. Writer's getting into it. He's getting into a marshmallow on the ropes.
Joe Hendry
It's way too.
Will Friedle
There's so much information. There's so many names, there's so many chants. I can't keep it all straight.
Danielle Fishel
I know. There's a lot.
Will Friedle
I've been to a WrestleMania, so.
Danielle Fishel
Yes. You know. Yeah, exactly.
Joe Hendry
Which one did you go to Vegas.
Danielle Fishel
Vegas this past year and you don't remember me?
Will Friedle
We were there the first day.
Danielle Fishel
Yeah. We didn't make it to the second day.
Joe Hendry
That's okay. I'll let you know.
Will Friedle
Ryder also just said that. Hoping you weren't also there the first day because he does not remember anybody that was there.
Joe Hendry
I think I would have remembered.
Will Friedle
No, I think I would have remembered if.
Joe Hendry
Yeah, no, but he was fight. He was fight. Until you threw him under the bus.
Danielle Fishel
Yeah, exactly. He had gotten away with it. And then.
Will Friedle
Yeah, this is what we do. We've done.
Joe Hendry
We were moving on. We were moving on. And you just brought it back.
Danielle Fishel
So you grew up in Scotland. What was the wrestling scene like there? What were you exposed to as a kid?
Joe Hendry
So I. You say grew up in Scotland? I. I lived in Scotland until a couple of months ago.
Danielle Fishel
Your whole life was in Scotland?
Joe Hendry
Yeah, I've been flying back and forth pretty much the entire time. I moved over here in August. So in Scotland, I actually wasn't, like, a huge wrestling fan as a young kid because I just didn't have it. You needed to have, like, Sky TV or cable, and I didn't have either until I was, you know, a little bit older. And then I kind of saw. I remember flicking through the channels, and in the UK, I finally got Cartoon Network, and Cartoon Network at 10pm would switch channel. So I remember I was watching Cartoon Network for some reason, I was up late, and then it was wrestling, and I saw this guy, Ric Flair, and that was my first memory of wrestling. But I didn't become, like, a super fan until I was about 14. I would say and that's when I got into wrestling big time. Through the video games. It was playing the video games. And then I went from that into actually liking professional wrestling.
Will Friedle
I'm so curious, what were you watching on Cartoon Network?
Joe Hendry
Oh, man, so many iconic shows. I actually remember I used to watch. I was one of those kids that just used to watch the same thing over and over and over and over again. Like, I remember, I had. Not Cartoon Network, I had like a, you know, a South park videotape that I watched the same three episodes before school every day. But for Cartoon Network, I had. There was this series of shorts that they did that were. It was. It was a series of pilots. So. And this series on Cartoon Network had, like, the original pilot for Johnny Bravo. It actually had the original pilot for Family Guy. Believe it or not, there was a lot of big cartoons that got their star on Cartoon Network. So that was. That was some of my favorites. I mean, Tom and Jerry's a classic, you know. Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Danielle Fishel
Will does a lot of voiceover. So cartoon is my life.
Will Friedle
Cartoons are my life.
Joe Hendry
So give me. Give me some voiceovers.
Will Friedle
Oh, geez. Well, I was Batman for a long time, so Batman was down here. Terry. Batman Beyond. Batman of the Future.
Joe Hendry
Wow. So that's awesome. Yeah. Sorry, carry on. Just do that thing where I ask you a question and talk over you.
Will Friedle
No, I love it.
Joe Hendry
No, I was. Keep going.
Will Friedle
So I was Batman for. I was Batman of the future for. For a very long time. And then I was on a show called Kim Possible for a long time. I'm Lionel and Thundercats, and I. I've been a huge cartoon guy for most of my life. I love it. I love it so much.
Joe Hendry
That's. That is so cool.
Danielle Fishel
The show you're talking about, Joe, was called what a Cartoon. That was the name of that series.
Joe Hendry
What a Cartoon. And they would show to start. Yes.
Will Friedle
Awesome.
Danielle Fishel
So, slightly related, did you get Boy Meets World in Scotland? Have you ever seen Boy Meets World?
Joe Hendry
So I hate to say I've never actually seen it. I want to be educated. Boy Meets World.
Danielle Fishel
It's okay. You're you in the title.
Will Friedle
Boy Meets the World. That's all you need to know.
Danielle Fishel
So funny. Okay. You are kind of an uncommon mashup that you are also a singer. You were in a band. Are you still in a band called Lost in Audio?
Joe Hendry
Oh, that's. You've done your research there. You've done your research. I'm impressed. And so that was. I was doing music from the age of a very interesting life. I started doing live music because I. It's like all these things I did, just somehow it was all the tools I needed to become successful in wrestling. So I started doing judo when I was six years old. And then I started doing, like, a Saturday acting class when I was, like, 10 or something like that. And I remember an audition came up and I was going to go and do the audition, and they were like, oh, yeah, so what musical act do you do? And I was like. And then I called up my cousin. I was like, let's start a band. So I put a band together to do this audition that was originally for an acting thing that turned out to be a music thing. And so we just decided to run with it. So I was like. I was living this double life where I was maybe 15, 16 years old. Not cool in school at all. I was like, the most uncool person in school because I moved school and I didn't really have any close friends there. But at night I was, like, playing in, like, rock clubs till 1, 2 in the morning with this band when I was 16 years old, you know, so that was a fun experience. And so I've been performing live since I was probably. I mean, I guess if you include acting in stage shows and stuff, probably, I mean, like, eight, you know.
Will Friedle
Wow. Were you. Were you a musician before you decided to start a band? I mean, did you. Could you play an instrument? Or did you just call your cousin and go, hey, let's pick up some instruments and start a band?
Danielle Fishel
A singer?
