Conrad Thompson expressed his disappointment in an interview with Wrestling Inc that The Undertaker pulling out of his Starrcast convention was included as part of the Last Ride documentary.
The convention took place on the same weekend as AEW Double or Nothing. Here is what he had to say:
“No. I mean it’s past due and it just took the realization that, ‘Hey, we’re going to tell a story of how this all came to be and put a bow on it.’ By doing it in the way they did, everybody sort of got to understand and appreciate the man behind the character and what that sacrifice looks like. Guys like you and I have always thought that’s really the most fascinating piece of wrestling – not necessarily what was presented on screen, but what we get to see behind the scenes. And how that person put that character together and told those stories and the sacrifices that were required to get it across the goal line. I don’t think anybody’s ever going to be able to recreate the success and the career that Mark Calaway’s had.”
“Well, it’s unfortunate. I mean, I wish it wasn’t even a part of the documentary. He’s done so much and had so many great moments throughout his history and I wish there was none of that in there. I’m not saying that I’m disappointed that they did it. I’m just saying if that was even remotely a controversial topic or a dark spot or whatever – I don’t know what the circumstances were. We’ve always heard that that he got a long term, essentially lifetime deal with WWE as a result of that and I’m happy for him if that’s the case. But I mean, he was going to get that either way. You know, I think that may have just been sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back or maybe it was what brought attention to it. I mean, once upon a time we heard that the WWE accidentally forgot to renew The Rock’s contract once he was in Hollywood. You just assume that that company can be so big at different times that maybe the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand’s doing. Once, unfortunately, Starrcast made a big splash with the announcement that we had the Undertaker, maybe that brought it to Vincent’s attention. ‘Oh, I’ve let this slip through. Let’s remedy that.’ He deserves it. If there’s an elder statesman of WWE who deserves to be deferential with that level of respect, it’s the Undertaker.”
