Pod Meets Wrestlemania: Mark Henry & Chelsea Green

Summary

Pod Meets World: Pod Meets Wrestlemania – Mark Henry & Chelsea Green

Release Date: April 19, 2025

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Introduction

In the latest episode of Pod Meets World, hosted by Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Ryder Strong, the team dives into the electrifying world of professional wrestling in celebration of WrestleMania. This special episode features in-depth interviews with two prominent WWE personalities: Mark Henry and Chelsea Green. The hosts explore their journeys, behind-the-scenes stories, and insights into the wrestling industry, providing fans with a comprehensive look at what makes these athletes stand out both inside and outside the ring.

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Interview with Mark Henry

Mark Henry: A multifaceted athlete, Mark Henry is celebrated as a two-time Olympic powerlifter, a Pan American Games medalist, and a WWE Hall of Famer. His transition from powerlifting to professional wrestling showcases his incredible versatility and dedication.

• Sports Background and Achievements

  Mark shares his extensive background in various strength sports:

  "I did powerlifting, weightlifting, and strongman. Being versatile was tailor-made for me." ([12:14])

  He highlights some of his most notable feats, including lifting the infamous Thomas Inch Dumbbell, a 172.5-pound challenge that few have attempted.

  "The first time I touched it, I couldn't lift it over my head. A year later, I did, and no one has since." ([15:34])

• WWE Career and Legacy

  Discussing his WWE career, Mark reflects on the intensity and spectacle of WrestleMania:

  "It's the spectacle of it. People come from all over the world. WrestleMania is a special thing." ([18:09])

  He emphasizes the importance of safety and responsible performance in wrestling, urging newer wrestlers to master their craft to prevent accidents.

  "There are moves that are really dangerous, and only the greatest should perform them." ([36:05])

• Personal Insights and Philosophy

  Mark delves into his personal philosophy on competition and loss:

  "I hate losing more than winning. I cry when I lose. It's a sickness." ([17:09])

  He shares heartfelt stories, including witnessing a fellow wrestler's tragic accident and the importance of accountability in the ring.

  "If someone's life is in your hands, you must be responsible." ([27:00])

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Interview with Chelsea Green

Chelsea Green: As the inaugural WWE Women's US Champion and a former Women's Tag Team Champion, Chelsea Green brings a unique perspective to the wrestling world. Her journey from indie wrestling to WWE highlights her resilience and creative prowess.

• Indie Wrestling Roots and Character Development

  Chelsea discusses her evolution in indie wrestling, particularly her iconic "Hot Mess" character:

  "I wrestled barefoot in a wedding dress that got dirtier and shorter over time. It was my way of standing out." ([54:23])

  Her performance at the historic All In event, where she captivated the audience with her split personality gimmick, marked a pivotal moment in her career.

  "I wanted to do something different, something no one else had. The split personality was a game-changer." ([53:48])

• Challenges and Triumphs in WWE

  Reflecting on her WWE journey, Chelsea emphasizes the importance of perseverance and authenticity:

  "I knew I was coming back to WWE after my indie successes. Asking for my position showed my commitment." ([66:23])

  She shares insights on the competitive nature of WWE and the significance of building genuine connections within the industry.

  "Indie wrestling taught me everything I needed. Now, I'm performing on a larger stage with the skills I honed independently." ([61:58])

• Future Aspirations and Advice

  Chelsea offers advice to aspiring wrestlers, stressing the value of persistence and self-belief:

  "Don't wait for opportunities to come to you. Seek them out and show your passion." ([67:24])

  She also expresses her excitement for future matches and her desire to innovate within the WWE framework.

  "I want to see more interaction and silliness in wrestling. It needs to be both athletic and entertaining." ([38:03])

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Key Insights and Takeaways

• Versatility and Adaptability: Both Mark Henry and Chelsea Green exemplify the importance of versatility in wrestling. Mark's background in multiple strength sports and Chelsea's creative character development demonstrate how adaptability can lead to sustained success.

• Safety and Responsibility: Mark emphasizes the critical need for safety in wrestling, advocating for performers to master their moves to protect themselves and others.

• Authenticity and Passion: Chelsea's journey from indie wrestling to WWE underscores the value of authenticity and passion. Her commitment to her craft and willingness to innovate set her apart in a competitive industry.

• Perseverance Through Challenges: Both athletes highlight the importance of perseverance. Mark's unyielding drive to succeed and Chelsea's proactive approach to securing her WWE spot illustrate how determination can overcome obstacles.

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Conclusion

The Pod Meets World episode "Pod Meets Wrestlemania: Mark Henry & Chelsea Green" offers a deep dive into the lives and careers of two exceptional WWE superstars. Through candid conversations and personal anecdotes, listeners gain a greater appreciation for the dedication, resilience, and creativity required to excel in professional wrestling. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to the world of WWE, this episode provides valuable insights and inspiring stories that highlight the true spirit of WrestleMania.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mark Henry:

  "If someone's life is in your hands, you must be responsible." ([27:00])

• Mark Henry:

  "I hate losing more than winning. I cry when I lose. It's a sickness." ([17:09])

• Chelsea Green:

  "I wanted to do something different, something no one else had. The split personality was a game-changer." ([53:48])

• Chelsea Green:

  "Don't wait for opportunities to come to you. Seek them out and show your passion." ([67:24])

---

Listen to the full episode on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts to relive the excitement and gain more insights from Mark Henry and Chelsea Green!

Transcript

[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

It's Danielle Fishel, Ryder Strong and Will.

[Will Friedle]

Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Mark Henry]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

He was so funny and the things he was telling us that he did and was able to accomplish just in heavy things to lift. We looked up, we just watched his video of the. The Thomas Inch dumbbell that he was.

[Danielle Fishel]

Telling that he was then able to lift over his head.

[Will Friedle]

Crazy. It's ridiculous. It's so insane. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, I encourage all of you, when you hear the interview and you get to that part, look up that YouTube clip because it's pretty remarkable. And then we have Chelsea Green, the only woman to attend my husband's bachelor party back in 2018. And what an incredible story she has of perseverance, of using her talents to come up with unique characters and gimmicks, but that really work and make it special.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, she came up with some really kind of off the wall characters that all of us were talking about afterwards as just what a cool backstory to, you know, well, I don't want to ruin it, but, you know, just think about her dress. That's all I'm going to say as she's telling us about it. How it changes after every match. It's just so all the little details we were thinking about. You were saying that if I was a wrestler, I'd be the Professor. Yeah. I think I should just be angst. Oh, just. Oh, that's great. Just the angst.

[Danielle Fishel]

The egg.

[Will Friedle]

That's great. Every time, like everybody comes out to this big music, but you're always just in the corner kind of just sitting there by yourself. And like, they'd want. They'd interview me before a match and I'd just be like, it's too much, man. I just can't. I can't even go there.

[Danielle Fishel]

Entrance would be 30 thunder and rain.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, I love it. I'm just too deep for this. I just can't. We should be two wrestlers that never actually wrestle. I just sit in the corner and rob. That's what I mean. And I'm always just like, I'm not getting in there. So that's. We could have the characters because we have the talent portion with the acting, but not so much with the athleticism. It seems like you need kind of the whole pack.

[Danielle Fishel]

You definitely need both for sure. But I. I think you guys are onto something. Try to be wrestlers without any. Any.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, exactly. Hey, I've gone through this much of my life without any athletics.

[Ryder Strong]

All right everyone.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Our next guest is an absolute legend. Whether as a two time Olympic powerlifter, as a Pan American Games, winner of a gold, a silver and a bronze medal, or as a multi time US national champion and winner of the 2002 Arnold Schwarzenegger Strongman Classic. I mean, Will won in 2008, but we. It's just, it's not as, not as impressive as. Yeah, I was sick that time. Yeah, you were sick that year. Right. And then starting in 1996, he entered the WWE and he has never looked back. He's a former World Heavyweight Champion and he was inducted into the WWE hall of fame in 2018. It would be impossible to summarize the Attitude era or the late 90s and 2000s without mentioning this absolute superstar. So you can now hear him on the Busted Open podcast available on Sirius Radio and wherever you get your podcasts. He is the world's strongest man. Welcome to POD meets world Mark Henry.

