Pod Meets Wrestlemania: Wrestlemania 41 Recap

Summary

Pod Meets World: WrestleMania 41 Recap

Episode Release Date: April 20, 2025
Host/Authors: Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, Ryder Strong
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction to WrestleMania 41

In this episode of Pod Meets World, hosts Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Ryder Strong delve into their experiences and insights from attending WrestleMania 41 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. With an impressive 61,000 fans in attendance, the event promised a night of high-stakes matches, dramatic storylines, and unforgettable moments.

---

First Impressions and Venue Experience

Danielle Fishel opens the discussion by expressing her excitement about the sheer scale of WrestleMania 41.

"We have just come back from WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas. It was really fun. It's a long event and boy, were there a lot of people there." [03:45]

Ryder Strong shares his initial feelings, highlighting both the enjoyment and the overwhelming nature of the event.

"It was fun. I still. It's fundamentally not my scene." [04:33]

The trio reflects on the atmosphere, noting the sold-out venue and the palpable energy among the fans.

---

Match Recaps and Analysis

Jay Uso vs. Gunther

The opening match set the tone for the night, featuring Jay Uso against Gunther.
Will Friedle humorously critiques Gunther’s character portrayal.

"Gunther, who is clearly supposed to be Ivan Drago from Rocky... he didn't speak much. I liked that match." [08:00]

Danielle Fishel emphasizes the emotional undercurrents of the match.

"There was a lot of glowering from both of them... It felt very emotional in an angsty way." [08:35]

New Day vs. War Raiders

The second match saw New Day face off against War Raiders.
Ryder Strong initially dismisses New Day but quickly changes his stance after watching the match.

"New Day was great. I missed their intros because I went and got a giant hot dog." [10:32]

The hosts commend War Raiders for their athleticism and dynamic performance.

"That's when I was like, okay, this is the wrestling I kind of had hoped for." [11:30]

WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton vs. Pod Friend

This match stood out as a highlight of the night.
Danielle Fishel praises Tiffany Stratton for her performance and character portrayal.

"Tiffany Stratton kept her belt against Pod friend... Best fight of the night." [21:27]

Will Friedle lauds Jade Cargill for her superhero-like presence.

"She should be cast as one of the X Men... Her entrance was great." [22:27]

Main Event: Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns

The finale featured a triple threat match between Seth Rollins, CM Punk, and Roman Reigns, culminating in dramatic twists orchestrated by Paul Heyman.
Danielle Fishel breaks down the intricate storyline and the unexpected betrayal involving Heyman.

"Paul Heyman... turned on Punk. He handed a chair to Punk to use on Roman Reigns, but then assaulted Punk himself." [35:09]

Will Friedle reflects on the evolution of wrestling storylines, connecting past feuds to current developments.

"This is real life. This is not a bit... There's so much history and weirdness." [57:44]

The hosts discuss the choreography and athleticism displayed, with particular admiration for how the crowd's chants influenced the match's outcome.

"Roman Reigns heard the chant so walked over to a table... It was really cool to hear how he can stay in character." [25:38]

---

Character Insights and Behind-the-Scenes Stories

Throughout the episode, the hosts share anecdotes and historical context to enrich their WrestleMania recap.
Will Friedle provides background on Triple H and his tumultuous relationship with Bret Hart, tying it to recent Hall of Fame inductions.

"Bret Hart, it has the most infamous problem with the WWE in the 90s... He punched Vince McMahon." [55:11]

Danielle Fishel reminisces about personal connections and the emotional weight of certain matches, especially noting her son’s support for Jay Uso.

---

Fan Engagement and Production Elements

The hosts critique various production aspects, including entrance lengths and the balance between storytelling and in-ring action.
Ryder Strong expresses a desire for more character-driven promos and less over-analysis from the audience.

"I wanted to see their personalities outside of just an entrance... It felt very far away from the action." [52:55]

Will Friedle appreciates the fandom and the learning curve that comes with understanding wrestling's nuanced culture.

"I love fandoms. I love the languages that are involved... Sitting ringside was very close." [44:36]

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Concluding Thoughts

In wrapping up, the hosts weigh their overall impressions of WrestleMania 41, balancing praise for standout performances with constructive criticism on event pacing and narrative delivery.
Danielle Fishel acknowledges the grandeur of WrestleMania but suggests that introducing new fans to wrestling through smaller events might be more effective.

"WrestleMania is the biggest and grandest... Maybe don't bring newcomers to the biggest event first." [41:42]

Ryder Strong concurs, sharing his preference for more intimate venues and deeper character engagement.

"I always get overwhelmed when there's lore that I don't know... It's all about people beating each other up, which is not my thing." [42:38]

Will Friedle finds his stride in the wrestling world, enjoying the learning process and the passionate fanbase.

"I am a nerd. I love fandoms... Sitting next to Ryder, who had three of the biggest hot dogs ever." [44:36]

The episode concludes with the hosts expressing their intentions to continue exploring wrestling and other fandoms in future episodes, promising more in-depth analyses and discussions.

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Notable Quotes

• Danielle Fishel: "Suspend your disbelief." [06:10]
• Ryder Strong: "I would like to see women do the actual fighting... it's more acrobatic." [06:35]
• Will Friedle: "They’re doing the same kind of hand gestures and all this stuff. It really is something." [14:11]
• Jensen Karp (Producer): "There is a way that the heel gets on top of it for a while... then there's the comeback... the final act is how it will end." [20:24]

---

Final Thoughts

Pod Meets World offers a comprehensive and engaging recap of WrestleMania 41, blending personal experiences with critical analysis. The hosts navigate the complexities of wrestling narratives, character dynamics, and the spectacle that defines WrestleMania, providing listeners—both longtime fans and newcomers—with valuable insights and thoughtful commentary.

For those who missed the episode, this summary captures the essence of the discussion, highlighting key matches, character developments, and the intricate interplay between performance and reality in professional wrestling.

Transcript

[Danielle Fishel]

It's Danielle Fishel, Ryder Strong and Will.

[Will Friedle]

Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Danielle Fishel]

WrestleMania that's my flare. Yeah, that's. That's what I. That's kind of what I was doing.

[Will Friedle]

That's what you're going for.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, that's better.

[Danielle Fishel]

Better.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, that's better.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm doing. I'm doing a celebration that is reminiscent of.

[Ryder Strong]

It's an homage. Woo.

[Danielle Fishel]

Correct. I'm not trying to be invitation.

[Will Friedle]

I had notes.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know you as Priush.

[Ryder Strong]

You're giving me.

[Danielle Fishel]

Woo.

[Will Friedle]

I want.

[Danielle Fishel]

Perfect. Perfect. My. My notes mean nothing. I'm excited to hear your notes. We have just come back from WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas. It was really fun. It's. It's a long event and boy, were there a lot of people there. Over 61,000 thousand people at Allegiant Stadium.

[Ryder Strong]

Sold out.

[Danielle Fishel]

Absolutely sold out. Before I tell you any of my thoughts, I would love to hear. I'm gonna go right to what the people want to know. Right. Or Strong. Your first WrestleMania. Your first Wrestling event.

