Postgame Show: Chris And Zas Are Going To Wrestle

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
Episode: Postgame Show: Chris And Zas Are Going To Wrestle
Date: February 17, 2026

Theme/Purpose:
In this lively postgame segment, Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Chris Cody, Greg Cody, and others discuss the anxiety and mental health pressures facing modern Olympians, particularly in the age of social media. The conversation naturally pivots to the lighthearted anticipation of Chris Cody and Zas’s upcoming pro wrestling training session. The episode neatly straddles serious discussions about athlete well-being and the show's signature brand of irreverent banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Pressure Cooker of Olympic Competition (00:32–06:56)

• Empathy for Ilya Malinin:
  Dan brings up the emotional fallout from Olympic skater Ilya Malinin’s disappointing performance, focusing on the crushing “once-every-four-years” stakes for Olympians.

  • "Man, you wait four years to do something, the degree of difficulty is such that you're landing on a razor blade on ice in order to be perfect." – Dan Le Batard (00:43)

• Unimaginable Pressure and Perfection:
  The hosts riff on how tiny missteps can mean going from favorite to also-ran. Greg Cody notes:

  • "Sometimes the difference between a gold medal and fifth place is a split second, literally a fraction of a second or one or two points." – Greg Cody (02:10)

• Mental Health in the Social Media Era:
  Dan reflects on the generational divide, acknowledging his limited understanding of modern athletes’ social-media-fueled stress:

  • "I don't think I understand what it is to be a 19 year old addicted to social media, to have that as what is your feedback loop." – Dan Le Batard (04:10)
  • They discuss how the desire for validation and minute-by-minute exposure drastically amplify self-doubt, especially after failure.

• Resilience Amid Scoreboard Culture:
  The panel highlights how negative social media comments can easily overshadow positive feedback—a pressure doubled for female sportswriters due to online misogyny.

  • "If they get one comment that's critical in a way that feels really, really personal, it sticks with them." – Greg Cody (05:28)
  • Complete avoidance isn’t always possible, since negative commentary often makes mainstream news (06:26).

2. Wrestlemania Antics: Chris and Zas’s Wrestling Training (06:56–08:54)

• Setting the Scene:
  The mood shifts when the show pivots to Chris Cody and Zas prepping for a wrestling bootcamp—a nod to WWE’s Miami event.

  • "We're gonna train to be a pro wrestler tomorrow... Our boy Domino, he's gonna meet us at the training facility tomorrow. They got the ring and everything." – Zas (07:06)

• Handling Wrestling Jitters and Aches:
  The crew jokes about Zas’s bad back and the inevitable bumps and bruises from the ring.

  • "Great day to wake up with a bad back." – Chris Cody (07:41)
  • "The ropes are supposed to hurt, though. They're like wires." – Zas (08:29)

• Gear and Moves:
  Bemoaning wardrobe (singlet!) and classic wrestling moves, Chris asks if he’ll even be able to manage getting in and out of the ropes realistically.

  • "Can you guys tell me whether or not you think you guys would be good at jumping over rope... When you get slung against the rope?" – Chris Cody (08:07)

• Signature Show Laughter:
  Light teasing erupts over Greg Cody’s signature laugh and cough, with the crew suggesting he should make it his “top 10” catchphrase.

  • "It should be number 10. You really need to think about starting your top 10 with your catchphrase. Number 10 being just you coughing." – Chris Cody (08:44)

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Notable Quotes

• Olympic Pressure & Perfection
  • "If you're stumbling, if you're imperfect, you're gonna finish eighth when you're the favorite. The amount of pressure... I would not ever want that kind of pressure on me." – Dan Le Batard (00:51)
• On Athlete Validation and Social Media
  • "It's the perpetual validation that we're all a little bit addicted to... I underestimate the perils of having your doubts voiced at every turn." – Dan Le Batard (02:59)
• Female Sportswriters' Perspective
  • "I've had many a female sportswriter tell me that they don't read online comments anymore because... if it's really, really personal, it sticks with them." – Greg Cody (05:28)
• Wrestling Excitement and Trepidation
  • "Don't worry about my gear. You'll see my gear tomorrow. And Domino is going to teach us some moves..." – Zas (07:30)
  • "I wanted to run in and do, like, the thing where I slide into the..." – Chris Cody (08:26)

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Memorable Moments & Timestamps

• 01:56 – “I will never be as great at anything as this person is at figure skating because I would not want that size of pressure on me.” – Dan Le Batard
• 05:28 – Discussion of personal criticism and mental health for female sportswriters.
• 07:06 – Zas explains the upcoming wrestling training and jokes about wardrobe.
• 08:41 – Greg Cody’s signature laughing and coughing, sparking group laughter and ideas for his “Top 10.”

