The Thread Killer

Just saw this now, for some reason, sorry for the delay. I was scheduled for surgery on November 25. I went into the hospital this week for all the standard tests they need to do before a heart surgery and they found some additional issues. so the operation is being rescheduled for some time in March. Thanks very much for your well wishes, brother.

Just saw some really sad news. Sabu's manager/valet/girlfriend Melissa "Super Genie" Coates just had to have part of her leg amputated. That's terrible.

They do a lot of Crockett watch-alongs, but unfortunately they are kind of uncomfortable to listen to. Arn has a creepy habit of breathing really heavily into his headset when he does a watch-along. It ends up sounding like an obscene phone call and it's very distracting.

It was a rib on Cornette by Vince and Bruce, according to Cornette

What if you’re hoping for Last Tango in Paris

If you start using the Metric system here at PWO, the skies will darken, a giant crack will appear in the earth and Vince Russo will rise from the pit to destroy us all, bro.

See? That’s what happens when you don’t speak American, by gawd. It breaks the whole damn board.

Conrad announced the monthly special event podcast this morning. It is called "Conversations with Conrad." The first guest is Jim Herd of all people. If you listen carefully, you might be able to hear Jim Cornette's head exploding. If my math is right, Jim Herd is in his 80's now and he looks every second of it in that clip. I'm not sure how viable he is going to be as an interview subject, but I guess we'll find out on November 10.

It depends I think. I know New Jack talked about how when he was asked if he wanted to come back for the WWE version of ECW, one of the conditions was that you had to sign the rights away for your name. That’s why after the whole ECW experiment ended a lot of those guys couldn’t use their names anymore on the Indies. I think it’s possible that a lot of talent signed agreements with WWE allowing use of their names in perpetuity in exchange for WWE selling merchandise with their name on it. Of course, you would think that the death of the person would end that agreement, but maybe not. We don’t know what Dusty signed in order to work with Vince. Jim Cornette says Dusty used to say all the time that Vince was lucky Dusty never saved his money...implying that Dusty took the job for the money so who knows what he signed.

Even though I am a member and it might seem like I am promoting it here in this thread, there is absolutely no denying the AdFreeShows community is a little...strange. There are four tiers. If you pay $9.00 a month you just get all of Conrad's podcasts a week early and with no ad reads at all. The next tier is $29.00 a month. That's the tier I am signed up for. I get all the shows with no ads, plus one bonus episode a month from each host. Plus they are converting all the old episodes of all Conrad's podcasts and removing all the ads from those, and you get access to those which is great. They are also converting all the special events, panels and guest appearances from all of Conrad's Starrcast shows into video and podcast format, and you get access to those. (This past week they released an audio version of the RVD and Jerry Lynn special event and Q&A from Starrcast II, for example.) You also get 10% off anything you buy at Box of Gimmicks (the merchandise site for all of Conrad's shows) or Pro Wrestling Tees. To me, the main selling point of this level was all the content with no ads. I literally can't keep up with the amount of stuff they churn out. I have to pick and choose which shows and what bonus content I want to listen to, because I'd never be able to listen to it all. From where I sit, the two lower tiers are pretty standard, and not unlike most Patreon services where you can pay extra to support your favorite podcasts or whatever. The tiers above that are where things start to get a little cult-like and weird. The next level is $49.00 a month, and you get all the same stuff I get, but a bigger discount on the merchandise (20%) and you also get a free shirt every three months and an autographed picture of all the hosts and Conrad. You also get special access to the "AFS Community" on Discord where a bunch of the members chat quite a bit, from what I understand. On top of that, you get rotating monthly Zoom Chats with all five of the hosts (except Bruce) and Conrad. The top level is $99.00 a month. You get all the stuff that the $49.00 a month guys get, plus free tickets to all live events and Starrcast. Plus, Conrad will be hosting an annual weekend long get together at his house with at least two of his co-hosts in attendance. He will also be hosting regular PPV Watch Parties. So basically a couple of times a year you get to go to Huntsville and hang out with Conrad and at least two of his podcast co-hosts. It is my understanding that members who sign up for the top two tiers have a fair bit of interaction with Arn, Tony and Eric. I know all three of those guys routinely call the members on the phone, and participate in Zoom chats with the members. Eric Bischoff is especially active, because of the five hosts he is the only one not actively working in the Pro Wrestling business at this time. If you are signed up for a lower tier, they are constantly trying to talk you into upgrading your membership. I get emails and Twitter DM's at least once a week trying to entice me into bumping up to a higher tier. Their main selling point they push at you is the increased amount of interaction with the hosts, and they really go on and on about how when you sign up you are part of a "community" or even a "family." I get the impression that the top level members socialize with each other a fair bit via Discord and Zoom. But it's a bit weird because all the members of the top two tiers are constantly promoting how great it is and how more people should sign up. It's a little off-putting to be honest, it's a constant barrage of messages about how great it is to be "part of the AFS family" and stuff like that. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was great getting a phone call from Eric Bischoff. But I have no burning desire to participate in regular Zoom chats with those guys, or to go hang out in Huntsville with the hosts and Conrad. And I really don't have any interest in getting to know the other members and chatting with them all the time and being part of the "family." I just wanted to listen to my favorite podcasts with no ads and to get the bonus episodes. Plus, I really can't see paying $50-$100 a month for that service. Hell, what I pay right now seems a little high and once I go back to work full time I am going to cancel that.