[Ryder Strong]

First wrestling event since being in the ring.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

Since being part of being a part.

[Danielle Fishel]

Of one in the night, which I.

[Ryder Strong]

Have a major thought about. But you know, we can get back. I already talked to Will a little bit about. I am exhausted. It was a lot.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

Um, it was fun. I still. It's fundamentally not my scene.

[Danielle Fishel]

Uh huh.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

It's. It's a sporting event. It's. I mean, I know it's. It's more like I got into the characters and the drama and the. All the pageantry. It's like super. But it's still fundamentally like going to a sporting event that's not my seat. Like, I definitely am like, wow, there's, you know, a lot going on. Indy was not super into it. I was surprised by.

[Will Friedle]

He wasn't at all.

[Ryder Strong]

No. You know, I was like, what'd you think? And he was like, it was cool. And then he started imagining five nights at Freddy's Characters wrestling, and that got him very excited. So I was like, okay, so you kind of get the vibe. But I think he's into like more like horror fantasy stuff right now. So, like wrestling. And again, it's. I think for him it felt like a sporting thing. So he was Confused.

[Will Friedle]

He was like, oh, I think if.

[Danielle Fishel]

He had gotten into some of the characters and knew who some of the characters were before.

[Ryder Strong]

I feel like that is him going.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, characters I really know. Five nights at Freddy's. What if they were wrestling?

[Ryder Strong]

Exactly.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's like, him know me too.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, I didn't, you know, I thought maybe there would be more scenes or like. Like explanations.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

And they do the little pre. Pre roll.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

But it happened so fast and it was hard to hear. Yeah. And like, nobody else is kind of paying attention. So I was like, watching it and being like, wait, who attacked who and what's the backs? And like, I feel like those were mostly like little previews for everyone who already knows all that stuff.

[Danielle Fishel]

That is true.

[Ryder Strong]

So I was a little.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're not laying a bunch of pipe for people who are new to the scene.

[Ryder Strong]

No. So I just kept trying to think. I kept. I. You know, I kept telling myself what Mark told us, which was, you know, to just not over analysis.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Suspend your disbelief. Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

And that's not my default mode. Like, my default mode.

[Will Friedle]

No. But at the same time, I was standing next to you and you weren't there going like, oh, this is terrible, or what? Oh, I can't believe they're doing this.

[Ryder Strong]

Or doing this. No, more than anything.

[Will Friedle]

I just were kind of getting. Not getting into it, but also not critically analyzing everything they were doing.

[Ryder Strong]

No, but just feeling behind. They're feeling a little out of it. And then I definitely much prefer watching women do the actual fighting, especially because.

[Will Friedle]

They seem far more acrobatic.

[Ryder Strong]

So much more acrobatic. And I think there's something that sounds stupid, but there's something about size. Like, when you're watching big dudes, like, hit each other, it's like. It doesn't feel. I know it is very athletic, but it doesn't feel as, like, sort of visually acrobatic, you know, Whereas, like, when you're watching smaller people flip and jump, it was more, like, exciting. I don't know. It was a weird reaction. I was like, oh, I much rather be watching the women fight.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was.

[Ryder Strong]

It was cool.

[Danielle Fishel]

I would definitely. I will agree with you that women's matches over the last several years have just become the matches to watch. They are really the stars right now.

[Ryder Strong]

I think so. And also the moves, like the guy. The male moves, I kind of knew, even though I. I had never really been to a wrestling, but I knew.

[Will Friedle]

A lot of, like, suplex and power.

[Ryder Strong]

I was like, oh, they're doing that Thing. Whereas, like, with the women, I was like, whoa, what is that? Like, they're like wrapping their legs and flipping each other in, like, newer ways that just felt like, oh, I haven't seen this or heard about this. So I don't know that maybe that was why I was a little more. Because, like, the guys, I was like, oh, yeah, that's at the end. Also, we already had this. I thought the first fight was not that good.

[Danielle Fishel]

I cannot believe.

[Ryder Strong]

So I was like, so the first fight for everyone, only better for me, but still.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, so the first fight tonight was Jay Uso.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Against Gunther. Gunther.

[Will Friedle]

Gunther, who is clearly supposed to be Ivan Drago from Rocky.

[Danielle Fishel]

Boy, does he ever just look like a bat. He is.

[Will Friedle]

And I thought they were like, they were, you know, gonna make him something Soviet, like, somehow they. And they, you know, he comes out of an ice clay, you know, cave, because he's been a Soviet from. And they're like, he's from Austria. And I'm like, austria's a lovely country. Like, what's Gunter? Gunter would probably be a wonderful man. He come into this ring, give everybod strudel, like, what's the problem? But they clearly were going with him. Like, he didn't speak much. He's, like, supposed to be Drago. Yeah, but I liked that match.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love that match. I loved that match so much.

[Ryder Strong]

Downtime.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, he spent a lot of time.

[Ryder Strong]

Out of the ring, walking around, flowering. There was a lot of glowering from both of them. And I was like, where's the fighting guy? And I was like, is this really what it's going to? And then, no. The other fights were much more active. That one just felt very tangible, came to me and sort of like, oddly, like, emotional in, like this angsty way. You know what I mean? Like, it was like, just let it out, guys fight each other. And instead it was like a lot of just like.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, I will definitely say it took Jay Uso 25 minutes to get into the ring. His entrance music and this. If there were 61, 000 people there.

[Ryder Strong]

The last fight, the entrance was like a 45 minute setup.

[Will Friedle]

They can milk a walk.

[Ryder Strong]

Well, literally, CM Punk, when he finally got introduced and walked in, Indy turned to me and Alex. They were like, I thought he already walked in because everybody had stood up so we couldn't see, right? And like, they had the pre roll for his pre entrance showed images of him walking in. So they were like, wait, he hasn't walked in yet.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right?

[Ryder Strong]

It hasn't even started.

[Danielle Fishel]

The Spectacle is massive. It really is.

[Will Friedle]

I have to say one thing about tonight and see it because writers are talking about CM Punks walking in. Yeah, that was very special for me to watch that because the tape I listened to driving down from Connecticut on the bus for three hours going to New York to audition over and over and over again to the point where I literally wore it out was Living Color.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

And so they were there singing his entrance live.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

And it was like I was 11 years old again on the bus. I would just listen to it over and over and over and I was like, it's Living Color. Cool. It was really cool for me. Yeah, that was a cool moment.

[Danielle Fishel]

That was really fun. Okay, so our second match of the night was New Day. New Day sucks.

[Will Friedle]

New Day sucks. We've told them that to their face. New Day sucks.

[Ryder Strong]

I actually really like.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, no, no.

[Ryder Strong]

I missed their intros because I went and got a giant hot three. Yeah, I only ate one. I'm still full. It's been six hours since. No, those are crazy. But when I came back in they were already fighting so I missed their intro. New Day was great.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, no, they're great. They're so, they're, they're storyline. Yes, they're amazing. Their storyline was that they turned on the third member of their group, Biggie and Biggie is beloved and so they. So now the new thing is. New Day sucks. New Day sucks. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

It was so funny because the audience was so much less into match than they were in the first match. But I was sitting there going, this is such a better fight. There's more happening. There's so much athleticism. Like they were really like good.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now War Raiders.

