Previewing Noche De Los Grandes | Postgame Show - The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Summary5 min read

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Previewing Noche De Los Grandes | Postgame Show
Date: May 27, 2026
Location: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

Episode Overview

This postgame show episode brings the signature mix of sports discussion, idiosyncratic humor, and pop culture insights. The main focus is on the explosive popularity of La Noche de los Grandes, the highly anticipated Lucha Libre wrestling event in Monterrey, Mexico, and how recent developments in international wrestling have captured the imagination of both the panel and the Mexican public. Alongside, the show delivers linguistic playfulness, poll results, and classic wrestling nostalgia, all wrapped in the familiar, bantering style of Le Batard and crew.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Knicks’ Fortuitous Health & NBA Playoff Injuries

[00:32] The show quickly dives into the NBA playoffs, discussing the injury-riddled playoff landscape.
- The hosts marvel at the New York Knicks’ unusual health compared to other contenders:
  - “The Knicks are remarkably healthy, remarkably healthy for this time of year.” — Dan Le Batard
Bryce Harper’s struggles are mentioned as context for the unpredictability of sports seasons and how injuries can change playoff dynamics.

Spanish Translation Games

[01:10] Dan asks Trista about her Spanish skills, playfully challenging her to translate “Noche de los Grandes.”
- “Noche is night... The big night.” — Trista
- Dan corrects her:
  - “The night of the Giants.” — Dan Le Batard
- The exchange sets a playful, bilingual tone for the wrestling discussion to come.

Wrestling in Mexico: The Phenomenon of La Noche de los Grandes

[02:01–09:02] The core of the episode.
- Mike Ryan and Zas take the lead, brimming with personal excitement about Lucha Libre:
  - “I haven’t been this excited for a wrestling card ever, ever, ever.” — Mike Ryan [02:01]
- WWE’s recent acquisition of AAA (Mexico's top wrestling promotion) is dissected:
  - WWE wrestlers who are minor players in the US have become superstars in Mexico.

Lucha Libre Culture & The Mask Tradition

Masks are described as more than costumes—they’re sacred, representing identity and pride:
- “The masks are a very, very big deal when it comes to their wrestlers.” — Zas [02:22]
- Losing one’s mask is the ultimate disgrace—“almost like a death sentence for your career.” — Mike Ryan [04:02]

The Grande Americano Saga

A convoluted but enthralling storyline involving:
- Chad Gable (former Olympian) as the first El Grande Americano, adopting both his persona and the masked wrestling identity.
- After Gable’s injury, a taller German wrestler seamlessly continues as the new El Grande Americano, becoming a massive star in Mexico—despite not being Mexican.
  - “He’s their Hulk Hogan.” — Zas [05:35]
- Real-life incident: The new Americano’s popularity spikes after a (rumored) heroic elevator fight defending his Mexican girlfriend.
- The storyline, despite obvious non-Mexican roots and apparent stereotypes, wins true heartfelt support from Mexican fans due to the wrestler’s respect for the culture.

Culture Clash & Mask vs. Mask Stakes

The story wraps with anticipation for the Saturday main event:
- A “mask vs. mask” match on La Noche de los Grandes in Monterrey—high drama for Lucha fans.
  - “You will never see a more raucous wrestling atmosphere in your life.” — Mike Ryan [08:29]

American and Mexican Audiences: Stark Contrast

The wrestlers are superstars in Mexico, but barely acknowledged in the US:
- “It’s like Hulk Hogan and then you’ll tune in on Netflix, on Raw, and ... no reaction from the American crowd.” — Mike Ryan [09:38]

Wrestling Nostalgia

Dan Le Batard and others recall classic American wrestling tropes—“loser leaves town” matches and masked wrestler subplots:
- “Midnight Rider ... was clearly Dusty Rhodes. He had the same stretch marks, he had the same accent.” — Dan Le Batard [10:24]
- Story of Ric Flair as the “Black Scorpion”—a meta-wrestling memory with adult humor and inside jokes. [11:16]

Fun With Pronunciations and Polls

Trista shares her “Top 5 Most Mispronounced Names in Sports” [12:06]:
1. Tua Tagovailoa
2. Victor Wembanyama
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo
4. Coach Krzyzewski (“Coach K”)
5. "Hamas" (intended as "James" in Spanish, “James Rodríguez”)
Laughter and ribbing ensue about on-air blunders and common mistakes.