Joe Hendry
The latter. The latter.
Will Friedle
God, yeah.
Danielle Fishel
It's great. I would like to go on record and say that you are the best pro wrestling lead singer of a band. I just want everyone to know that. Okay. That's really just, I guess, saying you're better than Chris Jericho. But that's. I'm still gonna say it.
Joe Hendry
Steady on. Let me tell. He has got. He has got some bangers. If you look up at Foy, they've got. They do have some amazing tracks.
Danielle Fishel
Okay. But still, I. I stand by. You're the greatest to do it.
Joe Hendry
I appreciate your opinion, but, you know, to me, the man's a legend.
Will Friedle
What kind of music was it?
Joe Hendry
So it was just kind of like, just guitar band, you know, just kind of. It was around the time of. It was like 2003, 2004, when, like, indie music was just taken over in the uk. So you'd get a lot of bands. Like, for example, Kings of Leon were huge in the uk.
Danielle Fishel
Yes, I love Kings of Leon in.
Joe Hendry
The us so, like, Their first couple albums were big over here. I mean, I was. Back then, I was. I'm not saying my band is like this because I always find, you know, if you have, like. I'm trying to think of an example, but I think that people always listen to the more extreme versions of their own music. If, you know, I mean, so. So, for example, blinked182 would probably listen to some really obscure punk bands. You know, I mean, like, so for me, like, I was more sort of pop rock, but I was listening to, like, you know, Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails and stuff like that. But in the uk, it was around the time where indie was just taken over. So so many big albums came out. Like the Killers came out around that time, and the Strokes. You had Kings of Leon. You had, you know, Franz Ferdinand, Blockbar. There were so many bands in that indie scene. And even though I was always kind of like the opening band, I got to play with some pretty big bands when I was 16, 17. I just, you know, it was an awesome experience.
Danielle Fishel
Wow. You also graduated with a degree in marketing while competing and winning national championships and earning your black belt in judo. Is there anything you are bad at?
Joe Hendry
There's lots of things I'm bad at, but you'll never see it. And that's what it's about. It's about showcasing your strengths and hiding your weaknesses. It's really, to me, it's about what I would often do is I would see a task that had grandeur, that I felt was achievable. So I'll give you an example. Like, the reason I chose a business degree is because I was like, I know I'm kind of half checked out and I'm doing this music thing and I'm interested in other things. What is the right spot for a degree where I can get something that is respected, but it's not going to take up all my time? So, for example, being I was interested in law, but being a lawyer is, like, totally intensive. So I was like, well, like, every business is a business. Same with amateur wrestling. I looked at the field of competition for the heavier weight classes, and I thought, matter of fact, put on a little bit of weight. There's really only like five decent, you know, heavyweight wrestlers in the United Kingdom that I would need to worry about. So, you know, I'm going to go into that weight class. So I would often look at different things that I could achieve and what would be the most efficient path to victory. And I would go all in on it. No matter what. And if I didn't think it was doable, I wouldn't give it one iota of energy.
Danielle Fishel
So smart. You definitely use your marketing degree a lot in wrestling. That is very obvious. Can you explain the character of Joe Hendry? In our prep? We use the term earnest and kind of cheesy, but he's winking and also he's very cool. It's like a. It's a. That's kind of the combo. How would you describe it?
Joe Hendry
So I would say that my. What got me over with the fans is that my character is a terrible, terrible person, but is celebrated. So I'm the guy. Have you ever been to like a house party and everyone's going, let's just say, you know, pick a random name. Dave. Right? So they go, right? Or we'll go for like, you know, they go, oh, have you met him? He's the best guy ever. He's the greatest guy ever. And everyone at the party is telling you how great this guy is, and you meet him and he's a complete. But no one else can see it. Just that one person. I am that guy. So I will literally, if I'm feuding with the wrestler, I will terrorize their life. And everyone's going, joe Hendry's great. He's a super nice guy. They're like, why can't you see it? And it's like, hey, I'm a nice guy. But behind the smile, you know, that's kind of how we approached it.
Will Friedle
That's great.
Danielle Fishel
Where did the theme song and the idea for the entrance come from?
Joe Hendry
So I actually reverse engineered it because I thought to myself, actually, you know what? I'll. Two parts I'll tell you about. So the first is the thought process behind the lyrics. I was like, how can the wrestling's all about audience interaction. And I was like, how can the audience interact with me from their seats? And I was like, they can clap their hands and they can wave their hands. So I had portions of the song. There's a certain bpm which Queen talk about this a lot. That are certain BPMs that just get people to act a certain way. 120 BPMs is exactly two beats per second. And there's something about that BPM that just makes people do this. Whereas the slower BPM which they were talking about when they put together we will rock you is very similar to the BPM of the stop clap. And that was kind of more appropriate for the Wave your hands. So I was like, I'm going to. And Also, you have to tell the audience what to do. So I showed them the hand clapping and the song says, literally wave your hands. So it was about getting audience interaction and reverse engineering. Where the song actually came from was probably about. I would say. What? This is crazy. So. So I first recorded it in 2019 and it was at least 10 years earlier when I came up with a melody. When we were on the road with the band and we were talking about how unsuccessful we were and how frustrated it was and how we were like, you know what? To hell with this. We should just do what Pitbull does. We should just name cities in places. And I started going, london, Paris, Tokyo. Where in the world would you like to go? That was like this little thing I came up with. And then 10 years later, I just couldn't get out my head. And I was like, no, no, that can't be it. No, that was just some dumb. So that's going to be the one. That's going to be the one. Yeah.