[Will Friedle]

So the War Raiders that cuz one of the guys was very. Was a large dude, like a porky dude. He was flipping around. It was crazy.

[Ryder Strong]

That's when I was like, okay, this is the wrestling I kind of had hoped for. That's what I missed in the first match. That kind of like action. And of course there's four of them so there's more stuff going on. But that was way better to me. And then the rest of the night it stayed at that level.

[Will Friedle]

It seems a little like the rules are a bit willy nilly when it comes to the. The tag team.

[Ryder Strong]

Well, that's what I kept asking, have.

[Will Friedle]

Four people in there. Why do you have a chair now?

[Ryder Strong]

Two of them kept fighting.

[Will Friedle]

One of them, that's what I'm saying.

[Ryder Strong]

I was like, aren't they supposed to only be. He's like, well if it's a good match.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. I feel like the refs maybe are more there to just be part of the show as opposed to actually ref the. Because it seems like there's some breaking of the rules. I'm using rules and quotes.

[Danielle Fishel]

I see.

[Ryder Strong]

Suddenly a chair gets involved.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, exactly. They're cleaning off tables. And my favorite is when it'll be like a tag team match and one the. The refer walk up and be holding one guy like in one corner going like don't do that. Where meanwhile five feet behind him, the other guy still beating somebody chair. So it's like I need you to stop. Stop.

[Ryder Strong]

So when you're at home watching it, you hear an announcer.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

I kind of wanted that.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know it's interesting when you're in.

[Ryder Strong]

The room because it's quietest during a match and you can't hear. We were far enough away that I couldn't hear anything, you know, other than the big. The big slams.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

And I was kind of. It was like strangely anti lactic fighting.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. You can only hear them on the tv.

[Will Friedle]

I don't. I haven't watched one at home in a very long time. Can you hear when you're at home also what the wrestlers are saying to each other?

[Danielle Fishel]

Sometimes. But you're not supposed to. That's only like if a camera and a mic happen to be nearby and catch one.

[Ryder Strong]

But they're like yelling. You could see them yelling at each other and I was like, well, I can't hear them.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

They're so.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, most people can't. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

And. And you're not supposed to. It's supposed to be like.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. I mean a lot of times that's in quiet moments they're actually talking about how they're feeling. What the next do this.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh yeah. They're also like giving each other cues.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, it's giving each other cues.

[Ryder Strong]

I like my over. I would kind of want to see like a really small wrestling match now. Like I want to go like where I can. Like I want to watch like I want to watch them stay in character.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

And like what they're saying to each other, being part of it because like this was so big.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

It felt very. I felt very far away. I felt removed from the action, you know. And. And. And yet I couldn't hear the comment commentator. So I didn't get that like to help me. I don't know. Yeah. That would.

[Will Friedle]

That.

[Ryder Strong]

So it is.

[Will Friedle]

It is a pageant though. I mean man, with the. The intros are explosions going off and the music pumping. And it's. It's real. The crowd. The. The crowd is his own character. So everybody knows what to chant and when, and it's. They're doing the same kind of hand gestures and all this stuff. It's really.

[Ryder Strong]

It's.

[Will Friedle]

It's. It's something. It really is.

[Danielle Fishel]

The third match of the night had my favorite package, which was the Jade Cargill Naomi fight that had that incredible background story about Jade Cargill being injured on top of the car.

[Ryder Strong]

Hard to keep up with.

[Danielle Fishel]

Hard to keep up with.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, who got murdered.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right? Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

No, no, no. I don't think they said an actual murder.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, she's an attack.

[Ryder Strong]

I think she's okay.

[Will Friedle]

So wait, let me understand if I got it right, because I was explaining it to Ryder, but I wasn't sure I got the story right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Jade got beaten up and they found her and they didn't know who beat her up. They. Yes, she had a partner that she would often tag team with. They obviously came to the partner and said, well, your partner is down for the count.

[Danielle Fishel]

We.

[Will Friedle]

We can't let you wrestle. Somebody else came up and said, you know what? I'll wrestle with you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

And then they came to them and said, well, wait, we found out who actually did it. And it looked like it was Liv and somebody else that had performed the. You know. So then Jade gets back into it, but it turns out it was actually the girl who volunteered to wrestle with her. So I followed it.

[Danielle Fishel]

You followed it to the team.

[Ryder Strong]

I did not.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

Okay. That's what I thought of. And that's. Even I, by the end, was like. But it was her.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes, exactly. Yes. So that's what this crazy, crazy match was about. We. I mean, the two of them. Naomi is someone I have been a fan of for a very long time. She's incredible. Incredibly athletic. Her skills have only improved over the years. She's gotten better and better. And Jade is the person Mark Henry mentioned to us as being his favorite female to watch. If he had to be a superhero. She is, like a real life superhero.

[Ryder Strong]

Which led me to this question that I asked Will, which is like, what if they actually involved, like, superpowers? Like, and then I realized, like, they can't.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, there's something about the wrestling that still needs to be based in reality. Reality enough.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, it has to be physically believable, magical. Right. But it would be kind of cool. Like, could there be, like, a whole.

[Will Friedle]

Another Whole another wrestling thing?

[Ryder Strong]

Harry Potter, superhero.

[Danielle Fishel]

Almost like Penta is doing with what? Isn't that kind of what Penta is doing?

[Ryder Strong]

I don't even know what Penta is.

[Danielle Fishel]

Penta is one of the wrestlers.

[Ryder Strong]

He wasn't there tonight, but I mean.

[Will Friedle]

Imagine more like Street Fighter.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, Like a whole league where like they have actual weapons.

[Danielle Fishel]

The Undertaker had.

[Will Friedle]

I said to him, I go, undertaker? I think, yeah, some sort of lightning. And he came out.

[Ryder Strong]

Thing was like, these are characters, these are superheroes with like superpowers. And that's one came in with their own power. And then you did like special effects on.

[Will Friedle]

I was just gonna say think about the Harry Potter and the Curse of.

[Ryder Strong]

That's what I mean.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, that.

[Ryder Strong]

That's what I was thinking. With those powers, like pyrotechnics, literally. Or like.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, this or not.

[Ryder Strong]

Is it like, does it ruin it because it's too far in the illusion direction? Do you know what I mean? Like, I wonder, because there's. There's all the characters.

[Will Friedle]

It's WWE from another. Another univers.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

I mean, that's what you do. It's.

[Danielle Fishel]

You do a total spin off.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

But I think, like, for the most part, this is more MMA focused. Right, Right. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

It has to have that level. Like, you have to kind of believe that at the end of the day, these people really did beat each other up or not, because that's the ultimate. I.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, so, producer Jensen, I know that you have been obviously the biggest wrestling fan amongst all of us for a much longer period of time. I noticed tonight, because I am a big MMA fan, that there are moves like the guillotine and rear naked chokes and stuff like that. Was that always part of wrestling? Did you have that in the 80s too? Or are they doing more of that now that the MMA has become so popular?

