Jim Cornette No Longer Head Booker Of ROH

[Jack-Hammer]

I read a report on prowrestling.net just a few minutes ago stating that Jim Cornette is no longer the chief creative force for ROH. It's said that Cornette will continue to work for the company behind the scenes. Hunter Johnson, AKA Delirioius, will take over as Head Booker and he's worked with Cornette on the creative side for a while.

I haven't gotten to watch a lot of ROH, it's on too late for me to catch much of the time, but I think this might be a good move. With Cornette in charge, the times I have been able to catch it, ROH feels more like an 80s wrasslin' throwback rather than the cutting edge promotion that I've always heard people claim it was.

[jacdnwarrior]

I think in spite of whatever issues Cornette may or may not have, he has a great mind for the business and has a lot of experience behind the scenes, so to hear he isn't a head booker, does worry me a little bit. I hope he does give some assistance in the booking area and/or who ever is stepping in is up to the job.

I've seen ROH. To me it's ok, but it clearly lacks the venues to hold the show, the production qualty is lower quality. It just doesn't have the money to actually make the productionof its shows look like it's coming from a first class wrestling promotion. It looks second rate. It reminds me of the 80s WWF shows that had matches from househows from various arenas. Poor lighting, etc.

[#MrScissorsKick]

ROH never really got my attention. I believe its probably near the end for ROH. Cornette's tenure needed to step down years ago. TNA is consistent, and the WWE is the WWE. I've heard ROH is where wrestlers go to have their last run in their careers. ROH produced some solid wrestlers though that have started their careers in the ROH before going to the major promotions such as the wwe and tna. CM Punk, Daniel Bryan are just a few. ROH lacks wrestlers that draw. I think that's a reason why ROH hasn't gotten a lot of exposure. Professional Wrestling is a big business and if you can't get money you'll most likely fall apart.

[THTRobtaylor]

As Rick Rude famously said "Timing is everything..." it's interesting that ROH get's its biggest exposure to date via the CM Punk documentary, WWE signing a lot of it's talent and then Cornette is gone?

Either the old ECW deal is now in place for ROH with Vince (who does not like Cornette)... or they realised that what they are putting out under Cornette is nothing like what Punk was talking about so highly on his DVD and they want to tap into that momentum

[anvilx8]

Originally Posted by #MrScissorsKick

. I've heard ROH is where wrestlers go to have their last run in their careers. .

Well you've heard wrong. VERY wrong. Name 1 guy that went there to end his career.... If anything, thats where LOTS of big names start out their careers; or kickstart their careers. Samoa Joe, Paul london, Punk, Daniels, Daniel bryan, hero, black, cesaro etc etc etc.

ROH is a great wrestling company. If you actually watched it, rather than read about it and make assumptions, you'd know what Im talking about. And ROH doesn't lack wrestlers that "draw". The ones that draw get signed by tna or wwe.

[Albert T]

I like Cornette, but his vision for ROH just isn't what ROH fans are used to, nor is it what they want. I'm glad he's stiil going to aide with television production, but a new perspective is a good idea at this point. Hopefully, Delirious can be that perspective. Good luck to both men.

[Slyfox696]

There's a surprise. Help run a company into the ground with your booking, and they ask you to step aside. Who would have thought?

Originally Posted by anvilx8

Well you've heard wrong. VERY wrong. Name 1 guy that went there to end his career

Lance Storm, Jay Lethal, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Eddie Guerrero (though he did come back)...shall I go on?

Okay. Jerry Lynn, Justin Credible, Mikey Whipwreck, Sonjay Dutt, Zach Gowen.

How did I do?

.... If anything, thats where LOTS of big names start out their careers; or kickstart their careers. Samoa Joe, Paul london, Punk, Daniels, Daniel bryan, hero, black, cesaro etc etc etc.

Punk and Bryan. Those are the only big names you listed. And they only became big names after years of working with the top talent in the WWE.

ROH is a great wrestling company.

No it's not. It's a 2-bit hack promotion, which relies on the arrogant ignorance of its fans to sell tickets. Its TV shows are poorly produced, it's web PPVs have a history of not working, and any talent with any ability leaves the first chance they get.

If you actually watched it, rather than read about it and make assumptions, you'd know what Im talking about.

I have watched it. I've watched it more than any man should ever punish himself to. I've it from one of the very first shows they ever did to the first several weeks on national TV.

It's terrible.

