Conrad Thompson set to expand his podcast schedule with new shows

[Migs]

Scrolling through the list of WWE Hall of Famers, I think we've named most of the even potentially plausible ones in the thread. A few more that haven't come up but are at least vaguely reasonable in terms of being big enough for Conrad to work with and do numbers (not saying any of these are likely, a lot have their own things but other people in that position have teamed up with Conrad in the past):

Nash (this is one I think could actually work)

DDP

Goldberg

Austin

Waltman

Ricky Morton

Tully

[The Thread Killer]

Conrad has claimed he couldn’t do a podcast with Austin without a lot of legal wrangling, due to the nature of Austin’s contract with Podcast One. Conrad has mentioned that he thinks Austin might even have ownership interest in that company.

Conrad has done 10 episodes of his “Ask Conrad Anything” podcast and it has actually been very interesting and informative when it comes to information like this.  Although, about half of the answers are about financial advice and mortgages.

[Migs]

Well, scratch Austin then (or maybe that contract is over and that makes him more likely since he's talked to Conrad about this)?

After walking through this, I think the names I'd potentially be interested in are Foley (smart guy, good storyteller, covers a fun swath of promotions, wouldn't indulge too many of Conrad's annoying tendencies), Nash (interesting career, could be a fun hang), and Bubba (not a huge fan but I'd probably give a shot to any show focused on ECW).

[C.S.]

On 9/6/2020 at 4:38 PM, The Thread Killer said:

Conrad did set up Russo with Matt Koon and helped them plan and execute Russo's "Truth with Consequences" podcast, which in true Russo form Russo then fucked up, and blamed it on Conrad, so they are supposedly no longer on speaking terms.

What exactly happened here?

[The Thread Killer]

7 hours ago, C.S. said:

What exactly happened here?

Here is my understanding of what happened between Conrad and Russo, based on Conrad's side of the story...

In the Spring 2018, Vince Russo had a podcast on Podcast One called "Castrating The Marks."  From what I understand, the show basically consisted of Russo ranting about current events in the world of Pro Wrestling.  (Not unlike The Jim Cornette Experience, ironically). I guess one of the major features of the show was Russo taking shots at various Pro Wrestling fans, journalists and internet columnists (and of course at popular target Dave Meltzer) most especially at those who dared question the brilliance of Vince Russo. One of his favorite targets was Ryan Satin, who had a well established antagonistic relationship with Russo.  Satin had apparently cost Russo some advertisers by going to them and telling them some of the unsavory things Russo has said and done over the years. So Russo said all sorts of mean things about Satin on his podcast, and pretty much sicced his fans on Satin.  Ryan Satin claimed that as a result, his girlfriend had received some death threats. Ryan Satin made a huge stink about the whole thing so Podcast One decided to dump Vince Russo, partially due to the controversy and partially because apparently his podcast really wasn't doing all that well anyhow. Even Russo admitted he was making barely any money from it.

Russo launched a new podcast which you had to pay for, called "The Russo Brand" on something called The Relm Network, but around this time he contacted Conrad Thompson asking for help with his podcast.  This was right around the time Eric Bischoff had ended his "Bischoff on Wrestling" podcast and joined Conrad, and Vince Russo pretty much wanted to do the same thing.  Russo was also interested in getting booked at Starrcast, which of course is also owned and booked by Conrad Thompson. You could tell at the time that Conrad was considering working with Russo, because he mentioned him frequently and even promoted Russo's new podcast on his own shows.  A couple of things happened which derailed the thing.  I guess Russo tweeted a couple of things implying he was going to be at Starrcast and apparently even said things which may have alluded to the fact or hinted that he was going to be at "All In."  I guess Cody and The Young Bucks wanted nothing to do with Russo and told Conrad that in no uncertain terms.  Russo later claimed he was "working" (bro) but regardless, the idea of him showing up at Starrcast was pretty much off the table.   The main thing that ended the possibility of Russo working with Conrad was the fact that Conrad asked the guys who he was already working with at the time what they thought about it, and Bruce Prichard and Eric Bischoff both told Conrad they weren't crazy about the idea of being associated with Vince Russo in any way.

