Live Report: “Something to Wrestle With” starring Bruce Prichard & Conrad Thompson in front of live audience in L.A.

I went to the “Something to Wrestle With” Live show at the Regent Theater in Downtown Los Angeles with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson.

The Regent Theater is a small older theater in Downtown L.A.. It is used for different types of events. There’s a small stage but no built-in seats. They had maybe 200-250 folded seats for everyone – that is about what the venue can hold. It was standing room only so they sold well.

I did not buy the VIP tickets, which came with a meet and greet with Conrad and Bruce plus a lanyard ticket and a beer cozy. It appeared I was one of a few who did not do VIP. Most people had the lanyard, beer cozy, and signed pictures.

The event started at 7 p.m. I entered theater around 6:30 p.m.. Conrad and Bruce were still doing the meet and greet near the small bar at back of theater.

The event started just after 7 p.m. They went right to questions from audience.

The first question was whose idea was Mae Young giving birth to a hand?  At that point they brought on former wwe writer Tommy Blanchard (not positive that was his last name, but it sounded something similar to that).  Tommy stated he was the idea man behind “Sexual Chocolate” with Mark Henry and the Mae Young storyline. During a meeting with Vince, Vince asked what was next for storyline and Tommy threw out idea that Mae gets pregnant and Vince loved it.

At another meeting, Vince stated this pregnancy has to end so they debated what to do. Vince left room and returned with a hand from props and said this is what Mae would give birth too. Tommy played the doctor onscreen for that scene.

Tommy next told story of how he was just working for WWE for a few weeks and decided he did not like it and wanted to return to LA but Vince Russo convinced him to stay until the next day for TV. At that next taping, McMahon told him Russo and Ed Ferrera quit and Tommy needed to help Vince write the show so they wrote it on a yellow legal pad. Tommy joked that he called his girlfriend back in LA that and said “Well, I guess I’m a high level executive for a wrestling company I won’t be home for awhile so you can break up with me if you want.” Tommy worked for WWE for a year.

Bruce was asked about Katie Vick storyline. He stated that Bruce, Triple H, Vince, and crew went to an actual funeral home to film the scene of Katie’s funeral. There was a real wake going on in a room next to them.

Triple H and Bruce wanted an over-the-top funny “lighthearted necrophilia.”  Vince wanted Triple H to play it straight and just do her hardcore. Vince stated they would film it both ways. Of course they did Vince’s first and Triple H tried to play it so over-the-top that Vince couldn’t air it. Vince loved it and didn’t want to film anymore. Bruce stated three crew members quit after working on that scene.

Backstage when the scene aired, Triple H was asking Bruce, “What the f— do I say after this?”

Bruce was asked about the HBK vs. Hulk Hogan match and the backstage response to it. Bruce stated he thought match was great. Conrad pressed Bruce, but Bruce didn’t say anything. Crowd was disappointed by no backstage gossip.

Chavo Guerrero Jr came on stage. He looked great. He told stories about to the Kerwin White character where Vince told him he wanted him to “turn white.”  Chavo said if he was going to do it he wanted to go all the way and wear a white hood and everything.

Another really good point Chavo made was that the creative team didn’t write for the undercard guys. They wrote for Cena, etc. Undercard guys had to pitch their own ideas if they wanted a storyline. He gave an example of the lying and cheating gimmick with Eddie. It was their idea to do this as heels. Vince loved it. Vince wanted their finisher to be the double frog splash. He felt that finisher ruined gimmick because it turned them babyfaces.

Chavo and Bruce told some Eddie stories. The Judgment Day ’04 match between JBL and Eddie was called entirely by Eddie in the ring because the guys did not like any layout by the agents.

The best bit of the night was when the crowd asked Bruce to have J.R. call Sunny’s porn. Bruce had cut out heads of all his characters he impersonates. He called Sunny’s porn with J.R.’s voice. Some of the funny lines: “He’s going down on her but he’s having a hard time because it’s tougher than a $2 steak down there.” And, “By gawd, this man has a family!”

X-Pac next came on stage with his little dog Lula. X-Pac looked good and healthy. He told story about the plane ride from hell. X-Pac cut off Michael Hayes’ ponytail on a flight. He joked about it on the plane and Jerry Lawler and the rest of the guys told him he didn’t have the balls. He asked for scissors. Matt Hardy had the scissors. He stated everyone gathered around to watch and as he cut off the ponytail the guys popped “louder than a Road Warriors pop in the ’80s.”

When they landed, Hayes freaked out and wanted to know who cut his hair and he wanted to fight him. Gerry Brisco just stated he cut the hair knowing Michael would not fight him.

X-Pac told story of defecating in Sable’s bag just before going out to wrestle Shane McMahon and he still is nervous everytime he sees Brock. He says JBL took blame for the bag and JBL never denied it.

They also told some Bobby the Brain stories. And Will Sasso made an appearance where he and Bruce did impressions-off. It was pretty funny.

Overall a fun show. Bruce commands a room. It lasted two hours and general admission ticket was $35.