[Mark Henry]

Well, hello bad guys.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

[Mark Henry]

I don't know who wrote my Wikipedia, but it's just rotten.

[Danielle Fishel]

Really.

[Mark Henry]

I'm gonna have to actually do it because like they mix. I did three sports. I did powerlifting, weightlifting and strongman and you know, thank God I was able to win at all of them. And the is without. It sounds like bragging when I say it, but it's like the powerlifting world, I was world champion. The Olympic weightlifting world and powerlifting are completely different.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. Wow.

[Mark Henry]

You know, it's like badminton and tennis.

[Will Friedle]

Gotcha.

[Mark Henry]

You know, they just, they both have rackets, they both have nets, but completely, totally different.

[Danielle Fishel]

Totally different. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Wow.

[Mark Henry]

And the Olympic weightlifting. I was national champion, but I was not world champion. And strongman. I was world champion.

[Will Friedle]

I don't know what strongman means.

[Mark Henry]

Strongman is like an athletic, like they just take implements. Like who can lift this heavy rock?

[Will Friedle]

Oh my. Don't you have to pull a bus? Isn't that strongman? Like.

[Mark Henry]

Well, I would have said pull a train, but that might sound bad. But we pulled. We've done it all. And it's funny that like the yoke, like people say, what's a Yoke. And it's like, oh, you put something on your neck and you carry. Like there's a timber carry, there's a frame carry and all of these are 800 pound implements that you have to pick up and then walk with.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Mark Henry]

You know, and then you've seen the movie Conan.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

So they have a apparatus called the Conan wheel.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

The more you twist, the more you turn, the harder it gets.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Mark Henry]

And. And then they measure how many rotations that you go.

[Will Friedle]

Did you do the keg? The keg toss.

[Mark Henry]

Like the keg toss. And the weight calls for height.

[Will Friedle]

So how do you train for that? Do you, do you know all of these events before you go in?

[Mark Henry]

You know, you know before. But you know, like the competitions vary. So you might go to one competition and it might be real heavy in pressing implements or you know, this one might be pulling things, you know, so it's different and you just have to be versatile. And I was because of my athleticism. It just, it was tailor made for me.

[Will Friedle]

They're so much fun to watch. If you've never watched a strongman competition, they're really. You just get sucked in. I mean they're really. Because you're going this, it seems superhuman, right? I mean to grab a keg and throw it up over their head and it's going. It's for height. So they're tuck. It's really an amazing thing to know.

[Mark Henry]

Oh, you just like a 700 pound oil drum. Like, you know, like you see it on the ground, you go, wow, why is there a big oil drum right here? And they say, oh, people gonna lift it? And they go, how?

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

What?

[Will Friedle]

It's amazing.

[Mark Henry]

And it's the technique to it. It's like you have to start going through, you know, okay, I'm have to push this forward and get my knees under it and then hug it and pull it to me and do so I've been blessed to do things that no other human walking the planet has been able to do still to this day.

[Danielle Fishel]

Absolutely.

[Will Friedle]

What's the most, what's the heaviest thing you've ever lifted?

[Mark Henry]

The Thomas Inch Dumbbell is a 3 inch handle, 172.5 pound dumbbell. And for years and years, people couldn't even pull it off the ground. It was kind of like Thor's hammer.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I was just gonna say Thor's hammer.

[Mark Henry]

And the first time I touched it, you know, I did Arnold Schwarzenegger's competition at the Arnold Classic and I was so disappointed that I couldn't Lift it over my head. And they were like, hey, man, you just lifted something off the ground to your waist that people haven't lifted in, like, 50 years. And I'm, like, still disappointed.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right? Right. I'm still upset, but you're, like, the.

[Will Friedle]

Ruler of Asgard now, so I don't understand what the problem is.

[Mark Henry]

So I was like, I'm lifting over my head next year.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, my God.

[Mark Henry]

And in a calendar year, I lifted it, and nobody's been able to do it since, so.

[Will Friedle]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's crazy.

[Mark Henry]

I love the expression that y'all have.

[Will Friedle]

Well, yeah, because it's. It's superhuman. It's like.

[Danielle Fishel]

It really is.

[Will Friedle]

We always talk comic books and superheroes, and it is.

[Mark Henry]

Oh, my God.

[Will Friedle]

People that are superhuman. You're one of them. It's crazy.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, that's pretty incredible.

[Mark Henry]

There's a lot of work that go into it because I've spent my. I had a lot of talent, but I spent my life working. Like, I don't. And, you know, I hate. I hate losing. I would rather not lose than win.

[Will Friedle]

Right? Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

People think, wait a minute. That's kind of odd. Like, what do you mean? I cry when I lose.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

Like, I can't sleep. Like, I'm telling you, it's a sickness. And people laugh. My wife, she's just like, oh, my God, let him win. Like, Uno. If me and the family playing Uno and I lose, oh, no. Everybody in the house know that I'm just gonna go over there and pout.

[Danielle Fishel]

No one wants to play games with you.

[Mark Henry]

I can't play Monopoly. I can't do nothing if I lose.

[Danielle Fishel]

Pick, Pack up your toys and go home.

[Mark Henry]

Work, though. It's work.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

But that. It made. It made me great, and I thank God for it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, thank you for being here with us on WrestleMania weekend. You have had so many amazing WrestleMania moments over the years. Is there anything like WrestleMania? What makes it so special?

[Mark Henry]

It's the spectacle of it. It's the fact that, you know, people come from all over the world. I sat and talked to a guy from Singapore yesterday, and he barely could speak English, and he started crying. And I was like, man, what's up? You all right, man? He's like. He's like, I just can't believe I'm in America.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Mark Henry]

I'm at WrestleMania. It was a big damn deal for him.

[Danielle Fishel]

Big, big moment.

[Mark Henry]

And people come from every little, small place in the world because they've seen it on TV or they watched it on YouTube, and they finally get here, like, it's just a special thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

And it's not like the Olympics or the Arnold Classic or, you know, the NBA championships and stuff where it's only important to people in that genre or people in that country. You know, I don't know nothing about cricket.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, right, right.

[Mark Henry]

Or, you know, a lot of rugby and so forth. But I'm sure that there's some people that take it really, really seriously. Everybody takes WrestleMania serious.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

Like that's crazy.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Well, one of the things that like this is Will's only second wrestling event ever. He. He went to the premiere of Raw on Netflix. That was his first. This is writers first ever wrestling event ever. And both of their first WrestleMania.

[Mark Henry]

WrestleMania. So Saturday will be the first time you ever.

[Will Friedle]

I've ever been to a wrestling show.

[Danielle Fishel]

He's never even been to a wrestling show.

[Mark Henry]

That's like going to Carnegie hall and performing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

I'm excited.

[Mark Henry]

I'm excited. Man.

[Will Friedle]

I can't wait.

[Mark Henry]

That is nuts. You get to go to WrestleMania first.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

It's like your first super. It's like your first football game ever is the Super Bowl.

[Danielle Fishel]

And he has his 10 year old son here with him who it's also his first wrestling show. So it's going to be a family affair.

[Mark Henry]

You're ruining, you're ruining it for you because your kid is going to go to a live event and go, where's the pyro?

[Danielle Fishel]

But he'll be into it because of the characters. So one of the things that they have both really gravitated to are the storylines and the understanding that each of you are not only doing what we've been doing our entire lives, acting and performing, but you're also doing it while being incredibly athletic. We talked about in little tiny clothes, in little tiny clothes in front of everybody. And something we all have in common that I wanted to ask you about is we've all had this experience where you build a reputation for yourself. You're doing something and then all of a sudden you get a script to become sexual chocolate and serenade an 80 year old woman.

[Mark Henry]

Let me stop you, okay? Sometimes you people suggest stuff and hand you a script. I created Sex with Job.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, see, good. That is, that's the thing. That's unlike what we get to do.