Danielle Fishel
Oh, man, it's so great. I will tell you, it's so catchy that when we were. I took my kids to Survivor Series a couple weekends ago and we passed a hotel called the Pendry and the minute I saw it, I sang to my kids believe in Joe Pendry. And my. They lost it. And then anytime we passed the Pendry hotel, we would sing your song and it's just. It's an earworm. It really sticks. It's. It's pretty incredible. Can we show the guys your. Can we show him a little bit of your entrance?
Joe Hendry
Sure. Have you got it queued up? Yeah.
Danielle Fishel
Let's play. Can we play it, please?
Will Friedle
Yeah.
Joe Hendry
I mean, it's okay by me.
Danielle Fishel
Okay, good. Here it is.
Joe Hendry
Say his name and he appears. I believe in Johandry. I believe in Johandre. Cause you love London and Paris and Tokyo, America, Scotland and Canada and Mexico.
Will Friedle
They say, I believe in Johan.
Joe Hendry
I believe in Jo Hendry.
Will Friedle
This is brilliant.
Joe Hendry
This is awesome.
Will Friedle
This is great. Wave your hands from side to side.
Joe Hendry
And say, oh, I believe in Jo Hendrick. Jo Hendrick is a prestigious waver path. Side to side say, oh, I believe in Johan and Joe Hendrix.
Will Friedle
Oh, my God.
Joe Hendry
Do you know what it reminds me of? Do you remember.
Will Friedle
Do you remember when David Hasselhoff had his music career?
Danielle Fishel
Yes.
Joe Hendry
And it was in Germany and the radios got released here and there was basically that.
Will Friedle
But like, totally for real.
Joe Hendry
This. It's so funny. Oh, my God. You can't. You can't go wrong. That's a good influence. I'LL take that. I'll take that.
Will Friedle
Really, really good. I. A strange question, Joe, but after talking to you for a little while. Do you play chess?
Joe Hendry
So have I played it? Can I play? Yes. Am I any good at it? Apparently not, because I can. But it actually hurts me to play chess because ego wise, I like to think I'm a pretty smart guy.
Will Friedle
Right.
Joe Hendry
I get beat at it more than I would.
Will Friedle
You just, you seem like a person that. That thinks several steps ahead, which is why like, so it seems like something that would. Your mind would lend itself to chess because you're like the way you said how you created the song where you have to reverse engineer the song and where you get the catchy hook. But I want to do this and I want to end the beats per minute. It just seems like you are thinking several steps ahead, career wise.
Joe Hendry
Yeah, you're very. You're very correct. Unfortunately, I'm just. That's one of those things I'm looking at like the time investment to get good at chess. The level of. Level of competition. It's not the one I can. I can't do it. I can't do it. I do get too competitive about everything. Like I'm banned from playing Monopoly with my family and we just can't go there. We just can't go there. We can't go there.
Will Friedle
When you do play Monopoly with your family, did you play box rules or do you have family rules where you meet where it's like all the money goes in the middle of the pile and if you get. Or is it straight up, you are just by the top of the box.
Joe Hendry
My viewpoint is the law is the law. That's my viewpoint. Thank you. I will allow some money collection of free parking, but that's as far as I'm going. Although it's all negotiations fly for me and Monopoly. All negotiations.
Will Friedle
Okay, great.
Danielle Fishel
So going back to how you ended up in the wwe, you're hired at tna, which is the top three promotions here in the States. When did you know your Persona was like catching on?
Joe Hendry
I think it happens in different levels. Like for me, the thing that I love to do is to make great stuff. So people like, people talk about making it in professional wrestling. Like, oh, thank you know, thank God that I fought through all the struggle and all the hard times. And don't get me wrong, it was hard. It was so hard. There were times where it just success felt like at that level felt like it would be impossible. There were times where, you know, I was broke, but I just always believed in what I was doing. And I was fortunate in that I've been making these silly videos since 2013. So I've always had had positive fan feedback for, you know, having something unique in wrestling. So I've all. Even though, like, I mean, to be honest with you, there was a, I would say a five year period where I made, you know, not a whole lot of money, but enough to get by. And I was pretty happy, you know, like, I got to the point where I was like, actually, you know what? I remember that I wrestled a wrestler called Scotty Too Hottie. I was in Newcastle, England and there was like two, three hundred people there. And I made a video, I did like a parody of a Bon Jovi song to make fun of. Fun of him. Because I sometimes make videos to make fun of my opponents. And the crowd went nuts. There was 200 people there. It was a great time. And I thought, if this is as big as it gets, then this is still pretty damn cool. And I'm going to be the absolute best I could be. I'm going to make great stuff. When I had that mentality shift, that's when doors just started to open left, right and center. So that was like before tna, but then I get TNA at a great time there. And when it really got to the next level of popularity, I think is when my song was released as a single because, you know, I kind of looked at the charts and I was like, no way is number 20 in the iTunes charts. And I was like, oh, number 12 now. Okay, it's number six. Okay, it's number one on the iTunes chart. And I was like, what? What is going on? And then actually made it to the UK's big top 40 chart. It made it to number six in the UK charts. So I was like, okay, this is pretty wild. So I got a ton of press for that. And then, you know, I made some other parody songs just blowing up. And then I think when it just went nuclear was when I appeared in NXT for the first time. So to give you some context, this is how crazy this is. I showed up in NXT and just the clip of my entrance became the most viewed video on X for WWE that year out of anything. And I wasn't even signed to the company at that point. So we're talking like, you know, it's. It was in the region of like 20 million views type thing for. For me making my entrance in nxt. So I think at that point everybody started to get pretty excited. And then, you know, you start to think of these dream possibilities, like, oh, what if I was at the Royal Rumble? And I remember getting the call for WrestleMania and I thought it was going to be, you know, but I saw the number and I thought it was going to be, you know, come along and do something type thing, or not necessarily WrestleMania. But I remember hearing, you know, well, as you know, we need an opponent for Randy at WrestleMania. And I was like, what? So I got. Yeah, I got to do WrestleMania when I wasn't even signed to WWE, so. And like, this was so. That was a crazy year. It still is crazy. And I'm grateful for the fact that what I've found is my entire life, the adventure keeps going. For a lot of people, the adventure stops at the end of high school or university or whatever, but for me, the adventure keeps going. And I'm super grateful to be in wwe. It's been something I talked about and visualized and wanted to do for so long, and to be here now is such an honor and a privilege to be here in this company and to learn from the best. The reason I'm here in WWE is to be the best wrestler I can be. So I'm super excited for the opportunity. But, yeah, I'm also very grateful for the fact that my adventure continues. And what I need to do to make sure that I'm honoring everybody who's helped me get to this position is I need to deliver. I need to prove everyone that's had my back. I need to prove them all right. You know, that's. That's what I'm trying to do by giving my absolute best efforts.
