Conrad Thompson, the co-host of Ric Flair’s “WOOOOO! Nation” podcast, spoke with WrestleDelphia for a new interview. Check out the highlights:
On what most fans would be surprised to learn about Flair: “I don’t think people really understand the level of which he loves people. Not just his children, but especially them. When we hang out for a full day, I can’t tell you how many times he’s calling or texting his kids. He’s way, way, way connected to them. But also to other people in his life, whether it is his girlfriend or friends, he’s a very sincere, genuine person. The crying on TV is not for camera. That’s him in real life. He loves very hard.”
On WWE’s mention of Reid Flair on RAW: “We talked about it the night before the podcast, as it was going on during RAW. He told me Charlotte was in the last segment for the contract signing and he was really excited about that. We talked about how cool it was for the ladies to have the last spot on the show. Then as she was walking to the ring, it was announced that she would be on ESPN. Anybody who knows Ric Flair in real life, knows that from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to bed, SportsCenter is on. The idea that she would be on SportsCenter the next day, I knew he would think that was the coolest thing ever. So I texted him that, and then just a few minutes after they got to business, I texted him, ‘wow.’ By the way we communicated, it was very clear that he was upset. So by late afternoon Tuesday, I hadn’t spoken to him since the night before. It had been almost 24 hours since it had happened, and I’m sure he had time to collect his thoughts. He knew that he could say whatever he wanted and if he wasn’t happy with it, I could clip it out before sending it to CBS. But we didn’t edit anything.”
On his setting up the WWE Network for Flair: “Well, I think sometimes people are a little harsh on Ric because he calls in to the podcast. The truth of the matter is that he doesn’t want to put one down in the can. I’m not downgrading any podcast, but a lot of guys line up interesting guests and just tape them whenever and now they’re ready to play. Ric doesn’t want to do that. He wants to talk about current stuff. That just means he’s going to be all over the place. He was in Europe for days and we did one then. The time zone was way different, but we did it. People are critical, but the truth is, he’s a 66-year-old man who has been traveling his whole life. The rage right now for health nuts like Ric is the Fit Bit bracelet. Well, he’s not going to do that because you have to plug it into a computer. As he says, ‘I don’t computer.’ When we have to read copy for the show, he wants me to fax it to him. Hell, I don’t have a fax machine, who has a fax machine? But Ric does because he’s a 66-year-old man. So how to navigate the Network and keep yourself from getting logged out, he needs my help. He’s just a technology-challenged person no different than your grandpa may be. And I mean no disrespect to Ric and he would be really pissed if he read this, but you know, he’s 66. He’s not going to get into all this technology stuff. It always cracks me up when people ask if Ric does his own Twitter. Like, what do you think? No, of course not. And I know that’s not something I’m supposed to say, but he doesn’t know what the hell that is. He doesn’t know what a podcast is or how to listen and he has a great one!”
