Roman Reigns has responded to Conrad Thompson.
Thompson has recently criticized Reigns, doubling down on LA Knight’s accusation that the WWE World Heavyweight Champion is an “industry plant” and arguing that WWE manufactured his rise to the top rather than Reigns becoming a genuine draw organically.
During his appearance on Club Shay Shay with Shannon Sharpe, Reigns was asked directly about Thompson’s criticism.
Reigns initially questioned how many people watch Thompson’s shows before pointing to his own ability to move WWE’s business metrics. He then turned his attention to Thompson himself.
“If you look at the guy’s background, you already know where his support system [is],” Reigns said. “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 added that if people want to use his name for views, “that’s the industry right now.”
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Roman Reigns’ Conrad Thompson Response Has an Interesting Wrinkle
Reigns did not explain exactly which connections he was referencing, and that’s what makes the response interesting.
Thompson has relationships throughout professional wrestling, including his long-running partnership with Bruce Prichard. Thompson and the longtime WWE executive launched Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard in 2016, years before Prichard returned to WWE in 2019.
That connection makes Thompson’s criticism of Reigns particularly fascinating. Prichard has occupied a powerful position behind the scenes in WWE during much of Reigns’ historic run at the top of the company, while simultaneously maintaining his podcast relationship with Thompson.
Whether Reigns had Prichard, Thompson’s connections elsewhere in wrestling, or something else entirely in mind isn’t clear.
That ambiguity may be the most interesting part of his response.
