The Thread Killer

“Now that we know the crowd can count to 20, that means they can graduate from Penn State.” I love Nigel.

I love all you guys, but in my opinion, you have all lost your minds on this issue. Brian Cage sucks and there are basic fundamentals he still can’t execute properly. That hilarious spot from a couple of months ago, where he couldn’t even take a dropkick properly and go over the top rope in the Battle Royal still makes me laugh to this day. He’s terrible.

I hear you, but realistically, if it wasn’t for Conrad, Kawada never would have made the trip. Somebody had to foot the bill, may as well be him. I would really love to get my hands on a copy of the interview that Kawada did with Eddie at Starrcast. I would be fascinated to hear him interviewed.

Cornette’s podcasts do more than 300,000 a week. That’s just the download number Conrad listed as being required to make major money. At his height, before he returned to WWE, Bruce Prichard was doing well over 500,000 a week and Cornette’s podcasts beat his. Hell, Steve Austin’s show still does monster download numbers and it is all repeats, he has not recorded a new show in over a year. Keep in mind, like Conrad pointed out that is just downloads, not the actual engagement numbers. At one point my podcast app was automatically downloading both of Cornette’s podcasts every week, but I rarely listened to the entire thing. Back when I was a subscriber to Ad Free Shows, Conrad used to do a monthly AMA podcast and it was always fascinating. He would get into the really nitty-gritty of the podcasting business, he talked about advertising rates, production issues, and even the technical specs on their equipment.

Doesn’t work like that anymore. I think Cornette basically advertises Stephen P. New in exchange for free legal services. The rest is all done through an advertising agency. In Cornette’s case, he actually recently fired his advertising agent because he doesn’t like paying a percentage back in commission, so he is hiring his own advertising sales staff. Conrad Thompson has the same now, that’s why he started that company Podcast Heat. When Conrad Thompson first started his podcast with Bruce Prichard they actually had to go out and stump for advertisers on their own. Once advertisers saw how many downloads podcasts started to get, and they basically discovered that podcasting was replacing terrestrial radio in a sense, advertising agencies started bundling advertising packages and shopping them to Podcasters, prorating them based on downloads. Basically the more downloads your podcast gets, the more money an advertiser will pay to advertise on your show. I think it’s somewhat similar to the way YouTube has been monetized, except for it’s a lot more transparent with Podcast advertising. The major Madison Avenue advertising agencies are now shopping advertising to podcasts, the same way they used to do it to TV and radio. I have mentioned it elsewhere, but Conrad Thompson has been upfront about the fact that the magic number is 300,000 downloads. If your podcast can get more than 300,000 downloads in a week, you are pretty much guaranteed a six-figure advertising contract from a major advertising agency. They will pick the ads, and they will rotate them in and out, you just have to read the copy and rake in the money. Both of Cornette’s podcasts are consistently the top two Pro Wrestling podcasts on the Apple Pro Wrestling podcast rankings, every week. They both do well over 300,000 weekly downloads. I only know this, because Conrad Thompson once did a really interesting interview with Sean Oliver where he explained the ins and outs of the Pro Wrestling podcast business. Thompson did mention that he thinks it’s going to change, and the bubble is going to burst because advertisers are going to start insisting on not just finding out if the podcast has been downloaded, but if it was listened to all the way through. If advertising agencies start insisting on engagement data, this entire model might change.

He’s hardly rich but he’s not hurting either. Jim Cornette is pretty open about his finances if you listen to his podcasts. He has always said the most money he ever made in the business was $350,000 a year but now he probably makes about $750,000 a year when you combine the income from his podcasts and his memorabilia business. That is not a bad amount of money when you consider the fact he never needs to leave his house to earn it.

You may be in luck, sooner than you think. He was talking on the recent podcast about the fact that he is seriously considering changing up his business model…and soon. Cornette has already retired from the highly lucrative convention/personal appearance business, because he is basically agoraphobic and hates leaving his house. It has already been established that one of the main reasons he does not work in the actual Pro Wrestling business today is because he now refuses to fly anywhere and if he can’t get somewhere by driving, he will not go. This is why he quit MLW. The pandemic pretty much triggered his pre-existing germaphobia, so now he is not only at the point where he will not leave the South he won’t even leave Louisville. He has stated that the next thing he wants to eliminate from his life is his memorabilia business. Cornette’s Collectibles has gotten so huge that he can’t run it himself anymore. He has a staff that runs it remotely. But I think just managing that business is aggravating him. He is going to be 65 soon and he wants to retire. He has stated that he will continue to do the podcast because it is too lucrative for him to give up and supplies a good source of income, from which he does not even need to leave his house. He did however, state recently that he really wants to focus on his archives and there are a couple of books he wants to write about pro wrestling history. If you read between the lines, he has made it pretty clear he is getting tired of reviewing WWE and AEW programming every week, and I think he would like to get back to one podcast (The Jim Cornette Experience) being about current wrestling and the other (Cornette’s Drive Thru) being about pro wrestling history. Essentially, he made it pretty clear that once he has turned 65 he is going to scale way back on a lot of his activities and focus on his archives, writing, and historical podcasting. Which is good for everybody, honestly.