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Conclusion

This episode underscores The Dan Le Batard Show’s special ability to tackle tough issues like mental health in elite sports, exploring the unique burdens of social media-age Olympians, while also celebrating the absurd joys of pro-wrestling antics. It’s an engaging mix of empathy, insight, and the kind of offbeat humor loyal listeners have come to love.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

No juju today. We're going to have an update for you here on something that Zaz and Chris Cody are doing as part of a wrestling exhibition sort of extravaganza. I'm not totally understanding. Forgive me. Help me understand. But before we get to that, I wanted to ask Greg Cody as it relates to Ilya Malinin. I ended up feeling pretty bad for him. The Olympic skater who was favored to win the gold medal and then is quoted with a bunch of photographs around him of genuine despair where he's just saying, I blew it. And to me, when I saw that photograph of him, what it summoned from me fairly immediately was the idea of, man, you wait four years to do something, the degree of difficulty is such that you're landing on a razor blade on ice in order to be perfect. If you're stumbling, if you're imperfect, you're gonna finish eighth when you're the favorite. The amount of pressure that. That feels like when you only perform once every four years. And Lindsey Vonn is so desperate to perform even as a champion that she's like, screw it, I'll have four surgeries. I only get one chance every four years to have the stage for this long. I felt terrible for him in a way that made it feel like I would not ever want that kind of pressure on me. I would not like to know.

[C]

I will never be as great at.

[B]

Anything as this person is at figure.

[C]

Skating because I would not want that.

[B]

Size of pressure on me where I have to perform on a razor blade on ice every four years and I have to be perfect.

[D]

Yeah. And sometimes the difference between a gold medal and fifth place is a split second, literally a fraction of a second or one or two points in figure skating. And he's supposed to be a generational talent who's revolutionizing the sport, doing backflips on the ice. It's doing too much. Some might. Well, some might say.

[B]

But.

[D]

But the story is him pulling back the curtain on all of the pressure of the Olympics, all of the hatred online that he's getting, and. And the weight on mental health. I think it forces you to really look at these Olympic athletes as different from other athletes. They're not playing one out of 82 games every year. They have their moment, their split seconds once every four years. And the pressure on that is just unimaginable.

[B]

I think that as a person who grew up around old media, I don't have a very good understanding of what this generation endures. Feeling like social media is not fantasy, it's something that's real. It's not anonymous people. It is the perpetual validation that we're all a little bit addicted to. And I think I underestimate in general the perils of having your doubts voiced at every turn by people who have access to you.

[C]

This generation of Olympian is being attacked.

[B]

More mentally than any generation of Olympian that there has been outside of where it is that you have. You know the politics of war around the Olympics.

[D]

Yeah, I don't think it's just Olympic athletes though. I think it's all athletes. This happens in tennis a lot where you hear people speaking about the treatment they get from fans, the pressure they're under, the online abuse and the mental health issues overriding the whole sport. I think athletes now in that realm have it tougher than athletes have ever had it.

[B]

You've got to think so, right? Like you've got to.

[C]

I don't think I understand what it.

[B]

Is to be a 19 year old addicted to social media, to have that as what is your feedback loop, as where you consume things.

[C]

Because even in the days before social media where athletes were on ESPN or in newspapers all the time, you can't just pick it up and have your addiction feed you validation. The moment you're picking up your phone, it's just not, it's not something that's with you with that kind of intensity.

[B]

And I just think that if you're.

[C]

An athlete who craves applause, it must.

[B]

Feel pretty terrible in this situation where.