Not to be a thread bumper, but I found myself thinking about Chris Hyatte today for some reason. Surprisingly, if you Google the name Chris Hyatte, this actual thread is one of the top results which shows up in the search. It has now been almost five months since he passed. I remember in the days leading up to his death that there was some speculation among Chris Hyatte fans that perhaps, he was playing some sort of joke and faking the whole thing. After all, there was a precedent for that, Hyatte had faked his death before. I saw some Hyatte fans on Twitter and Reddit hopefully speculating that he really wasn't sick or dying...maybe it was all part of some elaborate joke to get publicity for a planned comeback. Hyatte himself knew that his past antics would lead some to believe he wasn't really gone, which led him to say this... After thinking of Hyatte this morning and remembering his suggestion, I did indeed Google his real name. Sadly, it appears this really wasn't a trick and he really is gone. Either that or he has gone to greater lengths than you'd expect to make this a truly epic gag. It reminds me of the legacy of Andy Kaufman. Kaufman succeeded so often in sucking people into his mind games that even those closest to him hard a hard time believing he really died. To this day, there are fans who believe he's alive. But Chris Hyatte wasn't Andy Kaufman. He's gone and I know it. It just sucks.

AdFreeShows has announced their latest two additions to the service. Neither one of them seem particularly impressive. Rebel from TNA/Impact (aka Brit Baker's assistant Reba in AEW) is going to be hosting a monthly Zoom chat with the higher tier members. The combination of an attractive woman who works in the wrestling business and a bunch of guys who are willing to pay up to $100.00 a month for a Pro Wrestling podcast service seems like a recipe for one hella creepy video chat, but who knows. I can't imagine what she would have to say that I would find all that interesting, but to each their own I guess. The other new addition to the schedule is a new podcast called "ManceSplainin with Mance Warner." "Wrestling's most ridiculous, outlandish matches and moments are explained to non-wrestling fans like never before, as AFS introduces "ManceSplainin" with Mance Warner! Mancer sits down with a light beer in hand AND a wife/girlfriend/partner of a Top Guy (top tier AFS subscriber) as his guest every week, as they try to make sense of it all. Who else can say "Mance Did My Wife"?! But he will, AND when he does, you'll get a free t-shirt to make it known to everyone!" Uh...yeah.

