The Thread Killer

If they ever are planning on doing something with Keith Lee, they should probably strike while the iron is hot and do it sooner rather than later. The guy is already 35 years old, and I can't imagine that a guy his size who works the style he does and incorporates some of the higher risk manoeuvres like he does will last all that long after 40. They need to push him pretty much they way the pushed Batista, taking his age into account. Minus the "Deacon" gimmick of course. I really don't get the Dijakovic call-up either. I really like the guy, but his promos are average at best and even as a fan of his I think he comes across as a bit gangly and awkward at times. I don't know that he is smooth and polished enough for the main roster. But who knows.

I am thinking it's more the former rather than the latter. I don't think Cornette's anti-AEW fans are current WWE fans, because he rips into WWE almost as much as he does AEW.

If it's the clip from this past week on The Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette says that he has been asked by a lot of people if he'd seen the FTR debut, but he says he did not, because he isn't going to watch and review AEW anymore. Brian Last explains how the debut went, and it actually turned into an interesting discussion regarding the best ways to make an impactful debut in modern Pro Wrestling and some of the best debuts over the years. Of course...Cornette being Cornette, he complains that it's impossible to make a surprising or impactful debut in modern Pro Wrestling because nothing is special anymore and everybody and everything has been overexposed and overdone...but the overall discussion is interesting nonetheless. But the point is, no...Cornette did not watch Dynamite this past week. As an aside, apparently FTR are actually going to be Cornette's guests on The Jim Cornette Experience this Friday. That should be interesting, for a variety of reasons.

The issue of Brian Last basically trying to provoke Cornette into having one of his AEW inspired tantrums was never more obvious than it was this past week on the Drive-Thru. At one point during the podcast, Brian Last made the claim that the size of Jim Cornette's audience and AEW's audience are actually comparable. I assume this is based on downloads and YouTube stats. I was fairly shocked to hear that claim, but I am prepared to believe it since it is the kind of thing that could easily disproved if Brian Last gets challenged on it. Last later said that the show is becoming so popular that it is getting hard to keep track of all the questions from fans that are coming in for the Drive-Thru. Then, Cornette reviews AEW Double or Nothing, and hated it so much that he has pretty much sworn off watching AEW from this point on. They decide to answer a few fan questions, and the FIRST question Brian Last selects out of the countless thousands submitted is: "What are Jim's thoughts on AEW's new line of footwear?" Just blatant nonsense. I have to wonder if Brian Last is a bit worried that Cornette is actually going to stay true to his word and stop watching and reviewing AEW. If Cornette meant it, that means a large part of Cornette's newer and more vocal fanbase are going to be turned off. All these new fans seem to want to hear is Cornette constantly cussing AEW, as @Bix mentioned. If they don't get it, I wonder if the newer fans will go elsewhere. I can't see those newer "fans" wanting to hear stories about Memphis Wrestling. I for one would be thrilled if Jim Cornette actually stuck to his word and stopped watching and reviewing AEW. Realistically speaking, I don't think the format of Cornette mostly ranting about modern wrestling every week had a lot of legs, anyhow. It was already getting extremely tiring and repetitive. I know it was great for business to have Jim Cornette say something outrageous every week, the Pro Wrestling "news" sites pick up on it and use it as a story, social media responds, and the next week Cornette reacts to the reaction...but I don't think that was sustainable. I don't know that it would happen, but I'd much prefer if Cornette's podcasts reverted back to their pre-AEW format.

Based on their history, I don't believe Cornette's problems with Kenny King are racially based. I touched on this back in November in this thread. Of course, there are people who will attribute pretty much negative opinion Cornette has to racism/sexism/homophobia or whatever, but in this case I honestly don't think race enters into it. Cornette has used some racist language for sure, and the Gangsta's angle pretty much speaks for itself, but I've never heard him say anything like "black people are lazy" or anything like that. When it comes to Kenny King, I think it pretty much comes down to the fact that King and Cornette had a handshake agreement and King went back on it.