[Jensen Karp]

So Roman Greco wrestling was more around in the 80s and 90s that you saw like the suplex and whatever. Then when MMA took over and wrestlers started to get into it and become kind of MMA dudes themselves by going to like, you know, different karate lessons, etc, then. Yes. Now you see all the rear chokes and all the stuff like that more in the last 10 years.

[Will Friedle]

So. Okay, so. Because I saw there's one fight that ended tonight with a tap. With a tap out. Is that a new thing, tapping out in wrestling?

[Jensen Karp]

No, tap outs have been for a long time. There was the sharpshooter Bret Hart. There's moves that have always got people to tap out, but no, it's obviously much more in the culture and that's why you don't see Harry Potter. And that's why you don't see. It's because they are considered or considering themselves part of the MMA family.

[Will Friedle]

Gotcha.

[Jensen Karp]

They're owned by the same people. Ufc. Yeah. And wwe.

[Will Friedle]

Gotcha.

[Ryder Strong]

I feel like there was a lot more hitting than I thought.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yeah. Surprise.

[Ryder Strong]

Is that newer? Like punching?

[Will Friedle]

No, that's new. That's. That I've seen before. No, that's.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Around forever. Yeah. That's always been part of wrestling as.

[Ryder Strong]

Like the big moves, like the big ropes and the bounce, they have to catch their breath.

[Danielle Fishel]

Those are truly the. Those are the down times. That's like when you're in yoga and you get to do a downward dog and you're like, this is my rest.

[Ryder Strong]

Totally.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's their rest.

[Ryder Strong]

Right. That makes.

[Danielle Fishel]

If they were just doing tons of big moves all the time, they'd be out of breath, they'd be exhausted, they'd be dizzy. So they. They take, you know.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay, what I. And Jensen, you have to answer this question now. Has anybody ever just like started a match and been pinned within like 30 seconds?

[Jensen Karp]

Well, absolutely, and our friend Chelsea Green is a good example of it. Who is in the Royal Rumble match, which is 30 competitors come out over like two minute intervals.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Jensen Karp]

She ran out. She jumped up on the ropes, and then someone pushed her out. She was out. Quickest removal ever.

[Danielle Fishel]

So second within seconds.

[Jensen Karp]

And I went to a WrestleMania years and years ago. My memory is garbage. But there was a really fast, like 22nd match, tops. Guy runs out, gets kicked in the face with a boot, and 1, 2, 3. So it's happened many times.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Jensen Karp]

We didn't see any tonight, but it.

[Ryder Strong]

Happens because I, I just, you know, I was talking to Will. I was like, what is the, like the three act structure of this?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

You know, because they are. They are very structured.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

And like, he's very excited.

[Jensen Karp]

Okay. So as a former writer of WWE Wrestling in 2005, this is my 20 year reunion. There is a way that the heel gets on top of it for a while. You get the booze. You get that time when he looks up and stares at the audience and the audience booze. And then there's the comeback, which is where the good guy obviously starts to come back in a win. You see that? And then that's the Hulkamania. Remember when he used to like, he used to like, shake or do this. Yeah, that too. But he used to like, shake up. Like, he would get put in a sleeper hold. They'd put his arm up 1, 2, and then on the third one, he'd.

[Will Friedle]

Hold up and then.

[Jensen Karp]

And then he'd start shaking.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

So that's like the comeback.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Jensen Karp]

And so like, then you're. Now you're rooting for the good guy. And then the final act is basically how it will end. Will the comeback turn into a win? They'll get the heel again to go. You know, to have one more moment there. And then the good guy would win or the bad guy wins.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, Right. Thank you.

[Ryder Strong]

I also. I also like one, two, always. Why do they have. Why can't they break the pit on one?

[Will Friedle]

Because they always break it right before three. Because you always cut the wire with two seconds left of the bomb exploding. If you cut it with 62 seconds left, it doesn't make it.

[Ryder Strong]

I. But the fact that there was no variation tonight. Like, there was.

[Danielle Fishel]

There was one where someone got out on A one.

[Will Friedle]

We saw that. Cuz we were like one.

[Danielle Fishel]

In the final match. In the final match, there was. There was one where someone on A one. Roman Reigns was out.

[Ryder Strong]

Good. Okay. Because I was like, you got to break this cliche at some point.

[Danielle Fishel]

So we have the WWE Women's Championship. The winner, Tiffany Stratton, kept her belt against Pod friend.

[Will Friedle]

I'd like to say. Friend of the.

[Danielle Fishel]

Friend of the pod.

[Will Friedle]

Friend of the pod.

[Danielle Fishel]

Friend of the pod. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

But not our champion. Are we still.

[Will Friedle]

No, no.

[Danielle Fishel]

Liv still our champion. Liv is our pod meets world champion. Yeah. What did you guys think of that match?

[Ryder Strong]

Best fight of the night.

[Danielle Fishel]

You thought so.

[Ryder Strong]

Best fight of the night. For me, it was the most fun to watch. I like both their characters.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, well, interestingly, I kind of. Both of their characters are like, not my style. Like, I was definitely. I don't know. You know, Tiffany has like the.

[Danielle Fishel]

She's got the perfect celebrity. Not for writer. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

I kind of like. But. But they're both like. They both kind of seem like heels to me. Like, I was both like. But it was a great fight. And so like, Tiffany's gymnastics came out.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

That's great.

[Will Friedle]

The audience did not like Charlotte Flair.

[Ryder Strong]

No. Because.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

But it was fun. Like, that for me was the most fun of the night.

[Will Friedle]

Like, I don't disagree. I really liked that fight. I did. I thought. I did. I thought it was. Again, I thought the best person I saw all night was. Was Jade.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Who to me looked like she should be cast in a Conan movie. Should be cast as one of the X Men. I mean, it was like you could. You built a. Like I said, a Superhero. It was amazing to watch. You had the white hair.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. And the outfit was perfect.

[Will Friedle]

Her entrance was great. And it was just so cool. But other than that, the best fight. I don't disagree. Was the Charlotte flair fight. I thought it was incredible.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Incredible. Yeah. No, and though the last fight was attitude perfect.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

And also it went on like. It got to this point when they were both like, line and like, I feel like there's a lot of the. Like, you know, I'm exhausted. Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

With them, I was like, they're really exhausted.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. They should.

[Ryder Strong]

They should be because this is this. It felt like. It just felt like they were working so hard.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

And I was really impressed with both of them. I was, like, totally into it.

[Will Friedle]

I. I would say that I don't know who trains wrestlers, but there's a very big problem that they need to address, which is not a single wrestler ever even attempts a block.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know. You did say that.

[Will Friedle]

I punch you in the face. You punch me in the face. Like, if you just raised your hands once.

[Ryder Strong]

Somebody blocked. I remember somebody blocking, then counter.

[Will Friedle]

There's no blocking when they.

[Danielle Fishel]

When they were. When punk. And was it Roman, who. Or maybe it was Seth, who was punching each. Hitting each other in the face back and forth. It was like, now it's your turn. Now it's your turn. They just kept trading punches. It's like, you know it's coming.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, sure. You stop it. Put up this hand. And then everything might get better with.

[Ryder Strong]

The two blonde ladies, too. I was also like, that hair is a real liability. Put it up like. But you would never actually let that air fly. But it looks great when it's a dramatic.

