Conrad Thompson set to expand his podcast schedule with new shows

[Timbo Slice]

Sigh. Regal podcast is amazing, but it has to be with Conrad?

[The Thread Killer]

Did a bit of digging, turns out the Regal pod will be permanently cohosted by Matt Koon. Conrad is cohosting the first Foley pod for sure. Jon Alba is now cohosting DDP Snakepit. 

[Matt D]

8 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Did a bit of digging, turns out the Regal pod will be permanently cohosted by Matt Koon. Conrad is cohosting the first Foley pod for sure. Jon Alba is now cohosting DDP Snakepit. 

Is Matt Koon any good?

[The Thread Killer]

4 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Is Matt Koon any good?

He’s OK. He first started working for Conrad when the Prichard podcast really started to take off, he was selling ads and also he wrote and sings the theme song for Tony Schiavone’s podcast. He has a good voice for radio. He is a lifelong fan so he knows what he is talking about to a degree and is respectful of the business from what I have heard of him. Koon is not some guy that just got parachuted into the job who doesn’t know Pro Wrestling at all, so he’s nowhere near as annoying as Paul Bromwell. 

[Gertner]

Yeah Matt Koon is pretty good. The bar is really low with Paul Bromwell.

[The Thread Killer]

Interesting look at the rankings based on download numbers, of North American Pro Wrestling podcasts for last week, as determined by Apple podcasts:

1. Foley is Pod

2. Gentleman Villain 

3. Jim Cornette’s Drive Thru

4. Talk is Jericho

5. Something To Wrestle With

6. Busted Open

7. The Jim Cornette Experience 

8. Grilling JR

9. Oh You Didn’t Know?

10.  My World

11.  To Be The Man 

12. The Sessions with Renee Paquette

13. DDP Snake Pit

14. 83 Weeks

15. The Steve Austin Show (?!)

16. What Happened When

17. AEW Unrestricted 

18. What Culture Wrestling 

19. After the Bell with Corey Graves

20. The Kurt Angle Show

***

Granted, this is only based on Apple podcast numbers and not any other platform, but you have to assume that the rankings and total downloads are probably pretty similar no matter the platform.

Some interesting observations here:

- Everything single one of Conrad’s podcasts are ranked in the top 20 except for Arn and Matt Hardy’s. There have been rumours going around that Arn’s podcast is barely getting any listeners and that they are thinking of pulling the plug on it, and based on this those rumours might be true?

- There have been no definitive figures released, but rumour has it that Foley‘s podcast has done monster numbers so far.

- Pritchard‘s podcast is still a beast even though it has gone downhill steadily and he has been phoning it in for the last few years.

- 83 Weeks has taken quite a nosedive. At one point it was Conrad‘s second most popular show. I think the fact that they have run out of new topics and have been reduced to doing watch alongs of old Nitro episodes has really hurt the show. Mind you, Bishoff has that new AFS Exclusive show with Jon Alba called “Strictly Business” that concentrates solely on the business and financial end of Pro Wrestling. I have heard good things about it from people I know that are still signed up with AFS, but I am not re-subscribing at this point.

- Busted Open is way more popular than I would have expected. Same with Renee’s show.

- I can’t believe Road Dogg has a podcast in the Top 10. I can’t help but wonder if this is still a novelty or if the show has legs.

- What Culture has a podcast?!

- I can’t believe how popular the Steve Austin show still is, it is totally reruns now. He hasn’t released a new episode in a very, very long time. Conrad once said in an interview that Austin’s show does crazy numbers, and based on this I have to believe it.

- Both Conrad and Brian Last have claimed separately that if you have a podcast that does more than 350,000 weekly downloads, you can easily make a six-figure income from your show, based on getting a contract with a Madison Avenue advertising agency. Sean Oliver confirmed this as well in an interview I saw with him. Jim Cornette has not one, but two shows in the Top 10. That dude must be laughing all the way to the bank. And LOL at the fact that not one of Brian Last’s other multiple shows are sniffing the Top 20. No wonder he is so crazy jealous of Conrad Thompson and never passes up an opportunity to take a shot at him.

[Matt D]

33 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said:

There have been rumours going around that Arn’s podcast is barely getting any listeners and that they are thinking of pulling the plug on it, and based on this those rumours might be true?

I was hoping we got to the Dangerous Alliance year at least. It’s not ground that has been trod often.

[southofheavy]

Same here.

The thing with the Arn podcast is that the most interesting episodes have been the ones concerning the beginning of his career. The first handful of episodes from when it first started and the first handful of episodes after it switched formats are really, really good. To be honest, once you get past halfway through '86, the Horsemen era really isn't all that interesting because we've heard all the stories. On top of that, neither Conrad or Paul Bromwell really give Arn anything to work with. It's pretty much "Well, the next night, you were in Raleigh taking on..." 