[Mark Henry]

I beg to do it. They invested a lot of money in me and they were like, look, we want you to be serious. And I was like, no, I want to do comedy.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, I love it.

[Mark Henry]

No, you're an Olympian. We want you to do this. And I Was like, listen, I beg you to see the vision. Let me do this. You want me to entertain? And they allowed me to do it. Here it is, 35 years later, and I can't go nowhere without people bringing that up, going, hey, sexual chocolate.

[Will Friedle]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

And that's so great. We love that so much that you have the freedom. They push back, but you won. And that some of. I think everybody we've interviewed today, their most iconic moments, was something that they created, something they created, and that came from them.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And it just goes to show you that, like, wrestling now, having it finally, it's been. It's felt niche for so long, and now it's really starting to feel like it's starting to become for the masses. And one of the things I'd like for our industry to learn is, is the fact that when you trust your talent enough to let them make their. Some make some of their own decisions, and you can really. It can really be for everybody.

[Will Friedle]

I have a question. So you're training. You're an Olympic athlete. Was professional wrestling always something you wanted to do or was this something you found after a.

[Mark Henry]

Had no idea I was a wrestling fan. My grandmother and I share that. And I never. Nobody else in my family watches wrestling.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

I've 28 years of pro wrestling. Nobody's ever asked me for a ticket for WrestleMania.

[Ryder Strong]

Really?

[Mark Henry]

Never. Wow. I would go on record as probably saying 25 times I had a family member come to a show. Wow. They just don't care. Wow. Like, it's like wrestling is not a thing. But for my grandmother, Grandmother, oh, my God, she was ate up. And we used to get on the Greyhound bus and go to Louisiana and go to Houston and go to Beaumont to Civic center and watch wrestling. And that was just our thing. And, you know, I watched wrestling all through college, and around that time, I used to. Every competition there's a video on. You know, the Internet is undefeated. I did these celebrity slam dunk contests back in the day, and I dunked and I started posing and flexing and getting the crowd hype. And then WWE was like, that dude needs to wrestle.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

And so I got contacted. I was the first developmental wrestler. They didn't have a FCW or Ohio Valley or Performance center. Vince saw me and JR and was.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, bring him up.

[Mark Henry]

Go get that dude.

[Will Friedle]

Did your grandmother ever get a chance to see you wrestle?

[Mark Henry]

Oh, my God, yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, great. Oh, I'm so glad to hear that.

[Mark Henry]

I'm so glad to hear that she lived to see me wrestle. Probably about Six years. And would come to shows her and my mom, and just like, she would laugh a lot because it was me doing it.

[Will Friedle]

Right, right, right. It kind of breaks the fantasy a.

[Mark Henry]

Little bit, but when somebody else was doing it, she was.

[Danielle Fishel]

She was serious.

[Will Friedle]

She was so serious.

[Mark Henry]

And I was like, why you laughing about? You ain't gonna hurt nobody. I was like, damn. Oh, grandmother don't believe in me.

[Ryder Strong]

That's great.

[Mark Henry]

Oh, man.

[Danielle Fishel]

So you were outside the WWE for a little. You were working elsewhere after being with this company for decades, and here you are back home.

[Mark Henry]

Siberia. Yeah. You was talking about.

[Ryder Strong]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

What's the most important thing you learned while dabbling with others for a minute?

[Mark Henry]

I think the most important thing is there's unbelievable talent everywhere, but without proper leadership and direction and focus.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

You can't succeed.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. So smart.

[Mark Henry]

You know, I'll leave it right there.

[Danielle Fishel]

Leave it there. That's fair.

[Will Friedle]

That's fair.

[Danielle Fishel]

You have seen a lot of wrestlers come and go in the amount of time that you have been doing what you do. What is the worst thing someone very green can do in their first few months?

[Mark Henry]

Not care if you. If you fail? You better show me that you. You're remorseful. You better show me that you're trying to get better and you're sorry that you made a mistake. And the people that's like, oh, well, somebody. You can't make omelette without breaking a few eggs. Those people get their kicked right. Like, all wrestlers feel the same exact way. It is not. I'm your life. Every one of their lives is in my hands. I have a friend that passed away a year and a half ago that was paralyzed from the neck down for the last 17, 20 years. And he was never bitter about it. He was like, hey, man, I got a bad beat. It happened.

[Danielle Fishel]

Did it happen in the ring?

[Mark Henry]

Yeah. And I was actually standing at ringside when it happened.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my gosh.

[Mark Henry]

And he was never bitter. Darren Drostorff, he started off as puke, and. Because when he got nervous, he threw up.

[Will Friedle]

Wait a minute. He was puke. He was in the documentary with.

[Mark Henry]

Yeah, that was my brother.

[Will Friedle]

You're kidding.

[Mark Henry]

That was my guy.

[Will Friedle]

He ended up paralyzed. I didn't know that. Oh, that's man.

[Mark Henry]

And it was bad, but he was never bitter about it. And he was like, it's not his fault. Like, I tried to put the mustard on the hot dog and I ruined it. And I hurt myself in the process. And it's hard to wake up every day and realize you can't do nothing about that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Mark Henry]

But if that person's life is in your hands, the last thing you want to do is do something and not be responsible and not be understanding that, you know, things can't go wrong.

[Danielle Fishel]

Absolutely.

[Mark Henry]

And I've seen a lot of wrestlers not care, and that's the suckiest of it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, Just get out of here with that.

[Mark Henry]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Have you. Can you think of a wrestler that you saw up and coming, that you were like, this person is going to be huge? And then they just never got their shot? Really?

[Mark Henry]

Oh, there's been a lot of them, I think, like looks and talent wise. There was a girl named Linda Miles. She played a character named Shaniqua that was with the Basham Brothers. And I just knew she was Jade Cargill before Jade Cargill.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yeah.

[Mark Henry]

But she just didn't like wrestling.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's a problem.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I don't want to do this.

[Mark Henry]

And she's. She wanted to do things her way, not the way that the company wanted to do things. And you can't go to McDonald's and make a whopper.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, right.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mark Henry]

Like, it's. They company do what they want you to do and go home, take your check.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, especially when you're just getting started, too. Ingratiate yourself a little bit. Make yourself a. Make yourself.

[Mark Henry]

You gotta pay your dues.

[Danielle Fishel]

Pay your dues. Exactly. So Will has been steadily working out for, I mean, most of his life. He's in great shape, but he's really striving to get yoked.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, round. Round is a shape. So we're honest.

[Mark Henry]

So, yeah, we look like the number 10, right. Round is indeed a shape.

[Will Friedle]

It's a shape.

[Danielle Fishel]

So his goal is to feel comfortable taking his shirt off.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Do you have any suggestions for a man who's pushing 50 who wants to get in the best shape of his life?

[Will Friedle]

Can we word this a different way?

[Danielle Fishel]

No, I can't.

[Will Friedle]

Is there another way to word this question?

[Danielle Fishel]

A man pushing 50.

[Will Friedle]

Is there a way to ask a decrepit, falling apart, aged strange smell sometimes?

[Mark Henry]

Listen, I've been around wrestling. I've seen 560 with no shirt on.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

So, like, you gotta just take it as it goes.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, that's true. It's true.

[Mark Henry]

Nobody's gonna judge you if your performance is great.

[Will Friedle]

That's true. Okay. So I could be Will Dre the Giant.

[Mark Henry]

Oh, let's work on the name.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, we'll work. Okay. We'll figure something out.

[Mark Henry]

But like, I wouldn't say the Giant.

[Will Friedle]

With a J. Giant With a J. That's my hook.

[Mark Henry]

We going to work on it?

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

All right.

[Will Friedle]

We'll work, we'll workshop it.

[Mark Henry]

But if workouts don't take you to be in the gym for three hours, Right. You know, it's consistency over time, you know? So if you can do 300 reps every day, you're 300 reps every day. That's nothing. That's five sets.

[Will Friedle]

Okay. Okay, you do. Try and do the Math.

