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Conrad Thompson On Working With CM Punk For Starrcast III, Punk Not Signing With AEW, Jim Crockett Appearing at Starrcast IV

November 8, 2019 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
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– Conrad Thompson spoke with Wrestling Inc for a new interview promoting Starrcast IV, which is going on this weekend during AEW Full Gear weekend in Baltimore. You can check out some highlights below:

On learning from each successive Starrcast: “We had a great time in Chicago as the first one was a learning experience. Then I learned a whole new set of lessons at Starrcast II in Vegas. I felt Starrcast III was the easiest and smoothest and I feel this one will be the same … The wrestling hub of Baltimore is Jimmy’s Famous Seafood and we’re gonna kick things off with Tony Schiavone’s birthday bash and we’ll have karaoke. Then we have Halloween Hangover brunch and cosplay contest on Sunday.”

On his takeaways from working with CM Punk on the latter’s panel at Starrcast III: “I don’t think I’ve met a guy that there were more misconceptions about. I had read online and heard other people and you think you have an idea of how someone is gonna be and then in real life it’s nothing like that at all. Punk couldn’t have been cooler to me or my staff and it was the easiest, most professional relationship we’ve ever had at Starrcast. He couldn’t be more accommodating, gave fans a lot of time and was very patient with everyone. The diva tag will never be thrown around for CM Punk. He was a delight to work with and I hope we can do something together in the future.”

On Punk’s departure from wrestling: “I do think there is this charm about a guy like Barry Sanders who went out on top … If [Punk] is worried that that may be the perception of him and he wants to protect it, good for him because so few in wrestling do that.”

On Punk not signing with AEW: “I don’t think there’s any real finality with AEW. They didn’t cut a deal right away but for that matter neither did Tony Schiavone and other talents. A lot of times we as fans speak with finality and this is a never say never type of deal. I don’t think it’s a ‘no’ but rather a ‘not yet.’ I haven’t really talked to him about it and I don’t care; I want him to be happy and do what he wants to do. But at one point we said, ‘CM Punk will never be back in WWE.’ But now it’s a conversation again. Maybe when all of these movie premieres are done and behind him and he’s looking around for his next project and the right offer comes along, I think he will do it. We’ve got enough hints that he’s not totally opposed to the idea. It’s just got to be the right deal and I don’t think he’s been offered the right deal at the right time yet. And timing is everything.”

On Jim Crockett being at Starrcast IV: “Realistically, this is the only opportunity wrestling fans have to hear from Jim Crockett. We’re not going to do a typical panel as we’ll do Q&As as well. This is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get some stuff on the record from Jim Crockett … I think this is maybe the most historically important panel we have ever done at Starrcast.”

On Crockett agreeing to do the convention: “David Crockett [Jim’s brother] was with us in Vegas and he had a blast … He had a good time and saw what type of event we were putting together and was comfortable with it. Through David we were able to land Jim. Jim is this big, white whale just because he’s never done something like this before. He is getting a little bit older so this is realistically probably the last time he’ll participate in something like this.”