Audience Poll Results [13:09]

Light-hearted polls covered pronunciation debates (Detroit/Detroit), mutton chops awareness, and “Are we still making Hispanic Abners?” with varying and often humorous results.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

Mike Ryan on Mexican Wrestling:
“When done right, wrestling can be something so special.” — [02:01]
Zas making the stakes clear:
“The biggest match ... is a mask versus mask match ... The loser gets his mask removed, which is the ultimate insult.” — [03:35]
Mike Ryan, on the surprise cultural embrace:
“There is no reason that this should be super over with the Mexican people. Because it all started as a joke and kind of like an insult to get them heat... But what nobody accounted for was a performer ... becoming so beloved, becoming so over learning the culture.” — [09:02]
Dan on wrestling kayfabe:
“Midnight Rider ... Everyone spent the matches trying to take off his mask. ... Someone did take off his mask, but he was wearing another mask.” — [10:24]

Notable Timestamps

00:32 – NBA injuries & Knicks health
01:10 – Trista attempts the “Noche de los Grandes” translation
02:01 – Wrestling enthusiasm begins ("I haven’t been this excited...")
03:35 – Explanation of Lucha Libre mask match stakes
04:39 – Grande Americano storyline deep dive
05:35 – “He’s their Hulk Hogan”
08:29 – Main event buildup: "La Noche de los Grandes"
09:38 – Hot in Mexico, cold in US
10:24 – Nostalgic wrestling story: Midnight Rider
12:06 – Top 5 Most Mispronounced Names in Sports
13:09 – Audience poll results

Tone & Style

True to form, the episode maintains a blend of nerdy sports passion, affectionate teasing, and reverence for the more theatrical sides of sports. The hosts’ enthusiasm for the wrestling storyline is both infectious and self-aware, leading to a compelling discussion of cultural exchange, fandom, and the enduring appeal of wrestling tropes—all delivered with the Le Batard show’s signature mix of joy, irreverence, and insider knowledge.

For New Listeners

If you missed the episode, this recap gives you the heart of the panel’s excitement for the cross-cultural phenomenon of modern Lucha Libre, the quirks and nostalgia of pro wrestling, and the fun of sports as performance. Whether you care about wrestling or not, the show’s humor and perspective invite you to care about the stories behind the spectacle.