Will Friedle
So we actually have had the honor of interviewing a few wrestlers, and I'm always so curious. And we've asked, we've gotten a couple answers, but it. It seems like the schedule is so rigorous and everything that you're doing is so physical. How do you keep your body in the shape it needs to be to continue what you're doing? Because I know. I know everybody. You're always wrestling through injuries and you're hurt, so what do you have to do to just keep going?
Joe Hendry
I mean, touch wood, but I've been super fortunate with that side of things. Like, I've never had an injury that's taken me off TV or anything like that. I've been super. And I'm super grateful and fortunate for that being the case. I do like to, you know, we all do the absolute best that we can to keep each other safe, and we have amazing staff on hand as well. Like, so, for example, that this is something where the performance center has been incredibly valuable to me because when I went there, it's like they do these tests and they go, okay, here's your blood work and here's foods that you're intolerant to. Here is vitamins that you might be deficient in and things like that. So, you know, they can actually, like. For example, I needed to have more magnesium in my, you know, in my supplements. And I found that before I went there, I was getting tired at like 6pm but after I started, you know, really investigating what nutrients I needed to supplement, start to add more energy. And, you know, when I. The other day at the performance center when I was training legs really hard, you can go through to. There's a little medical room where they have, like, these recovery sleeves that you can put on your legs. And it, like, compresses the air and it helps you recover much faster. So WWE has a huge focus on athlete nutrition and recovery. That is, I'm finding the rate of my learning and the tools that I have access to is outweighing, you know, the decay of age, I guess, because, I mean, I feel better now than I did a couple, you know, even a couple of years ago.
Will Friedle
The holidays bring up stories for all of us. For example, I know Danielle gets together with her family in Orange county to eat and open presents. But the night actually begins when they bust out the scratchers. Meanwhile, in the woods, Ryder and Shiloh carve their own gifts, grappling from tree to tree, making fun of the kids who waited up for Santa. And since my family lives across the country, and for most of my life, I've been working here in la. Sometimes a phone call had to go a long way because especially during the holidays, hearing someone's voice can spark the same emotional response as a hug. So many people have parents, grandparents, or older relatives who live far away. And tech might not be their love language. And that's why AT&T's digital literacy workshops really mean something. They help older adults learn the simple tech most of us take for granted. Video calling, sharing photos, staying connected. And it's changing lives. People like Nancy Shawn learn to video chat for the first time. So this year, she won't just hear about what happened. She'll be there on the screen, laughing, telling stories and watching the kids open presents. So this holiday season, reach out, Call your people. Stay connected, no matter the distance. Connecting changes everything. AT&T.
Danielle Fishel
So let me get this straight.
Joe Hendry
Your company has data here, there, and.
Danielle Fishel
Everywhere, but your AI can't use the data because it's here, there and everywhere.
Joe Hendry
Seems like something's missing.
Danielle Fishel
Every business has unique data. IBM helps your AI access your data wherever it lives.
Joe Hendry
To change how you do business, let's create Smile to Business.
Danielle Fishel
IBM. Twentieth Century Studios presents the upcoming comedy Ella McKay from Academy Award winning writer director James L. Brooks, whose legendary credits include as Good as It Gets, Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News and the Simpsons. Emma Mackey plays Ella McKay, a passionate, idealistic young woman who juggles her family and work life in a heartfelt comedy brimming with hope about the people you love and how to survive them. Ella is highly intelligent and caring, finding purpose in taking care of and defending others, whether that be the public or even more difficult, her family. Ella McKay features an all star cast including Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Loudon, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Adebiri, Julie Kavner, Spike Fern, Rebecca Hall. With Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson, It's a perfect holiday comedy about an imperfect family. Ella McKay now playing only in theaters.
Will Friedle
You know what separates the pros from the rest. It's not just talent, it's how you respond when the game gets tough. You dig in, you fight back.
Joe Hendry
And when it comes to your health, that same mindset matters. Yeah, especially if you or someone you care about is facing metastatic prostate cancer. There's a treatment called pluvicto lutetium Lou177 vapivotide tetraxitan and it's changing the game. Plovicto isn't chemo. It's a different kind of treatment that targets PSMA positive cells, including prostate cancer cells. Plavicto can be used before chemotherapy for some people.
Will Friedle
Here's the official word. Pluvicto is a prescription treatment used to treat adults with prostate specific membrane antigen.
Joe Hendry
Positive metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer or.
Will Friedle
PSMA positive MCRPC who have already been treated with hormone therapy and are considered.