I remember that quite clearly, for some odd reason. Summerslam 88 was actually "The Baron's" debut as their manager (if I recall correctly) but it lasted less than three months. He came in around the end of August 88 and was gone by early November, I think. I remember the whole idea seemed really goofy. I thought The Powers of Pain were awesome, but they had The Baron in that robe with the hood, and you could barely see his face. I assume they brought The Baron in because neither The Warlord or Barbarian could talk. (Well, I guess The Barbarian could talk, but you could barely understand what he was saying.) The WWF really didn't do well with babyface managers (aside from Elizabeth.) at that time...remember when Oliver Humperdink managed Bam Bam Bigelow and Paul Orndorff briefly? That seemed to last about as long as "The Baron." I assume the WWF really wanted somebody with those guys who could talk for them. I remember the Powers of Pain came in as babyfaces, but then at Survivor Series 88 they turned heel and aligned themselves with Mr. Fuji. The thing that struck my friends and I as really dumb was that Mr. Fuju managed Demolition who were the Tag Team Champions at the time. He turns on them, and aligns himself with The Powers of Pain, who were not the champions and never would be. So the brilliant, devious mind of Mr. Fuji concocts a plan to stop managing the champs and take up with a team who can't beat them? This is 32 years ago, so my memory isn't exactly vivid, but I recall Fuji's explanation for turning on Demolition being that "they wouldn't listen to him" or something like that. I got why they turned Demolition babyface, because fans were starting to cheer them...but I never understood why creative never had Demolition turn on Mr. Fuji, not the other way around.

I saw the first episode of the new talk show the NWA has on Mondays, which had an interview with Corgan and Lagana, and Corgan himself addressed the issue of the NWA closing. He claims they’re going to stay afloat, but admits they took a beating when they had to cancel the Crockett Cup. It really seems like the biggest issue is how they have lost momentum because of the pandemic, more than anything else. Thing is, the NWA is not a big company with a bunch of moving parts like WWE, AEW or even ROH. They don’t even own their own production equipment, they tape TV at a public broadcasting studio and put the show on YouTube for free. They have zero overhead. Dave Lagana is their only actual employee, everybody else are independent contractors under talent agreements. They don’t even have an office. The NWA basically have shut down already for all intents and purposes. Corgan owns the name NWA and the legal rights to some names and footage, basically that IS the NWA. When all this is over (if it ever is) then Corgan can just start up again with the same concept. He may have to find new talent, but the way the NWA is structured right now, I can’t see Billy Corgan pulling the plug on the whole thing permanently. Then again, I’m no journalist with my finger on the pulse of the business like Scott Keith.

If I’m gonna have to keep shaving my head I’m gonna have to get a hell of a lot better at it. Or get used to wearing a hat.

Are you able to get a haircut in France now? Because everything is still closed here. I ended up shaving my head using the electric clippers we use to groom the dog, and it did not go well. Things you never want to hear after giving yourself a haircut: "Well, it's not TOO crooked."

You're not the boss of me. If your (and other) comments weren't directed at me, then I overreacted. I made comments that were somewhat critical of Seth Rollins and found the ensuing response to be pretty haughty, especially considering the fact that I don't think I said anything all that out of line. I felt I was only speculating about Rollins mindset regarding his response to Cornette and didn't think I was terribly out of line in doing so. In the interest of full disclosure, I do really like @SomethingSavage and find that I tend to agree with him 99.9% of the time...but no, I wasn't attempting to argue on his behalf. I was reacting as if the comments were made toward me. SomethingSavage is perfectly capable of defending himself and doesn't need me advocating on his behalf. In retrospect my reaction was obviously defensive and prickly, because I really didn't think I'd written anything that justified the judgmental response. I'm not going to go back and erase what I posted, because I don't think that would help the situation, honestly. But if my reaction angered or insulted anybody here, then I apologize. Except to @El-P, screw that guy.

I don't disagree that poor spelling isn't necessarily an indicator of intelligence. However, I am also of the opinion that if you are choosing to challenge somebody in writing, especially in a public forum like Social Media, it's also not a bad idea to ensure that you use accurate spelling and grammar...if you want to be taken seriously. I admit that I might be showing my age with that comment.

So I guess we're not going to agree to disagree and drop this whole thing, huh?

