The set-up is a bit surreal for a sitcom but after turning down Barney's invitation to Robots Versus Wrestlers Ted is told by Barney that he will regret this decision in 20 years. Then the bizarreness begins. Various versions of Ted and Barney, and at one point "coat-check girl", all telling him why he should (or in some cases shouldn't) go to Robots Versus Wrestlers. The three different timed versions of the duo end up singing an a cappella version of Billy Joel's 'The Longest Time'. At the same time Marshall and Robin have a big disagreement about naming rights to a cocktail after Marshall orders his "Minnesota Tidal Wave" at MacLaren's only to find Carl calling it "the Robin Scherbatsky". An annoyed Marshall challenges Robin to a dance-off, and after the two prank each other, Lily agrees to allow it. Ted returns to Barney in the booth, who tells him that the whole cocktail dance-off incident happened five years ago and Ted is actually sat all alone with a single ticket as he prepares to go to the event alone. As Future Ted ponders over what other things he would've done that night instead, including imagining himself introducing himself to The Mother 45 days before they actually meet, the episode takes a melancholy turn and that is where a lot of the strength of this well crafted episode lies. Trivia Fact: The menu Barney holds when arguing with Robin about their caterer is for Gourmet M.D., the catering company of Neil Patrick Harris's real life partner David Burtka (who himself plays Scooter in the series).