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Transcript91 lines

[00:00]
A
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[00:07]
B
get the best of both worlds.
[00:10]
A
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[00:32]
C
Harper is not healthy. Correct. This is breaking the way that the Knicks need this to break, by having these teams physically break before they get to the Knicks. After this particular season, when we've spent this much time talking about injuries, load management, guys being out billions of dollars in salary, being on the bench and not able to play, the Knicks are remarkably healthy, remarkably healthy for this time of year. And Harper hasn't reached double digits since game two. And he's wildly important to that basketball team, obviously. Trista, how is your Spanish?
[01:10]
D
Ooh, it depends who's asking.
[01:13]
C
Noche de los grandes. Do you want to try and translate that? Do you know what that means?
[01:19]
D
Noche de las grandes. Grant. So big Noche is that night.
[01:25]
C
Yes, Very good.
[01:27]
D
The big night.
[01:28]
C
Well, no, you botched it at the end. The night of the Giants.
[01:32]
D
Oh, the night of. Oh, yes. Delos. Yeah, of the. Yeah, there we go.
[01:37]
C
Yes. You lost confidence there while getting everything right. It's a strange thing to have happen. But zsas, do you know what? Do you know what ZSAS and Mike are excited about when I say Noche de los grandes? Do you have any idea?
[01:50]
D
Not at all.
[01:52]
E
What a night it's gonna be.
[01:54]
F
Can't wait to teach everybody about this.
[01:56]
E
Oh, this is gonna be a lot. Me and my son, we can't wait for AAA on Saturday nights.
[02:01]
F
I haven't been this excited for a wrestling card ever, ever, ever. And I think part of the reason why I didn't like wrestling going into baseball was because if wrestling goes everywhere else, then it dilutes what wrestling is for me. Because when done right, wrestling, Wrestling can be something so special.
[02:21]
E
This is so unique what's going on in Mexico, Dan, With. With. With this. With this wrestler, El Grande Americano.
[02:29]
F
Now, there is a lot going on because, Dan, there are two grande americanos in OG and El Grande Americano in a coffee. So in America, these wrestlers are not even mid Carter in wwe. Yeah, they are curtain jerkers. They do not register with the audience,
[02:50]
E
doesn't get a ton of crowd reaction.
[02:51]
F
But the WWE recently purchased Triple A, which is a huge promotion in Mexico.
[02:58]
E
That's the where the Lucha does.
[03:00]
F
Russell, all of this was born, and I'm going to try to do this so you can all be bought in, because this is airing this weekend. And when I'm telling you, you will never see a more passionate wrestling crowd than you are going to see in Monterrey during La Noche de los Grandes.
[03:14]
C
Mexico does wrestling better.
[03:15]
E
Oh, my God.
[03:16]
C
Correct.
[03:17]
F
I mean, we do wrestling pretty well.
[03:18]
C
I'm not saying we don't, but. Yeah, but Mexico does it better.
[03:22]
E
It's a major part of their culture. They all wear them, or most of them, they wear masks. And the masks are a very, very big deal.
[03:33]
C
Something racist right now. The taco.
[03:36]
E
The masks are very big deal when it comes to their wrestlers. And the biggest match, Dan, that you could possibly have in Mexico is a mask versus mask match. And what happens is the loser gets his mask removed, which is the ultimate insult if you have to lose your mask.
[03:59]
C
I still remember seeing Rey Mysterio's face for the first time.
[04:03]
E
It's the ultimate insult. You lose the mask and you can never put it back on. It's almost like a death sentence for your career.
[04:11]
F
So the question has to be asked, who are Los Grandes? Well, neither of them is actually Mexican, but one of them is super Mexican. It's. It's all right. So this all started when a wrestler by the name of Chad Gable, a former Olympian, by the way, a decorated amateur wrestler, came up with his new gimmick to play both Chad Gable, and, according to the rumors, an innuendo and the body type and all, all circumstantial evidence, he was also El Grande Americano.
[04:40]
E
He wanted to learn the secrets of Luta Libre.
[04:43]
F
That's right. But he would keep kayfabe. They would often be seen in the same room together. The whole secret was, Chad Gable can't be El Grande Americano. But as this angle was getting super over, Chad Gable sustained a serious injury. And it seemed as though this was gonna stop all the momentum of El Grande Americano.