Joe Hendry
Appropriate to delay chemotherapy. Now let's talk safety. Pluvicto involves contact with radioactivity, which may increase the risk for cancer and cause fetal harm. Drink plenty of fluids, urinate often, use contraception and talk to your doctor about how to reduce the risk of exposing others to radiation during and after treatment. It can also cause low blood cell counts, kidney problems and infertility. Tell your doctor if you notice weakness, pale skin, shortness of breath, bleeding or bruising more easily an infection or changes in urination. Side effects include decreased blood cell counts, tiredness, dry mouth, nausea, appetite loss, joint or back pain and constipation look, every day matters. And if you're in the fight or know someone who is, this is a conversation worth having. Ask your doctor about Plavicto because just like in football, every play, every decision, every second counts.
Will Friedle
Visit pluvicto.com to learn more. That's P-L-U-V-I-C-T-O.com this is Richard Sherman from.
Joe Hendry
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Danielle Fishel
Who gave you the best advice when you were out there in Vegas getting ready for your WrestleMania debut?
Joe Hendry
John Cena, I would say.
Danielle Fishel
Really?
Joe Hendry
Yeah.
Danielle Fishel
What advice did he give you?
Joe Hendry
He is the master of timing and he taught me. It's one of these things, like you'll sometimes get a piece of advice that you. You'll get a piece of advice that you maybe don't fully understand at the time, but then maybe a year later it will click. But basically it was a piece of advice for like. And I would say that him and Triple H said the same thing to me. I was kind of asking them about how I should approach my entrance in the Rumble because, you know, there's an urgency to get to the ring, but there's also, you know, you want to show the people who you are. And both John Cena and Triple H were kind of emphasizing the point of have your moment. And when the crowd is at their peak and it starts to come down, then, you know, the urgency kicks in and you make your way to the ring. And that approach, you know, it kind of works that way for many things in wrestling. So I got a little bit of an insight into, you know, speaking to two masters of timing in our business.
Danielle Fishel
I know there was some chatter at the time about whether Randy Orton beating you the way he did was a net positive for Joe Hendry. As a new character in the WWE universe. Considering your opinion is the one that matters most, what is your overall take on it?
Joe Hendry
I mean, to me, it's look, some people might be offended by this, but anybody that says that was a net negative for me just doesn't know what they're talking about. They just don't know what they're talking about. I take the viewpoint that this is the wrestling business. And all I can tell you is that I felt that the fans got a great moment. I felt that it, that it was, it was great for, for Randy because it was difficult. They put so much build into the feud with him and Kevin, you know, what do you do if Kevin's not at WrestleMania? So we were able to make the best of all the difficult situation by putting me in there. And like I say, it was a great shock moment for WrestleMania. And I know what, what my value is and where it's at, and I'm very good about having an understanding of where that is. And I can tell you that because at the time I was doing a bun. And I can tell you that demand for my autographs and pictures and signatures skyrocket after WrestleMania. So I'm in the wrestling business and that was great for business.
Danielle Fishel
Great, man. I love it.
Will Friedle
So I've always been curious about this. Take yourself out of the picture, not you. You can't be one of your matches. What's the best wrestling match you've ever seen in your life?
Joe Hendry
The one that I use when people ask me this question is Shawn Michaels versus Ric Flair. And the reason is because I think as a fan, we all. This was. Ric Flair's career was on the line. And Ric Flair is like my second favorite wrestler of all time. And if the story was that if he lost the next match he lost, he would be forced to retire. So it's him and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24. And look, we all know in our head that Ric Flair's career is about to be over. But in our hearts, we want it to keep going. So I remember getting home from school, sitting on the chair, watching it on the computer, and I started heating the chair, but then I was just moving forward on the chair and I was literally on the edge of my seat and I just got completely lost in the moment. And that was the match that made me feel the most. That moment where Sean is about to super kick him and end his career and he doesn't want to do it, but he has to do it. And that to me was, you know, that. That was cinema. So I would say that's, that's the match that I think has had the biggest impact on me.
Will Friedle
Wow. It was a great match. Even I know that match. I know I can see Shawn Michaels sitting there ready to kick him, like shaking his head, crying like he doesn't want to do it. It was an amazing moment. It was amazing theatrical moment. It really was.
Joe Hendry
Yeah. And that's the thing, like, not we can't always remember a lot of the moves, but we can remember the moments. Right. And that match was full of moments. And those moments translate to non wrestling fans as well.
Will Friedle
Yeah.
Danielle Fishel
Wow. A lot of people go to NXT to get over, which for writer and will is a term for getting more popular with the fans through experience and becoming one with your character. But there is no doubt that you are already way over with the fans. So is WWE looking to tweak your character at all?
Joe Hendry
I think that from my experience, I can tell you that WWE has welcomed me with open arms and it's a collaborative environment because I think what we're looking for is to make things the absolute best that they can be. And so we know that I've managed to get to a certain point with the tools that I've had, but now I have. In the same way that the performance center gives me physical tools, I now have creative tools that I didn't have before. Now with the production value of WWE that are. There are maybe other bells and whistles that we can add to the music side of things that are things that I'm going to learn from, you know, WWE's method of how they produce professional wrestling. Like, I just took part in the Iron Survivor match, NXT deadline, which is basically, you have. It's a 25 minute match. Every five minutes someone new comes out and every time someone is pinned, there's 90 seconds in the penalty box, which creates chaos and complexities and storylines overlapping. And it's. It's putting me in new situations that I've never been in before. And it really helps me to understand WWE's approach to producing wrestling, which I understand from what I understand is they are making movies. Yeah, that's. And so when. When we were approaching this match, that's how it felt to me. It wasn't just like, you know, a regular match. It felt like we were making them all making a movie together. And I've enjoyed learning that process. That's my understanding, in my experience.
Danielle Fishel
Well, you've joined the company, right, at one of its biggest milestone moments. John Cena's final match taking place tomorrow night in Washington D.C. for Saturday night's main event. What has John Cena meant to you over the years?