[Mark Henry]

You do five sets of 25.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

And upper body, like.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

Some curls, some overhead presses, some bench presses, some lateral raises, some rows, some whatever. And then you do 100 reps, of course.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

That's 100 sit ups.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, I can do that.

[Mark Henry]

You can do 100 squats or 50 squats.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

Or 25 lunges and then 25 leg curls. Like something.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

You're done with 300.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

Like, you know, my coach always said if you could jump over broomstick, you can stay in shape.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh.

[Mark Henry]

So, like, you just keep jumping over the broomstick.

[Will Friedle]

So my first goal is jumping over the broomstick.

[Danielle Fishel]

Start there, Mr. Miyagi.

[Mark Henry]

Wax on, Waxhawn.

[Will Friedle]

There you go. Okay.

[Mark Henry]

All right. It don't take a lot.

[Will Friedle]

Okay. And then I could lift that.

[Mark Henry]

Arnold Bar, no, let's not get overzealous.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now, your son, Jacob Henry, has signed a deal with the wwe. Were you always supportive of him, following in your footsteps?

[Mark Henry]

Yeah, because he loved it. And I know he's going to be really good because his study habits, you know, the questions he asked, and his knowledge of the force, if you will.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

He knows the history. And in order to know where you're going, you gotta know where you came from. And a lot of athletes don't have that. They just have the, I wanna make a million dollars. Yeah, right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

Or I wanna look real good so I can get the girls, you know, like, or whatever it is, or the guys, for that matter, you know?

[Danielle Fishel]

Sure.

[Mark Henry]

And Jacob is like, I wanna be a star. And the only person that I've known that have that same kind of just unbridled, I want to be better than you. Was the Rock. And we lived together for almost a year, nine months. And Dwayne had the most incredible study habits I ever saw. I mean, he had. And we all talk about his shortcomings, but study habits and work ethic. There ain't nobody on the planet that's gonna outwork him.

[Danielle Fishel]

Jeez.

[Mark Henry]

Nobody. Arnold, if you've been great in your life, you cannot compete with the Rock and work that. Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow. That's so cool. Now you are on Sirius XM with busted Open radio. Telling it the podcast. Still watching a lot of wrestling, 15 hours a week.

[Will Friedle]

Really?

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Mark Henry]

I watch every brand of wrestling in the world. Oh, man. And stuff that I shouldn't watch.

[Will Friedle]

Really?

[Mark Henry]

I've seen some wrestling that definitely killed brain cells.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, man.

[Danielle Fishel]

If we had to bet. We're in Vegas. If we had to bet on a young superstar, who's gonna be the next Rock or Roman Reigns or CM Punk? Who do we put our money on?

[Will Friedle]

Will Dre the Giant? I thought we've established this already. Have we not established that? I thought we're in the conversation.

[Danielle Fishel]

Great answer. Okay.

[Mark Henry]

I. I can't. I can't miss his Jacob Fatu.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

Can't miss.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, man. Yep.

[Mark Henry]

Like, you could tell that he love it and he's really good at it. And the stuff that he does without thinking is great. Yep. It's a trip to me to watch. I find myself watching him going, man, that dude is nuts. Like, he just gets your attention.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Mark Henry]

I guess. On the women's side, Jade Cargill has got so much potential to be what every female wrestler should want to aspire to be. Charlotte Flair, the greatest female wrestler of all time. I think Jade has that potential. Plus the best entertainer.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, right.

[Mark Henry]

In women's wrestling, which I think you could put China up there with being a great entertainer.

[Danielle Fishel]

Absolutely.

[Mark Henry]

And to be able to do both.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's exactly it. That's what we were talking about. That's so incredible is that to really be at the top of your game, you have to excel in both.

[Mark Henry]

Yeah. You gotta do both.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. And then all the travel on top of it. And. Yeah. What you guys do is really remarkable. What's one thing you'd like to see disappear from wrestling in 2025? And what do you want to see.

[Mark Henry]

More of disappear from wrestling? I want to. I want us people to stop diving through the ropes without knowing how to do it properly.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

There's several things in wrestling that people are doing is really dangerous.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

And they don't know how to do it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, Right. If you're going to do it, go.

[Mark Henry]

To Hunter and say, listen, there's five people that can do it really well. All the rest of y'all can't do it no more.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, Right.

[Mark Henry]

Like there's a bunch of moves like that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

Needs to be the greatest people at it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

Hey, y'all keep on doing it, all the rest of y'all, until I give you permission. Y'all wanna see you do it again or out your lights go.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, Right. I like how important it is to you that everybody stay safe. Because like you said, it really is people's lives on the line in the ring.

[Mark Henry]

I've seen people risk that. It happened not long ago. I'm not mentioning no names because I don't want to point nobody out. But a girl dove through the ropes, a planchette through the ropes to the floor. And the girl on the rope, on the floor saved her life, it looked like, too, because she stopped wrestling.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. And had to catch her. Right, Right.

[Mark Henry]

So she don't lawn dart into the ground. And like, she shouldn't have done it. The agent should have said, no, I'm not doing that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Right.

[Mark Henry]

So it's a lot of personal responsibility that we gotta do to take care of each other. And the ring should be everybody's sanctuary.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

You should treat it like that.

[Danielle Fishel]

What's something you'd like to see more of?

[Mark Henry]

Silliness.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

I want to see people make a fool out of themselves.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. Yes.

[Mark Henry]

You know, Anthony Murrell, Santino, you know, just selfless, just funny without trying to be funny. Just. I'm going to make a fool out of myself going 100 miles an hour and hope everybody like it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Mark Henry]

And that's wrestling. Need that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

And everybody want to look good and be cool. Tired of cool people tired of cool.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Let's bring back some silly.

[Mark Henry]

I want to see some.

[Danielle Fishel]

Embrace your inner child.

[Will Friedle]

You know what's so funny is that your advice is they're the inverse of each other. It's like on one hand, you want people to pull back on the physical and, like, be very careful.

[Mark Henry]

No, I don't want them to risk. I want them to have a comedic and a theater like you. You go to a Broadway show and if it's a one man show, John Leguizamo, you ever seen his one man show? No, I haven't. Google John Leguizamo and look at his one man show. He's on stage. Just him. He did five characters in about 30 seconds. And they all made me laugh. That's what wrestling need, right? A guy or girl that could perform and get your attention. Be passionate. John Leguizamo cried, laughed, and was like, I don't even know where I am right now. Like, what am I? What was I talking about? Do you remember what I was talking about? Like, he interactive. There needs to be more interaction in wrestling, too. We produce it so that you go, go, go. But wrestling is not that historically wrestling Is the term Broadway comes from wrestling, you know, so you have to be able to perform big motions and let people get it as they get it, you know, going. You get it, you get it. Takes away from the joke, right?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Yeah. Commitment.

[Danielle Fishel]

You have a long history with this guy. What have you thought about Cena's heel turn?

[Mark Henry]

Ooh, I told y'all he was rotten.

[Will Friedle]

You called it.

[Mark Henry]

You called it. Everybody was mad at me. Hey, Mark, why you do that to him? He deserved it. I think that is awesome.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

You talk about versatility. You know another guy that works incredibly hard. But John is just inherently smart too.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

So it's not like he has to outwork you. He's just better than you. Some people just good. And he's one of those people.

[Danielle Fishel]

I want to end on a rapid fire note. I'm gonna let's hear your predictions on a few matches. Okay. Gunther versus Jay uso.

[Mark Henry]

Violent. Ooh, violent. This is gonna be. Jay is gonna have to earn his bones because I don't think he's had a match yet. Like what Gunther could bring.

[Danielle Fishel]

My son's a big jey. USO fan. That's his guy. All right, how about Liv and Raquel versus Bayley and Lyra?

[Mark Henry]

I. I think that that's another one that's a great entertainer that. That Liv. She is locked in.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. She's our pod meets world champion. So. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Current.

[Danielle Fishel]

Current. Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

Current.

[Danielle Fishel]

Current.

[Will Friedle]

Yes.

[Mark Henry]

That means that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. She could be replaced.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, she could be out of there.

[Danielle Fishel]

We'll see who wins.