[Danielle Fishel]

Put on a braid. Put your hair in a braid.

[Ryder Strong]

God. Yes.

[Will Friedle]

But that also shows what. When she was talking about the hair matches where you have hair like that, and then they shave it at the end if you lose. That's crazy.

[Danielle Fishel]

We saw La Knight against Jacob Fatu. That was a really. LA Knights guy who came out in the car. Yeah, he was.

[Will Friedle]

He was the fan of the. The audience certainly, like, he was the one they wanted to win.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, you think so?

[Will Friedle]

I did. Was he not.

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, I cheer quite a bit. I felt like people were really cheering for Jacob. I really felt like.

[Will Friedle]

Who was the heel in that situation?

[Danielle Fishel]

Good question. Jacob.

[Ryder Strong]

Jacob. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

Jacob Fatu's the heel there, but a cool heel.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Jensen Karp]

So a little different.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. People. Akil. Okay. He's a kill.

[Ryder Strong]

I kind of thought he was one of the better actors to watch.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

He's legit unhinged. Like I was like, this guy's really committed.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love those eyebrows.

[Ryder Strong]

I've never seen. I didn't, you know, I never heard him speak, but I was like, this guy, I'd like to see this guy in a movie. Like I want to see this guy acting.

[Will Friedle]

Well, you leaned over to me and you're like, he's growling. I think he's growling.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, you're, you know, you're going for it, man. Yeah, he was great.

[Danielle Fishel]

Also worth mentioning, the first three matches of the night, there were belt turnovers that the person hold, you know, trying to keep their belt. Lost it.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. The only person who kept their belt all night was Tiffany.

[Danielle Fishel]

Tiffany. Yep, that's exactly right. And then that brings us to the very last match of the evening, which was a three way match pretty great between Seth Rollins, CM Punk and Roman Reigns. Really incredible athleticism and choreography, if that's.

[Will Friedle]

What you call it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Choreography great. Yeah, you got a lot of great audience chants. There was we want tables. And that's. They wanted somebody going through the table.

[Will Friedle]

And then they did it and they.

[Danielle Fishel]

Got.

[Will Friedle]

Was clear that later in the match that was supposed to happen.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

But Roman Reigns heard the chant so walked over to a table. You could tell he was like, all right, I'll go with this. Like if this doesn't happen right now in the match. But if they want me to walk over and just clear one off in the place place. And you could tell that was kind of him just listening to the audience being like, all right, I'll, I'll let's you want. So it was really cool to hear how he can stay in character. Stay on beat, but add something to then, yeah, go with the high.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like challenge you with one thing.

[Will Friedle]

What?

[Danielle Fishel]

I bet it was part of it. You think two people went through two different tables. Both tables eventually needed to get cleared.

[Will Friedle]

And you think it, you think it was supposed to happen there?

[Danielle Fishel]

I'll do it here. Even if the chant didn't happen, the audience was just one step ahead of what they were doing.

[Will Friedle]

That. Well, that's the case.

[Danielle Fishel]

And I bet he was gonna do that anyway. I bet that was part of it. So that they had two cleared off tables because it was Punk and Seth. That was cool.

[Ryder Strong]

The thought that I had about our Boy Meets World episode was like really kind of messed up that we did two takes.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

And so messed up. We ruined. We've ruined wrestling for a night. Clicked that.

[Will Friedle]

What crap.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

We should not have done that. No, I don't care. Like, figure it out.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, you gotta use it.

[Ryder Strong]

Jeff McCracken, I have words like, he really.

[Danielle Fishel]

He.

[Ryder Strong]

He asserted Boy Meets World reality over the wrestling. And I'm like, that sucks now.

[Will Friedle]

Well, that's why apparently Jake the Snake was so pissed because it was like this.

[Ryder Strong]

We had. So we did it twice.

[Danielle Fishel]

We made the whole audience participate in TV show takes.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. Bummer.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. Because watching tonight and they were like, we're gonna start the match over again and do it would be like the biggest violation of.

[Danielle Fishel]

Of what we're all here for. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I'd be yelling, boy Meets World sucks too, at that point.

[Danielle Fishel]

If that.

[Will Friedle]

Because it is. It's. It's taking you completely. Yeah. Completely out of the match.

[Jensen Karp]

Yeah, it is.

[Will Friedle]

Imagine in the middle of us shooting our show in the middle of a scene, they decided to also shoot part of a Family matters. And they're like, you guys need to start over because we messed up our part.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

And not cool.

[Ryder Strong]

Really not cool. Actually, like, it was like a. I had that. I was like, this would be so awful.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love that you actually thought of that there. And we're like, I'm gonna put myself in their shoes. Oh, this is bad for the performers.

[Ryder Strong]

And for the audience.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Not cool.

[Ryder Strong]

It's not like. And, like, also, like, we could have done it afterwards. I feel like if it was a shot issue. Because it had to have been a shot issue. Like, Jeff McCracken must have not gotten something he needed.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

Because I don't think it was performance based.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

But then to make them re. Do part of the fight.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Not cool. Not cool. So I also want to say, I think I said this the last time after Raw, and now this is my second time. And it's. It's absolutely 100% because I'm such a nerd. I love different nerdoms and fandoms. The. The fans are incredible.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yeah.

[Will Friedle]

They're the nicest people. They're all in on each other. They're chanting at the same time. They're cool next to each other. It's. It was great. I mean, once again, all the fans.

[Danielle Fishel]

Will was recognized left and right. I think we.

[Will Friedle]

Because Will was sitting next to Danielle Fisch Fish left and right. So. Yes. It's hard not to recognize.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, I don't think that's it. I think you have to stop saying you never get recognized.

[Will Friedle]

Now again, let's put. I will put it this way.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Will Friedle]

I.

[Ryder Strong]

You're right.

[Will Friedle]

I definitely get recognized when I'm with you. So yeah, that's you're 100% correct.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Unknown Speaker]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

Will Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

From tracking money in and out to.

[Danielle Fishel]

Cutting through the complexity with an all encompassing platform like QuickBooks, you don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys.

[Ryder Strong]

Listen to Mind the small business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Fishel]

We would be really failing our audience if we didn't talk about the ending of the main event. Big, Big Spoiler alert. If you.

[Will Friedle]

If you don't.

[Danielle Fishel]

There you go. If you don't want to know the ending of the main event, then turn.

[Will Friedle]

It off right now.

[Danielle Fishel]

Skip or turn us off. But Paul Heyman, who has known Roman Reigns and CM Punk for 20 plus.

[Will Friedle]

Years, like their whole careers, right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. Has been involved from the ground up with both of them. And it was a big thing. Ooh, who's he gonna be with? Is he gonna go with Roman? Is he gonna go with CM Punk? And it looked like for sure he had chosen Punk.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And I don't think it was really on the bingo card that he was gonna turn on Punk, but he did. He turned on Punk. He handed a chair to Punk to use on Roman Reigns. And then right when Punk raised the chair, Paul assaulted CM Punk between the legs, which knocked CM Punk to the ground. And then Paul took the chair and he handed it to Roman. And it was like, oh, man.

