Conrad Thompson Addresses Chris Jericho Missing His Scheduled Starrcast II Panel, Doesn’t Expect Major Changes to Happen in WWE, Shares Update on Ric Flair’s Health

– WrestlingInc.com recently interviewed wrestling podcast host and Starrcast promoter Conrad Thompson. Thompson discussed Chris Jericho missing his scheduled panel at Starrcast II in May, his thoughts on if we can expect any changes from WWE in the near future, and an update on the health of his father-in-law, Ric Flair. Below are some highlights, courtesy of WrestlingInc.com.

Thompson on how Ric Flair is doing: “Oh great. He’s gone public now with the situation and what the circumstances were. Now that he’s got the right combination, he’s good to go. He’s loving life.”

Thompson on rescheduling the Ric Flair roast for some time in the future: “For whatever reason, the timing never seems to work out for Chicago. It didn’t work the first time and he’s already got another appearance lined up for that weekend. So, the roast will happen some time in the future, but unfortunately, it won’t be happening in Chicago.”

Thompson on if there was ever an option to roast someone else after Flair was forced to cancel his slot: “No, just because whoever you slot in the spot, it feels like a consolation prize or second place. It wouldn’t be fair to the talent to do in 4-5 days notice. Also to properly promote it, you would need more time than that. So, we just shelved the idea and we’ll revisit it again.”

Thompson on why the Chris Jericho panel for Starrcast II fell through: “Jericho sent a text on Friday afternoon saying he wasn’t going to be able to make it. He listed off a reasonable explanation as to why and we went back and forth. In the end, he sent a video for us to play but we weren’t able to play it until Sunday morning. One of the production guys said we have this cardboard cutout [of Jericho] so why don’t we just put that up there and put it up on the feed for FITE?”

Thompson on Jon Moxley’s frustrations with WWE he voiced on Talk Is Jericho: “I can’t say it was a surprise. Most of us expected that that was the case. But to hear somebody on the inside confirm it, that’s what had the internet reeling and saying, ‘Wow! It’s as bad as we thought it was.’ From a performer’s standpoint, I’m sure there’s a lot of people in the company who would disagree, but those are probably office folks. That’s probably a fair sentiment among the boys and it got everybody talking.”

Thompson on not expecting any changes in WWE: “I don’t think there will be any significant changes. I think they will just paint by numbers until something changes internally, whatever that is. Their business is stronger than ever financially. If that’s what you’re ruling your business by, the checkbook, I don’t know if we’ll see major changes. But I could be wrong.”

Thompson on his new podcast with Jim Ross: “Now I’m doing one with the host of a weekly TV show on TNT. He already had a podcast and obviously has a big space in the business, so the downloads came a lot faster. We set records in Week 1 and it’s continued to grow from there. So, we weren’t starting from absolute scratch. I like having a head start and that’s what we have with JR.”