Yeah, of all the terribly racist gimmicks and representations that Pro Wrestling has been guilty of over the years, the Kabuki Warriors thing never struck me as particularly offensive or insensitive. Then again, I'm a middle aged white guy, so I'm not exactly an authority on what is and isn't racially offensive.

I went back and posted a screen shot, so you could see it. As far as the nosebleeds, just tilt your head back. You know I'm just busting your balls @C.S., even though you're a Mauro Ranallo fan, you're still a Good Brother.

In other Jim Cornette news...the latest Pro Wrestler to try and engage Cornette on Twitter and take him to task is...Lio Rush. This isn't going to be pretty, if Rush is actually committed to following through on this. The fact that Rush is one of those geniuses who can't seem to figure out the difference between "their" and "there" doesn't bode well for his chances in a war of words with Jim Cornette.

One of the things about Jim Cornette that I find hilarious is that, in a lot of ways he is a walking contradiction. The way he talks and acts, you'd expect him to be a hardcore Republican or supporter of Donald Trump...but he is anything but. He grew up in the Bible Belt/South and is vocally proud of that, but despises religion and mocks anybody who believes in God. He owns a gun but complains endlessly about the NRA. He goes on and on about Women's rights, and generously supports supports the "Crusade for Children" charity...and then makes comments right out of the 1950's about Becky Lynch and childbearing and children in general. He made the infamous "Fried Chicken joke" and has no problem taking shots at the AEW Women's division for having too many Japanese women...but he has been very vocal about Asuka's gimmick being racist in nature. He says some of the most inflammatory shit imaginable...the Dana Brooke comments spring to mind as a recent example...but then takes a bunch of people to task for using the term "retard" as it's offensive to people with intellectual disabilities. He gets criticized for making a comment which is seen as "encouraging suicide" on Twitter, but breaks down in tears when relaying a story about a fan whose Brother killed himself. Then he spends months promoting a call in/online Mental Health clinic. He's either working a lot of the time and saying outrageous stuff to further his gimmick, or he is one of the least self aware public figures I've ever seen.

Oh, I get it. My mistake, I didn't understand the difference. If I post something snarky, sarcastic or something that evokes a heated response then I am being condescending. When you do it, then you're just being honest and telling it like it is. Gotcha. Clearly, I was unable to discern the distinction between the two. My sincere apologies. From now on, I'll just be honest and tell it like it is, and then we shouldn't run into any further problems.

You of all people at PWO accusing somebody of being "condescending" is pretty much the height of hilarity.

Please spare me the righteous indignation. I'm surprised you all aren't getting nosebleeds, way up there on your moral high ground. I clearly said, I don't blame Seth Rollins for being angry about what Cornette said about Becky. If I was Rollins, I would feel the same way. (Actually if I was Rollins, the first thing I'd do is shave that stupid looking beard...but whatever.) I absolutely think what Cornette said about Becky Lynch's pregnancy (and about female wrestlers getting pregnant in general) was stupid, archaic and borderline misogynistic. I say that as a Jim Cornette fan. But my other point was, Seth Rollins is a notoriously thin-skinned whiner who frequently has tantrums when anybody dares say anything critical about him. So much so that they actually worked it into his gimmick, for gawd's sake. But for years, Jim Cornette has sung the praises of Seth Rollins to the high heavens. I've always been of the opinion that Cornette based the majority of this praise on the fact that he liked Tyler Black in ROH. I don't even think Jim Cornette has even seen much "Seth Rollins." Cornette avoids current WWE, as well he should. Recently, Cornette reviewed some modern WWE and even his precious Seth Rollins was not spared the patented Cornette criticism. After all the controversial and inappropriate shit Jim Cornette has said over the past couple of years, Seth Rollins has never made a peep. He's kept his opinion to himself. You could make the argument that there was no need for Seth Rollins to comment on Jim Cornette because they don't work together anymore...but that didn't seem to stop pretty much everybody else in Pro Wrestling from throwing their two cents in on Social Media when it came to Jim Cornette. Then Cornette says something inappropriate about Becky Lynch, and Seth Rollins responds. As I said, that is to be expected and not really all that newsworthy. But I do find the timing coincidental, that at the exact same time Jim Cornette has soured on Seth Rollins and has been criticizing his work...all of the sudden Rollins has no problem publicly going after Cornette. Maybe he would have done it anyhow, even if Cornette hadn't said anything about Rollins as well. Rollins probably would have said something about Cornette based solely on what Cornette said about Becky Lynch being pregnant. But I was speculating that Rollins was probably just as upset that Cornette said things about him too. Now Rollins has all the excuse in the world to go after Cornette, and nobody is going to question it, that's for sure. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. But if my speculating about that hurt some people's feelings and they need to lie down for a little while in their safe space with a cold cloth on their forehead or something, it's okay. I understand.