Thanks guys. Honestly, I am so ready for this whole deal to be over with. I have been off work and dealing with this stupid never ending heart condition for almost two years now. I have an arrhythmia which landed me in the ICU a couple of years back. One minute my heart would be beating 170 bpm and I'd feel like it was about to explode but then the next it would drop down and beat so slow it would make me feel faint. After trying about a million different treatments and medications, they managed to shock my heart back into a normal rhythm and keep it that way with a cocktail of medications, blood thinners and beta blockers. The problem is, the arrhythmia is doing serious damage to the structure of my heart, and the medications are toxic if you take them long term. I have been in Congestive Heart Failure for a long time now. But there is a surgical fix. They have isolated the chamber of my heart which is causing the problem, so they are going to insert a catheter directly into my heart (going through my groin?!) and use a camera that they are going to insert down my throat to guide them. (And yet this surgery is somehow classified as "non-invasive.") Then they are going to cauterize the damaged section of my heart, and they tell me afterwards I will be 100% healthy and as good as new. Ready to go back to work, exercise...everything. No lasting side effects. I would have had the surgery in the Spring, but all "non-invasive" surgeries were indefinitely rescheduled due to the pandemic. But now they have to do it, because these medications they have me on are trashing my kidneys, and my heart can't take much more...so they are doing this on November 6, come hell or high water. If you remember when Ric Flair was hospitalized due to a heart condition back in May 2019 and required emergency surgery but he bounced back afterwards? He had the exact same condition I do right now. (Not to be confused with the time he was in the coma and almost died in 2017. That was something different.) But Flair had emergency heart surgery and missed his "roast" at Starrcast II as a result...and there was the whole controversy and back-and-forth between Ryan Satin and Conrad Thompson about how serious the situation actually was. Hey look at that...I actually managed to make my post about Conrad Thompson again, even though I was discussing my stupid heart surgery!

So here's something...I just got a phone call from Eric Bischoff. So today, there I am...sitting around watching Futurama, when my phone rings and it's Eric Bischoff. He tells me that he's calling to thank me for being a subscriber to AdFreeShows, and also to wish me all the best with my upcoming heart surgery. (I had mentioned to some of the other members I have gotten to know that I am due for surgery in a couple of weeks. Obviously, somebody told him.) He was really nice and came across as super sincere. I'm not one of the upper tier members who pay $50 - $100 a month, either. I know part of being on that level is interacting with the hosts but that wasn't something that interested me for a couple of reasons. He wasn't trying to sell me on anything...he just wanted to say thank you and wish me the best. And he didn't rush me off the phone either, we spoke for over 20 minutes. And then at the end of the phone call, I told him. "Eric, over at Pro Wrestling Only myself and @SomethingSavage have always said good things about you and your podcast even when guys like @sek69 and @El-P criticized you." And he said: "Dave, that's okay. And you tell sek and El-P that I forgive them for not appreciating how awesome I am." Okay...that last part didn't actually happen. But he really did call me and we really did talk for 20 minutes, so that was something. He did say he was going to call me again, and if he does maybe then I'll tell him about sek and El-P and all the rest of you who have said bad stuff about my new close personal friend Eric Bischoff.

