Back in August, Conrad Thompson shared his honest thoughts on World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and hasn’t backed down since, now returning with more criticism and hot takes.
You may recall that Thompson called Reigns “the most overrated main eventer in WWE history.” Well, he’s doubling down now, doing so on the latest episode of Something to Wrestle.
It all started when the topic of Reigns’ recent praise of Cody Rhodes in an interview with Complex came up, and JBL called Thompson the captain of the Roman Reigns hater club. Thompson pushed back.
“No, I don’t hate Roman. I think Roman’s terrific. I’ve loved all six of his matches this year. He has banger after banger,” Thompson said.
Conrad then discussed what he meant by the comments he made about Reigns.
“I’m tired of people throwing stats at me and saying, ‘Oh, well, he’s main evented more WrestleManias than anybody.’ Yes, that is factually true. It’s also true that never have I ever seen a Roman Reigns T-shirt out in the wild. Not once. I’ve also never heard anybody say he’s on their Mount Rushmore,” Thompson said. “But when I hear these goofs occasionally say he’s had a bigger impact on WWE than Hulk Hogan, no, he didn’t. He didn’t. I mean, that’s just silly s***.”
Conrad then compared Reigns to WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H, saying Reigns is this generation’s version of him.
“I don’t hate him. He’s done fabulous. But I’m saying he is Triple H. He’s Triple H of 2026,” Thompson said.
JBL then asked what was wrong with that, and Conrad said the comparison was not an insult to either man’s work.
“Nothing. But nobody talks about Triple H. I’ve never seen a Triple H shirt in public, and nobody ever talks about Triple H as being on the Mount Rushmore. It doesn’t mean he’s not doing valuable work. Doesn’t mean he’s not a huge asset to WWE,” Thompson said.
Conrad stated fans buy tickets for the events themselves, not for Reigns even if he headlines more shows than anyone.
“Do you think they need Roman Reigns on the marquee to sell WrestleMania tickets, to sell Royal Rumble tickets? People are buying the show because it’s WrestleMania or because it’s Royal Rumble,” Thompson said. “The people who were giving him credit for drawing money don’t even understand what the words or the phrase means. He’s not drawing money. He’s benefiting from Nick Khan being a master negotiator. WWE’s top line revenue is not based on ticket sales.”
Thompson also explained what separates Reigns from the stars most often named on wrestling’s Mount Rushmore.
“Was it when Hulk Hogan and The Rock and Stone Cold were doing it? Sure. And that’s the reason they’ve left all these impressions, and we’re still talking about them all these years later. And they’re always at the top of the list in the Mount Rushmore conversation. Roman Reigns is not,” he said. “Does that mean he’s failed? Absolutely not. They’ve enjoyed incredible success, but it’s apples and pomegranates. Roman came around in the network era.”
