Conrad Thompson recently spoke with Kevin Kellam on Wrestlezone’s Facebook page while promoting Starrcast in Chicago. You can read a few transcribed highlights (credit to Bill Pritchard for Wrestlezone) and watch the full in the above player:
Conrad comments on Hulk Hogan’s WWE status:
Well, I undertstand why the company felt the need to distance themselves. Obviously, I don’t think they need to endorse or embrace any sort of hate. No one can excuse or dismiss what he said and what happened, but as a little Hulkamaniac, I can say he’s the reason I became a wrestling fan.
I do believe America is supposed to be a place where it’s about second chances, and lots of people have been given second chances, but I wasn’t the person who was offended. I was offended, but I wasn’t the person affected, so I could see how if Conrad Thompson was a black guy, I might feel differently. As a little redneck kid from Alabama, I grew up on Hulk Hogan, so I think we’re a little more willing to forgive our heroes. I think that in my case, I grew up such a big Hulk Hogan fan that I can’t allow myself to be critical of him for very long for anything. But no, I don’t think anyone should co-sign or endorse hate speech of any sort.
Thompson talks about partnering with FITE for Starrcast, how fans can own a piece of All In history:
I think they were looking for more wrestling content. There was a debate to whether All In would be on PPV, would it be on TV—where will it be? I think they reached out to me thinking they could get part of what’s going at All In, and I sold all of my tickets out. They thought ‘hey, this is an opportunity for you to continue to grow’ and I don’t really know what I’m doing with this but I said ‘OK, we’ll take a stab at it!’ [Laughs] And so what I tried to do is put together a package where I felt like this is a pretty strong offering. It’s sort of individually priced, but we think every show would sell at Starrcast. [It ranges] from $4.99 to $12.99; all told it’s about a $260 value. Then I asked if [FITE] can give a credit so if All In is on FITE the fans can use it towards that, and they said absolutely. And then I landed the All In ring canvas, so that night history will be made and we’re going to have that and cut it up, and if you pre-order the pay-per-view tonight—it’s called the Starrcast Platinum Weekend Pass—for $149 you’ll get a $20 credit, over forty hours of content, over 20 shows and a piece of the All In ring canvas. If you can’t make it to Chicago, if you can’t make it to All In, why not own a piece of wrestling history? To me, this is going to be cooler than say, owning a piece of the Wrestlemania mat, just because there’s been a thousand Wrestlemanias—or there will be when we’re done—but there’s only one All In.
Does he think CM Punk will appear at All In?
Well, I don’t know, but I do suspect that the answer is no. If you’re going to have him be there, you’re going to want to promote it and get as much mileage out of it as you can, and make as much money as you can. Punk has built such a name for himself that he doesn’t have to just do cameos, and if he were doing one, he’d be paid very handsomely. The only way to make that work economically would be to promote it.
The other thing I appreciate what the guys are doing is, they’re not trying to book a bunch of ex-WWE guys. I’m not saying that’s what CM Punk is, but I am saying that’s where he got a lot of his popularity and fandom, and I think Cody [Rhodes] and The Young Bucks want to be able to say good, bad or different—the numbers we drew, the house we drew, the pay-per-views we sold—we did that, not WWE folks.
Thompson comments on Daniel Bryan’s WWE future:
I don’t see him staying. I’m probably in the minority, but to me, there’s so much opportunity out there. It does sort of feel like WWE is always going to be there, and right now there’s this big independent wave. If you’ve got a lot of other guys’ contracts ending, or maybe they’re on the independent scene and they’re thinking about ‘trying their hand’, this could be the perfect time to ‘tag in’ and ‘tag out’. To me, he could have the schedule he wants, the type of matches he wants, and make just as good of money outside of WWE as in WWE. So, I vote for him not staying.
One of those things that I think people lose sight of is when you work for WWE, you have to pay for your own travel. They’re going to fly you there, but they’re going to fly you coach, and your rental cars and hotels and all of that is up to you. When you’re on the independents, they’re going to fly you first class—whoever’s booking you—and they’re going to pay for your hotel and your transportation to and from the hotel. All your travel costs are gone right away and you can be more selective on your dates. If you work a house show in Wheeling, West Virginia, or Huntsville, Alabama, those towns may sound similar in your mind, but the pay may be totally different based on what it draws. You’re being paid based on where they placed you on the card and what it drew. If you’re on the independents and you price yourself as a main eventer, you’re going to be guaranteed that money before you ever show up. In a weird way, you know exactly what you’re making up front, and you have no travel costs, and you get to pick exactly what your schedule is. You’re not going to be dictated ‘be in West Virginia here, be in Alabama there’—you get to pick—where do you want to go, and how much do you want to make? If everybody agrees, you know right up front and there’s no guessing game with your money.
To me, it’s not a bad option for him to say ‘you know what? I want to wrestle my style, and I want to be in the main event, and I want to have all of that stuff taken care of.’ Just do it for a year; worst case scenario, he can go about it on his own for a year and he can always come back. That’s what I mean about WWE is always going to be there. If he misses this opportunity to take advantage of that with the indies right now, who knows what it will look like in a year? We’d like to think it’s going to continue to go up and we hope it does, but WWE is always going to be there, so why not try it for a year and come back.
