Conrad Thompson is rapidly becoming the most famous Pro Wrestling podcaster.
The mastermind behind the Starrcast convention recently spoke to Sporting News to talk about securing The Undertaker and what was a shocking move for their upcoming convention Memorial Day weekend. Below are some highlights:
Conrad on how Starrcast will be different this time around:
“It’s already bigger because of the support and the proof of concept. The first time I set out to do this, I was a first time promoter. I’d never done anything like this before. People didn’t know what to expect. It sounds weird when you say a pro wrestling podcast convention. I think when people think of a wrestling convention, they think of WrestleCon. When you mix in the idea of there being stage shows and events, because it’s more than just meet and greets and merchandise sales, that’s pretty unique. People had to wonder, ‘How are they are going to pull this off?’
But we did, and people seemed to have fun. I wanted to do it bigger and better. That was my big takeaway from the first one. I left the first event in Chicago with four pages of notes, so if I’m ever dumb enough to do this again, here’s what I will do differently and here’s what I will do better. This second one is bigger than I ever imagined it would be.”
Conrad on securing The Undertaker for the event:
“I kept asking Bruce Prichard what’s the worst thing that can happen if I asked (The Undertaker) to appear. He could say no. If he did that then I could live with that and move on. All I wanted to do was at least ask him. I looked at everything that happened at Starrcast 1. We had an awesome lineup. I asked myself how I can make this bigger and better. I thought of who could make this bigger and better? You have the usual name of suspects. People always think of Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin. Both of those guys have done major signings. Who has never done one? Vince McMahon, and we know that will never happen. What else is there? The Undertaker. What’s the worst he can say to me? And to the surprise of me, his booking information was available on Twitter. We made an offer. Then we went back-and-forth and made a deal.
I sat on it because I knew I wanted that to be the last announcement before we put tickets on sale, because it would be something people weren’t expecting. It was going to be a big surprise. People were expecting Kenny Omega; Chris Jericho, Cody, and The Young Bucks because AEW is holding Double or Nothing that weekend. Even Ric Flair, while he wasn’t at the first one, they expected it because of our relationship. Nobody expects The Undertaker.
People were pretty shocked and surprised. It was the talk of the wrestling business for a little while. I’m glad it died down because I was getting bombarded with tweets about The Undertaker appearing at Double or Nothing. The Undertaker is a WWE contracted employee. He’s not going to be at Double or Nothing or joining AEW. He bleeds WWE. This nothing more than a meet-and-greet. It is special because he’s never done it before.”
To read the full interview, click here.
