Conrad Thompson Explains Why He Called Roman Reigns an “Industry Plant”
Conrad Thompson explains why he called Roman Reigns an “industry plant” and criticized WWE’s handling of his rise.
Conrad Thompson recently shed some light on his earlier controversial remarks about Roman Reigns, explaining why he referred to the WWE superstar as an "industry plant" and labeled him as one of the most overrated main-eventers in wrestling history.
During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Thompson argued that he sees Reigns' ascent in WWE as fundamentally different from how other iconic wrestlers have made their mark. Instead of winning over the audience first and then getting a major push, Thompson feels that WWE continued keeping Reigns at the forefront, even in the face of strong fan resistance.
Thompson Explains His “Industry Plant” Comment
“The thing that upset everybody is I called him an industry plant,” Thompson said.
He then compared Reigns’ rise with Stone Cold Steve Austin’s path to becoming WWE’s biggest star.
“If you look at Stone Cold, he got really hot and over with the crowd, and then they made him champion,” Thompson explained. “And the same is true with every other wrestler in history, except for Roman Reigns.”
According to Thompson, WWE continued pushing Reigns despite fans rejecting the presentation.
“They forced him to be on top and to always win over and over and over,” he said.
Thompson pointed specifically to Reigns’ WrestleMania victory over The Undertaker as an example of the disconnect between WWE’s plans and the audience’s reaction.
“When he beat the Undertaker at WrestleMania, he shows up on Raw the next day and they booed him nonstop,” Thompson said.
Thompson Gives Paul Heyman Credit
Despite his harsh criticism, Thompson did acknowledge that Reigns had eventually transformed his character to become one of WWE's biggest stars. However, he believes that Paul Heyman had a significant role to play in that evolution.
“Paul Heyman changed the way we all felt about Roman Reigns,” Thompson said, questioning what Reigns’ career might have looked like without Heyman.
Thompson also stressed that his criticism should not be interpreted as denying Reigns’ accomplishments.
“Great wrestler, great performer,” he said. “I hope he makes a million dollars an appearance from now on. I hope he crushes it.”
At the end of the day, Thompson's argument is less about Reigns' current status and more to do with how WWE initially built him into its centerpiece despite him facing resistance from audiences.