[Will Friedle]

We're seeing how it's going with our organization before we make any decisions.

[Mark Henry]

She's got a lot of personality and like you talk about, make a fool out of yourself. She don't mind. I love it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. She's willing to go silly.

[Will Friedle]

Yep.

[Danielle Fishel]

How about IO sky vs Bianca Belair vs Rhea Ripley?

[Mark Henry]

Iyo will come in here and beat you up if she heard you say IO.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, Iyo. Thank you, Iyo.

[Mark Henry]

Sky is very talented and underrated and I'm going with her.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Mark Henry]

Like, she needs to have more Runway to do. More.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. Punk versus Rollins versus Roman Reigns.

[Mark Henry]

Very complicated. I'm a Punk fan.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. So. Yep, so am I. Uh huh.

[Mark Henry]

But I want to see Seth Rollins win and I want Seth Rollins to get Paul Heyman. And I'm just going to stop right there because everything else I say is gonna be very critical.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, will you say it on your own podcast?

[Mark Henry]

I don't know. I don't want Punk mad at me.

[Danielle Fishel]

And then finally, Cody Versina.

[Mark Henry]

I want Cody to win, and I want John Cena to do what evil people do, and that's just lie. And you say he was gonna retire. I'm not retiring, y'all suckers.

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, it fit right in.

[Mark Henry]

I wanted to lie to get the opportunity to do what I'm doing right now. I main evented wrestlemania and ain't nothing you could do about it. And then I'm gonna make your life miserable until I win. Nobody's winning until I win. That was always my philosophy. If I lost a fight as a little kid growing up.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I'm gonna make you pay me tomorrow, too.

[Mark Henry]

I'm gonna make you pay. Eventually you gonna say, look, okay, just take it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Just take it.

[Mark Henry]

I quit because I'm gonna make your life miserable. And that's the character that I want Jon to become.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow. I lied. I have one more question for you. I mentioned that this is their first WrestleMania. What advice do you have for them tomorrow? To make the most of their experience.

[Mark Henry]

To take it in and act. Don't analyze.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Will Friedle]

Like, Ryder's very good at that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Mr. Analytical.

[Will Friedle]

Shots fired.

[Mark Henry]

Bing, bing, bing. I believe that when you analyze, you take your eye off being in suspended belief. Right, Right. And it happens to me all the time. Like, I want to. Oh, man. I want to just watch it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Mark Henry]

And. And I'll start writing notes for tomorrow for the show. And I'm like, once I start analyzing it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right? Yeah, totally.

[Mark Henry]

So I say just go in there, get you some popcorn and M and M's, because I can't eat popcorn corn without something sweet.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Mark Henry]

They go. They go together. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Agreed.

[Mark Henry]

And like, peanut BUTTER Joe.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. 100.

[Mark Henry]

And enjoy yourself. Like it's okay to embrace the fantasy. Yes, it's okay to embrace the fantasy. You watch Marvel? Sure.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Yeah. I love that stuff.

[Mark Henry]

I get so deep sometimes in the series that it's hard for me to convince myself that it's a movie.

[Will Friedle]

That's good, though. That's how you should watch it.

[Mark Henry]

Yes. That's the way it's supposed to be. I love that y'all like my bracelet.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love your bracelet. I would, for the record, like to say that I wear that on my bicep.

[Will Friedle]

That's Danielle's bicep.

[Mark Henry]

I stole this. I'm gonna put it back. It was decoration.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's beautiful. It looked really good on your wrist.

[Mark Henry]

I wore it the whole interview.

[Danielle Fishel]

I absolutely love it. And truly, thank you so much for being here with us. You are one of a kind, and it was really great. Having the opportunity to talk to you. So thank you.

[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Do you like control but also travel a lot? And after enough weather, cancellations, security bottlenecks and in flight wi fi issues, you stop expecting to be in control when you're traveling until you reach the Avis counter. Avis has been renting cars for over 75 years and it shows like clockwork. They will have the car you want ready for you exactly as you had planned because it turns out plans are their thing, specifically keeping them. In fact, they have a special way of making you feel like your plans are the only ones in the world that matter, just like they do for all their customers. They will stop at nothing to get you on your way on time so you can go about your business and yes, regain control. And for a limited time you can save 20% on your car rental when you pay now. Go to avis.complanonus to learn more. Avis Plan on us introducing new Caesar Warm Bowls, an exciting feeding experience for dogs and pet parents. Warmbulls are made with fresh vegetables and real chicken as the number one ingredient and can be served as a complete and balanced meal or used to enhance kibble as a topper. Just warm it up in the microwave for 10 seconds to enhance the flavor and unlock the aroma of the product. Warm Bowls transform mealtime into moments of shared joy by providing irresistible taste and exceptional variety that all dogs will love. Choose from two flavors Roasted chicken with sweet potatoes and broccoli or slow cooked chicken and beef with vegetables and a hint of cranberry. Your dog is an important part of your life, so treating them with the love they deserve means serving them meals they will love. Designed to be mess free, warm bowls are an exciting new way for pet parents to elevate everyday meal experiences. Shop New Caesar Warmbols online and in stores today. As a boy mom to a three and a five year old, I barely get a break. School drop offs, karate class, dressing my youngest as a superhero every day. It literally never ends. I can tell you firsthand your mom deserves something special this mother's day. And so do I. And that's where Pandora comes in. For my own mom, I'm looking to get her a bracelet, either with their iconic charms or something I can take her to get engraved in store at Pandora in my own handwriting. And whether it's shiny necklaces, earrings, or unique rings, it's the perfect time. And Pandora is the place to show your mom just how special she is. Visit Pandora in store or [e-mail] now this is what you do. When you have high standards and fancy all the fancy things like an iconic Dior saddlebag or that diamond tennis bracelet, you go to ebay.

[Will Friedle]

There you'll find new loves that will never disappoint. Expertly authenticated in everything.

[Danielle Fishel]

Whether it's that vintage pearl necklace or brand new ruby earrings. A Prada crossbody bag to be besties with your other handbag. Even an eternally classic watch like that Rolex oyster or that Cartier tank. You know the one.

[Will Friedle]

And when you find it, ebay has their expert's eyes to make sure you're getting the real deal. That way you can be confident that the designer finds you came for the luxury wardrobe you've always wanted. It's all real. In fact, it's verified authentic.

[Danielle Fishel]

So bring your high standards and never limit what you can find.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, eBay.

[Danielle Fishel]

The place for new pre loved vintage and rare fashion.

[Will Friedle]

Ebay things people love.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, gentlemen, another champion has arrived. So everybody act cool. Our guest is the inaugural WWE women's US Champion and a former women's tag team champion who has quickly become a bright shining light on Smackdown. And though she is a genuine heel, she somehow attended my husband's bachelor party.

[Will Friedle]

What?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, you guys didn't know that?

[Danielle Fishel]

Welcome to the podcast. Chelsea Green. Tell everyone how you the only woman allowed at my husband's bachelor party.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay, so first of all, I had no idea what was going on, but the Boys went to All In.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. His bachelor party was at All In. In what is All In.

[Ryder Strong]

So all in is. I'm so glad you asked.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

So thank you for asking. It is the biggest and best independent wrestling show to ever be put on. This was, like, the first little snippet of what would be aew, but we didn't know that at the time. It was just the biggest independent show. It was in Chicago. It was at the All State Arena. And that was the first time that, like, indie wrestlers had filled up an arena.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly. In 2018.

[Will Friedle]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

And so Jensen took a bunch of guys, they went to All In. It was. They sat front row, and then the entire group fell in love with Chelsea and was like, she's the coolest. And one of Jensen's friends, Nano, then secretly added her to the weekend's group. The Group Chat.

[Ryder Strong]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

So she was in the group Chat at that time.

[Will Friedle]

Is Nano a nickname or is he just really small?

[Ryder Strong]

I was just checking, but he isn't large, though.

[Danielle Fishel]

He's not a large man.

[Ryder Strong]

Well, that. We're discussing that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, good point. I'm sure he's happy we're talking about that. He's a small man named Nano.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, just checking.

