Ted crashes a prestigious party in order to get in touch with his intellectual side, while Barney, Lily, and Marshall go to robots versus wrestlers.
This episode provides examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: The pretentious film guy (Peter Bogdanovich) laughs at Marshall's joke about Willem Dafoe's name in The Stinger.
- Badass Boast: Mexican Wrestler Ted uttered one in Spanish.Mexican Wrestler Ted: I am the conqueror of machines!
- Brick Joke: Marshall's Willem Dafoe joke gets a punchline in The Stinger.
- Call-Back:
- Robin is is not hanging out with the gang due to an awkward event involving both Ted and Barney at the previous episode.
- Future!Ted recounted the gang's Identical Strangers story that was first mentioned/introduced in the second episode of the season.
- Van Smoot is throwing the party; Marshall and Lily got married in the Van Smoot estate.
- Confronting Your Imposter: The gang (minus Robin) plan on getting into the party by having Lily pose as Marissa Heller, who used to live in Ted's apartment and received an invitation to the party. However, right before Lily can say she is Marissa Heller, the real Marissa Heller shows up thwarting their plan.
- The Cameo: Several famous individuals (at least, to snobs like Ted) are present at the Alberta party, including Ariana Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, and Will Shortz, editor of the New York Times Crossword Puzzle.
- Cool vs. Awesome: The titular event.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: Ted's Identical Stranger is the one who defeats the robot that has been kicking some wrestlers' asses since the gang got in the event.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Ted's main dilemma in the episode is the gang never appreciating him being Sophisticated as Hell.
- Event Title: It refers to a wrestling event featuring Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Foreshadowing: Barney's worry that the gang is slowly breaking apart will eventually happen some time after the show's Grand Finale, though Future!Ted mentions that they always find ways to reconnect every time this happens.
- Identical Stranger: Ted's is revealed in this episode. A Masked Luchador dubbed "Mexican Wrestler Ted".
- Man Versus Machine: A literal example as the wrestling match is human wrestlers fighting against robots, hence the title "Robots versus Wrestlers".
- Masked Luchador: The titular wrestlers in the titular event, with one of them actually being Ted's Identical Stranger.
- My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Ted's Identical Stranger becomes an unstoppable berserker after the unmasking reveal. This is accurate portrayal as a Masked Luchador's mask is considered sacred in Mexican wrestling traditions since a wrestler stripping/losing their mask is considered as a "humiliation" or/and a "disgrace" in the wrestler's part.
- Not So Above It All: The pretentious film guy (Peter Bogdanovich), as revealed by Actually Pretty Funny above.
- The Reveal: The final Masked Luchador turns out to be Ted's Identical Stranger.
- Robot Athlete: Again the titular event.
- Running Gag: Barney's abandonment issues make him freak out over losing Robin to Don, then Ted to the Van Smoot party, then Marshall and Lily to having a baby, which begins his obsession with seeing Lily's boobs.
- Shout-Out:
- Ted mentions Dante's The Divine Comedy and recites the Italian to the annoyance of his friends.
- Lily mentions The Young and the Restless.
- Marshall mentions Willem Dafoe and made a joke regarding his name sounding like "a frog talking to a parrot".
- Ted mentions La Bohème (
better known as the basis for the Rock Opera RENT) while completing a crossword.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: One of the robots asks its opponent "Is that all you got, bitch?"
