In our first-ever crossover event, the New to Wrestling crew links up with the brilliant (and brilliantly unhinged) minds behind the Invasion Angle podcast—Johnny, Jason, and Chris—for a late-night wrestling roundtable that goes way off the rails in the best way.

We cover everything from how these lifelong friends and film school grads bonded over suplexes and storytelling, to how ECW changed their brains forever. We break down three wild matches—Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka, Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon, and PAC vs. Orange Cassidy—and explore everything from chair shots and shooting star presses to why Orange Cassidy is lowkey a comedy genius.

Also on the table: indie wrestling horror stories (yes, there’s blood), the underrated genius of Toni Storm, why Paul Heyman is either your hero or your villain, and how a wrestling podcast became a lifelong group chat with mics.

If you’ve ever wanted to hear five wrestling fans spiral into chaos over Bryce Remsburg, Plexiglas, and the psychology of match time, this is your moment. Welcome to After Dark.

🎧 Check out the Invasion Angle podcast wherever you listen—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more. For indie match breakdowns, wild stories from the front row, and the kind of wrestling commentary you won’t hear anywhere else, follow them at @invasionangle and @invasionanglepodcast on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

Timestamps:

• 0:58 – “I haven’t been in a chatroom with this many men since…”
• 3:12 – Origins of the Invasion Angle pod: film school, group chats & wrestling obsessions
• 5:46 – Vintage shirts & finding your people in public
• 8:00 – The wildest places they’ve traveled just to see a match
• 10:27 – Why match length matters more than you think
• 12:02 – Everyone’s gateway into wrestling (feat. banned brothers & secret dads)
• 26:00 – “I took a light tube to the face at a deathmatch show”
• 32:29 – The Kurt Angle vs. Shane match: real glass, real blood, real chaos
• 42:34 – Orange Cassidy, rodeo clowns & the power of comedic wrestling
• 57:02 – Paul Heyman discourse… gets spicy
• 1:00:26 – The nightmare of falling asleep to Busted Open
• 1:03:40 – Evolve Wrestling: why it’s giving “indie show with a budget”
• 1:14:49 – Toni Storm supremacy, and why the women’s divisions are thriving
• 1:16:57 – Wrap-up & where to find the Invasion Angle podcast

The New To Wrestling Podcast follows two friends who enjoy wrestling but are in different stages of their fandom. Xavier Cruz serves as your guide through generations of professional wrestling while Kelsey Silva experiences these matches for the first time. Climb into the ring weekly to relive the famous matches beginning with the Attitude Era!