[05:03]
E
No, you'd be wrong.
[05:04]
F
However, a new Grande Americano showed up out of nowhere a week later pretending to be the same Grande Americano. And we were like, oh, what's going on here?
[05:13]
E
Even though this El Grande Americano is like a foot taller.
[05:16]
D
And also you lose your goldfish and they try to give you a new goldfish.
[05:21]
F
Yes, but only this goldfish is German. Clearly. He's a German man who speaks a lot of languages, including Spanish. And so he Took this gimmick over to Mexico and was beloved.
[05:35]
E
When I tell you he's beloved, he's their Hulk Hogan.
[05:39]
F
Show the video of El Grande Americano. Not. Not the El original Grande Americano. We'll get to him in a second. Look. A hero's welcome after his true Persona allegedly got arrested a day before for beating up a dude in an elevator with who said something to him while he was making out with his girlfriend. Now, on the surface, that already seems pretty awesome, but as the rumor goes, listen to this. The person in the elevator that was telling him, hey, have some manners. Was also threatening to call Ice on his Mexican girlfriend. So this guy seems like all sorts of badass, and he's not actually receiving any penalty whatsoever by wwe. He showed up the very next day, and if this guy could be an even bigger hero to the Mexican people, he just went to another stratosphere. However, he was super over in Mexico when this whole gimmick is supposed to kind of make fun of Mexicans, but he embraced the culture, speaks the language. He's the biggest dude there. However, Chad Gable returned from injury, and that meant so did his Grande Americano.
[06:35]
E
You can't have two El Grandes.
[06:36]
F
And he started attacking the new Grande Americano, started making comments disrespectfully at El Grande Americano's girlfriend. This is when the original Grande Americano walks the streets of Mexico. Listen to this, Dan.
[07:10]
C
That's a villain for the audio audience.
[07:12]
F
His security was also wearing masks.
[07:15]
C
Two security guys also wearing masks. This just makes me want to watch Nacho Libre. Am I a dick?
[07:21]
E
His. His security guys, they're called. His security guys are called Julio and Bruto.
[07:26]
F
No one here is Mexican. In fact, El Grande has his own posse, and they're British dudes, like. And it all, on the surface, seems to play to stereotypes, but the Mexican people are eating it up.
[07:39]
E
And this is.
[07:40]
F
This is a culture war. The original Grande Americano cannot go over. The new Grande Americano, who is the biggest sensation in the history of Mexican wrestling in it would appear.
[07:49]
C
No,
[07:52]
F
that was just Tris regular voice.
[07:55]
C
That's not. The Mascaras is the biggest guy in
[07:58]
F
the United States, I'm telling you. Yes, I know Mil Mascaras. I follow Lucha Libre. I'm telling you, in my lifetime, I have not seen the Mexican wrestling fan respond to this. And you would think that they would reject the WWE's ownership of Triple A, but they are embracing this storyline. El Grande Americano has become a Mexican hero. It is actually heartwarming and touching to see the connection he has to these people.
[08:21]
E
Do you know who's in charge of AAA now? Since wwe, like, who books it? Who's in charge of making the matches? Undertaker.
[08:30]
F
So all of this culminates with La Nocha de los Grandes Saturday night. And it's Saturday night. And you will never see a more raucous wrestling atmosphere in your life. I promise you that. Someone's losing their mask. We are going to find out who
[08:45]
E
one of these Grandes are this Saturday, 7pm That's Sabado.
[08:49]
C
Thank you. Did you say. You said his security?
[08:53]
E
Their names were Julio and Bruto.
[08:57]
C
Bruno is dumb guy. Brutal. The translation is idiot.
[09:02]
F
That's right. There is no reason that this should be super over with the Mexican people. Because it all started as a joke and kind of like an insult to get them heat. And especially in these times to be proudly American. It was playing to all these tropes. But what nobody accounted for was a performer who assumed the identity of El Grande Americano. Becoming so beloved, becoming so over learning the culture.
[09:26]
E
He's never been a popular wrestler in wwe.
[09:28]
F
Never ever. And what's so weird is on the weekends you watch this. It's on YouTube. You watch these programs. These guys are red hot. It's like Hulk Hogan in the 80s.
[09:38]