Thank Gawd the second half of that show was better than the first. Still not at all a fan of Penta singles matches, though.

HOLY CRAP that bump Darby took from the top to the outside was SICK.

This episode of Collision has been a tough watch so far. And these Lucha guys throw strikes that look like they couldn’t crack an egg.

I think in the WWE office for sure that is pretty much guaranteed. Once the companies have merged, there is going to be a lot of duplicated positions, two companies with people doing the exact same job. As far as talent, that is an interesting question, but I don’t know if there is any indicator one way or the other yet.

I could not agree more. He’s one of those guys where I sometimes wonder why other people do not see what I am seeing. He gets so much praise from some people, but a lot of his execution just looks so sloppy, fake and downright bad. I really don’t get that guy.

That Aussie Open/“Sex Gods” match was a lot better than I expected but I hate to see Aussie Open used to basically further someone else’s storyline. They’re awesome and deserve better.

I only discovered the difference when AEW Dynamite came to Toronto for the first time. The ticket prices for the cheapest seats were $325. I couldn’t believe it was that much for a single seat, so I checked, because WWE Raw had been in town not that long before and I wanted to compare. I discovered that the same seat had been $60 for WWE. I guess you could make the argument that Dynamite sold out and WWE did not, so it was “peak demand pricing” but still.

The Ticket broker fees are also insane. I thought Pearl Jam was going to solve this problem but I guess it didn’t work. But WWE factors that in when setting their prices for tickets. At this point - at least here - AEW does not.

AEW ticket prices are ridiculous. Here in Canada you can get great seats for a WWE live show, or Raw or Smackdown for around $100 per ticket. Depending on the seat, you can pay as little as $50-$60. AEW tickets were going for $325 per seat for Dynamite/Rampage/Collision and don’t even get me started on how much those PPV tickets were going for. Small wonder that they couldn’t sell out any arenas on the recent Canadian tour. They ended up cutting their prices at the last minute and desperately trying to give away tickets for dirt cheap, but it was too late.

I agree. I’m not sure about the legality of this, but I think it would be best for the entire Pro Wrestling business…and indeed for all mankind…if somehow we just lock this maniac up, before he almost strikes again. The man is clearly a dangerous psychotic and he must be stopped.

Gotta be honest, I was kind of hoping after the match, Honky was going to come out and blast Gunther over the head with a guitar for breaking his record.

Miro is still pissed at Lana about the Lashley thing.

Is it true Kawada is in attendance?

Agreed. That would be an epic clash of egos. Not to mention, Corgan is not going to overextend himself financially for the NWA. He has made it pretty clear. He is only willing to invest so much of his personal fortune in this project, he’s not going to bankrupt himself. He wouldn’t pay Punk anywhere near what he would want. Plus, I don’t think Punk’s ego would allow him to go somewhere that is pretty much viewed as the bottom rung on the Pro Wrestling ladder. Let’s be honest. MLW and Impact have more credibility and cache with fans than Corgan’s NWA does. It’s a joke YouTube show.

Based on his reputation for shooting his mouth off, and not being afraid to burn bridges and upset people, if CM Punk did a podcast where he gave his opinions about the product and reviewed the weekly shows, he could make six figures easily. Cornette makes a small fortune from his podcasts. Cornette has repeatedly claimed that he makes more money now between his memorabilia business and podcasting than he ever did working in the actual “wrestling business.” Even the Conrad Thompson shows that can get more than 300,000 weekly downloads are guaranteed moneymakers. It’s basic business. If you can guarantee X number of downloads, the advertising agencies will guarantee a set weekly income. Especially if you get on with a platform like Westwood One. The podcasting bubble is going to burst eventually, and I’m sure any initial interest in a CM Punk podcast would die off at some point, but between podcasting and autograph shows and signings, he could make a good living easily.

Glad you mentioned that. I was going to ask you, having been there live, what the crowd reaction felt like for LA Knight. On TV it sure comes across like he is crazy over. But I know WWE has been sweetening crowd reactions on TV for sometime now. Then again, I don’t think they would boost his crowd reactions deliberately, because this was not something they planned. This whole deal with Knight has been happening kind of organically.

I have to be honest, I watched Payback basically just to see LA Knight (YEAH!) vs. The Miz and I am not going to lie, I was pleasantly surprised at how great that show was. I don’t know if it’s because creepy old Vince is not around due to his “medical leave” or what the reason is, but WWE has really tightened up on their creative. They actually managed to make a match with two guys who have been around forever, in Nak and Rollins compelling. That is no small feat. That Tag Title match especially blew me away. Good shit, pal.

This match has hugely overdelivered, IMO. These guys must have studied Cactus Jack & Max Payne vs. The Nasty Boys or something.