Conrad Thompson addresses Roman Reigns criticism amid ongoing controversy

"

Image on the left from the podcast “83 Weeks”/Photo on the right by Ethan Miller/Getty Images Conrad Thompson appeared on the Fightful Wrestling podcast this week, and the conversation inevitably turned to his ongoing beef with Roman Reigns. The mortgage broker and podcaster was asked by Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp about Reigns saying during a recent appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast that Thompson was using his name to get views for his shows. The WWE World Heavyweight Champion also insinuated Conrad was attacking him because of ties he may have to AEW. According to Thompson, he wasn’t looking to increase his ratings nor does he have any allegiance to AEW. As he pointed out, he’s friends with multiple people employed by WWE, including his sister-in-law, Charlotte Flair. Thompson’s critiques of Reigns caused a stir among wrestling fans in early August when he called the champ “the most overrated main eventer in WWE history” during an episode of 83 Weeks, the podcast he co-hosts with Eric Bischoff. He continued defending his position on his various podcasts, including on the September 25th episode of Something to Wrestle, which he hosts with John Bradshaw Layfield. During that show, he once again called Reigns overrated, before stating: “It’s also true that never have I ever seen a Roman Reigns T-shirt out in the wild. Not once.” Thompson later appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and broke down why he feels Reigns is an “industry plant.” “They [WWE] forced him to be on top and to always win over and over and over,” Thompson said to Helwani. “I give you the longest entrance. I let you go on last. You’re always the main event, and you always win. Well, I think that formula would work for pretty much anybody.” Conrad also said on Helwani’s show: “AEW is making wrestling for fans, and I think WWE is making wrestling for investors.” During the October 14 episode of Club Shay Shay, host Shannon Sharpe asked Reigns if he was bothered by Thompson’s attacks. “No, because the truth is, are there a lot of people watching that guy’s show? So, you’re gonna say stuff,” Reigns replied. “You already know I’m a metric mover. They know I give views and all that stuff. So, it’s fine. It is what it is.” The OTC then seemingly insinuated Thompson’s motivation was related to connections he has elsewhere. “If you look at the guy’s background, you already know where his support system — You know what I mean? All you got to do is scroll a little bit, and you see who he’s a fan of and stuff like that, and who he’s connected to,” Reigns said. “But no, if they want to use my name to get views, that’s the industry right now.” Though Reigns didn’t outright say it, Thompson has been linked to AEW in the past. His Starrcast fan conventions have been aligned with AEW events, and he co-hosts podcasts with AEW personalities Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone. However, Conrad has previously denied having any official deal with Tony Khan’s promotion. Thompson told Sapp that he’s been surprised by all the attention he’s received for his comments. “I shared my opinion about Roman — that I was ready for something new. And then everyone else started talking about it. And that’s what I kind of found so silly is if my opinion is so ridiculous, and I’m so irrelevant, then why the hell is everybody still talking about it?” he said. Thompson added that if he wanted clicks based on Reigns’ name then “all of my podcasts for the last two months would have had Roman in the thumbnails, and we would have been talking about that. But that wasn’t my intent.” Conrad then mentioned his close ties with Cody Rhodes and Charlotte, as well as “one of my best friends who helps run creative” at WWE. As far as having an allegiance to any wrestling company, Thompson said he’s neutral, or as he put it: “I’m Switzerland.” He continued: “I just shared my personal wrestling opinion, and people got bent out of shape about it. I found it amusing.” What do you think, Cagesiders? Does it seem like Thompson is continuing to talk about Reigns for views? Let us know in the comments.