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]

. 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?

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.

 

[Trill Co$by]

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.

 

[One to Remember]

i see a pattern.. Cornette is always bein relieved of his duties somewhere by someone.. he just seems to need oversight, hes like a southern fried Vince Russo but he keeps rising thru the ranks past the level of authority he needs then always falters.

His height was in SMW because of the viability it had and top names. Its out of business and WWE owns its tape library yet he cant keep a job with WWE..

he just gets overzealous i guess. i think he was fired by WWE for hitting a wrestler. I read he sparked a race riot at a SMW event in '93.. he needs oversigh, he needs restraints, but he has a lot to offer..


Slyfox your just being a hater. Just because Haas left WWE forever ago and Benjamin got plateau'd doesnt mean that they are at the end of their careers. Worlds Greatest Ta Team is a top name team ROH can tout having. ROH has been around for 10 years and has made the same strides the WWWF did from 1963-73 so lets not get melodramatic about ROH's stagnation.. They have solid footing and thats as important as a tv show on cable on monday night. WCW and ECW had more then ROH, so did the AWA, so did World Class.. Shows and name recognition did not help them stay afloat. ECW lived to be 9 years old and ROH isnt in ECW's league yet one year older.. Your points are moot points and you can't use an abundance of ex WWE talent to make a point because they are all over. Ex AWA talent like Zbyszko and Hennig were in WCW.. Ex NWA talent like Race and Rhodes were in the WWF.. Your point is too general to be a legit criticism..

 

[BaconBits]

ROH is, and always has been, absolute shit. It's lacking the one thing a wrestling promotion has to have, entertainment.

With all the kicking and punching and general lack of "wrestling moves", it looks like half ass amateur mixed martial arts by unskilled dudes in bright spandex. I know that's what many delusional fanboys think is "real wrestling", but, um, it's not. It looks even worse now that real professional mixed martial arts is wildly popular these days.

The production values are miserable. By miserable I mean worse than what ECW had on public access at 2:30 in the morning in the mid to late 90's.

They have had to cancel shows because they can't sell tickets. If you can't draw fans, you're shit. The whole point of being in business is to draw fans.

 

[One to Remember]

ROH is, and always has been, absolute shit. It's lacking the one thing a wrestling promotion has to have, entertainment.

With all the kicking and punching and general lack of "wrestling moves", it looks like half ass amateur mixed martial arts by unskilled dudes in bright spandex. I know that's what many delusional fanboys think is "real wrestling", but, um, it's not. It looks even worse now that real professional mixed martial arts is wildly popular these days.

The production values are miserable. By miserable I mean worse than what ECW had on public access at 2:30 in the morning in the mid to late 90's.

They have had to cancel shows because they can't sell tickets. If you can't draw fans, you're shit. The whole point of being in business is to draw fans.

unless they tried to say they wanted to be what u claimed they werent able to be you have no point. i think they are trying to promote a type of wrestling seen circa 1975 which is okay if thats your style. the ultimate sign of failure is when an orginization becomes defunct or ceases operations for more then a year. you have no point if that doesnt happen. SD cant sell out arenas, thats y SD is heald in the civic colisium when in knoxville, tn, but Raw is held in Thompson Boling Arena when in the same town.. That doesnt mean WWE is failing or that SD isnt still a titan in sports..

 

[DirtyD79]

i see a pattern.. Cornette is always bein relieved of his duties somewhere by someone.. he just seems to need oversight, hes like a southern fried Vince Russo but he keeps rising thru the ranks past the level of authority he needs then always falters.

His height was in SMW because of the viability it had and top names. Its out of business and WWE owns its tape library yet he cant keep a job with WWE..

he just gets overzealous i guess. i think he was fired by WWE for hitting a wrestler. I read he sparked a race riot at a SMW event in '93.. he needs oversigh, he needs restraints, but he has a lot to offer..

That's been the story on Jim Cornette for years. Too often he lets his temper get the better of him and it ends up costing him. Such a sin too because as a heel manager he's gold. He needs to learn to control his temper. Nobody wants to work with somebody who is a ticking timebomb. Unfortunately being in his 50s I don't think that's gonna change.

 

[ArsonDaly]

I liked that 80's rasslin feel. The endings to matches were old school. The old 'mama in the front row throwin soda at Kevin Steen' finish. Mondo kissing Maria causing Bennett to get counted out. All that stuff was kinda charming. Like I was right back at Smokey Mountain.

But, change is inevitable. They just need some rich guy to invest millions. Easier said then done?

 

[Artemis Paradox]

I'm a bit sad to see Corny go, but ROH never really meant much in the first place- I love Eddie Edwards, and that's about it. Punk and Bryan came out, good. It ended a few of my faves, mainly Storm and WGTT, cool. Whatever. Corny should be doing other things, the way I see it.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

ROH is, and always has been, absolute shit. It's lacking the one thing a wrestling promotion has to have, entertainment.

With all the kicking and punching and general lack of "wrestling moves", it looks like half ass amateur mixed martial arts by unskilled dudes in bright spandex. I know that's what many delusional fanboys think is "real wrestling", but, um, it's not. It looks even worse now that real professional mixed martial arts is wildly popular these days.

As I told you when I negated your rep, entertainment is entirely subjective. Some people gain entertainment from the most minimal activities, for fans of ROH we enjoy wrestling.