[Will Friedle]

You're like, back with Roman.

[Danielle Fishel]

He's gone back with Roman. Wow. This whole thing was a ruse. He's not the old switcheroo. The old switcheroo. But then Roman picked up the chair and Paul did the same thing to him.

[Will Friedle]

Double switcheroo.

[Danielle Fishel]

Double double insult to injury.

[Will Friedle]

Double switcheroo. My friend. Who got switcheroo.

[Danielle Fishel]

He is now partnered and paired up up with the Seth Rollins, who was the winner of the match, but not.

[Ryder Strong]

The winner of WrestleMania.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, no. There's not. No. There he did. They actually didn't even win a belt. That wasn't for it. That wasn't for a championship belt.

[Will Friedle]

Ryder brings up a good question. So this is a two night event.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

Tomorrow it. Is there a WrestleMania champion, like somebody wins just WrestleMania.

[Danielle Fishel]

Tomorrow is John Cena versus Cody Rhodes.

[Will Friedle]

Right. But that's for a belt. That's for a belt. That's not. That's not WrestleMania champion, but it's still.

[Danielle Fishel]

Kind of WrestleMania champion. John Cena's whole thing. This is, you know, John Cena's had the biggest heel turn of all time. We've talked about it a little bit in some of our interviews. He's been the number one baby face the babies.

[Will Friedle]

The nicest guy ever. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And now not only is he a heel to wrestlers, he's even a heel to the fans. He's just pissed. And his big thing has been I am coming back to win WrestleMania and then I'm leaving forever. And I am just curious if that's.

[Will Friedle]

If it's true or it's a rude.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's true. And if he wins tomorrow Is there a bigger heel thing than saying I've lied to all of you? I'm not going anywhere.

[Will Friedle]

I'm your ch. It's seriously. He becomes the emperor from Star wars who's now going to sit on his throat.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly. I'm now the king. So dun dun dun. Tomorrow. Very.

[Will Friedle]

For the record, I've beaten John Cena.

[Danielle Fishel]

Excuse me?

[Will Friedle]

You heard me. I've beaten John Cena.

[Danielle Fishel]

Beaten John Cena in what?

[Will Friedle]

Well, the only thing we would go up against each other for a role. And so he apparently auditioned to play Ron Stoppable on Kim Possible.

[Danielle Fishel]

What? Really?

[Will Friedle]

That's the rumor.

[Danielle Fishel]

Piping hot tea.

[Will Friedle]

The rumor is apparently John Cena auditioned to play Ron Stoppable and I kicked his ass.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Booyah. Wow.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. That's all I got to say.

[Danielle Fishel]

I dare you to say that to his face.

[Will Friedle]

I would be happy to say it to his face. By the way, if that is not true.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

Then I'm sorry.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Will Friedle]

And I will do whatever he needs so he doesn't hit me in the face.

[Danielle Fishel]

I like this.

[Will Friedle]

And I think that's fair.

[Danielle Fishel]

I like this for sure. Yeah. Who were you hoping was going to win the main event between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and CM Punk?

[Will Friedle]

You know me in loyalty.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

And you guys brought me into the wrestling world. And you guys are all big CM Punk fans.

[Danielle Fishel]

We're all in.

[Will Friedle]

So if you're all in for Punk and we're all family, then I'm. I'm rooting for Punk too. So I was hoping that your friend CM Punk was. Was going to win.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. This was the biggest night of CM Punk's life and one he'd been working for.

[Will Friedle]

Seeing his opening package, right where you.

[Danielle Fishel]

See how young he was, seeing his.

[Will Friedle]

Package is something I wish I. I didn't say, but seeing the video they put on the video package, long he'd been there, how young he was, how different he looked. Amazing. Really amazing how long man has been big package.

[Danielle Fishel]

Truly a career in the making. It has always been his number one dream. Like a lot of people, like a lot of wrestlers to Main. Main event WrestleMania. And he last year got injured and this year was able to do it. I really did think Punk was going to win. I thought it was going to be.

[Will Friedle]

I think most people thought Punk was going to win, which is why he couldn't. Because if you get in there and you've got 90% of the audience thinking one guy's going to win, they got it. They can't let that guy win. It's Got to be. Because again, going in. In my head with the very little I know about wrestling. Wrestling, it was Roman Reigns and then CM Punk.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

One of those guys had to win. And then there was the third guy.

[Danielle Fishel]

And then Seth Rollins.

[Will Friedle]

Right. So at. Then halfway through, I was like, oh.

[Danielle Fishel]

They'Re gonna give it to the third guy.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, they're gonna give it. All of a sudden, Pete Best is the best Beetle. Yeah. Out of nowhere. And so that's about halfway through. I was like, they're gonna give it to the guy that nobody thinks is gonna win.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

And I don't know how they're gonna get there there, but that's going to be their end game. I kind of figured that was the way it was going to happen because it'll be a great challenge, great little round. Now, question for rules.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Because it's a. It's a three person match. So it's all three of them against each other. First pin.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. First win. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So could two guys gang up on a third and both of them pin to hold down one guy and just pin him?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, but then you wouldn't work. No.

[Jensen Karp]

Then they're not the winner.

[Danielle Fishel]

Then you have.

[Jensen Karp]

But you can, you can work together and then make the guy think you're gonna do something like that, then beat him up and then pin someone. You would always want to be the one.

[Will Friedle]

Right. But you two guys couldn't work together and tie.

[Jensen Karp]

No, no, you would never want that. You never want to take a tie.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Jensen Karp]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

All right.

[Danielle Fishel]

You want to be the one. Interesting overall thoughts. You know, I, I'll. I'm gonna go first with overall thoughts. I think hearing what writer said, I think that's a very valid point. That WrestleMania is the biggest and grandest, most detailed situation you could possibly find yourself in. That if you're going to try to get someone into wrestling, maybe don't bring them to the biggest event first. Get them in on the ground floor. Getting to know the characters a little bit. So I think maybe we did you a little bit of a DennisService by having WrestleMania. WrestleMania be your first. But would you go to another wrestling event? Were your overall thoughts writer.

[Ryder Strong]

I'd like to go to a smaller one for sure. And I'd like to be. I don't know, I always, I always get overwhelmed when there's lore that I don't know.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, right.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, I've always been intimidated to like, get into stuff. Like, this is why I never got into comic books.

[Will Friedle]

This is sue with Marv the.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. I Never. As a kid, I could never start comic books because I was always like, I don't know which X Men to get into to start, you know? And, like, now. And nowadays I feel like there's, like, guides on the Internet, so I could probably do it. Like, I could find the primer. But. Yeah, so I was a little, like, overwhelmed. And, like, I'm immediately, like, I. This is.

[Danielle Fishel]

I guess I'm out.