Joe Hendry
I think that there are so many answers that I could give to this, but I'd like to give the one that is sticking out in my mind right now and that is that he is just the utmost professional. He is so professional. He is just the example of someone who does the job to the best of their ability and goes above and beyond. And it's not just about the in ring side of things. It's about his interactions with the fans as well. Like I just saw a video package the other day where John was watching some footage of a kid that had made a video for him and he'd said that his, like he had helped his, his family overcome, you know, with, with how they processed and overcame and recovered from cancer. And it was like, you know, so the kid was saying his mum had cancer and he was saying to his mom like, you know, John Cena says never give up. So I believe in you, you, you, you never give up and you never gave up. And, and she said, and he said that that helped motivate his family to stay positive and keep positive. And you know, you, it's. We could. There's so many like currently he's the greatest of all time when it comes to actually doing professional wrestling. I think that that is, I, I agree with that. I think he's the greatest of all time and I think it's evidence subjective but to me I think it's as close to objective fact as you can get to say that he's the greatest of all time. But it's not just the in ring stuff. It's the time that he's taken with the fans like he is the, he has more make a wish visits than any other human being. And to me, even that in itself is an achievement and a contribution that, that most people could, couldn't even fathom. Think about the good that that has put out into the universe. And to be honest, that is very. When you think about that, it inspires other wrestlers to be better. So I think John has said publicly his goal was to leave the place better than he found it. And I think he has absolutely done that.
Danielle Fishel
He definitely has. Do you have a favorite John Cena match?
Joe Hendry
Oh, I have, I have a few. So I would say him versus CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011 was a real pivotal moment in the wrestling business. And again, just like we said before, it's those moments that we remember and that match was just, it was, it was awesome. That's one, I think for me, you know, my favorite wrestler when I got into the business was the Rock. So CNN Clash with the Rock. Rock. That first time is just something I never thought I'd see. I thought the Rock was gone forever, you know, and he came back after seven years and they had the, you know, over a year's build and then they, they faced each other. I think it was WrestleMania 28, so that's up there. I also think that the match he had with when Brock Lesnar returned in 2014 was amazing for. For different reasons. It was just like an intensity that, that an uncomfortableness that I'd never really seen in a professional match before. So that was like a completely different form of art there. It's hard to pick one, but there are just. There are so many, so many great ones. One that really had an impact to me was him versus RVD at One Night Stand as well. Oh, because he was like, he was literally. He was getting booed out of the building. He was there. And it was, it was a career defining moment for him because he just pushed through all the backlash and that, you know, as wrestlers, we all get a lot of backlash. Even the most popular wrestlers in the world will just get haters all day, every day. And that was like an entire building at the Hammerstein Ballroom just screaming at him, wanting him to lose. But he just pushed through it. And to have the, the confidence to do that, that was pretty cool, too.
Danielle Fishel
Well, in a very John Cena move, he has asked that the rest of the matches tomorrow night have established WWE Superstars going up against the up and coming NX tiers. So if you were included on this card, who would you want to wrestle if you were to be included?
Joe Hendry
I mean, wow, that is. I mean, it's hard for me to think about that because to be honest, the thing I am thinking about is my. One of my best friends in the business, Leon Slater, he is on the card, and him and Javon Evans are facing AJ Styles and Dragon Lee. And Leon has stated publicly that his dream match is AJ Styles. So for me, like, I'm, I'm super happy for my friend because I've had, you know, I had that Rumble moment, I had that WrestleMania moment, and now I'm getting to see one of my best friends have their dream match on this iconic card. So to me, that's like, that's. And in terms of match quality, that's just going to be as good as it gets. So that's, that's where my thinking is right now. I'm excited for Leon. I'm happy for, for Javon as well. And everyone on the car, that is just. It's. It's awesome.
Danielle Fishel
Okay, then let's remove the. The event tomorrow night. Who is your dream match right now? I know it probably changes, but as of right now, if you got to pick your dream match, who would it be?
Joe Hendry
I have. Have. I will say this. So my. My five favorite wrestlers were the Rock, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, John Cena, and Chris Jericho. I've already wrestled Kurt Angle, which I was very lucky to do. I will say this. There's a video. Not many people know this, but it is online. There's a video from 2017 where I make a bold claim. It's on YouTube, but I make a bold claim. Not saying it's a match, not saying anything. But I do say I will stand in a professional wrestling ring. And basically in that video, I'm saying one day I'll come face to face with the Rock. So that. That's. That's what I'll throw out there. So, hey, that could be in a wrestling ring or a backstage promo or something like that, you know, and, hey, anything could happen because, I mean, Ethan Page, who's the NXT North American champion, he ended up. And face to face with the Rock on nxt, you know, so I think that's what's exciting, is that brands cross over. So that's a kind of. That's a dream scenario. But, yeah, that's. I would love to. I've never. I've not had a chance to properly. I think I've said. I've said hello to Ric Flair, but I've never had a chance to have a conversation with him. So that'd be. That'd be really cool, too, man.
Danielle Fishel
That's awesome. Now, just so you know, Liv Morgan is the official female POD meets world champion. So we are in the market for a male counterpart. Would you. Would you be interested?
Joe Hendry
Absolutely. What do I need to do to be. I mean, to be champion? That's. That's, you know, a big responsibility. So. I know I've never seen the show. I do recall seeing the show, like, advertised, but I.
Danielle Fishel
That's enough. That's it.
Joe Hendry
We just tell a. Yeah, no, I'm going to do my research after this, and you know what's going to happen. I'm going, no way. I was on the podcast with those guys, so I'm going to do my research. Can I ask you guys a quick question? Can I ask you a quick question? So how do you all feel about the fact you got to do this really cool thing and now you're Kind of back together again doing this. How does that feel?