I always assumed, based on his goofy in ring facials and hammy, over-the-top heel work that Edge had no dramatic ability, that he just couldn’t convey emotion realistically. I was shocked when he showed up on Vikings (one of my favourite shows) and he did a great job. I guess he reserves the over-acting for wrestling?

Call me cynical, but I have to question the timing of this Seth Rollins interview. For the last couple of years Jim Cornette has been effusive in his praise of Seth Rollins claiming he should be one of the top guys in WWE etc. etc., and basically gushing all over the guy. For the longest time Jim Cornette had nothing bad to say about Seth Rollins. However, over the last month or so, Cornette has really started to sour on Rollins, especially the ridiculous “Monday Night Messiah” gimmick. Cornette has started to become critical of Rollins work. All of the sudden, Rollins is upset with Cornette. I have no doubt that Seth Rollins is very upset about what Cornette said about Becky Lynch. He’s right to be upset, I don’t blame him, and I agree with most of the stuff Rollins said about Cornette. But knowing how sensitive Seth Rollins is whenever anybody says anything bad about him, I have to wonder if this interview would’ve happened at all, or if Seth wouldn’t have been quite so angry if Corny hadn’t taken shots at him recently.

Yeah there is no doubt that Brian Last has probably forgotten more about Pro Wrestling history than Conrad Thompson will ever know. I have no doubt Conrad Thompson is a better businessman and more adept at monetizing his podcasts, but I'm not sure that's a compliment. I don't always listen to the 6:05 Superpodcast (THE MOTHERSHIP) but on the occasions I have, I've always been impressed with the amount of knowledge and research that has gone into them. I have been seriously considering adding Ron Fuller's Studcast to my rotation because it sounds very interesting and informative. Personality wise, honestly I'd pretty much call it even. I don't buy Conrad's "aw shucks I'm just a fan like y'all" act. Hell, even Tony Schiavone was busting Conrad's balls about that on one of those episodes I listened to recently. "Yeah, you're just a fan who happens to be married to Ric Flair's daughter, one of your best friends is Vince McMahon's right hand man, one of your other best friends is the owner of AEW, you're rich and live in a giant mansion...and you also promote your own fanfests." Having said that, you can also tell Brian Last thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. That guy just exudes smugness. I'm not sure either guy is the type I'd enjoy having a beer with and talking Pro Wrestling.

I have been watching those ECW watchalongs on WHW that Conrad has been doing with Tony. What has been coming up that is very interesting, is that there is a subtle undercurrent where you get the distinct impression that there is legit heat between Conrad and Brian Last. Brian Last has openly taken shots at Conrad on Cornette's podcast, claiming that people who need to rely on selling "dick pills" on their podcasts obviously aren't smart enough to understand how to make money in podcasting. Last has claimed he would never insult his listeners by taking every advertiser that comes along and shilling their product just to make money. A couple of weeks ago I was listening to an old episode of WHW from last year, and Conrad said to Tony that there is another established podcast host out there who thinks he invented Pro Wrestling podcasts, he has something like 10 podcasts and is obviously jealous of Conrad. Conrad claims this unnamed host can take all the shots he wants, but Conrad will put up his podcast revenue and download numbers against anybody. Conrad talked about how this unnamed host has criticized him for having too much advertising, but that Conrad is a better businessman than this person and that the point of podcasting is to make money. Then, as if there was any doubt about who Conrad is talking about, Conrad sang the opening jingle from Cornette's Drive-Thru podcast..."Thank You, Fuck You, Bye..." There was also that big blowup between Bischoff and Cornette last year when Cornette was blasting Bischoff for promoting Blue Chew, Bischoff fired back, things got personal and a full on Twitter war erupted. During the exchange, Brian Last revealed some very personal information about Eric Bischoff...namely that Bischoff was then going through bankruptcy. During another episode of WHW, Tony asked Conrad what was going on with that situation, and Conrad casually mentioned that Eric and Jim had spoken on the phone and declared a truce. I don't remember the exact details, but Conrad implied that he had some how brokered the truce. Either way...it does definitely seem like there is some legit dislike happening between Conrad and Brian Last. Which is interesting.