That might sound unfair, but I don't really blame Prichard and Bischoff. There are a number of confirmed stories about Russo going behind people's backs, lying and being manipulative.  Of course, that seems to be a prerequisite for working in that industry, but I guess Russo is apparently a standout in that regard even for the scuzzy world of Pro Wrestling.  Stuff like the way he tried to take credit for work he didn't actually do in the WWF, how he quit WWF with no notice and without even going to tell Vince McMahon in person, his creative and personal meltdown in WCW (including the lawsuit by Hogan and the Racial Discrimination suit which Time Warner had to pay to settle) and especially his conduct when he was working in TNA.  Apparently, a lot of documents that were made public when Konnan sued TNA helped illustrate how duplicitous Vince Russo really is.  This is a guy who is so toxic that Viacom basically told Dixie Carter that they weren't going to continue to fund TNA if Russo was involved. (So of course Dixie Carter kept him on, tried to hide it and it all blew up in her face.)

Conrad decided to respect Prichard and Bischoff's wishes, so he decided against co-hosting a show with Russo.  However, Conrad liked Russo as a person, so he decided to try and help him in other ways.  Anybody who has listened to one of Conrad's shows knows that he has a tried and true formula.  He calls it his "podcast business plan."  Conrad has somebody research a particular topic, and then he basically interviews his co-host about that particular topic.  Conrad felt that Russo would be successful if he quit "freestyling" about everything under the sun, and instead focused on his own career history and individual topics from his own past.  Conrad felt there was a ton of material to draw from, the birth of the Attitude Era, Russo's time in WCW, and his time in TNA. If Russo followed the same template Conrad's other shows did, Conrad thought it would be successful.  Since Conrad wouldn't be co-hosting the show with Russo, he did the next best thing.  Conrad brought in Matt Koon (who at that time worked for Conrad in ad sales, promotions and music...Koon created the musical theme songs for Prichard's podcast and even sings the theme for Schiavone's.)  Instead of Conrad, one of his right hand guys would host Russo's new podcast, and they would follow the Conrad Thompson podcast business plan.

The new podcast was called "Truth with Consequences" and in an impressive feat of negotiating, Conrad actually managed to get Russo and Koon a deal with Westwood One. That's impressive when you consider the fact that just a few months before, Russo had been booted off Podcast One. The show debuted in Autumn 2018.  At first, the show was apparently somewhat successful.  (Whether it's true or not, Russo told Sean Oliver that he was making a lot of money from the new podcast.) Koon and Russo followed Conrad Thompson's blueprint and the episodes were themed around Russo's career. The debut episode covered the time Russo made himself WCW Champion, and Koon and Russo did episodes on Russo's relationship with Hulk Hogan, his feud with Jim Cornette, leaving the WWF for WCW and a profile episode on Chyna.  They did individual show reviews like Wrestlemania 14. 

The problem was, Russo couldn't follow the Conrad Thompson format they had agreed upon.  Russo insisted on doing "rebuttal" shows about Eric Bischoff and Dave Meltzer.  At Vince Russo's insistence, he started using the podcast as a platform to "defend" his reputation and (just like with his "Castrating The Marks" podcast) the show soon became nothing more than Russo ranting about his critics and defending himself against every perceived slight.  Russo started using the new podcast as a forum for his own fantasy booking of current Pro Wrestling and as a pulpit from which he would point out all the mistakes Vince McMahon and WWE were making, plus his criticisms of AEW. (Including his hysterical conspiracy theory that Vince McMahon was secretly running AEW.) The low point may have been when Russo resurrected his "Vic Venom" persona from his days as a writer for WWF Magazine, and actually hosted an episode of the show as Vic Venom. After only six months, Matt Koon quit the podcast, reportedly because he was frustrated with Russo's refusal to follow Conrad Thompson's format and proven blueprint for podcast success.  With his new podcast now basically nothing more than a carbon copy of his old unsuccessful podcast, "Truth with Consequences" was removed from the Westwood One podcast schedule after less than a year.