Danielle Fishel
Well, we never really left. Yeah, yeah.
Joe Hendry
No, come on.
Danielle Fishel
That's not true.
Will Friedle
Doing the podcast has been like, yeah, it's life changing. It's been so amazing. And yeah, we got to go on tour and the com. The connection with our fan base, just like it's, you know, we feel like we grew up with America and it's.
Joe Hendry
You know, it was.
Will Friedle
It was so funny because when I feel like that relationship was always kind of one sided and now doing the podcast, it feels like it's. It's going both directions. It's wonderful.
Danielle Fishel
Yeah. Yeah, it's great. Unlike with wrestling, where you're you. Like you said, so much of what you do is about whether or not you have a connection.
Will Friedle
Right? Interaction.
Danielle Fishel
Interaction with the fans, doing sitcom. We didn't have that back then, especially in the 90s where there wasn't even social media. But now we're able to do conventions. We're able to meet people face to face. Like Ryder said, we went on a live tour. We were performing for thousands of people and then doing meet and greets after. And. And now every week we share ourselves with, with the audience. And then when people come up to us and they, they tell us, they listen to the podcast, we know they actually know us, not just the characters they've seen us play. And it's, it's made such a difference in the appreciation we have for the years we spent doing Boy Meets World.
Will Friedle
I will tell you, I think we need an entrance song now, though.
Danielle Fishel
I know.
Joe Hendry
Yeah.
Will Friedle
I mean, that's the idea that we don't have one. Now if, Joe, if you were to write an entry song for Podbeats World.
Joe Hendry
Hey, if you've got spare million dollars lying around, no problem.
Danielle Fishel
It's so funny you said that. I literally just found a million dollars. I was like, oh, what's this spare million dollars doing? Thank you for saying that. Well, I want everyone to know Saturday night's main event, John Cena's final match, takes place Tomorrow night, Saturday, December 13th, live from the nation's capital at 8pm Eastern, 5pm Pacific, exclusively on Peacock. And we will be looking for you, Joe. We would love to see the Pod Meets World champ at such a big event. So we're going to just keep our fingers crossed.
Joe Hendry
Can I ask a question? What do I need to do to be the Pod Meets World champ? That million dollars, I feel, I feel, well, I mean, you know, okay, you want a million, I want a million. Let's call it a Million.
Danielle Fishel
Right.
Joe Hendry
But I feel like as I don't. I feel like if I'm asked a question about the, the CDs, like what, what do I need to do to earn that championship?
Danielle Fishel
Oh, it's real easy. You just, we ask you, would you like to be the champion? And you just say yes. Yeah, it's great.
Joe Hendry
Yeah, sure.
Danielle Fishel
Great.
Joe Hendry
All right.
Danielle Fishel
You're the champ. You're the champ.
Joe Hendry
I'll send you the address to send the belt to.
Danielle Fishel
Okay, great.
Joe Hendry
I'll wait the next time we talk.
Danielle Fishel
Perfect. You know, and if you ever have like some spare moments and you think maybe you want to create, like maybe you watch some of the show and you go, oh, I actually have great entrance music for them.
Joe Hendry
Yeah. You know, signal is the reception. It's cutting out the sound.
Will Friedle
Yeah.
Danielle Fishel
You didn't hear that part.
Will Friedle
You also, you also won't understand this, but my co hosts and our, our fans will get this very much. Our belt we're going to send you.
Danielle Fishel
Is squeaky, squeaky belt, little inside joke, pod meets world. You've got a lot of episodes to catch up on.
Joe Hendry
Yeah. Can you send some, can you send some context with it? So, yeah, sure.
Danielle Fishel
Thank you so much for being here with us. It was an absolute pleasure.
Joe Hendry
Thanks.
Danielle Fishel
Bye.
Joe Hendry
See ya.
Danielle Fishel
I knew you guys were gonna love that video.
Will Friedle
The other video was so great.
Danielle Fishel
It just reminds me so much like when I think of things that I know will get Ryder, like certain aspects of wrestling that writer loves, it's hard and it is true that it's hard to. If you don't love every aspect of it, it's a big time commitment. You know, the matches are very long, going to the things. It's like an all day event and if you don't love every single aspect of it, then maybe you're just not going to be an overall fan. But there are elements that I go, this will speak to Ryder. Joe Hendry is, is one of those elements and characters, character, like the creativity.
Will Friedle
Of that character, the specificity, like the way he was able to pitch it is like, like the guy at the party that every. You're like that is so clever and deep, you know, like that's a, that's so interesting. I love it. It's also interesting to really talk to somebody who gets into the. I, I know they all get it, but who really talks about the idea that it's like it's a business.
Joe Hendry
Yeah.
Will Friedle
There's tons of aspects to the business and that's one of the reasons he keeps talking about John Cena. It's like, here's somebody who came in and got the business right away. Where. In the ring is one thing. Out of the ring is one thing. Your Persona is one thing. How you deal with the fans is one thing. I mean, it's. It's a business. So people forget that. And it seems like he was, you know, seen as the best at it.
Danielle Fishel
Yeah, it was. Yeah. He, Cena is incredible, and Joe Hendry is truly one of my favorite newer, you know, people to enter into the world. He's still at nxt, but it's pretty incredible.
Will Friedle
When's the last time you would know this? When's the last time a WWE Champion was not an American?
Danielle Fishel
Oh, I mean, a lot of them, like Seth Rollins isn't. Isn't American. Gunther is an American. Okay, so there. There. There are a few. Who else?
Will Friedle
Gunther was a. Is a chat. Was the champion or is the champion?