I was going to mention just that. It's amazing, I found Conrad to be at his absolute best during those Dark Side podcasts...it's almost like he's an entirely different host. That has been a great podcast, I'm sad it's over.

I thought the episode was very moving. I absolutely agree that WWE has no business pushing for Owen to be in the Hall of Fame. I'm sure they'd love for him to be in there, because then they could point at Owen being in the HOF and claim that as proof everything is great with WWE and Owen's family. Their idiotic booking, ridiculous "creative" and lack of concern for their employees (sorry, Independent Contractors) safety got Owen Hart killed. I would hate to see anything done that somehow makes it seem like that is just "water under the bridge." WWE should never be able to squirm out of their culpability for Owen's death, ever. I don't care how much time passes. I also really liked how Owen's son pointed out that every plaque that goes up from the Owen Hart Foundation helping somebody is much more appropriate tribute to Owen Hart than the pointless WWE HOF could ever hope to be. I totally admire and agree with Martha's position on Owen being in the HOF. Having said all that... I have seen Bret Hart take a lot of heat in different circles online this past week. Martha has given a number of interviews where she claimed that Bret was supportive of her lawsuit against WWE, but partially because he wanted revenge on them for the Montreal Screwjob. She has also claimed that Bret was using her lawsuit as a way to attempt to gain ownership of the footage WWE owned of Bret and Owen. Martha basically inferred that once Bret realized he wasn't going to get ownership for his career library he made peace with Vince. Look, it's obvious that some of the Hart family (Bruce especially) have serious issues. It's a documented fact that Smith and Dean (both now passed) had some pretty glaring personality issues as well. The fact that some members of the Hart family actively worked against Martha during the lawsuit is pretty much unconscionable. But I went to a public speaking engagement Bret Hart did in Toronto years ago, which ended with a fan Q&A. The question of Martha and Owen came up, and Bret was very open about the situation. He freely admits that he did support Martha during the lawsuit, partially because he was still angry with Vince over Montreal, but mostly because WWE basically killed Owen. He also admitted he was hoping to get the rights for footage with he and Owen so he could put out his own career retrospective DVD, as part of the lawsuit. But there is more to the story, at least if you believe Bret. Bret claimed that after the lawsuit, Martha told him that her children were members of the Hart family "in name only" and that she also blamed the Hart family's obsession with Pro Wrestling for killing Owen. Martha also allegedly claimed that nobody in the Hart family would have any contact with her children, that they would grow up having no contact with any of their aunts, uncles or grandparents and Bret even alleges that Martha said some very hurtful things to either Stu or Helen. (I forget which, and I forget if Helen was even still alive by the time this lawsuit was settled.) During the interview I saw, Bret basically said in the big picture he didn't care about money or even his career footage, he was mainly upset that Martha was blaming the entire Hart family for something only a few of them had done. I totally understand why Martha would think that way. I understand why she resents Professional Wrestling and even a lot of members of the Hart Family. But I also have a lot of nieces and nephews. God forbid, if one of my brothers died and their widow basically told me I'd never get to see my nieces and nephews, that they were going to grow up not ever knowing their own Uncle...and if the widow said something hurtful to my parents? I'd be very upset as well. Bret has already released a statement this week saying that there is a lot more to the story than what Martha has been saying, but he isn't going to talk any further about it. Not only did that horrible event kill Owen Hart, but it also tore a family apart. As much sympathy as I have for Martha and her kids, I also have some sympathy for some members (but not all) of the Hart family.