[Danielle Fishel]

And at that time, you went by Hot mess. Chelsea Green.

[Ryder Strong]

Can you explain? I was a little like, okay, this was. Man, there's a lot to this.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

We love a good backstory. There's a lot to this. So at the beginning of 2017, I had evolved into this hot Mess character that was a jilted bride left at the altar. So I wrestled.

[Will Friedle]

Awesome. Great.

[Ryder Strong]

Great. I wrestled in a wedding dress.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, the wedding dress got dirtier and dirtier and shorter and shorter, and I got more and more disheveled. My makeup was everywhere. Hair was everywhere.

[Will Friedle]

Brilliant.

[Ryder Strong]

And I wrestled barefoot. It was, honestly, iconic. It was like a Wikifeet dream.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes, there you go. Exactly. You probably have more Wikifeet pictures than I do.

[Ryder Strong]

I bet I do.

[Danielle Fishel]

Maybe.

[Ryder Strong]

Well, maybe. So then when I got asked to do All In, I'm like, what can I do that's different that people haven't seen? This could be the start of, like, the next kind of iteration of this character. So I really. I just watched split with James McAvoy. I was obsessed with a split personality, and no one was letting me do it, so I'm like, I'm gonna do it All In. So I had gear that was half, like, a hot girl diva moment, and then half a bride. A bride left at the altar. And then this Side of my face was like, the makeup was crazy. This side was good hair to show. It was so much fun. So when they saw me, it was like a drunk girl wrestling.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Ryder Strong]

It was all over the place. It was a lot. There was a lot going. A lot going on, and I didn't really know what I was doing, but, like, I knew I was having fun. And I knew in this match, probably everyone was going to look the same except me.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

We were a bunch of brunette girls. Like, what's different? We're all four white brunette girls, five foot eight. There's not much there other than that. So I just kind of, like, took a little chance. Came out to kind of crazy rock wedding music. And that was the beginning of then the split personality.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love it so much.

[Ryder Strong]

It's so crazy.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, wait, I have a question. When you're designing the wedding dress to wrestle in, is it function over style? Can you still wrestle while you're wearing a wedding dress? How did that work?

[Ryder Strong]

The problem with wrestling is, like, you don't know what next week is going to bring. So when I wore this wedding dress, we had no idea that I was going to be wrestling in it for the next year.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

So we just had a wedding dress. And in fact, the wedding dress was much more functional before we altered it to make it sexy, of course. So we were trying to, like, add a little pizzazz to it. So we cut the sleeves off and we added, like, a keyhole right here. Boys won't know, but.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I get it.

[Ryder Strong]

And then I ended up having to wrestle in it for a year, and we kind of had to slowly start figuring out ways to keep it on.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

And intact. Yeah. And, you know, I had also never wrestled barefoot. Like, it's not exactly natural to be jumping around with no shoes on and no stability. So it was a whole. Honestly, it. It really changed the way I wrestled.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Because instead of wrestling, I started doing theater.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. And truly talk about iconic, you know, like, at least when you look back on it and you're like, okay, I can't believe I was able to do it, but no one else had.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Was doing that.

[Ryder Strong]

And so I was also single when I started doing that. And that was really terrifying to me because I'm like, no one is going to date me.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm really not going to.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, nobody is going to date me.

[Will Friedle]

So.

[Ryder Strong]

So I had just gone on my first date with my husband, and I'm like, and now, oh, my God, I'm going on live tv, and I'm Gonna, like, embarrass him, and everyone's gonna talk about this. And they did, but in such an amazing way. Like, I'll never forget when Randy Orton went up to him in the locker room in front of all the boys and was like, what the is this? This is incredible. Like, this is so crazy. Nobody's doing this.

[Danielle Fishel]

Nobody's doing this. And I can't believe that's your woman.

[Ryder Strong]

And then he married.

[Will Friedle]

That's great.

[Ryder Strong]

And I was just as much of a hot mess at the wedding.

[Danielle Fishel]

So the hot mess is your version of engagement chicken?

[Ryder Strong]

That.

[Will Friedle]

That.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Ryder Strong]

I really like that.

[Will Friedle]

I have a question. From a wrestling standpoint, if you wrestle barefoot, is that also a weakness? Can they, like, foot stomp you and stuff like that?

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, they can do anything. And also, just, like, the thought of having your dogs out, like, the. On that nasty canvas, like, after the boys have been there, sweating.

[Mark Henry]

Jeez.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Who knows what fluids are on that canvas?

[Ryder Strong]

I could name a couple.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. Yeah, it's not good. No, we don't want to do that. So, guys, Chelsea is from Victoria, British Columbia, so it's possible Boy Meets World didn't get to you. Did you watch Boy Meets World? Or were you Degrassi? No.

[Ryder Strong]

So it. Okay. No, I was not Degrassi okay at all. And in fact, I was shocked to learn that Drake was on Degrassi. Like, I. That was how.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's how connected I was.

[Ryder Strong]

I was a Family Channel girl.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

So I kind of watched a little bit of everything, but I wasn't a TV household. Like, we were on the West Coast. We're always outdoors, hiking and everything. But now I'm very, like, nostalgic about all things 90s 2000s. So I've gone back now and watched some. Yes, yes. But I think that's better.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So retroactively, what's your favorite 90s show?

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, I mean, I guess I would have to say I kind of. Thursday nights, for me, in my house, that was our night that we watched tv, and it was Survivor and Friends.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

And they were, like, back to back.

[Danielle Fishel]

Ryder loves Survivor.

[Will Friedle]

Huge fan. Can you imagine if you combine those two shows and it's the cast of Friends on Survivor. It was a great idea. Meets alone.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Just.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, I would. I would love to see what just Courtney Cox hair looks like in the jungle.

[Will Friedle]

Exactly. Matt LeBlanc just, you know, eating the stomach of some elk. That'd be great. Awesome.

[Danielle Fishel]

You mentioned you didn't you were in a big TV household, but did you have any TV crushes? When you were a kid.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, definitely Zach Morris.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

And, you know, that's what my husband named himself after.

[Danielle Fishel]

Really?

[Ryder Strong]

Zack Ryder from WWE is a Zack Morris reference?

[Danielle Fishel]

That's so cool. Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

So that's an interesting one. No, you know what? I kind of started maybe thinking about, like, crushes and stuff when, like, the Jonas Brothers popped. Popped off.

[Will Friedle]

Which Jonas did you.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, I think everyone was Joe until. Until you got older, right? And then it shifts.

[Will Friedle]

I don't know why I asked. I don't know what the Jonas brothers are, but, I mean, I've heard of the Jonas Brothers, but I don't.

[Ryder Strong]

If you'd like, how many brothers are there?

[Will Friedle]

And then a fourth.

[Danielle Fishel]

Who's the Bonus Jonas? But he's not in the bonus. He's not in the group. So he's the Bonus Jonas. He's the youngest.

[Will Friedle]

Can you imagine being the fourth Jonas brother who isn't in the. No.

[Danielle Fishel]

And honestly, even the nickname Bonus Jonas there was, like. It, like, was a little offensive.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Seriously, dude, pick up the cowbell. Play a triangle. I mean, seriously, be in the band. How hard is that? Oh, man.

[Ryder Strong]

No, that would be really sad if he also had no musical skill. We don't know that. We don't know that.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think he does. He now has his own. He's, like, on his. He has his own musical career, so there.

[Will Friedle]

He does.

[Danielle Fishel]

He called the Bonus Jonas.

[Ryder Strong]

I can't wait to Google the Bonus Jonas.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yeah.

[Mark Henry]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

I can't wait to Google Wiki feet. I still don't know. I still don't entirely know what it is. I know Danielle's big. I don't know. Ryder's actually big. I have more feet. Oh, it's. My feet are disgusting.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're not disgusting, but they look like.

[Mark Henry]

He is.

[Will Friedle]

Hobbit feet. I never want to be barefoot ever in life. Like, I hate it. Like, I wear boots. Like, this is. This is me at the beach. Right. But. But for whatever reason, I have more Wiki feet entries than he does. It does. It is. He's got the feet that can bring the ring to Mordor and save us all.