Conrad is continuing to roll out all sorts of major announcements regarding additions to his AdFreeShows service...pretty much on a daily basis. So far this month he announced the aforementioned "Monday Mailbag" weekly Q&A podcast with Gerald Brisco. This will be debuting in November. The interesting news is that it was announced yesterday that Monday Mailbag will be alternating hosts. Some weeks it will be Gerald Brisco, but every other week it will be hosted by Mike Chioda. Depending on how forthcoming he is going to be, it might be interesting to hear the perspective of a guy who was a referee in WWE for what...30 years? Next up they announced that Madusa will be hosting a bi-weekly Zoom chat for AFS subscribers with some dork named Alex Ansel. It's going to be called "Dusa's Wild Happy Hour." That one is going to be a hard pass for me. I don't use Zoom, I find Madusa obnoxious and this Alex Ansel guy is a stand up comedian who isn't even one little bit funny. First Casio Kid, now this guy. Where the hell does Conrad keep finding these people? This will apparently be starting in November, and will most likely be exclusive to the upper tier of AdFreeShows subscribers (as most Zoom exclusive events are.) You usually have to be a member of one of the top tiers to participate in the event, but then they release an audio recording of the Q&A later as a podcast for all of the AFS subscribers. The next new project actually looks somewhat interesting. It's called "AFS Book Club." Basically every month, they will announce a different Pro Wrestling themed book, and then host a Zoom chat with the author so they can talk to them about the book and ask questions. The first event has already taken place, they had Bill Apter discuss his book "Is Wrestling Fixed? I Didn't Know It Was Broken." I guess depending on the book and author, that could be interesting...although as I said, I don't do Zoom so I will probably skip this one. Plus, I think that might be exclusive to the higher tier members to actually participate, and other members will get to hear the recorded event as a podcast. You know if Eric Bischoff has anything to say about it, they'll be interviewing Guy Evans about his book. This also looks kind of intriguing. The next new podcast they have announced is a watch-along show called "X-Ray" with Dr. Tom Prichard. "Every Monday, Dr. Tom will examine a classic match, and break it down piece by piece." To be honest, this sounds very similar to what Jim Cornette has been doing lately on his Drive-Thru podcast. Next up they announced that starting in November, all five of Conrad's podcasts will be available in video format for AFS subscribers. So basically, you will be able to get the normal audio version if you want, but if you'd like to see the shows as well, you can watch them. This will supposedly be like the "Something Else To Wrestle With" show that Conrad and Bruce Prichard did on the WWE Network. Honestly, I don't really see the appeal of this. The next new podcast they announced is going to be free to everybody...not just AFS subscribers, but everybody. It's going to be called "Wrestling with Stereotypes." "Every other Monday, hosts Andreas Hale & Kel Dansby bring you no holds barred conversations with minorities from the past, present and future of pro wrestling; talking about their respective journeys and the adversities they have faced along the way as a minority in the business." The next new show might be interesting for guys like @sek69, although I'm sure he'd probably rather not subscribe to AFS. "Every Sunday, starting this November, AdFreeShows.com invites members to journey back in time to relive our favorite pro wrestling video game experiences, as we introduce our brand new series: "Wrestling Game Rewind." Long-time developer, Sanders Keel, who oversaw production on games like WCW/nWo Revenge, WWF No Mercy, and the Smackdown series, will take us through the behind-the-scenes process inside the making of your favorite games! And we're kicking it off with his first title - WCW vs The World for Playstation 1. This podcast is debuting next month and is available for lower tier members. Even though I am not a gamer, I might check out an episode to see what it's like. Supposedly Conrad is getting back from his road trip today and is going to be making another major announcement tonight about this "one time" podcast he is going to be hosting that he is very excited about. When the podcast is announced, I'll share it in this thread...because until I end up going back to work, I apparently have nothing better to do with my time. I finally finished watching "The Boys" on Amazon Prime last night...so I do have some time to fill.

