Q&A: ‘WOOOOO! Nation’ Co-Host Conrad Thompson Talks Roddy Piper And More

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For Part I of my interview with Conrad, click here.

John Corrigan: Who is responsible for booking guests on the podcast?

Conrad Thompson: “Ric and I just talk about who we’d like to have on. We have a working list of guys we’d like to get, it’s just a matter of who is available. David Manning just fell in our lap. We’d never discussed him. Kevin Von Erich mentioned him while we were taping the podcast and then off the air, Kevin texted Ric and myself Manning’s cell phone information. Ric was scheduled to go to RAW in Dallas so I joined him and we met up with David and had a good time.

It really is as Ric would say, calling it in the ring. I couldn’t tell you who is going to be on six weeks from now, I couldn’t tell you who will be on next week. We decide either Sunday or Monday, and then we tape on Tuesday.”

JC: What’s that like having Ric Flair’s Rolodex at your disposal?

CT: “It’s allowed me to do some pretty cool stuff. When we were doing the Hulk Hogan one, I was doing it from my home office and Hogan’s phone died. So he called the office and left me a voicemail. It’s pretty random having a voicemail from Hulk Hogan. So that was fun.

I’ve had the opportunity to drink a few beers with Stone Cold, and what wrestling fan doesn’t want to do that?”

JC: Was Stone Cold impressed with your beer drinking?

CT: “Stone Cold was very impressed with my ability to drink Crown Royal faster than any human he’s ever met.”

JC: Who would you still like to get on the podcast?

CT: “There’s a lot. I’m really looking forward to having Arn Anderson—he’s our most requested guest. Dave Batista, Shawn Michaels. I’d really like to get, and you know, this is something Ric doesn’t want to do I’m sure, but I’d like to get Jim Herd on the show.”

JC: Wow. Is he still alive?

CT: “He is. I think the internet would be fascinated with Shane Douglas, too. Those types intrigue me, and I think everybody wants to hear from Sting or Triple H or the Undertaker. There are many still out there, but we’ve hit a bunch that people wanted to hear. Ricky Steamboat and Eric Bischoff and Mick Foley and Bret Hart. I’m very pleased with what we’ve done, but we can always do more.

And there’s also the fear of not getting guys before it’s too late. We had Dusty Rhodes lined up, and he had to cancel because he wasn’t feeling well. We rescheduled him, and he wasn’t feeling well again so we pushed it back. And then he ultimately passed away. It’s selfish, but I would have loved to have had one last conversation on tape that we fans could listen to about one of the greatest rivalries of the 80s.

The same thing with Piper. He was supposed to tape with us on a Tuesday, but he didn’t answer. We called an audible and had somebody else, and it was a fine show, but Ric took it a little personal. Like, I just talked to him last night, why would he do this? And then three days later, Piper passed away. Immediately, Ric feels like, what an asshole I am for feeling he stood me up when clearly, he wasn’t feeling well.

I felt bad for Ric because, how are you supposed to know that thing, you know?”

JC: Yeah, and it hurts even worse because it’s his good friend.

CT: “Exactly.”

JC: I would ask who you’ve been most excited to have on, but from a timing standpoint, it has to be Hogan.

CT: “Oh, absolutely. Ric and Hulk were at a signing together, and Ric texted me while he was there, ‘Hey, what about Hogan for the podcast on Tuesday?’ I was like, are you kidding? He was like, ‘no, it was his idea. He wants to do it.’

If we were trying to do whatever the hot thing was, we could do that. We could have Ashley on this week. You know, after Night of Champions, I told Ric we should have Sting on. Ric didn’t think that was the best timing. He wants to have Sting on to talk Great American Bash 1990, joining the Horsemen and getting kicked out, the old school fun stuff.

He doesn’t want to jump in the car and drive down to Birmingham, because that’s only an hour and a half from me, and talk to Seth Rollins and capitalize on an injury. That’s really not his speed. But if those guys wanted to, I’m sure Ric would.”

JC: Aren’t there certain limitations, though? Would WWE prevent you from interviewing their guys?

CT: “No. We’ve had WWE guys on already. The only one we thought we had to check on was Michael Hayes, just because he wasn’t an on-camera performer. We’ve asked a few times about specific performers and they were like, of course, you can have whoever you want.

I think they did that because they know Ric and I wouldn’t put anybody in a bad position. Ric isn’t interested in having a controversial podcast. He doesn’t mind speaking his mind, but he doesn’t go out looking to get other people in trouble.”

JC: Who has been your favorite guest?

CT: “I mean, I’ve enjoyed them all. I never imagined we’d get Hogan and Stone Cold. And a Crockett, I never imagined we’d get to talk to a Crockett. But for me, my favorite without question, was Eric Bischoff. I am very much a nerd about learning why people made the decisions they did and why it worked.

There is nobody in a position to answer more of that than Eric Bischoff. A lot of the most exciting time in wrestling was sparked by what he did. That was more fascinating to me than talking about the stuff everybody else probably wanted to hear about, which was the Ric Flair/Bischoff stuff.

I think the two-parter with Bischoff is the best stuff we’ve done.”

JC: That’s a bold statement.

CT: “Now the funniest, if you just want a laugh, is David Manning. I would put the David Manning and Terry Funk episodes against any other episode of wrestling podcasts for sheer entertainment.”

JC: How do you feel about the episodes with no guests and it just being you asking Ric the fans’ questions?

CT: “I think most people enjoy those better than they imagined. If you really want the Ric Flair show, the best way to get that is those Q/As. It’s just a shoot interview with ADD. Fun Ric Flair stories back to back to back. You know, back in the day, we’d pay RF Video $25 and wait a couple days until it arrived in the mail.

But now, you can just click a button and there it is for over an hour, free of charge, Ric Flair stream of conscious.”

For Part III in which Conrad discusses Kevin Nash, Michael Hayes, WWE Network, click here.