Conrad Thompson is a man of many hats.
During the day, Thompson is a mortgage broker for First Family Mortgage Company in Huntsville, Ala. But by night, he co-hosts three successful wrestling podcasts in "Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard," "83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff" and "What Happened When with Tony Schiavone."
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As if he did not have enough on his plate, the 37-year-old created Starrcast (which you can watch here via the FITE app), a podcast convention featuring the top names who are not in the WWE. The second extravaganza takes place May 23-26 at the Tuscany Suites and Casino and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Before that event, Thompson took time out of his schedule to talk with Sporting News about his event, titled "What Happened in 83 Weeks," with Bischoff and Schiavone this Friday at the McCormick Place South Tower in Chicago. (Tickets at 83whw.com) He also spoke of Starrcast 2, agreeing to a deal with The Undertaker and how the podcast with Prichard is going since his return to WWE.
Sporting News: You had Starrcast in Chicago last August and September, and it turned out to be a tremendous event. And look at what the second one has turned into already. A lot of people feel this is already bigger than the first one. Has Starrcast gotten bigger than you could have ever imagined when you came up with the idea?
Conrad Thompson: It's already bigger because of the support and the proof of concept. The first time I set out to do this, I was a first time promoter. I’d never done anything like this before. People didn’t know what to expect. It sounds weird when you say a pro wrestling podcast convention. I think when people think of a wrestling convention, they think of WrestleCon. When you mix in the idea of there being stage shows and events, because it’s more than just meet and greets and merchandise sales, that’s pretty unique. People had to wonder, "How are they are going to pull this off?"
But we did, and people seemed to have fun. I wanted to do it bigger and better. That was my big takeaway from the first one. I left the first event in Chicago with four pages of notes, so if I’m ever dumb enough to do this again, here’s what I will do differently and here’s what I will do better. This second one is bigger than I ever imagined it would be.
SN: Does it being a bigger event surprise you?
CT: Hell yeah it does. I'm not supposed to be on the phone with you. You’re supposed to be interviewing Bruce Prichard, Tony Schiavone or Eric Bischoff. No one should know my name. I’ve nicknamed myself “The Forrest Gump of Professional Wrestling.” I don’t know how I keep ending up in these spots in wrestling history. But here I am. I know the ride will end someday, but I’m going to enjoy it while it’s here.
SN: One of the big things you recently announced is that Arn Anderson will be doing a no-holds-barred interview at Caesars. What did it mean you to secure his services after being let go by WWE?
CT: He hasn’t released a statement about it, which has led to a lot of rumor and innuendo about why he got let go, how it happened and why it happened. I’m pretty excited about the idea of him being on stage with a live mic in his hand for the first time in nearly 20 years, because I know what a great talker Arn Anderson is. For years and years, he had a reputation as one of the best talkers in the business. Then he worked behind the scenes for 21 years. Now he gets to do what he was born to do and what we as fans enjoy watching him do. He now has 75 days to decide what he is going to say and what he wants to talk about. And that’s pretty special.
This is his sort of coming out party post-WWE. To me, he was the backbone of the Four Horseman. If anyone says differently then they aren’t paying attention. For the first time, Arn’s going to be in the spotlight and not speak third or fourth. He’s front and center where he belongs.
SN: Another big wave caused by you recently was the announcement of The Undertaker doing a meet and greet. The announcement created a lot of noise. Were you expecting it to be as big as it got? What was the process like in getting The Undertaker’s services for Starrcast 2?
CT: I kept asking Bruce Prichard what’s the worst thing that can happen if I asked (The Undertaker) to appear. He could say no. If he did that then I could live with that and move on. All I wanted to do was at least ask him. I looked at everything that happened at Starrcast 1. We had an awesome lineup. I asked myself how I can make this bigger and better. I thought of who could make this bigger and better? You have the usual name of suspects. People always think of Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin. Both of those guys have done major signings. Who has never done one? Vince McMahon, and we know that will never happen. What else is there? The Undertaker. What’s the worst he can say to me? And to the surprise of me, his booking information was available on Twitter. We made an offer. Then we went back-and-forth and made a deal.
I sat on it because I knew I wanted that to be the last announcement before we put tickets on sale, because it would be something people weren’t expecting. It was going to be a big surprise. People were expecting Kenny Omega; Chris Jericho, Cody, and The Young Bucks because AEW is holding Double or Nothing that weekend. Even Ric Flair, while he wasn’t at the first one, they expected it because of our relationship. Nobody expects The Undertaker.
People were pretty shocked and surprised. It was the talk of the wrestling business for a little while. I’m glad it died down because I was getting bombarded with tweets about The Undertaker appearing at Double or Nothing. The Undertaker is a WWE contracted employee. He’s not going to be at Double or Nothing or joining AEW. He bleeds WWE. This nothing more than a meet-and-greet. It is special because he’s never done it before.
SN: I remember the first podcast you did with Bruce on Jerry Lawler after Bruce rejoined WWE. In the beginning, it was pretty awkward until you revealed at the end that you were pulling people’s chains. I know in talking with Bruce in the past that this wasn’t something he was looking for. In my honest opinion, the success of the podcast helped him get back there. How proud are you of him going back to WWE?
CT: He would agree. He thought wrestling was done for him and he was done with wrestling. Through his belief in me that this could be a real business, I told him that he’s got incredible wit. He’s had an incredible life that he could tell great stories about like nobody else. I thought we could formulate a winning formula for a podcast that would be very successful. And that came true. We started doing very successful live shows. Then he got a gig with Impact Wrestling. Then he went to MLW. He’s now back where he belonged all along. I’m really happy he’s back there and on his terms. He’s getting closure from a less than desirable ending the first and second time around.
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SN: I know it's only been a couple of episodes, but how difficult has it been to adjust to Bruce’s new schedule with WWE to get the podcast done?
CT: Way more difficult than I imagined. We recorded the Austin 1997 episode at five in the morning. We recorded this past weeks episode on Wrestlemania 20 on a lunch break. We used to just start after dinner. We would then just hit record and go three, four or five hours. It didn’t matter because he didn’t have anything to do that night and could sleep in the next day. I’m ok with some lack of sleep. That’s not the case right now. We are like, "S—, can we do this in a two-hour window?"
It took a little while to adjust. But we are getting it done and we are committed to dropping a new episode every Friday at Noon Eastern.
SN: You are coming back to Chicago this Friday with Eric and Tony for the “What Happened in 83 Weeks” show. Eric and Tony have said they haven’t been together in any capacity since the end of WCW. How did this idea come about?
CT: I think it’s going to be a fun time because they both bring something totally different to the show. The fans of "What Happened When” know that yes we talk about wrestling on there. We also talk about our friendship like it is the Howard Stern of Wrestling. The show with Eric is totally different. It’s all about business and numbers. It’s less about what we think, what we thought and the way we feel. It’s going to be an interesting dynamic with their different personalities on the podcast.
I know those guys aren’t friends in real life. Nobody is sending Christmas or birthday cards or polite text messaging back-and-forth. That’s not the nature of their relationship. Some of that is based on that they had an OK relationship in WCW. I think it will be fun. We will see what happens.