I felt pretty much the same way as @SomethingSavage up until recently. I finally cancelled my subscription to the WWE Network. I rarely used it, and the thought of any of my money going into Vince McMahon's pocket just makes me feel uneasy. I find weekly WWE programming (including NXT, sadly) to be pretty much unwatchable. When Dynamite debuted last year, I watched AEW for a while and thought it was good to very good at times, and cringeworthy at others. But the last few episodes I saw left a distinctly negative impression on me. The last AEW show I watched in it's entirety was All Out 2020, and after that I swore off AEW for good. I just don't like "modern" Pro Wrestling. I will be perfectly content if I never see another Kenny Omega or Young Bucks match again as long as I live. I don't deny that there are obviously plenty of people who enjoy WWE and AEW and I don't begrudge them that. If you find that kind of stuff palatable then more power to you. I don't, but to each their own. I had been enjoying the NWA, but that is gone and is probably not coming back thanks to the pandemic and creepy Dave Lagana. I have pretty much stopped listening to Jim Cornette, for the most part. I agree with about 75% of his opinions on modern Pro Wrestling, but I don't need to hear it every week and I could not give less of a shit what he thinks about politics. Cornette's shows have become extremely repetitive, to the point where it doesn't even matter if you hear them or not. It's the same crap, every week. Rant about Trump, rant about Republicans, rant about AEW...lather, rinse, repeat. Brian Last has basically helped turn Cornette's shows into the podcast equivalent of a Twitter troll. Cornette used to be a bombastic, eccentric but entertaining Pro Wrestling historian. Now he's just boring. The only form of Pro Wrestling entertainment I was getting was from Conrad Thompson's AdFreeShows service, and even then I found I was listening less and less. I usually listen to 83 Weeks, I will listen to Grilling JR if I am interested in the topic, although I have to be in the right mood for Grumpy JR. Arn just bores me now. I don't listen to Tony really, because I can't do watch alongs anymore without the WWE Network. I haven't listened to Bruce Prichard in years, and I have no interest in hearing him while he is an active employee of WWE. He was bad enough with butt kissing and revisionist history before Vince started signing his paychecks again. I can't even imagine how he'd be now. Surprisingly, it's the "bonus content" that you get as a member of AdFreeShows that has kept me as a subscriber. I find Conrad's weekly Q&A to be more interesting than most of his podcasts. I was actually starting to think that after 37 years I was done with Pro Wrestling. I even stopped dropping by PWO daily, which was unusual for me. My posting here has decreased because I really don't have anything to say. The only thing that has changed my tune lately is surprisingly the rebooted, pandemic version of Ring of Honor, specifically the Pure Wrestling Tournament. I have really been enjoying those shows, a great deal. Between the in depth video profiles on the talents, the increased focus on mat psychology and the lack of highspots and dives, and the match quality...this has been some good shit, pal. Even since the tournament started, I have been eating that stuff up. I don't know how long this will last, and I don't know if this is sustainable as a product, but ROH since coming back has reminded me why I actually enjoy Pro Wrestling.

You might want to check out the episode of 83 Weeks they did on that PPV, it was fascinating.

Tonight it was announced to AdFreeShows members that Gerald Brisco will be starting a new weekly Q&A podcast called "Monday Mailbag." This will be exclusive to AdFreeShows members and will not be available on Westwood One or any other podcast platform. Although he is a WWE Hall of Famer, I don't think this is the mystery podcast Conrad has been alluding to. In fact, based on the wording of the announcement I don't even know for sure that Conrad will be co-hosting the Monday Mailbag with Gerry Brisco podcast, but it will be part of the AFS subscription service. On the AFS feed, they are promising regular major announcements about additions to the AddFreeShows service for the rest of the month. For example, Conrad talked about a major "one time only" podcast he is working on. He says he has no less than three researchers working on the format and questions for this interview, and that when he goes to do the interview he will have to travel a long distance to interview the subject. I have no idea who or what this could be referring to. I get the impression that the announcement of the new podcast might be the grand finale of this series of announcements.

We've been speculating in this thread who might be Conrad's co-host in his new podcast which is about to be announced. The only thing we know so far is that it is a WWE Hall of Famer. Today somebody mentioned that X-Pac's podcast seems to have wrapped up, kind of like how Eric and JR's did a few months before they started working with Conrad. Any chance the new show could be with X-Pac? I have to be honest, at this point if it doesn't turn out to be Mick Foley, I'm going to end up being kind of disappointed. After all the speculating we have done in this thread, everybody seems right...Foley seemed to be the most logical choice. And the most interesting choice, based on his career and storytelling ability. Honestly, despite the fact that I didn't much enjoy most of his career, I don't mind Sean Waltman. He actually seems to be a legitimately nice guy. Hell, he's the one member of the Clique who even Bret Hart and Jim Cornette like, and that should tell you something. And he has had a pretty interesting career, and he is also intelligent and well spoken...but if it ends up being him with Conrad, I am afraid we are going to be be deluged again with non-stop Monday Night War era stuff. Mind you...we probably would be with Foley as well, come to think of it.