[Ryder Strong]

So I don't know what. What the answer to that would be for me. But, you know, ultimately, like, I do think that the. The culture, like, even though I can appreciate the storytelling and the athleticism and, like, the fact of these characters and the depth of this, like, world, I'm not sure it's all for me.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

You know what I mean? Like, it's not. Like I said, it's sort of like it's a pseudo sporting event. I don't like sporting events to begin with.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

So even. Even if, like, the fiction is developed and interesting, it's still kind of ultimately about people beating each other up, which is like, not really my thing. So, like, you know, or, like, I don't know. So ultimately, like, I don't know.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

But if I could see, like, the introduction of a new character and, like, be there for their first fight or, like, I don't know, something that would be kind of like the indie way in, maybe I'd be into it, you know, or, like, definitely a smaller match. Like, being closer to the action and, like, watching the people do their thing and being able to hear them talk or. I don't know, something like that would be kind of. That'd probably be better for me.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, what about you? What do you think? You've now been to two wrestling events. Raw, the first one ever on Netflix, and then.

[Will Friedle]

And then I don't disagree with Ryder in certain ways. I am. I. Again, Susan is exactly the same way. And one of the things she hates more than anything is when I drag her one of these Marvel movies or something like that, and somebody comes on the screen and I go, oh, yeah. And she's like, what the hell does that mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

She doesn't like that. And I can see why people tune out with that. I thought I had more fun at RAW because the venue was smaller and we had much closer seats.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So it was like we were part of. The action at RAW was very close. I mean, they were throwing wrestlers literally five feet from us at raw, which obviously makes your experience different.

[Danielle Fishel]

Sitting ringside is.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. That being said, I am a nerd And I love fandoms. I am a. I just love fandoms. I love the languages that are involved. Everybody's got it. They all have their own cultures. They all have their own norms. They all have their own dress codes. They all. And I love learning new ones. Microworlds are like my favorite thing. So going to these and learning the world. And today, I had already. While I certainly am not fluent. Yeah, I was conversational in wrestling.

[Danielle Fishel]

Totally.

[Will Friedle]

To where now that I was there, I knew who to root for a little bit. I knew some of the hand gestures to do. I knew when to chant and when not to chant and when to boo and when not to boo. So picking that stuff up was great. And. And sitting next to Ryder, who had three of the biggest hot dogs ever. I'm always a no, but I'm just saying.

[Ryder Strong]

You're a fan of giant hot dogs.

[Will Friedle]

I am a fan of big packages.

[Ryder Strong]

And giant hot dogs.

[Will Friedle]

Hot dogs and mega packages.

[Ryder Strong]

Mega.

[Will Friedle]

No. So I, again, I liked it. I would definitely go to another one. I preferred it in the smaller venue than the big giant venue.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

But that's just me. That's for most things I prefer. I don't go to a lot of concerts, but I much prefer being at a place that seats 135 people to listen to music than a place that seats 135,000. So I, I think I kind of agree with Ryder there, but I like the nerdom and I really love the fans, so I'm. Yeah, I'm in. Well, I do.

[Danielle Fishel]

I will.

[Will Friedle]

I go home and watch it all the time. No, probably not. But I'll follow it enough to where when we go to another one, I will stay conversational in. In wrestling. And I think that's a. That's a fun way to do it. I also have an idea for Ryder to get into the world if he were allowed to fully create a character for a wrestler. Like, backstory, everything.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, yeah.

[Will Friedle]

And then apply it to that wrestler and then develop it to the point where you work on it with the wrestler and then you get to go see them, him or her win or lose their first match. I think you'd be in hook, line, and sinker.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. Is there like a fantasy football league, like, for, like, is there a way to play, probably create your own wrestler? I don't know. There's a.

[Will Friedle]

Cool. Yeah, that'd be cool.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. I mean, I think fundamentally, you know, going back to that advice of, like, don't overanalyze it. I like overanalyzing the things I do. That's what I like about books. It's like you get stick with it over and like even like music. Like the music I like tends to be the stuff that like the lyrics are take you five like what we.

[Danielle Fishel]

Do with our podcast.

[Ryder Strong]

Exactly. It's my dream. You know, it's like I go to a concert, I'm fine. Like I want to sit down and just enjoy the concert, you know, like in that over analysis mode. So like this sort of like. I mean the sporting events are not that like sporting events are like live in the moment and see it happen. Like this is not my style. Like I'm just never going to be that person who's like fully into that kind of thing. So.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, totally fair. I had a. I had a blast with both of you. 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 bowl an exciting feeding experience for dogs and pet parents. 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. 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 Warmbulls online and in stores today. This is Danielle Fishel, Ryder Strong and.

[Will Friedle]

Will Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Danielle Fishel]

For many, the American Dream means starting your own business and working for yourself.

[Ryder Strong]

If you're a small business owner, launching a company or dreaming of starting one, then you'll not only want to make sure you're using a platform like Intuit QuickBooks, but you'll also want to check out season three of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks.

[Danielle Fishel]

In every episode, hosts Austin Henkiewicz and Janice Torres talk to small business owners about how they've grown and maintained their business and tackled the hurdles and challenges that come with being your own boss.

[Will Friedle]

From tracking money in and out to.

[Danielle Fishel]

Cutting through the complexity with an all encompassing platform like QuickBooks, you don't want to miss these inspiring stories of small business journeys.

[Ryder Strong]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

The name of this product is the Active Cash Credit Card from Wells Fargo. That's a lot of name, but it's also a lot of card.

[Will Friedle]

It earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, whether it's buying tickets to the game with your mom or grabbing a coffee with your dog. Purchases big and small earn unlimited 2% cash rewards.

[Ryder Strong]

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[Danielle Fishel]

So you might stumble a bit while saying it, but paying with it will make you stumble upon so much more. Shopping, Dining, cooking, gardening. You get the idea.

[Will Friedle]

Let's say it together.

[Danielle Fishel]

The Active Cash Credit Card from Wells Fargo earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. You know what? It does have a ring to it. No, seriously, try saying it out loud. The Active Cash Credit Card from Wells Fargo.

[Will Friedle]

Ooh, that sounds nice.

[Ryder Strong]

Learn more@wells fargo.com forward/active cash Terms Apply.

[Will Friedle]

What were your thoughts on Wrestlemania?

[Danielle Fishel]

I thought Wrestlemania was great. I I thought there was some lulls. I found there to be Some lulls. I'm.

[Ryder Strong]

The first match was amazing.

[Danielle Fishel]

I. Well, part of the reason I thought the first match was amazing is because my son Adler is a big Jay USO fan.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

And so I am a Jay USO fan. And to see, you know, I. I think that anytime you're in a crowd of 61, 000 people and it appears as though 59, 000 of them are chanting the same thing and they.

[Ryder Strong]

Superstar.

[Danielle Fishel]

He is a superstar. And to watch him, he was making his entrance all the way directly across from where we were sitting. To see him make his entrance slowly down, I mean, it definitely took a good 20, 25 minutes.

[Will Friedle]

It was a slow walk.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was a slow walk. But. But it was everyone singing his song. Like, I just love that. I love that kind of spectacle. And boy, is he over, you know, like, he's just, he's. He's big time. So I thought that was really fun. And so that carried. That went far for me. But yeah, I thought there were some lulls. I actually didn't love the Tiffy Charlotte Flair match as much as you guys.

[Will Friedle]

You said that you were saying that.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know what? I think I missed that. I'll say for sure. Is different about WrestleMania than other wrestling events. I like the wrestlers on the mic.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. That's what I wanted to.