At this point, I just wanna hear about the Dangerous Alliance era up and WCW up until Hogan came in, but with a different host. Hell, pair him off with Brian Last. 

[The Thread Killer]

Now that it is confirmed that the new Kevin Nash/Sean Oliver podcast is owned by Conrad Thompson, that means Sean Oliver basically works for Conrad’s new company Podcast Heat. The preview clip they have posted on YouTube features Conrad and confirms this. Eventually all of Conrad’s shows will be under the Podcast Heat/Ad Free Shows umbrella.

So, seeing as that is the case, can we just get Sean Oliver to host all of Conrad Thompson’s podcasts please? Sean Oliver, yes. Paul Bromwell, NO.

[Petey]

4 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Now that it is confirmed that the new Kevin Nash/Sean Oliver podcast is owned by Conrad Thompson, that means Sean Oliver basically works for Conrad’s new company Podcast Heat. The preview clip they have posted on YouTube features Conrad and confirms this. Eventually all of Conrad’s shows will be under the Podcast Heat/Ad Free Shows umbrella.

So, seeing as that is the case, can we just get Sean Oliver to host all of Conrad Thompson’s podcasts please? Sean Oliver, yes. Paul Bromwell, NO.

I cut back on many of the podcasts I listen to, although I still give the JR show a listen when Paul E. Bromwell is not hosting. I actually think Sean Oliver has the personality and skills to reinvigorate that podcast. To be fair, I think Oliver would probably be the best possible host for all of Conrad's podcasts, save Tony or Bischoff, since it seems like Conrad has a legit relationship or camaraderie with them.

[SomethingSavage]

I actually think Jarrett is hurt the most by the absence of Conrad. I guess you could argue Bruce or Tony, but I haven't heard any of their stuff in years I think, so I don't really recall.

Sean Oliver is tremendous and almost always strikes up instant chemistry with these things. I really regret offloading my old Kayfabe Commentaries collection now. Good times.

[Petey]

I started listening to the TNA Megasode, and it's my first exposure to the Jarrett podcast. It seems he and Conrad have a really good flow, so if Paul E. Bromwell pinch hits, I could see how that is a significant downgrade. Maybe it's because the TNA Megasode took place over the first few episodes, where Conrad's tend to be strongest, but I really like the conversation. It doesn't have many of the tropes of most other Conrad shows.

[SomethingSavage]

Yep. I think Conrad is at his best with Jarrett, and vice versa.

Early on, I thought Alba could be the answer as Conrad's eventual successor, but I'm a little less convinced now. I find Alba enjoyable enough as the Matt Hardy super fan, but I don't know how well he'd do crossing over with others. I guess he's taken over the DDP Snake Pit, but I haven't listened to any of that lately.

I hit a tipping point with Alba on the addiction episode. I both love and hate finding out personal insight with some of these guys, because it can give you a clear indication of their personalities that you'd otherwise never know about.

Particularly, hearing Alba talk about how it traumatized him to see 9/11 in the 3rd grade, to the point where he's having panic attacks in his late 20s due to the "unprocessed trauma".

... of September 11th.

... ... when he was a third grade student.

Okay. Or the time he was 6 years old and supposedly got outraged that the Over The Edge pay-per-view didn't stop because of the Owen tragedy.

... ... ... Riiiight.

I don't know. I still dig the guy on Matt Hardy's show for the most part. Those guys have good chemistry. But yeah. The whole victimized, everything is trauma mentality of guys around his age group just irritate the piss out of me. I'm only a few years older than Alba, but I can't imagine living in that headspace and just being constantly traumatized and victimized by every little thing in existence like that. I know folks like that in real life, and it's just annoying. Not everything is a symptom or in need of a diagnosis. There's supporting mental health and positivity, and then theres... whatever THAT is.

[Perfectly Straightedge]

I went through 9/11 when I was in the sixth grade. I will never forget that day but I NEVER had a panic attack from that. It's kinda strange but unless he had someone die in the tragedy or was from that area. I don't see why that would phase him. I am from Tennessee. So when it happens here. I will never forget I had a teacher I guess try to scare us but he told us that if they blew up the chemical plant that was like 20 minutes away from the school it would take out a big part of Tennessee and it's what he would do. I always tried to figure out the lesson by telling a bunch of 12-year-olds that. Oh well.

Anyways. I don't like ANY of Conrad's co-hosts. Paul is so monotone that he just drags conversations, especially with JR. I don't like listening to Matt with Regal. Alba has a weird voice and just bores me. At Least Matt is a storyteller and sorta makes it work. I have only listened to maybe three episodes of Matt's podcast. I haven't bothered with Bruce's pod in years.