[C]

You'Re somebody who feels like you let down a nation and then are having that validated. When you're checking your social media and it seems like you just scroll your name and you see like just people saying an assortment of things. And it's not even a lifestyle where this is the most human nature of things.

[B]

Right.

[C]

There are 10 compliments and then the one negative thing, and then people notice the one thing instead of the 10 compliments. When you're failing in this spot, it ain't 10 compliments anymore, right. It has to feel like you're at your most down and if you go there to feed, you're going to fall.

[B]

Into a hole that's really hard to get out of.

[D]

I think you're entirely right that you can be complimented 10 times. But it's the one criticism that's going to hurt, especially if it's unfounded or if it's malicious. And I've had this conversation with a lot of female sportswriters because they put up with all kind of crap online that male sportswriters don't. Blatant misogyny and stuff like that. And I've had many, from Chris Brennan on, I've had many a female sportswriter tell me that they don't read online comments anymore because if they get one comment that's critic, that's critical in a way that feels really, really personal, that it's just, it sticks with them. And I can only imagine on a stage like this how a figure skater of that stature with that kind of pressure is going to react to it.

[C]

You can't really avoid, though, the online.

[B]

Comments come to you now, right?

[C]

Like, there's no way to actually avoid that now unless you're detaching entirely from your telephone, right.

[D]

And you're going to hear about it because it becomes newsworthy. Almost like if an athlete like him is getting that kind of criticism for quote unquote, failing based on expectations, that becomes a news story. And all of a sudden you're asking in a post match news conference about. About all the criticism you're getting and the disappointment. And that becomes what defines you when all you expected to do was win three or four gold medals. It's. It's crazy what these Olympians go.

[E]

When you said Ilia, all me and Jeremy thought was heating rivalry. Oh, yeah, I thought you were going.

[B]

Come on. I've taken too long to get to what you and Zaz are doing. Is it tomorrow?

[F]

Oh, look at. We're gonna train to be a pro wrestler tomorrow. That's right. WWE is coming here to sunrise on Friday night. WWE smackdown. Of course I'm going, but I'm going to. Oh, awesome. All right. But tomorrow, our boy Domino, he's gonna take. He's gonna meet us at that. The training facility tomorrow. And he's, you know, they got the ring and everything. How about the tights? You're gonna wear the tights.

[B]

Singlet, you're gonna.

[F]

Don't you worry. Yeah, that's right, I'm worried. I'm singlet just like Andrew. No, don't worry about my gear. You'll see my gear tomorrow. And Domino is going to teach us some moves, maybe learn how to Run the ropes a little bit.

[E]

Great day to wake up with a bad back.

[F]

Yep, that's right.

[C]

I saw that today. You're limping around, and you're walking a bit like my father, who's 82 years old. What happened to your back?

[E]

It happened when I got here, and it's not even something I woke up with. I just got here, sat down. I was writing some stuff on a whiteboard and just hit the wrong angle.

[F]

And take a few bumps. Tomorrow, you'll be all right.

[E]

Worst case scenario, I'll learn how to do a promo.

[B]

What do you mean, take a hell, yeah, dude, tomorrow. What are you talking about?

[F]

You know what I'm talking about.

[C]

Can you guys tell me whether or not you think you guys would be good at jumping over rope to, like, making all of that look realistic? When you get slung against the rope.

[E]

Am I gonna be tall enough to walk, like, get in the second? I don't want to do, like, the third lower one?

[F]

Yes, you're not.

[B]

You're not gonna.

[A]

Ray Mysterio.

[F]

You're not five feet tall.

[C]

Yeah, you'll be all right, but it's.

[A]

A lot harder than it looks.

[E]

I wanted to run in and do, like, the thing where I slide into the.

[F]

The ropes are supposed to hurt, though. They're like wires.

[A]

Yeah, you're going to get a little bruise there.

[F]

We're going to learn.

[E]

Got to want to learn.

[C]

Greg, are you laughing and coughing so much because you're laughing?

[B]

Yes. That's one of his catchphrases.

[D]

Yeah. Sorry.

[C]

That you should be. It should be the number. It should be number 10. You really need to think about starting your top 10 with your catchphrase. Number 10 being just you coughing.

[D]

Yeah, I should. You're right. I'm going to think about that.