E
It's like Hulk Hogan and then you'll
[09:40]
F
tune in on Netflix, on Raw, and. And no reaction from the American crowd. They have no idea. Simultaneously, they're like one of the most lukewarm acts you could think of in America. But piping nuclear hot in Mexico.
[09:52]
C
Greg Cody, you have been silent this entire segment. Your opinions on wrestling are well known. Negative. What are your thoughts about what you just heard and the immense enthusiasm that Zaz and Mike Ryan have for this?
[10:08]
F
I wanna get clear.
[10:10]
B
The loser is demasked and can never
[10:14]
F
again wear a mask.
[10:15]
E
Never again.
[10:16]
B
That's a rule.
[10:16]
F
Like, that's right.
[10:17]
C
Acceptable.
[10:17]
F
And they somehow got this entire thing over. Despite everyone knowing exactly who these two performers are.
[10:24]
C
It's still meaning something when you mention the 80s. Like, you're making me smile because one of my great childhood memories, okay, are Dusty Rhodes lost a loser leave town match. And I was crushed. He was my favorite wrestler and I'm like, what do you mean loser leaves town? That means his career is over. But then a guy with the same lisp wearing a mask known as the Midnight Rider showed up. And it was clearly Dusty Rhodes. He had the same stretch marks, he had the same accent. And everyone spent the matches trying to take off his mask. So my favorite Thing that happened to the Midnight Rider was he was defeated. Someone did take off his mask, but he was wearing another mask. And then he won the match because no one was expecting him to have another mask beneath the original mask.
[11:10]
B
Who is Coldust?
[11:14]
C
Who is this guy?
[11:16]
F
That's the other son. Yeah, that's the other son. You'll remember. Ric Flair also tried this with the Black Scorpion, one of Sting's greatest rivals, where the Black Scorpion was actually played by someone that wasn't Ric Flair until it came time for the main match, and then was actually strutting and doing all the signature Ric Flair moves and was very clearly Ric Flair. And I think Tony Schiavone tells the story. One time he was trying out the mask and invited. He's like, Tony, very drunk. Hey, come upstairs. I want you to see the Black Scorpion thing that I got. Come here. Come here, Tony. And Tony's like, I'm not going up there. You're gonna show me your dick. And he's like, no, no, come up here. It's not gonna be my dick. I want to show you. So he goes up to Ric Flair's room, and Ric Flair is wearing a robe and the Black Scorpion mask, and he's like, it's my dick.
[12:01]
C
Juju, get us caught up on polls, and do you have any top 55 lists for us here today?
[12:07]
B
Yes, sir. After a very egregious mistake by someone yesterday, I don't know who it was. It made me think of a top five most mispronounced names in sports list. All right, number five, when he got drafted, he had the world in shambles. Tua Tagovaloa Tago.
[12:28]
C
I, I, I did a public speaking engagement with him at the super bowl, was practicing his name on the way over there, and got there. I just kept calling him Tua. Never, never even tried.
[12:40]
B
Tangavailoa, number four when he got drafted. Same situation even now with Pat Riley. Victor Win Benyama. When Baya. Number three, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Number two, Coach K. Really still. And number one, a soccer player named Hamas.
[13:09]
C
It's a bad mistake and a great mistake. Weird. Let's get to the polls at Lebatard show.
[13:17]
B
Is it Detroit or Detroit? 49% of the audience not the winner says Detroit. Very close.
[13:28]
C
I don't understand what you just did. I felt like you said them both the same. Isn't it Detroit or Detroit? Which one won't Detroit or the Detroit Detroit one?
[13:37]
B
And full disclosure, I got a little nervy right there.
[13:40]
F
You know, it's actually French in origin. It should be.
[13:42]
B
The TWA does wait at baritone to your voice. 81% of the audience says yes. It does? Well, does God know what time it is between the lines? 70% of the audience says yes. He does. Did you know that there were friendly mutton chops? 76% of the audience says yes, they did. Is the media treating Wimby like a 7 foot 6 inch Faberge egg? 86% of the audience says yes. Do you feel clean when you get out of a pool? 72% of the audience says no. And last poll. Are we still making Hispanic abners? 64% of the audience says no. And those are your polls.
[14:32]
C
Thank you. Let's put the punctuation on the show with Greg Cody's best moment today.