I usually attempt each one of these and so far the ones I always go back to are JBL/Brisco, and Foley is Pod and that's just cause I love hearing Mick tell stories and sidetrack especially about his love of the TV show Friends and other topics. Besides that, I never attempt the others. JR's was fine at the start but I found out, especially on Spotify I HAVE to listen to these at 1.5 speed or I can't stand listening to it.

[Petey]

As I mentioned in another post, I cut back a lot on Conrad's pods and podcasts in general. I think the last Conrad pod I made an effort with when it launched was Grilling JR. I never listened to Arn or anything after that. I just started the JJ pod, and as I said, I've been enjoying that, but it's essentially a supercut of a topic that I find interesting, so it makes sense.

Bischoff filled in for Conrad on the most recent Grilling JR. The topic was Hogan in WWF/E while JR was there. Nothing earth-shattering, but it was a pretty breezy listen. They went off the rails a couple of times, but they were usually pretty interesting sidebars. Eric was solid enough in the role, mainly because there wasn't much of an opportunity for him to bash Meltzer and such.

I wanted to weigh in on the 9/11 discussion. I was in 9th grade when it happened. I live on Long Island, and at the time, I was probably a little over an hour from the towers. I remember it vividly. I'm not a particularly anxious person, but I remember not wanting to visit the area for years after it happened because I never felt ready. It wasn't a situation where I couldn't reflect back on 9/11 or anything like that. I make fun of Pete Carroll's 9/11 truther nonsense constantly. I just didn't feel ready to visit the site. In my late 20s/early 30s, a couple of friends and I would make monthly excursions to NYC, and one day, we wound up down there, somewhat unplanned, but it happened. I was fine. It was heavy, of course, but no more than the Vietnam memorial or something else that pre-dates me.

It's a very roundabout way of saying that I call BS on the 9/11 trauma unless he knew someone who passed. I recognize everyone's experience is different, and everyone copes in different ways. But sixth grade and no personal connection? C'mon.

[SomethingSavage]

He said he was in the third grade, and also at six years old was outraged that WWF didn't cancel the rest of a pay-per-view after Owen fell.

I don't know. Call me cynical, but I call bullshit on both. No six year old kid thinks that way while watching wrestling. Especially in the Attitude Era.

I don't want to speak for the guy, but I figure he would've mentioned having a relative involved or knowing someone personally if that was the case. He didn't. He just kept going back to it being such a trauma that he never properly processed. And apparently someone enlightened him in his 20s that it was the root cause of all these panic attacks. Just eye rolling stuff.

He also leans on family trauma and this is a trauma & that is a trauma. I don't know. You get a certain feel for people based on how they talk and present themselves, and he just comes across like he's one of those types. He's a victim to everything, and everyday is such a struggle. So he can relate to everyone and everything. Nothing is "crazy" because that's not PC. Everybody everywhere is just suffering from mental health issues. That sort of thing. It's tiresome and exhausting to think along the same lines as those folks.

Alba tried to draw some correlation between Jeff Hardy's alcoholism and vague childhood trauma. But not his - just someone he knew. So he can relate, you see. Not to substance abuse. Just to trauma. Because he can "trauma bond" with everybody. It's just... gross and really repulsive to listen to after a certain point. It screams out for attention and acceptance but in the worst way possible.

Matt's mostly great though. He never skims on the details and always offers up entertaining stories.

I found Bromwell to be tolerable on the latest Jarrett podcast. I know I'm going to regret saying that, because he always sucks otherwise. But he stayed out of the way, stuck to the script, and mostly just pitched facts and notes for Jeff to react to and recap. There was some overlap with the first part of the nWo coverage, but the fact that Jeff made Paul seem somewhat tolerable is at least a minor miracle of sorts.

Jeff has eased up on putting the term "episodic" in every sentence. Now he's using & abusing "cache" to the point where I'm not really sure he knows what it means either.

[Gertner]

These friggen Watchalong episodes are so stupid. Like do people actually sitdown for 2 hours and watch the show with the commentary off and the podcast on? I've never saw the appeal in this. If you're not watching the show with them, the episode is unlistenable.

[SomethingSavage]

I actually wouldn't mind more two-in-one type team-ups like we got with Bischoff and JR last week. As a shakeup, I think more of those crossover episodes could be genuine fun. It's not going to change the game or anything, but it could freshen up things for a bit. And it's miles better than just letting Paul Bromwell read a bunch of dates and results.