[Ryder Strong]

I've got very long toes, so I feel that I. That's a thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I have nothing. I keep submitting him. They keep sending him back. It's weird. Like, we don't need this. We're good. Thank you.

[Ryder Strong]

Fun fact, Blac Chyna makes, like, a million dollars a month off her feet.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Ryder Strong]

So there's a market for us.

[Will Friedle]

She was our neighbor. She was literally our Neighbor.

[Danielle Fishel]

Literally. So you really paid your dues in what is called indie wrestling, which I am a big supporter of. And this means you're performing around the country in small local events outside of a major company, which, because of the WWE Performance center, is now not as common as it used to be. What do you think you learned because of your indie roots?

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, my gosh. I mean, how to perform for five people.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

How to make the most out of absolutely nothing. How to travel properly. How to come up with matches in two seconds and work on the fly. And I mean, it was a.

[Will Friedle]

Did you literally wrestle for five people? I mean, was there that small and actually, it was.

[Ryder Strong]

I would say probably three times I wrestled for five people. And it. There's. Yeah, it takes more work. Right. So much harder. It is so much harder. And I realized that it really, like, came to light when I had my first WrestleMania and I walked out. And I'm like, oh, this is so much easier in front of 80,000 people than it is in front of 25. Yeah. Like, you just. You hear everything that they're thinking. They're saying it out loud. You're hearing it. Do you see? You look at them in the eyes, which is kind of like.

[Danielle Fishel]

You can look at each one of them in the eyes.

[Ryder Strong]

It's very scary. It just. Indie wrestling has taught me wrestling. And now I'm just. Now I'm just performing now I'm just, like, on autopilot. Just, like, having fun.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

And I really have so much respect for everyone who wasn't on the Indies for a long time. I was all, like, bitter.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, some people didn't have to do any of that.

[Ryder Strong]

They didn't have to fight to get here. No. Everyone had a different fight to get there, to get spotted. Right. And then also, it's like, now I realize I learned everything on the Indies and then just took it and performed at wwe, whereas everyone else that came through the Performance center, like, they're scratching and clawing to get on TV while trying to learn how to wrestle.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

And I just couldn't do that. The pressure's too much. That's way too much.

[Will Friedle]

Well, I mean, that's like any performer. You know, the great performers are the ones who started in small theater and started on stage and built up. Yeah. And then when they get to the. They've earned it on the way up.

[Danielle Fishel]

And then people earned every little overnight success.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, Right. Exactly. Overnight.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. Right.

[Ryder Strong]

This is something I really experienced this year.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

And not even just with this title, but also all Of a sudden, a match from 2018 or 19 verse Pentagon came to light. And now Pentagon is at. At wwe. And everyone's like, oh, my God, she can do this and that. I'm like, I've been doing this since 2014, right? What do you mean? I mean, I'll accept it. I'll take it all, but it's like, no, no, no, no. You can go back on YouTube and.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

I've been trying to do that.

[Danielle Fishel]

I've been hustling to get here.

[Ryder Strong]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

So you eventually ended up in Lucha Underground as Reclusa, a hardcore intergender bad. So she wrestled dude crazy. And now Reclusa, as in the spider?

[Ryder Strong]

Like the recluse?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, the Reclusa.

[Ryder Strong]

Wow. Yeah, I was a spidery dark character.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. And now with Penta in the wwe, do you ever think you'll cross paths?

[Ryder Strong]

I hope not. I hope to God not. That was the most amazing. Like, it would be like making a sequel to the most perfectly made movie that there ever was. And I know everyone keeps saying they want to see it, and I totally understand that. I also understand that right now, now I'm the comedic relief of wwe and they want to see, like, that serious side back. But, like, this is how wrestling works. Like, we evolve. I'm not in that phase of my life anymore. And that was such a perfect storm of, like, I just went there for a quick extra match and they asked me to play this little part, and this little part turned into Reclusa. That was so pivotal in that moment. And the match was one of the best matches I've ever had. And the crowd was amazing. It was, like, gritty. And in downtown la, off of Skid Row, like, it was just this, like, nasty, dark venue. And you just can't recreate that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

And you definitely can't recreate it in wwe. It's not the same.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's not the same.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, it's not the same. And the storylines that we had were so theatrical in Lucha Underground and gritty and dark, and it's. It's just not the same. So I don't want to revisit it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

I want everyone to remember that moment. And you know what? Pentagon has asked me a couple times, like, are we gonna. Are we gonna run it back? And I'm like, no.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, yeah, no, Smart. I think it's smart, right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Don't let it be.

[Ryder Strong]

Don't try, because you know what will happen. They'll all on it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, right.

[Will Friedle]

You won't make it. Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly. The people who've been begging for it will then be bummed it happen.

[Ryder Strong]

I know how this works.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly. This isn't your first rodeo.

[Will Friedle]

What if Reclusa got left at the altar?

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, well, that would be crazy.

[Will Friedle]

That's what I mean. Then it's just worlds collide.

[Ryder Strong]

That would definitely be hot mess.

[Will Friedle]

Reclusive.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. And you know what? Also, I wore a very, very, very tiny outfit in Lucha Underground. I also don't need to revisit that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

We're happy living that way.

[Danielle Fishel]

Your journey to WWE also had some false starts. You played Extras, finished fourth on Tough Enough, went to nxt, then smackdown for a year, and then you got released, only to be rehired by WWE two years later. Did you always think you'd be coming back?

[Ryder Strong]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

You knew it.

[Ryder Strong]

I knew it. I knew. I The minute they fired me. So I got a call about three minutes before I was fired from my husband saying, you're about to get fired.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Ryder Strong]

He had just got a text like, chelsea's gonna be called. Like, she's like, next on the list. So he gave me the heads up. And I'm very thankful. I'm not an emotional person. So, like, I wouldn't have cried or flew off the handle, but it just gave me a split second to like, yeah, yeah. So when they called me, I was like, okay, thank you. You know, hopefully I'll see you in the future. And then I was like, oh. I wrote down a list of to do's. This is what I'm gonna do. This. These are the places I want to wrestle at and kind of the accomplishments that I didn't accomplish before. On my first indie run, I wrote that list out. I started contacting them. I asked WWE if they would let me go earlier. Yeah, we have like a 90 day clause. I asked them to release me at 60 days. I took the pay cut, and I was the first one out there on the Indies. And I hit all those. I hit the list, and then I came back, man, amazing.

[Will Friedle]

It's great.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, also, you know, I am a very upfront person. Like, people may think I'm abrasive when I ask questions, but, like, I'm just asking you a question because I. I feel like you'll just answer it instead of beating around the bush. So I just texted Hunter and asked for my job back. What's the worst he can say?

[Danielle Fishel]

No? Right?

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

Who cares? So he says no. Okay, well, I'm surviving, I'm making money, I'm paying my bills, I'm fine. But, like, if he doesn't know I want to come back, how's he gonna.

[Danielle Fishel]

Absolutely. Absolutely. Sitting around hoping for a phone call versus picking up the phone yourself.

[Ryder Strong]

And I have always asked for a job at wwe, so I'm not changing my tune now. And, you know, for so long, I got ripped apart on the Internet for, like, telling, like, letting people know that I was asking for things, I was pitching things, I was coming up with all these crazy ideas, and the Internet was like, you're delusional. But, like, that's why I'm here with this.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

Because I just put it out there, and I'm not embarrassed.

[Danielle Fishel]

So smart. Honestly, especially, like, I don't mean to make this a gendered thing, but I know women especially. I feel, in my experience. Cause I have dealt with it myself. I'll just speak from personal experience. Letting people know, you want something, you're asking for it.

[Ryder Strong]

There is.

[Danielle Fishel]

For some reason, it feels more desperate if you are a woman doing it versus a man being like, this is what I want. This is what I'm going after. And so to hear you say that one is just so inspiring and, like, such a good message.