Vince Russo continues to host a podcast on "The Relm Network" once again using "Castrating The Marks" as his "brand."  However, he has reportedly changed his contact information and cell phone number, and has told people within the industry NOT to give his number to Conrad Thompson, as he is apparently quite bitter over the whole experience.  I assume he is upset Conrad would not book him at Starrcast, and that Conrad would not produce and co-host his shows personally.  I don't see how Russo could blame Conrad for the fact that he himself refused to cooperate the co-host Conrad set him up with, or follow through with a show format that has proven successful with other hosts.

But that's Vince Russo for you.  Screw something up royally, and deflect the blame.  Not Russo's fault.  He's misunderstood...bro.

 

[C.S.]

Thanks for such a lengthy and detailed answer, @The Thread Killer.

Wow, there's a lot to unpack here.

1 hour ago, The Thread Killer said:

One of his favorite targets was Ryan Satin, who had a well established antagonistic relationship with Russo.  Satin had apparently cost Russo some advertisers by going to them and telling them some of the unsavory things Russo has said and done over the years. So Russo said all sorts of mean things about Satin on his podcast, and pretty much sicced his fans on Satin.  Ryan Satin claimed that as a result, his girlfriend had received some death threats. Ryan Satin made a huge stink about the whole thing so Podcast One decided to dump Vince Russo, partially due to the controversy and partially because apparently his podcast really wasn't doing all that well anyhow. Even Russo admitted he was making barely any money from it. 

This is why I can't take Ryan Satin seriously as a legitimate journalist. He's not one, never has been, and probably never will be. I look at him as the tabloid TMZ hack he is. One of the golden rules of journalism is to report the story, not make yourself the story. Satin was flat-out unprofessional there. I assume he was inspired by Mark Madden tattling to baseball legend Hank Aaron about Bill Watts. That can be debated too, but the difference is, Madden got an openly proud racist removed from a powerful corporate position. Satin did what? Got Russo yanked from a podcast no one was listening to anyway. (I realize Russo was the target of a racial lawsuit himself, but I never got the impression that he was racist so much as he valued mic work above everything else, and wrestlers who spoke limited English weren't going to be valued by him for that reason - not because he hates Mexicans or whatever. I remember him loving Hector Garza, for example.)

Of course, that does not in any way excuse Satin's poor girlfriend getting death threats over it - especially if they were influenced by Russo (even indirectly, which is no different from what Trump does).

1 hour ago, The Thread Killer said:

I don't see how Russo could blame Conrad for the fact that he himself refused to cooperate the co-host Conrad set him up with, or follow through with a show format that has proven successful with other hosts.

For as much criticism as Conrad gets for his formula being stale, played out, paint-by-numbers, or whatever else has been said here, it sounds like it would've been a winning recipe for Russo. 

[flyonthewall2983]

On 9/7/2020 at 2:51 PM, Migs said:

Scrolling through the list of WWE Hall of Famers, I think we've named most of the even potentially plausible ones in the thread. A few more that haven't come up but are at least vaguely reasonable in terms of being big enough for Conrad to work with and do numbers (not saying any of these are likely, a lot have their own things but other people in that position have teamed up with Conrad in the past):

Nash (this is one I think could actually work)

A Nash podcast, regardless of content (or whether or not everything he says is of a factual nature), would be great. Him and Conrad could have good chemistry. If they brought on Hall or Waltman once in awhile would be cool too. 

[The Thread Killer]

So there is an update on this story.

Today Conrad did another episode of "Ask Conrad Anything" and unsurprisingly, one of the questions was about the two new podcasts he has coming up.  The question was if Conrad could give anymore information about the new upcoming podcasts.  Conrad repeated the story that he had been contacted by three WWE Hall of Famers about doing podcasts, and he had said yes to two of them. 

The news is that WWE has (in Conrad's words) "put the kibosh" on one of the shows, and will not allow it to proceed.  The way he worded it made it sound like whoever the potential host was supposed to be, they are not only in the HOF but they are somehow active in the company, and WWE do not want the person doing a podcast with Conrad.  Keep in mind, Bruce and Eric had contracts with Conrad before they came back to WWE, otherwise it is unlikely WWE would have allowed them to do the show.  Working for WWE seems to be what has prevented both Paul Heyman and Jeff Jarrett from signing deals with Conrad.  I think if an active WWE employee (I mean independent contractor) is going to do a podcast, WWE wants to control it.  Apparently, WWE is trying to start a podcast network of their own and Corey Graves and The New Day already have podcasts. (I was totally unaware of this.)