[JerryvonKramer]

I didn't know where to put this but on the off chance Kelly will see it, this show tracked down Baron Scicluna's son and interviewed him: https://danandbenny.podbean.com/e/episode-62-baron-mikel-scicluna/

 

I've been listening to some of the Flair and Arn shows as well as JR and a few others. I still don't like Conrad, never have, never will. JR recently did a show with Eric Bischoff which was better. However, Mark Madden on the Flair shows is BRUTAL and actually made me want Conrad back, so there's that.

On Youtube you can see real numbers and Arn's shows do significantly worse than JR's or Flair's, but they go in-depth on some interesting things there -- it would be so much better if Conrad wasn't there though.

[Migs]

On 7/10/2022 at 12:13 AM, Gertner said:

These friggen Watchalong episodes are so stupid. Like do people actually sitdown for 2 hours and watch the show with the commentary off and the podcast on? I've never saw the appeal in this. If you're not watching the show with them, the episode is unlistenable.

I used to do that with Tony ones until they turned into mostly Conrad making jokes. But it was an enjoyable way to watch wrestling for a bit.

[The Thread Killer]

3 hours ago, Migs said:

I used to do that with Tony ones until they turned into mostly Conrad making jokes. But it was an enjoyable way to watch wrestling for a bit.

Same. I enjoyed the episodes where Tony watched ECW for the first time. The Bruce Prichard and Arn watch-alongs were deadly boring. The Bischoff ones are hilarious, because they’re pretty much pointless. He goes off on tangents and they don’t even end up talking about what is happening on screen. I ended up canceling my subscription to the WWE Network so I stopped watching them. (We don’t have Peacock in Canada.)  Cornette’s watch-alongs are outstanding, but he does individual matches not full shows.

 

[JerryvonKramer]

One thing I don't understand about Conrad is that no matter how many 100s of hours of shows he does with some of the best brains in the business, he still has absolutely no feel for the old territorial loops or the significance of WWF House Shows (MSG, Philly etc). He seems to think only PPVs are of any significance.

 

I just don't understand how anyone's skull can be that thick and resistant to learning.

[The Thread Killer]

4 hours ago, JerryvonKramer said:

One thing I don't understand about Conrad is that no matter how many 100s of hours of shows he does with some of the best brains in the business, he still has absolutely no feel for the old territorial loops or the significance of WWF House Shows (MSG, Philly etc). He seems to think only PPVs are of any significance.

 

I just don't understand how anyone's skull can be that thick and resistant to learning.

I think it is a combination of three different problems. Firstly, he seems to assume that people are only interested in stuff that happened within the same time frame that he was a fan himself. Meaning, he was a big fan during the attitude era therefore that’s all people want to hear about. He didn’t care about the territories so why would anybody else?

Secondly, I think that even if Conrad realizes there might be some fan interest in other eras or topics, he is probably worried that it will not appeal to a large enough listener base. There is a message in the fact that even though Bruce Prichard has been phoning in his show for literally the last few years, it is still one of Conrad’s most successful podcasts. Obviously Prichard does not talk about anything historical or even all that interesting, but yet that show still remains popular. I bet you Conrad is afraid that if they dig deeper into more obscure stuff, it will not appeal to as wide of an audience.  I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Arn Anderson started going through his time in JCP, and that is Conrad’s least successful podcast. Conrad knows what shows Brian Last has or had as part of the Arcadian Vanguard network. Last has had many shows about the territories and they literally have brought in a mere fraction of the amount of listeners that Conrad’s shows do.

Finally, you can’t discount the fact that Conrad Thompson is basically lazy. He does not do his own research anymore, he has a staff. He has become the podcast equivalent of McDonald’s. Serve up a ton of low quality content to the masses, and the money flows in. Sure there might be a “Mom and Pop” Burger joint across the street which serves far better food, but McDonald’s will always bring in more customers because it’s all about mass production marketing of a low quality product.

 

 

[BigBadMick]

In Conrad’s defense, he does seem to be letting the Foley podcast go in whatever direction Foley wants. Last weeks episode was on the Eddie Gilbert feud. 

[JerryvonKramer]

13 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

There is a message in the fact that even though Bruce Prichard has been phoning in his show for literally the last few years, it is still one of Conrad’s most successful podcasts. Obviously Prichard does not talk about anything historical or even all that interesting, but yet that show still remains popular.

Ironically, I made that comment after listening to some of the older shows with Pritchard where they picked individual workers and went through their careers.

 

He was saying things like "what happened there, he was basically done" because he was only looking at PPVs and SNMEs. I was almost screaming: MSG, PHILLY, BOSTON GARDENS where the worker in question had title shots around the horn. Bruce even tried to explain to him but he's just obtuse. I get that he has numbers to look at but come on.