You know me, C.S., when somebody asks a question like that, I am usually more than happy to post one of my lengthy recaps (much like the one about Vince Russo in this very thread.) This is a bit different. David Bixenspan is a member at PWO, so if I was to recap the statements Brian Last and Jim Cornette made about him, or if I was to pass my own opinions, it might be construed as my antagonizing another member of this messageboard. @GSR provided a link to the episode of The Jim Cornette Experience in question. I know you don't like to listen to Cornette, but if you really want to know about this situation, I will spare you having to delve through the entire episode to find it. Brian Last airs his grievances with David Bixenspan starting at 25:46 of episode 349 of The Jim Cornette Experience. Or if you want to use the YouTube version you can just click here. You may have to skip a couple of ads. Brian Last pretty much recaps the history of his entire relationship with Bixenspan, the nature of their falling out and the reasons for it. The segment is about half an hour, give or take.

Yeah, the whole issue between Brian Last and Conrad Thompson seems kind of goofy, and appears pretty much one sided. I noticed that Brian Last tended to take thinly veiled shots at Conrad and his shows several times on the Cornette podcasts and on Twitter. I never heard Conrad say anything disparaging about Brian Last...in fact Conrad has always been quite complimentary towards him. I have seen fans point out stuff Brian Last has said to Conrad, and Conrad always seems puzzled as to why Last has such a problem with him. Conrad addressed it on an episode of WHW, and it has come up on "Ask Conrad Anything" but Conrad has never risen to the bait by insulting Brian Last back. Then again, that is probably smart. Getting into a back-and-forth with somebody associated with Jim Cornette is pretty much a no-win situation. You risk Cornette going mental on you, and bringing in his brain damaged "Cult of Cornette" for good measure. Why do anything to provoke that kind of insanity? I said it before elsewhere (I think on another messageboard) but if I had to pick who to talk Pro Wrestling with, I'd probably pick Brian Last. If I had to pick who to have a beer with, I'd pick Conrad. Brian Last definitely knows his shit, but he can really come across as an arrogant jerk. Anybody who wants proof of that needs to look no further than Brian Last's recent tirade against David Bixenspan on The Jim Cornette Experience. When Jim Cornette of all damn people has to try and calm you down, get you to stop ranting and get you back on topic...you've got yourself a problem. Don't get me wrong, Bix totally brought that whole thing down on himself and I have zero sympathy for him (especially taking into consideration some of the details that came out) but the way Brian Last reacted to the situation was absolutely venomous and gives you a good peek into what kind of person Brian Last really is. Very spiteful. At first I thought Brian Last had an issue with Conrad Thompson because Last doesn't like Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff and especially Jim Ross, but as time has gone by it has become pretty obvious that you are right, @Petey. Last is quite jealous of the success Conrad has had in both popularizing but more importantly monetizing Pro Wrestling podcasts and Brian Last acts like that should somehow be his exclusive domain or something like that..because he was there first. The whole thing strikes me as unnecessary. But when you think about it, really Brian Last has gotten sucked into the same vortex Jim Cornette is in. At one point, they were both respected for their knowledge and understanding of Pro Wrestling history, but now they have created and have to cultivate a fanbase which is more interested in stupid insult humor and pointless online feuds. The actual Pro Wrestling content (especially the historical stuff) has become almost secondary.

I've seen the RVD documentary. It's a bit disappointing. It's partially about his problems with concussions but it's also about his attempts to break into stand-up comedy. Also. it's just barely an hour long. The kindest way to put it, is that it's obvious that the people who made it weren't experienced documentary filmmakers.