However, Conrad said the other potential podcast is still a "go" and he will be announcing the details "as soon as he can."  He has mentioned that there is a fair bit of legal stuff to do before starting a podcast, that he and all five of his co-hosts have actually individually incorporated independent companies for each of their shows.  It sounds like this is helpful for accounting and tax purposes, but it also means each individual show has to negotiate their own individual ad sales, etc.

Also of note from today's show...

Conrad said that he was very close to signing a deal with Jerry Lawler to do a podcast using "The Conrad Thompson podcast model" like all of his other shows.  However, this whole thing got scuttled when Lawler returned to active commentary duty in 2019.  Conrad says that when Lawler finally steps back from an active role in WWE, it is quite likely they will end up working together.  Conrad mentioned that due to Lawler's 50 years in Pro Wrestling there could be no end of topics they could discuss. (Hopefully lots of classic Memphis and not so much Attitude Era "puppies" shows.)  Conrad said that Lawler has an excellent memory and is one of the best storytellers he has ever met, and all Lawler needs is the right co-host and format in order to have a successful podcast.

Conrad was asked if he had ever considered using his business plan/format to do a podcast outside the world of Pro Wrestling.  Conrad says he has, and in fact he anticipates launching an MMA themed podcast and a College Football podcast at some point in the New Year. Conrad said that the MMA podcast would not be with an active fighter, but with somebody who would be known to any serious MMA fan, and has worked behind the scenes in MMA for years.

So the bottom line is, we are only going to be getting one new podcast from Conrad that is Pro Wrestling themed, and the more I think about it and the more I hear from Conrad and read between the lines, the more I think it is going to be Mick Foley.  Foley doesn't care what WWE thinks of his outside projects, he has proven that twice...once when he refused to sign the book deal they wanted him to and signed one on his own, and secondly when he refused to give them permission to use his likeness for something unless they paid him more than they were offering.  Also, Conrad has spoken glowingly of Foley in the past, said he'd love to do a show with him, Foley's books and stand up tours have already shown he has a knack for this kind of thing...and Lord knows Foley loves to make money, which he undoubtedly will if he does a podcast with Conrad.

[El-P]

2 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Conrad mentioned that due to Lawler's 50 years in Pro Wrestling there could be no end of topics they could discuss. 

More 1999 WWF PPV coming your way soon... 

2 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Conrad said that Lawler has an excellent memory and is one of the best storytellers he has ever met,

No shit. That one about the two girls who wanted to have sex with him then accused him of rape was a good one.

Well, I have zero interest in a Lawler podcast. 

And Foley, well, that would be a lot more WWF coming your way, and probably more of what had been discussed in lenght again.

[C.S.]

On 9/10/2020 at 11:56 PM, The Thread Killer said:

Conrad said that he was very close to signing a deal with Jerry Lawler to do a podcast using "The Conrad Thompson podcast model" like all of his other shows.  However, this whole thing got scuttled when Lawler returned to active commentary duty in 2019.  Conrad says that when Lawler finally steps back from an active role in WWE, it is quite likely they will end up working together.  Conrad mentioned that due to Lawler's 50 years in Pro Wrestling there could be no end of topics they could discuss. (Hopefully lots of classic Memphis and not so much Attitude Era "puppies" shows.)  Conrad said that Lawler has an excellent memory and is one of the best storytellers he has ever met, and all Lawler needs is the right co-host and format in order to have a successful podcast.

I thought Lawler was doing a podcast with Sean Reedy? I could be wrong and thinking of some other Memphis wrestler. Reedy also did a podcast with Jerry Jarrett until 2019 (or at least that's all iTunes has) and is very good and underrated. I've listened to his Jarrett podcast but not his second one with Lawler or whoever I'm thinking of.

Either way, if Conrad did one with Lawler, you know 90% of it would be Attitude Era because Conrad has shown very little interest, knowledge, or aptitude for anything he didn't grow up on. Now, maybe I'm wrong and Conrad was somehow a diehard Memphis fan as a kid, but I kinda doubt it. Conrad is good, but he definitely has a wheelhouse that he sticks to.