And ROH doesn't lack wrestlers that "draw". The ones that draw get signed by tna or wwe.

If they are signed by TNA or WWE, then they aren't working for ROH. Which means ROH doesn't have any wrestlers who draw.

[The S#cial Sector]

Originally Posted by Slyfox696

Punk and Bryan. Those are the only big names you listed. And they only became big names after years of working with the top talent in the WWE.

Punk? Yeah I'll concede to that one. He did take a long build to the top. As for Bryan? I have to say that I disagree. He came in instantly and only took him a few months before he was the United States Champion, even shorter to become a big time name in WWE.

And to say Joe and Daniels aren't big is highly arguable. Daniels is one of TNA's top heels, and Joe's got followings everywhere. And before you pull a CM Punk and compare TNA to the indies... remind me the last time an indy company was able to out sell WWE in a European tour? Another name I would add to the previous list is Austin Aries, who is gaining a lot of buzz for TNA after being the Longest X-Division champion and beating the longest TNA World champion for the title.

The rest of that list, I'll agree that they're not big names yet and that Cornette should pretty much stop booking. The guy nearly ruined OVW, TNA, and even ran his own company into the ground. I'm not sure when people will stop kissing his ass, but it needs to happen soon.

[The Dragon Saga]

Jim Cornette stepping down is a decision any actual ROH fan agrees with.

Davey Richards stated during his shoot DVD he loved Jim Cornette, hes thought him a lot, but Cornette's style of booking and vision for the company is outdated. Last year Dan Severn was included in a storyline between Richards and Eddie Edwards, what a lot of fans expected to be a great wrestling match ended up getting a fusion between MMA and wrestling, it sucked very hard. You'll hear some people joke whenever Richards hits the ring that he's here to bring some "AMERICAN STRONG STYLE!"

Kevin Steen's reign as ROH World Champion has been good, but not booked correctly. Their booking him as "Wrestling's Worst Nightmare" but the only person he actually upsets is Jim Cornette. Hes threatened to destroy ROH and build it in his own image yet hes done nothing to actual destroy it. What ACTUAL Ring of Honor fans know is that if this was Gabe Sapolsky or Adam Pearce they'd have had Steen actually trying to tear the arena apart if they could, because when they built someone as something it had actual meaning.

Kenny King left and complained about the booking. Jim Cornette let EL GENERICO's contract expire and leave the promotion, he let COLT CABANA's contract expire and leave the promotion despite the fact Colt is one of the most over if not the most over talent on the independent circuit - how many indy guys have had their name chanted by 20,000 people at a WWE live event? Sure he made some good decisions, bringing in Lance Storm, using Jerry Lynn, signing World's Greatest Tag Team, but the bulk of what he did wasn't what made Ring of Honor what it was.

And discussing who draws and who doesn't is exactly what ROH stood against. We don't care. For several years ROH produced the best wrestling and to a degree it still does, not to the standard it used to, but it does. The television show started off crap and they've improved it, not only the matches featured, the structure but thankfully the production level too. The iPPV's are an issue and the sales have dropped rapidly, but to the person who labeled TNA as "consistent" above, ROH's Final Battle 2010 drew more buys than any TNA PPV that year. Asides from BFG, Final Battle 2011 drew more buys than every TNA PPV that year, Dave Meltzer recently went on a tangent about how ROH's iPPV sales have dropped to half of what they used to be.

All negatives aside, Delirious has already showed signs that the boat is turning around. Steen vs. Generico in a Ladder War is booked for Final Battle 2012 next month, Jerry Lynn is returning, three-way tag team match which ROH is synonymous for, Richards and Edwards are expected to reunite, not to mention it's going to do what ROH does best, showcase the best young independent wrestling talent North America has to offer e.g. Adam Cole, Michael Elgin, Kyle O'Reilly and so on so forth.

Cornette being demoted is good, because Richards and Steen were right, Cornette is outdated.

[HBsam31]

I have been watching ROH for a while now. Not a long long time mind you, but I have watched it before the TV deal. Maybe a couple of years now. I am still lukewarm on the product to be honest, but I do like it more now than when I first started. I like a pure wrestling show, but I need a little more to be honest. Anyway I think Jim Cornette has a great mind for the business, but as everyone else has said his thoughts are a bit outdated. It seems as though maybe he should have been out a while ago. I would like to see ROH with a more modern mind doing the booking. I don't think it is ever going to be my favorite wrestling show regardless, but maybe with this they can take a step forward.