[Danielle Fishel]

There were. No, they don't do that.

[Ryder Strong]

And so normally they do get to say something before a match or whatever.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. A lot of times they kind of was expecting that.

[Ryder Strong]

I kind of wanted to say, like.

[Danielle Fishel]

I want to see their personalities outside of just an entrance.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Or holding about.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay. I thought I was just.

[Will Friedle]

No.

[Ryder Strong]

I don't know why I had that in my mind that there was going to be more of.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, I wanted that. I thought if they could have cut the entrances down by half.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And given them some. Some real life stuff on the mic.

[Will Friedle]

Well, when did they stop? Because when I first saw wrestling as a kid did, it was that bald guy with the mustache who would interview them all right before their matches. And they're all going like, let me tell you something.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, they're cutting their promos.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. And so they're cutting kind of slicker promos together where there's something about just doing the interview with the guy sweating and screaming like, I can't wait to kill him in the ring tonight. Like, that's kind of cool. And I, I missed that.

[Ryder Strong]

I have a very, very weird memory that just came back to me. I'm not sure if we've talked about this on the podcast before, but do you remember the opening scene for the Boy Meets World script that you and I wrote together for during the first season of Boy Meets World?

[Will Friedle]

I remember lines from it.

[Ryder Strong]

Do you remember what the line. Why I'm bringing it up right now.

[Will Friedle]

Of course.

[Danielle Fishel]

Mind melt.

[Jensen Karp]

There's no way you're going to bring that up. And we're going to end the podcast quickly. So you should really think about this because there are people really want to know what your script of Boy Meets World was.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, let's just put it this way. We'll give you one line and we'll talk about it in pre show chatter.

[Ryder Strong]

Let's get ready to Thumble.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh my gosh, I can't believe that. You guys are so funny.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, my God. We talked to April Kelly. I remember her.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I think I was 16, you were 13.

[Ryder Strong]

And we were like, we're gonna go right a script.

[Danielle Fishel]

Get ready to Thumble. Do you guys still have the script?

[Will Friedle]

Oh, God, no.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't know.

[Will Friedle]

I'm not sure. I think it was handwritten.

[Ryder Strong]

No, we were definitely on a computer.

[Danielle Fishel]

Were.

[Will Friedle]

We was. You're the first person ever knew how.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, I either had movie magic or some whatever. The screenwriting program was ready to go.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

I want. Will, I want you to talk a little bit about Bret Hart and Triple H. Okay.

[Will Friedle]

Well, it's just something. And again, I could be totally wrong, but it's just something I noticed. So they were doing the inductee class. They're introducing the induct key Class of 2025 for the hall of Fame for.

[Danielle Fishel]

The WWE, which happened last night.

[Will Friedle]

Happened last night. And there was, you know, it was Stone Cold Ste Austin and Brett Hart for one. They're both in already, but I guess this was for a specific match that they did. So that match was making it in. And there's a couple other wrestlers that were there that I hadn't heard of or family members of wrestlers that were there because maybe they had passed away.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

And then it was Triple H and Triple H, who also, I think is married to MC Stephanie, Stephanie McMahon and essentially now runs the company with her correct creative.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, he's a creative.

[Will Friedle]

Creative director or whatever. So he had this big entrance. Like the rest of them are all kind of standing on stage and they did some very nice little packages. But then they. He came out and it was like they. Like they were introing him like they did for one of the other wrestlers.

[Danielle Fishel]

Was introduced into the hall of Fame.

[Will Friedle]

So big music, all that stuff. And he Walked down the aisle, kind of shaking everybody's hand. The first person was stone cold Steve Austin, who shook his hand very politely. And the next was Bret Hart. And I swear to God, he shook his hand. Bret Hart. There's got to be footage of it. Bret Hart kind of like gave him a smirk, wasn't really looking. And then the second he walked away, he gave this look where it was just kind of like whatever. Like, like it looked like he did not like him or what had just happened or something. But there was. Oh, wait, am I.

[Jensen Karp]

Well, there's a very long history here. There's a very long history. So Bret Hart, it has the most infamous problem with the WWE in the 90s, and he got screwed. They reality became wrestling. Wrestling became reality.

[Will Friedle]

I was gonna say this is real life. This is not a bit.

[Jensen Karp]

Well, and then I'll get into the reality. Okay, There' match. Bret Hart is leaving for the competition. They know what's going to happen. You're supposed to respectfully let them lose and leave. But Brett supposedly didn't want to lose. There was some sort of problem going on, and they just made him lose. Like, they count. A referee counted to two and then called it as three. And Brett learned he was losing the match in the ring. He punched Vince McMahon, who was running the company at the time, now luckily no longer punched him in the face at backstage. It was all very real.

[Will Friedle]

And so on camera, there's a punch in the face.

[Jensen Karp]

A documentary crew got it.

[Ryder Strong]

Wow.

[Jensen Karp]

Not from WWE. A&E played it years later.

[Will Friedle]

Wow.

[Jensen Karp]

So that is Triple H's best friend. So Triple H's best friend, Shawn Michaels, is the guy who basically beat him on a two count.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, maybe that's what it is.

[Jensen Karp]

And that was the day that Vince McMahon became a bad guy. Not only in real life, but a bad guy wrestler. A wrestler, right. So that he. It became. He was just like a normal announcer. And then now he screwed this dude over in real life and in wrestling. Wrestling. And so that was that. So you saw something very astute that you noticed that. That. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, yeah, I saw it. I was like, that something's going on there because that guy just gave a weird face right when he walked away. Oh, man. See, there's so much history and weirdness, man.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, you're. You're very intuitive. Well, you pick up on it.

[Ryder Strong]

I got.

[Will Friedle]

I don't. I don't know what to say up to that. I got. I've got nothing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, thank you all for joining us for this incredible WrestleMania weekend. We had some incredible interviews. We had so much fun at the event.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, this is a cool weekend.

[Danielle Fishel]

This was a really great weekend and we will be back on Monday with our regular programming. There will be an interview with Gary H. Miller and then on Thursday we'll be doing a recap. So we'll see you later this week. 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 Producer in charge of production Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Sudbaksh, producer Matty Moore, engineer and Boy Meets World super fan Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon. Follow us on Instagram odmeatsworld show or email us at podmeatsworldshowmail.com 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.

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[Danielle Fishel]

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 Warmbulls online and in stores today.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's tax season and by now I know we're all a bit tired of numbers, but here's an important one you need to hear $16.5 billion. That's how much money in refunds the IRS flagged for possible identity fraud last year. Here's another 20%. That's the overall increase in identity theft related to tax fraud in 2024 alone. But it's not all grim news. Here's a good number. 100 million. That's how many data points Lifelock monitors every second. If your identity is stolen, LifeLock's US based restoration specialists will fix it, backed by another good number, the million dollar protection plan. In fact, restoration is guaranteed or your money back. Don't face identity theft and financial losses alone. There's strength in numbers with Lifelock Identity theft protection for tax season and beyond. Join now and save up to 40% your first year. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK and use promo code iheart or go to lifelock.com iheart for 40% off. Terms apply as a boy mom to.

[Danielle Fishel]

A 3 and a 5 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.