I forgot to mention, Conrad also announced a new podcast. I don't think this is one of the shows we discussed previously in this thread though...this is something different. This will be hosted by Conrad and will be using the "Conrad Thompson formula" so it will be a show focusing on particular events or talents...but it will be constantly rotating topics and co-hosts. For example, they are going to do a World Class themed episode or episodes, with Conrad and Kevin Von Erich. Then they might cover another particular event or match, with Conrad interviewing the participants (much like what Edge and Christian did on their podcast, when they had Bret Hart and Steve Austin review their WM13 match, and Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels review Mind Games.) Somebody suggested that they might do a couple of shows with Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat discussing their matches, for example. If you look at some of the individual shows Conrad has done at Starrcast the past couple of years, you'll get a good idea of what this new show will be like. Conrad was able to convince Jim Crockett to make his first public appearance and give his first interview in ages, for example. Conrad's list of contacts has grown so much now, that he has people who wouldn't be an ideal subject for a regular weekly podcast, but would be able to do individual shows that could be very interesting. This new show is going to be monthly, not weekly. The other problem for a lot of fans is the fact that it is going to be an AdFreeShows exclusive. The reasoning behind this is pretty simple, purely business related. Obviously, Conrad will be paying these people for their time...much like a themed Shoot Interview. Conrad's other co-hosts get paid based on weekly paid advertising, but if you're not doing the same guest every week that financial model is impossible, obviously. The only way to afford to hire these guests is subscription based, so that is how it is going to be done. On the positive side, that means no annoying ad reads interrupting the show. The name of the new show, the first guest and topic and the release date for the debut will be announced shortly.

On this week's episode of "Ask Conrad Anything" somebody asked Conrad about doing an SMW podcast with Cornette, and Conrad shot the idea down. Conrad confirmed that he and Cornette and on good terms and are "friendly" but it is highly unlikely that they would end up working together. Conrad said that he honestly has seen very little Smoky Mountain Wrestling and doesn't know enough about it to host a podcast focused on just SMW. The other problem is that Cornette sold the entire SMW library to WWE, lock stock and barrel. He retained the rights to sell a couple of the shows on DVD at his own website, but that's it. That's because there was per-existing commercial agreements to sell those shows in place on VHS when SMW was still active, so Cornette retains the ownership rights (most notably Night of Legends.) Cornette has speculated in the past that WWE knew exactly what Cornette's financial situation was when he closed SMW, and knew that Cornette could sell the footage to make enough money to get himself totally out of debt, so they bought it - partially to help Cornette because he worked for them at the time, partially to obtain content for the WWE Network (which was being planned, even back then) but mostly they did it to prevent Cornette from selling the rights to somebody else. WWE has only chosen to put up a small handful of SMW content on the WWE Network, for whatever reason. Lack of interest, I assume. There is a lot of SMW footage on YouTube (which WWE doesn't seem to care about) but if Cornette and Conrad were to do a podcast, there would be no way for them to do any of Conrad's infamous "watch along" episodes. That's the reason Cornette and Brian Last haven't done a lot of SMW watch along shows as well. Since Conrad knows so little about SMW, you'd have to assume they'd rely heavily on that formula. Especially since Conrad's other main source of info for his podcast is reading back stuff from The Observer, and I don't know how much coverage Meltzer gave SMW. The other main issue is that Conrad has hinted at the fact that Cornette may have an exclusive contract with Brian Last and the "Arcadian Vanguard" Network which would prevent he and Cornette from working together. A lot of people have suggested (rightly so) that Cornette's podcasts would benefit greatly from the "Conrad Thompson formula." Cornette would be a lot more interesting if he avoided talking about the modern product altogether, quit ranting about politics and other current events, and focused on reviewing historical shows on a match-by-match basis and individual talent themed episodes, especially from JCP. His weekly Q&A show would be a lot more interesting if somebody other than Brian Last was screening the questions. But it won't be happening. For his part, Conrad is quite complimentary towards Cornette and Last. He claims he is a regular listener of Cornette's Drive Thru, but says he avoids the Jim Cornette Experience. (No point in that anymore, they've basically become the exact same show.) Conrad has said that what Cornette and Last has together works for them, so more power to them. As I've said elsewhere (and as Conrad has confirmed) Brian Last does not much like Conrad Thompson, even though they've never met in person. But the animosity seems to be one sided, at this point. Bottom line is, we won't be seeing Cornette and Conrad working together any time soon, which is a shame in my opinion.

