UPDATED: Conrad Thompson Denies Ric Flair Waited to Announce Starrcast Appearance

UPDATE: Conrad Thompson has taken to Twitter to deny claims that Ric Flair held off on his Starrcast announcement until Charlotte Flair was put into her match at WreestleMania. Thompson denied the report, which was made on Wrestling Observer Radio and claimed that Flair didn’t want the announcement to potentially cause Charlotte to not be in the match:

Not true. I don't know WWE creative. We've had a "roll out plan" to announce names this week. Cody and Bucks Monday, Jericho and Omega Tuesday, Ric Wednesday, another big name today. Announcing AEW guys when their show went on sale just made common sense to me.

— Conrad the Mortgage Guy (@HeyHeyItsConrad) February 14, 2019

Charlotte-Rousey has been talked about for a year in the main event. Anyone reading the Observer, or you know, watching the show knew that. The idea that it all "came down to this last Monday" is funny.

— Conrad the Mortgage Guy (@HeyHeyItsConrad) February 14, 2019

ORIGINAL: Ric Flair was recently announced for the guest list of Starrcast II this May in Las Vegas and according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio (via Ringside News), he held off on making the announcement until WWE revealed that Charlotte Flair was added to the main event of Wrestlemania 35, as he didn’t want to risk affecting the match in any way.

Charlotte was announced for the match, replacing Becky Lynch, this past Monday. Starrcast is run by her brother-in-law, and Ric’s son-in-law, Conrad Thompson. So Flair held off on his announcement to not risk Charlotte’s match and waited until she was officially added.

At this time, the plan for the main event is expected to be Charlotte vs. Rousey vs. Lynch, so expect Lynch to get re-added at some point.