[Will Friedle]

Well, men are tenacious. Women are nags.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

That's what it comes down to. It's like, it's not accurate.

[Ryder Strong]

It was very interesting. I've. I've had a lot of ups and downs with. With Twitter, and I've obviously learned.

[Will Friedle]

You've had ups on Twitter.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's shocking.

[Ryder Strong]

Well, let me tell you something. I'm. I'm in an up part right now, and it's terrifying.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, because, you know the crash. Yes, of course.

[Ryder Strong]

Because I was canceled two years ago. I could have saved a puppy from drowning, and they would have canceled. So it's just like, at this point, I don't care what you think about me. I am more than happy in my life, and I go home and I don't think about anything to do with work or social media. And, like, it's great, but it takes a while to get there.

[Danielle Fishel]

It does. And Will is speaking from experience as well. Will is almost 50 years old and is just now getting to that point. Getting to it.

[Will Friedle]

There's a great quote that's care what people think of you, and you'll forever be their prisoner.

[Ryder Strong]

That.

[Will Friedle]

So I just came to the point where I was like, don't care anymore.

[Ryder Strong]

Exactly. If you believe the hype, then you have to believe the hate too. So I'm not gonna believe anything because I didn't believe it when they Were canceling me. So I'm not gonna believe it when they think all of a sudden. All of a sudden now my pitches are amazing and I'm. I'm the smartest person. No, no, no. Because you canceled me two years ago for those pitches.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, exactly. Wow. Well, thank you for that. If you had to book your own dream Wrestlemania match, who are you facing? Are there any stipulations? And is my husband's bachelor party there?

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, front row.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yeah, front row.

[Ryder Strong]

Because they. I mean, they made all in with their. They were crazy.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, they were. You have no idea how much fun they had. It was the great. It was literally the time of his life.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, I'm still in the group chat. I'm sure. I go through my. Yeah, I go through my text messages and find it.

[Danielle Fishel]

When you're done here, send. Send the group.

[Will Friedle]

We were kicked out of the Montel Jordan Text nobody anymore. So Ryder and I text each other like, we got you and me, bud. That's what we got.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay, so they'd be front row.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

It would be in Canada.

[Danielle Fishel]

Great. I mean, even though you're wearing the USA jersey today, you know, I'm a.

[Ryder Strong]

I'm a patriot hottie.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

But I claim everywhere.

[Danielle Fishel]

Great.

[Ryder Strong]

I'm everywhere. You know, I think. I think I would do a very Canadian match, a triple threat myself. Verse Natty versus Trish in Canada. All Canadians.

[Will Friedle]

First one to apologize.

[Ryder Strong]

Well, that's literally me. So I lose, I will be planning a match and that's it. I think that would be like the ultimate Canadian moment. But also, I have to say, I have, like been dying for a hair versus hair match where I have an excuse to shave my head. I've been begging.

[Will Friedle]

Wait, what is a hair vs hair match?

[Ryder Strong]

Loser gets their head shaved.

[Will Friedle]

Literally had shaves their head.

[Danielle Fishel]

In the ring.

[Ryder Strong]

In the ring. And it's the most nasty looking thing because, you know, you only get like two strips gone and then you look absolutely nuts. And that's everything I've ever dreamed of.

[Danielle Fishel]

It is?

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

[Will Friedle]

That's one of the things you're known for.

[Ryder Strong]

So different.

[Danielle Fishel]

Our dreams are not anything alike.

[Ryder Strong]

If I had hair like you, I too would never want to shave my head. So, you know, I understand that. But that is like, I need. I need a hair versus hair match. I need to shave my head and then they need to change me back into a crazy character.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

With a shaved head.

[Danielle Fishel]

Let's. I mean, you just put it out into the universe. I'm gonna be thinking about it. For days. So I'm just gonna start manifesting that for you.

[Ryder Strong]

I really, I really am like, come on.

[Will Friedle]

So the person who beats you gets to shave your.

[Mark Henry]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

Really love that.

[Ryder Strong]

Yes. I really wanted it to be Nikki Bella, but that's okay. It's not, you know, we're gonna take.

[Danielle Fishel]

I was on the plane with her on the way out here and isn't she beautiful? Unbelievably, unbelievably gorgeous. No bare faced perfection.

[Will Friedle]

So shave her head.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, no, shave my head. Are you gonna shave.

[Will Friedle]

So you want. Well, we don't know yet. Whoever wins.

[Ryder Strong]

Well, I'm.

[Danielle Fishel]

She wants. Spoiler alert.

[Will Friedle]

It's gonna be the worst night of wrestling for me ever. God, that's crazy.

[Ryder Strong]

And the best part is, like, you know, I have a husband, so he has to.

[Danielle Fishel]

He has to like you anyway.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Whether I have a peanut head or not. Because we don't know what's under here.

[Will Friedle]

That's the thing.

[Ryder Strong]

Scary thing.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, man. Crazy.

[Ryder Strong]

And I have a big forehead. So, like, I fear that it won't be good, but I think that's amazing.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's part of the dream, apparently.

[Will Friedle]

Is there wiki hair? Is that a thing?

[Ryder Strong]

There will be. There's gonna be wiki forehead once I'm done with you.

[Will Friedle]

Forehead.

[Ryder Strong]

With shaving my head.

[Danielle Fishel]

Chelsea, thank you so much for being here. Wow. We're done. I know it went very fast, but boy, we have so enjoyed having you.

[Ryder Strong]

Thanks for having me.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you so much for being here. Yeah, just best of luck to you. Can't wait to see you shave your head.

[Ryder Strong]

Thank you guys. Can't wait to see the peanut head.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I can't wait to see it. All the lumps and bumps.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, God.

[Danielle Fishel]

Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle and Ryder 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. Follow us on Instagram odmeatsworld show or email us at podmeatsworldshowmail.com is your team.

[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Let'S face it, with travel come curveballs. From flight delays to lost luggage, they put even the best laid plans at risk. Thank goodness for Avis. With them you know your rental car will come through and your plans are protected at all costs. Because it turns out Avis is here for your plans and they'll do whatever it takes to ensure you keep them, which is a big deal. And speaking of deals, you can save 20% when you pay now. Go to avis.complanonus to learn more. Avis Plan on us Introducing New Caesar Warm Bowls, an exciting feeding experience for dogs and pet parents that only takes 10 seconds to prepare in the microwave. Warm bowls are made with fresh vegetables and real chicken as the number one ingredient and can be served as a complete and balanced meal or used to enhance kibble as a topper. With culinary flavors and ingredients like slow cooked chicken, sweet potato, cranberry and fresh vegetables, warm bowls are an exciting new way for pet parents to elevate everyday meal experiences. Shop New Caesar Warm Bowls online and in stores today. As a boy mom to a three and a five year old, I barely get a break. School drop offs, karate class, dressing my youngest as a superhero every day. It literally never ends. I can tell you firsthand your mom deserves something special this Mother's Day and so do I. And that's where Pandora comes in. For my own mom. I'm looking to get her a bracelet, either with their iconic charms or something I can take her to get engraved in store at Pandora in my own handwriting. And whether it's shiny necklaces, earrings or unique rings, it's the perfect time. And Pandora is the place to show your mom just how special she is. Visit Pandora in store or [e-mail] now. This podcast is supported by BetterHelp, offering licensed therapists you can connect with via video phone or chat. Here's BetterHelp head of clinical operations Hesi Jo discussing who can benefit from therapy.

[Will Friedle]

I think a lot of people think that you're supposed to be going to therapy once you're like having panic attacks every day. But but before you get to that point, I think once you start even.

[Danielle Fishel]

Noticing that you feel a little bit.

[Will Friedle]

Off and you can't maintain this harmony that you once had in relationships, that could be a sign that maybe you want to go talk to somebody. There's always a benefit in talking to someone because we can all benefit from improved insight about ourselves and who we are and how we behave with other people. So if you're human, that's like a good indicator that you could benefit from talking to somebody.

[Danielle Fishel]

Find out if therapy is right for you. Visit betterhelp. Com today. That's betterhelp. Com.