I am sure this isn't going to be a popular opinion here, but I can somewhat see WWE's side of this issue. And some people (on Twitter, not so much here at PWO) are acting like policies like this are totally unfair and absolutely unheard of. My most recent job was working as a "Production Technician" for a major pharmaceutical company. (Basically, I operated a computerized machine that produced medication.) I didn't work in the office, I didn't work in the lab and obviously I didn't have any contact with the media. I didn't know the scientific formula of the medication we were producing, that was already compounded before it got into my hands. But when I got hired, the company made me sign a rather comprehensive document saying that I was not allowed to speak to anybody under any circumstances about the details of my job. Which was fine, because who would want to hear about it, honestly. A few months later, the company came out with an addendum to the policy regarding Social Media. The policy stipulated that employees were forbidden from representing themselves as employees of the company on Social Media like Facebook and especially Twitter. Employees were strongly discouraged from even identifying the company in their profiles and were informed in no uncertain terms that any violation of the policy was grounds for immediate termination. Once again, that didn't seem like a big deal to me because I hate Facebook and deactivated my account years ago, and I rarely use Twitter. And when I do, I don't talk about my job because once again...who cares? My point is, my feeling was always that the company was paying me, providing my medical insurance and coverage and my (incredibly meager) pension plan...so if they wanted to legally forbid me from identifying myself as an employee of theirs on Social Media, that was their right. My feeling has always been that if you are being paid by a particular company, they have a right to exert a level of control over how you conduct yourself in public forums...since how you act will reflect back on the company. With WWE, the issue is intensified because (rightly or wrongly) WWE actually owns the intellectual property of the names and characters and has every legal right to exert control over how those names and likenesses are being portrayed...especially if the individuals are using those tools to generate revenue for themselves. Put it this way...if the company I worked for was paying for my car, like they owned it and paid the gas and insurance and maintenance but allowed me to drive it - it wouldn't be unrealistic for them to not allow me to use that car on my own time to be an Uber driver or deliver pizzas. They own it (right or wrong) they get to dictate how it is being used. Having said all of that...here is where I think WWE is totally full of shit, and are totally out of line: Everything I just said applied to me because I was a paid, full time employee with full benefits. I was not an "Independent Contractor." I have a buddy who is an Independent Contractor, he works in I.T. and he gets hired by companies to work on their websites and especially online ordering systems. They pay him an hourly rate for his work. They don't pay him for transportation, they don't pay his insurance or medical benefits (which sucks because he has three kids, all of whom have serious medical issues) he has no pension plan. But then again, they don't care what he does on Social Media, and they don't care who he works for, as long as it doesn't interfere with the work he does for them. My friend can also terminate that agreement whenever he feels like it, and go work wherever he wants. There is no ridiculous "90 Day No Compete" clause. What he does for each company becomes their Intellectual Property...but that's the only control they have over him as an Independent Contractor. WWE can't have their cake and eat it too. The feeling I get when I see how some people (especially younger fans who have clearly never actually had a paying job) react is that employers have "no right" to tell you what to do when it comes to independent platforms and Social Media. That's totally wrong, employers absolutely DO have the right to dictate that kind of stuff, if you're actually an EMPLOYEE. My feeling is that if WWE wants to exert this level of control over people, then they need to stop being such cheap assholes and actually hire these damn people as employees. Then, WWE can pretty much dictate the terms of employment. If WWE is not willing to do that then I really think these guys should take CM Punk's advice and tell Vince McMahon to stick his policy in his ear. If they don't actually legally work for him in the strictest definition of the term, then WWE can't tell them what to do. But if they did, then I think Vince would absolutely have that right. If Andrew Yang is mainly concerned with the Independent Contractor aspect of this policy, then he's absolutely right. If he (or anybody else) thinks policies like this are unheard of or shouldn't be applied in general to actual employees, then I don't agree.