ROH and Cornette experimented with a different style, they wanted to be unique, they wanted to appeal to a larger audience and it failed. WWE have failed with promotional schemes in the past, as have NWA, WCW, ECW and basically every other wrestling promotion which has ever existed. From GBH XI last month and here forth with Cornette gone the thought is it reverts to the old style, what people call "real wrestling", and if you would like to define what "real wrestling" is I'd love to see you try.

The production values are miserable. By miserable I mean worse than what ECW had on public access at 2:30 in the morning in the mid to late 90's.

You've obviously not watched in a long time, have you? Production value has improved. ECW's production quality was very poor for a number of years, compared to how they started ROH are doing a lot better from a production aspect. The latest iPPV showcased new production equipment too and the online streams were going at 1080p, something not even most YouTube videos can reach.

They have had to cancel shows because they can't sell tickets. If you can't draw fans, you're shit. The whole point of being in business is to draw fans.

Show in North Carolina was canceled and rescheduled. Guess what? It was a sell-out. The reason the original show was canceled was due to poor ticket sales, but they were trying to promote themselves to a new region of the state, they failed and corrected themselves. WWE have canceled shows, TNA have canceled shows, WCW canceled shows. For someone who uses "fanboy" as a derogatory term you may want to redefine cause you're falling into that mold very quickly.

 

[anvilx8]

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.[/QUOTE]

You don't make alot of sense haha. OK, so by YOUR logic... then it's safe to say ECW didn't have any names that could "draw". I mean, RVD, Tazz, Sandman, Raven, they all left to either wwe or wcw.. SO, they didn't work for ECW.. get a clue

 

[anvilx8]

ROH is, and always has been, absolute shit. It's lacking the one thing a wrestling promotion has to have, entertainment.

With all the kicking and punching and general lack of "wrestling moves", it looks like half ass amateur mixed martial arts by unskilled dudes in bright spandex. I know that's what many delusional fanboys think is "real wrestling", but, um, it's not. It looks even worse now that real professional mixed martial arts is wildly popular these days. .

Did u ACTUALLY just say that ROH has lack of "wrestling moves"? and I suppose to you, "wrestling moves" are ones similar to Cenas shoulder block and five knuckle shuffle fist drop!

 

[Slyfox696]

You don't make alot of sense haha. OK, so by YOUR logic... then it's safe to say ECW didn't have any names that could "draw". I mean, RVD, Tazz, Sandman, Raven, they all left to either wwe or wcw.. SO, they didn't work for ECW.. get a clue

Let me see if I have this right.

Are you actually arguing that CM Punk is drawing fans for ROH right now, even though he's in the WWE? And you're telling me to get a clue.

ROH doesn't have anyone who draws significant money. If someone does possess that ability, then TNA or WWE signs them, leaving ROH without a draw.

This is common sense.

 

[anvilx8]

Are you actually arguing that CM Punk is drawing fans for ROH right now, even though he's in the WWE? And you're telling me to get a clue.

ROH doesn't have anyone who draws significant money. If someone does possess that ability, then TNA or WWE signs them, leaving ROH without a draw.

This is common sense.

When Punk was IN roh, he was drawing fans to ROH! Its that simple to understand. And to answer ur question, technically he still is drawing fans to ROH. ROH just put out two dvds about Punks time in ROH, I for one bought them and Im sure others did and maybe thats what got them watching ROH!

 

[Slyfox696]

When Punk was IN roh, he was drawing fans to ROH!

But he's not in RoH NOW, so ROH cannot claim him as a draw.

Are you really this dull?

And to answer ur question, technically he still is drawing fans to ROH. ROH just put out two dvds about Punks time in ROH, I for one bought them and Im sure others did and maybe thats what got them watching ROH!

Uh no. Nobody who doesn't already know about ROH is going to start watching ROH because they put out two Punk DVDs.

You're wrong in just about every way imaginable. Not surprising for an ROH sheep.

 

[anvilx8]

But he's not in RoH NOW, so ROH cannot claim him as a draw.

Are you really this dull?


Uh no. Nobody who doesn't already know about ROH is going to start watching ROH because they put out two Punk DVDs.

You're wrong in just about every way imaginable. Not surprising for an ROH sheep.

Haha. You need to shake ur head. He WAS in ROH and when he was, he drew fans. Thats what Im saying. And u cant deny that.

 

[braveh]

I have to ask this question you. Don't you have to be the hardest of the hardcore to ever pay attention to the angles and gimmicks in ROH? Does anyone even care? I thought everyone watched it for the wrestling but you guys are analyzing the booking.

I will watch Elgin/Richards/Steen matches but it never crossed my mind to give a flying crap about any of the angles or "booking" of ROH.

 

[anvilx8]

I have to ask this question you. Don't you have to be the hardest of the hardcore to ever pay attention to the angles and gimmicks in ROH? Does anyone even care? I thought everyone watched it for the wrestling but you guys are analyzing the booking.

I will watch Elgin/Richards/Steen matches but it never crossed my mind to give a flying crap about any of the angles or "booking" of ROH.

You're a wrestling fan since 1997.. which tells me you're either too young to know what you're talking about, OR you only started watching wrestling because it was cool. So either way, to me, your opinion doesn't matter