Jim Cornette

[Nikkolas]

So usually the IWC and old-timers criticizing new people don't mix well. The old-timer is obviously just bitter, out-of-date and so-on.

Except Cornette. I have not seen a video with the guy where he isn't bitching about somebody and yet each video si greeted with roars of approval. It's like he is a bastion of truth and wisdom for the IWC.

Now I'm not saying the man isn't smart and he actually did compliment people in some of those videos where he insulted other wrestlers. It's just that he seems very whiny and I don't trust a guy who spends all of his time putting other guys down.

So can anyone clue me in on Jim? Is he actually some genius? I get the feeling people just gravitate towards him because he "is being real".

 

[klunderbunker]

Cornette is a combination of a lot of things.

First and foremost, he's one of the best managers of all time. He's an old school guy who cut his teeth in the territories of the 80s, managing perhaps the best heel team ever in the Midnight Express. Some of the stuff he does back in the day will have you in stitches and the stories he tells on a five hour (yes FIVE hours) long shoot interview have to be heard to be believed. Eventually he left the NWA and opened his own territory in the early 90s called Smokey Mountain Wrestling. He's had some very well received runs as a booker, taking control of OVW and doing some very successful things with it.

The problem with Cornette, and I basically worship the guy, is that he's stuck in the past and refuses to accept that things have moved on. He's not old by any real stretch (he'll be 51 next month) and he still has a lot of energy for what he does. That being said, his style has passed things by and he's not going to ever get a big time job again because of the things he's said. To say Cornette has anger issues is the understatement of all time in wrestling, but there's a lot of truth in what he says.

The reason why Cornette is so popular is because he says exactly what the IWC says a lot of the time but he has the authority and credibility to say them, unlike a the vast majority of us. What he says makes a ton of sense on paper but it isn't practical as Vince owns everything of value save for TNA and as long as that's the case, what Cornette wants to happen isn't going to happen. He believes Vince has ruined wrestling and to a degree I agree with him, but the stuff he wants to happen and the world he grew up in are never coming back.

So in short, yes he is a genius, yes he's delusional, and yes he's hilarious and should be listened to, but with a BIG grain of salt.

 

[Vinnie Ru]

Jim Cornette is a great entertainer. He is one of that guys you like to listen to even if you assume that some of his stories are not true. You listen to it anyway because of the way he tells it. Also he tells something you already heard hundred times before but he tells you in a entertaining way where you got the feeling you hear it for the first time. Best example his shoot on ECW where I still laugh my ass off whenever I watch it.
Most notable are his shoots on Vince Russo and there are about 100 videos of it. They are hilarious and that comes from a big Russo fan

 

[FlairFan2003]

I actually agree with a lot of Cornette's criticism of today's product, and I dont think the product has passed him by. The basics of successful wrestling, just like the basics of a good action adventure movie or crime drama are largely the same wether you are selling Hunter & Walker Texas Ranger or NCIS & CSI. The basic dynamic of what the audience wants is the same.

Cornette's downfall if you call it that is his inability to work with others in authority. He couldnt get along with Russo, Bischoff, or McMahon because his passion for the industry and belief in his own ideas puts him at odds with them sometimes and JC just cant find common ground or tow the company line.

In many ways Cornette was way ahead of his time, when you think of some of the skits he did in the 80s, ten years before "Attitude" such as lighting Ron Garvin's face on fire, being beaten and nearly killed by being dragged behind a pick up truck with a bullrope tied to his neck, breaking the taboo of not enacting violence towards women, Cornette spearheaded a much darker, edgier product long before such things were common.

 

[Lowdown]

I love Jim Cornette and his rants to death. He's very informative about the wrestling business. But like KB says he's stuck in that old-school territory mentality. Great manger and talker for sure. But everything evolves, especially in wresstling. He's burned quite a few bridges so there's no telling if he would ever work with WWE or TNA again. All in all I still enjoy watching him on ROH and look out for any of his shoot interviews.