On 9/10/2020 at 11:56 PM, The Thread Killer said:

So the bottom line is, we are only going to be getting one new podcast from Conrad that is Pro Wrestling themed, and the more I think about it and the more I hear from Conrad and read between the lines, the more I think it is going to be Mick Foley.  Foley doesn't care what WWE thinks of his outside projects, he has proven that twice...once when he refused to sign the book deal they wanted him to and signed one on his own, and secondly when he refused to give them permission to use his likeness for something unless they paid him more than they were offering.  Also, Conrad has spoken glowingly of Foley in the past, said he'd love to do a show with him, Foley's books and stand up tours have already shown he has a knack for this kind of thing...and Lord knows Foley loves to make money, which he undoubtedly will if he does a podcast with Conrad.

And Foley strongly opposed the recent WWE rule change about outside projects (along with politician Andrew Yang, actress Lea Thompson, and Batista).

[Migs]

On 9/10/2020 at 11:56 PM, The Thread Killer said:

However, Conrad said the other potential podcast is still a "go" and he will be announcing the details "as soon as he can."  He has mentioned that there is a fair bit of legal stuff to do before starting a podcast, that he and all five of his co-hosts have actually individually incorporated independent companies for each of their shows.  It sounds like this is helpful for accounting and tax purposes, but it also means each individual show has to negotiate their own individual ad sales, etc.

This isn't surprising to me, actually, especially since it seems like he and the host share in the profits (as opposed to one or the other being paid a fee for their participation in the show). I'm sure a lot of the work goes into ironing out the details of the LLC agreement, in terms of how they're going to share profits, not just from the show itself but from merchandising and the like. The other advantage, I'm sure, is that it keeps each podcast in its own bucket for accounting and tax, as opposed to, say, Conrad having one big podcast LLC with all the hosts as members, needing to try and divvy up income based on how the show does.

[The Thread Killer]

On 9/5/2020 at 9:29 AM, BruiserBrody said:

Conrad implied (sort of) that he wants to talk to Dr Tom about an idea during last week's STW.  Perhaps a SMW pod?  

 

On 9/5/2020 at 10:29 AM, El-P said:

Who would listen to this ? Yeah, people on PWO, I know, but really, what is the mainstream appeal of a SMW podcast ? Especially when Corny has been doing SMW episodes on his own and no one will ever beat Corny on the matter (even worse considering Conrad is probably totally clueless about it).

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.

 

[The Thread Killer]

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.

[sek69]

On 9/9/2020 at 7:07 PM, flyonthewall2983 said:

A Nash podcast, regardless of content (or whether or not everything he says is of a factual nature), would be great. Him and Conrad could have good chemistry. If they brought on Hall or Waltman once in awhile would be cool too. 

Agreed. The factual content may be debatable but Nash seems custom made for a gig just sitting around bullshitting with people. It would certainly be entertaining if nothing else.

[Petey]

On 10/2/2020 at 11:53 AM, The Thread Killer said:

 

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. 

 

I wonder if there's some resentment on Last's part that Conrad is the bigger name (and likely more successful in terms of revenue) in podcast hosting. I don't think anyone could argue that Conrad's historical knowledge is anywhere close to Last's, but Conrad's got multiple podcasts with big names and he tends to be more involved from an on-air perspective than Last is with Cornette's podcasts.

I could be completely wrong but I feel like if the two have never met in person, there doesn't seem to be a reason why Last would have such strong animosity towards ol' Connie.

[The Thread Killer]

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.

[C.S.]

1 hour ago, The Thread Killer said:

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)

What did Bix do?

[GSR]

Just now, C.S. said:

What did Bix do?

https://art19.com/shows/jim-cornette-experience

Episode 349 I believe. 

[The Thread Killer]

11 hours ago, C.S. said:

What did Bix do?

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.

[GSR]

Yeah, I nearly added something when posting that link.

For reasons @The Thread Killer said (and I agree with pretty much everything written in the middle paragraph, bar I don't think Last was as bad as what he could've been, and I'm no Brian Last fan) there's no need to recap what was said, you can listen and make your own mind up.  Plus, this whole shit storm was a few weeks ago now, no need to re-stoke the fires.

[Migs]

On 10/2/2020 at 12:15 PM, The Thread Killer said:

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.

