Conrad Thompson Responds To Rumors Of Him Working For AEW, If Starrcast Is An AEW Event
Due to his close association with AEW and his friendship with the powers-that-be within the promotion, many assume that Conrad Thompson is an AEW employee. Those rumors multiplied this past week when Thompson appeared on AEW's roster listing as a member of the broadcast team.
He's hosted their rallies and put on Starrcast conventions aligned with All In and Double or Nothing, but Thompson contends he doesn't get a paycheck and he revealed his relationship to AEW.
"Friend," Thompson said of his role. "I know the internet was abuzz this week when the AEW website had me listed as a member of the broadcast team. I don't know why that was a surprise as I hosted the first two rallies. I'm not calling anything at Double or Nothing. I don't have a contract with AEW. I'm great friends with Cody Rhodes and a bunch of those guys?But I've never received any compensation. I don't have a contract and I don't have any plans moving forward.
"Now that they have Jim Ross under contract, why in the world would they need me to host a rally or do anything like that? If they ask me to, will I? Absolutely. Those guys are my friends and I'll continue to support them.
"I don't have an official role and my role is the exact same as it was in January or February: a friend."
Thompson was then asked if he would ever consider taking his show on the road and bringing Starrcast to other countries.
"I would absolutely be delighted to do one of these in Europe. Unfortunately though, the location is not really up to me. I would like to piggyback other events and if there was the opportunity to do this somewhere in the UK, I think it would be a huge hit," stated Thompson.
"Given the relationship that the Khan family has with the UK, it does make me hopeful that there will be a Starrcast in the UK at some point."
With Thompson making it clear that he's not an AEW employee, he also made it clear that Starrcast is not an AEW event.
"As for if Starrcast is an AEW thing because we follow AEW events, that is not exactly true. The first Starrcast was based on All In which was a Cody Rhodes and Young Bucks production. Now, they are with AEW, so that's where I am," said Thompson.
"My loyalty to the Starrcast brand will always be with the man who believed in me and that's Cody Rhodes. So, while on paper Starrcast LLC is 100 percent me, in my heart and mind it's 50-50 with Cody/The Bucks and myself. Without those guys allowing me to try this last year in Chicago, there's no way we would be doing it now in Las Vegas."
Thompson admitted that if AEW grows as he expects it to, then they will likely create their own conventions which would diminish his presence.
"If I'm honest, I expect if AEW continues to grow, they will have their own convention arm much like WWE has Axxess. That seems like a natural progression," revealed Thompson. "I won't compete with that and be the WrestleCon to AEW sort of like WrestleCon is to WrestleMania. WrestleCon has become their own brand so I'm never gonna swerve into that lane and try to do something like that during WrestleMania.
"At the same time, I don't know if I wanna compete with an AEW production. Those are my buddies and I don't wanna compete. I wanna do it with them or not at all. So I'm not following AEW, I'm following Cody Rhodes."
Starrcast II takes place from May 23-26th in Las Vegas. For full information and schedules please visit Starrcast.com. It will also be available to stream via Fite.tv.