Best of 2025 Mailbag. Plus, Gunther Talks the Heat Behind Retiring John Cena.

The Ringer Wrestling Show

The Ringer

Sports, Wrestling

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2025

⏱️ 125 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

COLD OPEN QUESTION OF THE WEEK: When is the last time you tapped out like John Cena (1:05)? David is joined by Ben and Brian and they kick off the show to discuss wrestling after Cena. Then they get open the mailbag and look at your responses for some end-of-year awards, which include best hair, best entrance, most not-for-me angle, best pivot, and more (25:01).Then, they welcome the man who brought so many tears to adults and children when he retired Cena: the Ring General, Gunther (1:37:40). He discusses the following: His trolling posts on social media after his win (1:38:30) The tension backstage the before Saturday Night’s Main Event (1:4916) How he is loving the boos (1:52:00) His interaction with AJ Styles backstage (1:54:23) Read David’s piece on The Ringer reflecting on John Cena’s career.Be sure to check out our videos on BlueSky, TikTok, Instagram Threads, and X.Hosts: David Shoemaker, Kazeem Famuyide, Ben Cruz and Brian H. WatersGuest: GuntherProducer: Brian H. Waters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	As the 21st century was getting underway, Hollywood released a series of films that were daring,
0:06.0	entertaining, and absolutely unmissable.
0:09.0	Films like 25th Hour, Bring It On, Zodiac, and No Country for Old Men.
0:15.0	They arrived during the George W. Bush era, a chaotic time in America.
0:19.0	Think 9-11. Katrina, the mortgage crisis. After the Bush era, a chaotic time in America. Think 9-11, Katrina, the mortgage crisis. After the
0:24.3	Bush years, the country would never be the same, and neither would Hollywood. I'm Brian Raftru,
0:31.8	and in my new limited series, Mission Accomplished, we're going to dive into some of the biggest
0:35.9	movies of the bush years.
0:39.5	And look at what they said about the state of the nation.
0:45.5	We'll go behind the scenes with filmmakers and experts and relive some of your favorite movies from the early 2000s.
0:48.9	From Donnie Darko to Michael Clayton, from Anchorman to Iron Man.
0:56.9	So slip on your sketchers, dig out your old Nokia, and join me from Mission Accomplished, starting August 12th on the Big Picture Feet.
1:11.2	Think about cheese. Make your thoughts cheesier. Now add 100% chicken breast fillet, Chipotle sauce and ameta cheese melt,
1:14.3	and it's giving the new cheesy chicken stack at McDonald's.
1:16.6	Did we mention it's cheesy?
1:17.2	Cheese.
1:21.1	Availments with the 4th of Jan, 2026 from 11am.
1:22.1	Plus and participation may vary.
1:22.8	Subjects availability.
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