I think this is a good idea. Conrad has sort of become a better version of RF, so him doing his version of a shoot interview is potentially interesting to me depending on the topic. Solves the problem of the shows getting stale, too. I'd be up for signing up once in a while to catch up if these are good.

[C.S.]

13 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

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.

13 hours ago, GSR said:

Yeah, I nearly added something when posting that link.

For reasons @The Thread Killer said (and I agree with pretty much everything written in the middle paragraph, bar I don't think Last was as bad as what he could've been, and I'm no Brian Last fan) there's no need to recap what was said, you can listen and make your own mind up.  Plus, this whole shit storm was a few weeks ago now, no need to re-stoke the fires.

Thanks. I completely agree with your reasons for not going into detail.

Now, whether I can tolerate a half-hour of Jim Cornette is another story (or Brian Last, who I'm unfamiliar with - but if he's anything like his co-host...), so I may have to just suppress my natural curiosity and forget about the whole thing. 

[The Thread Killer]

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.

[C.S.]

3 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

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.  

I think Sean Waltman would be interesting, for a variety of reasons:

- He is an underrated pioneer of Light Heavyweight/Cruiserweight-style wrestling in the U.S. but never gets the credit he deserves for it.

- He was the first truly "undersized" wrestler in the WWF to break the glass ceiling and get a push. (Don't mention Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, who may not have been Hogan, but they were still large men.)

- He was in both the nWo and DX. One of them is genuinely one of the most groundbreaking and revolutionary stables of all time. The other is what WWE revisionist history would like you to believe was groundbreaking and revolutionary, and while it was neither, it was still fun and impactful for the time. In any case, being in both stables meant he was around, bar none, the biggest stars of his era in both the WWF and WCW. 

- He stuck around for the early part of the Ruthless Aggression era, so he has insight to add there about Cena, Angle, Eddie, etc.

- He was (still is?) a WWE agent or some kind of backstage worker, so there's rare insight to be mined from that as well. 

[SomethingSavage]

Waltman has always been great on podcasts. He's better in a guest role or with someone who can carry a back & forth conversation than he is in a Q&A setting, but he's just such a fun storyteller in his own right.

No, he's not Foley or Nash. But he isn't too far off. So I wouldn't peg him as a primary candidate for this, but I actually think he could surprise a lot of skeptics with just how much he'd have to say.

If you're curious about recommendations, Waltman's appearances on Austin's old podcast were phenomenal. He has an excellent memory and recall over his early career and the small details. You never get the sense that he's bullshitting or embellishing either. I mean, it's wrestling. I'm sure he does at times. But the guy never backs down on admitting his own flaws or pointing out his own bad decisions. At all.

For even better recommendations though, I'd direct you guys over to the series Sean did on his own 1-2-360 (awful name) show. There's a stretch somewhere in there where he was convinced by listeners to cover his own career using the Conrad Thompson formula. And those are tremendous.

Particular highlights are the periods covering the X-Pac/Kane team and feud, believe it or not. That stuff doesn't age well in my mind, but Sean's description and sheer love for the angle will have you second guessing and actively seeking it out just to make sure.

There's a great story somewhere in there about his first chance to main event a house show during the big boom period of the Attitude Era. I want to say it was a cage match with Kane, and Sean describes in detail the lengths he went through to make sure he made the date, when it looked like the universe had conspired to make everything go wrong and work against him. It's a pretty great story, especially hearing it in his own words. You can just hear and tell how much that main event spot meant to him.

He also doesn't pull any punches or shy away from discussing Russo's involvement with a lot of things from around that time. (Like pushing for Val Venis to step up as the new new leader of DX... ... ...G'yeah.)

So anyway, I wouldn't be at all opposed to Waltman getting a show with Conrad. I would be more wary of Conrad sticking to nothing but endless Attitude discussions more than anything. Because Sean can actually talk about ANYTHING. He follows modern stuff. He has kept up with New Japan. He knows nineties All Japan. He doesn't mind talking about TNA. Or his early days and training. You name it. It'd be Conrad's own obsession with everything 97 and 98 that would torpedo the thing, if you ask me. But that's the risk you also run with Nash and Foley in the same seat, too.