Danielle Fishel
Not as of right now, but yes. Yeah, he has been. He has been a champ. He wears a black robe sometimes, and Keaton has requested a black robe so that he can be Gunther.
Joe Hendry
Heck yeah.
Danielle Fishel
Yeah, Love that. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Drew McIntyre, another one. Jensen just sent me. Drew McIntyre, another one dot he is Irish. Scottish.
Will Friedle
Some kind of ish Scottish. Gotcha.
Danielle Fishel
He's an ish. Yeah, he's Scottish. Anyway, thank you all for joining us for this episode of Pod Meets World. As always, you can follow us on Instagram Pod Meets World show. You can send us your emails. Pod meets worldshow gmail.com. and we've got merch.
Will Friedle
That's merch in Scotland, isn't it? Merch is what we're buying. Just go buy it. Fucking hell.
Danielle Fishel
Podmeetsworldshow.com you have to be angry when you're Scottish.
Will Friedle
Yeah, of course you do.
Danielle Fishel
I'm having a great day. Good morning.
Will Friedle
It's beautiful out.
Joe Hendry
My goodness.
Danielle Fishel
Will send us out angry.
Will Friedle
We love you all. Part dismissed. Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle and Rider Strong, executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor, Tara Sudbaksh, producer, Matty Moore, engineer and Boy Meets World superfan Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon, and you can follow us on Instagram @podmeatsworldshow or email us at podmeatsworldshowmail.com.
Joe Hendry
This is Richard Sherman from the Richard Sherman podcast. Ready or not is the tactical first person shooter where you take command of a SWAT team and every decision matters. I reunited with my Legion of Boom teammates Cam Chancellor, Cliff Averill, Michael Bennett and Walter Thurman to go through real SWAT training and see why over 13 million players are into this game. Watch our training now at Richard Sherman Podcast YouTube channel. This isn't mindless run and gun. The game demands elite teamwork and sharp strategic thinking, just like what the Legion of Boom brought to the field every single game. Try the limited time free trial on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. Play now and feel the weight of the badge.
Danielle Fishel
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Podcast: Pod Meets World (iHeartPodcasts)
Date: December 12, 2025
Guests: Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, Rider Strong, Joe Hendry
Theme: The world of professional wrestling meets 90s sitcom nostalgia as WWE Superstar Joe Hendry joins the cast to discuss his journey, character, music, and the upcoming John Cena farewell match.
In this episode, the Pod Meets World crew—Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Rider Strong—invite WWE and NXT star Joe Hendry to discuss his unconventional path from Scotland to wrestling stardom, his musical career, and his creative approach to wrestling character development. The episode explores how Hendry’s persona and theme song took wrestling by storm, his experiences as a relative newcomer in WWE, and his admiration for legends like John Cena and The Rock. The discussion is peppered with laughter, wrestling insights, and moments of genuine connection between 90s nostalgia and the spectacle of pro wrestling.
[03:33–10:45]
“We sat there with our jaws open like, this can’t be real. ... The heads of Congress and the Senate going like, ‘Oh yeah ... this is real. This is all real.’”
[17:23–21:37]
“You want us to buy you as a bad guy. You’re too beloved. ... Even though it was a great heel turn ... it has been one year of a send-off but Saturday is the final match.”
[24:06–27:23]
[27:23–32:38]
“It’s about showcasing your strengths and hiding your weaknesses. ... I’d see a task that had grandeur, that I felt was achievable... If I didn’t think it was doable, I wouldn’t give it one iota of energy.”
[32:38–35:29]
“I’m the guy ... everyone is telling you how great [he] is, and you meet him and he’s a complete ... but no one else can see it. ... That’s kind of how we approached it.”
“There’s a certain BPM ... that just makes people do this ... You have to tell the audience what to do.”
[35:29–37:28]
“It’s so catchy ... It’s an earworm. ... It really sticks.”
[39:20–43:47]
“Just the clip of my entrance became the most viewed video on X for WWE that year ... I wasn’t even signed to the company.”
[43:47–45:54]
“We do the absolute best that we can to keep each other safe ... WWE has a huge focus on athlete nutrition and recovery.”
[51:22–52:36]
“He is the master of timing ... [They] were emphasizing the point of have your moment, and when the crowd is at their peak and it starts to come down, then ... you make your way to the ring.”
[52:36–53:55]
“Anybody that says that was a net negative for me just doesn’t know what they’re talking about ... demand for my autographs and pictures and signatures skyrocketed after WrestleMania. ... That was great for business.”
[54:10–57:44]
“I was literally on the edge of my seat ... That’s the match that I think has had the biggest impact on me.”
[58:00–62:17]
“He is so professional. ... It’s not just the in-ring stuff. ... Think about the good that that has put out into the universe.”
[65:17–69:05]
“That relationship was always kind of one-sided and now ... it feels like it’s going both directions. It’s wonderful.”
The episode is enthusiastic and playful, with the chemistry between the hosts and their guest making for a relaxed and engaging conversation. Joe Hendry’s self-deprecating humor and Scottish modesty are balanced by the hosts’ fan energy and curiosity, leading to an enjoyable blend of nostalgia, insider wrestling insight, and spontaneous wit. The show flows briskly from pop culture to wrestling specifics, anchored by themes of authenticity, fan connection, and chasing your dreams—whether in sitcom acting or in the squared circle.
This episode is required listening for anyone curious about the behind-the-scenes psyche of modern wrestling, the collision of nostalgia and sports entertainment, and the creative energy that powers breakout stars like Joe Hendry. The stories, musical moments, and wrestling deep-dives are accessible for fans and newcomers alike—delivered with warmth, humor, and just enough playful ribbing to make you feel like you’re part of the conversation.