The Jim Cornette Experience

[...TG]

I only listened to the Dutch episode because of Dutch, as he doesn't do many interviews. He was indeed pretty great, especially talking about his work habits while booking in Puerto Rico. It got a little bit good-old-days by the end, but that seems par for the course with Cornette. I'll probably keep listening, if only because I like Brian Last.

[MikeCampbell]

Bumping this, because Cornette just did a two part interview with Austin Idol that was tremendous!

[GSR]

Bumping this, because Cornette just did a two part interview with Austin Idol that was tremendous!

 

Thanks for the heads up. I was going to post to see if anyone had listened to these as I saw them yesterday when I was checking out what was new at mlwradio, but ended up downloading the Steve Austin podcast with Eric Embry (which is well worth a listen, especially his take on Puerto Rico) and Talk is Jericho with Perry Saturn instead.

 

[BigBadMick]

Episodes 204, 211, 213 and 214 have been covering specific periods from the 80s and are a welcome return to form.

[El-P]

Meanwhile, those old-school episodes by Corny are super refreshing to listen too. The SMW ones are really cool because you just don't hear about that stuff anywhere else.

[Cox]

I hate to say it, because I'm sure it's something that hurt him a lot on a personal level, but the best thing that could have happened to Jim Cornette's podcast was Cornette's falling out with Kenny Bolin. Before, when Cornette didn't have a guest and had nothing to talk about, he would call up Bolin and they would riff to fill time, which is fine if you like Bolin's schtick, but it wore thin for me pretty quickly. After Cornette and Bolin had their falling out, the new way to fill shows without a guest was to get Cornette to talk about month in the life of Cornette in his various promotions and what they were up to, and then eventually going into Smoky Mountain, in a way that wasn't just reading results, but actually talking about what Cornette was up to, getting insight on travel, booking, and working a territory that was really enlightening. It feels like a much more productive way to fill time during an "off" week to where this was the one wrestling podcast I saved after I did my podcast cull a few weeks ago (it doesn't hurt that the show is usually under two hours so that makes it an easy listen).

[El-P]

What happened between Corny & Bolin ? Weren't they like very old friends ?

[Cox]

I may have a few details wrong about this, and with a conman like Kenny Bolin involved, who knows what's actually true, but the best I can ascertain, Bolin had his podcast on Brian Last's Arcadian Vanguard network last year, but left pretty quick into the run as apparently they clashed on ideas for what the podcast should be. Which is fine, as even though Cornette is friends with Last, that by itself didn't affect his friendship with Bolin any. But then Bolin moved his podcast to Vince Russo's network. And I don't think I need to explain why Cornette would be unhappy about that. They haven't spoken much since, other than when Bolin's mother passed away earlier this year.

[SomethingSavage]

Cornette's pod has been mostly enjoyable again for awhile now. I like Last well enough. I know some folks complain that he doesn't contribute much, and that's fair. But he's totally inoffensive & stays out of the way also, which is a major improvement over some co-hosts.

 

What happened with Corny and the MLW deal? I heard what he had to say about it on his pod, which wqsort of vague and PC (by Jim's standards). Maybe there really isn't anything there worth discussing, but I just figures I'd ask in case any of you guys knew more on the matter.

[Victator]

Last is a lot better than Alice and whoever that other guy was. He knows wrestling and knows when to contribute. He is much better than Conrad, who ranges from useless to a hindrance on his shows. But that is a common problem on wrestling podcasts. Even under great circumstances, the co host is the worst part. Its like the new characters in a sequel series. Nobody is watching for them, you just hope they stay out of the way,

I think if something serious happened with MLW, Corny would have motherfucked them too.

Without Cornette or a strong guest, Bolin is not very good. It is sad seeing him suck up to Russo, when you know he has no respect for him. Reading between the lines, I don't think Last wanted Bolin's son and daughter in law monopolizing so much time.

[Jesse Ewiak]

Cornette's pod has been mostly enjoyable again for awhile now. I like Last well enough. I know some folks complain that he doesn't contribute much, and that's fair. But he's totally inoffensive & stays out of the way also, which is a major improvement over some co-hosts.

 

What happened with Corny and the MLW deal? I heard what he had to say about it on his pod, which wqsort of vague and PC (by Jim's standards). Maybe there really isn't anything there worth discussing, but I just figures I'd ask in case any of you guys knew more on the matter.

 

I think the actual truth is Cornette realized his brand didn't need the MLW connection anymore, with all the Youtube or Twitter fame he's getting. Probably nothing personal, but it's not like he has a ton of connection with Konnan, Court Bauer, et al. It was always a weird fit in the first place.

[TravJ1979]

Last is a lot better than Alice and whoever that other guy was. He knows wrestling and knows when to contribute. He is much better than Conrad, who ranges from useless to a hindrance on his shows. But that is a common problem on wrestling podcasts. Even under great circumstances, the co host is the worst part. Its like the new characters in a sequel series. Nobody is watching for them, you just hope they stay out of the way,

 

I think if something serious happened with MLW, Corny would have motherfucked them too.

 

Without Cornette or a strong guest, Bolin is not very good. It is sad seeing him suck up to Russo, when you know he has no respect for him. Reading between the lines, I don't think Last wanted Bolin's son and daughter in law monopolizing so much time.

 

And Brian was right in doing so. I'm not sure how many of you listened to the two or three podcasts that they made together, but Bolin's kid and his wife are insufferable people. They have this faux intellectual vibe and has to prove that their take is the only take to have. Kenny refuses to believe his kid can do any wrong and thinks he's both a genius and the toughest guy walking the earth.

 

Without Corny, Bolin is exposed. A true con-man.

[Cox]

One of the things Last does really well is he knows how to ask the right follow up questions. When Cornette is on a roll about a topic, Last knows how to keep that roll going and gets more out of Cornette than I think even Cornette realizes. I’ve been critical of Last in the past, and I grew to really dislike him on 6:05 after Bix left and it became him and his unfunny friends, but he really knows how to get the best out of Cornette. It wouldn’t surprise if it was his idea for Cornette to go through his old notes on days where they don’t have guests.

[Matt D]

One of the things Last does really well is he knows how to ask the right follow up questions. When Cornette is on a roll about a topic, Last knows how to keep that roll going and gets more out of Cornette than I think even Cornette realizes. I’ve been critical of Last in the past, and I grew to really dislike him on 6:05 after Bix left and it became him and his unfunny friends, but he really knows how to get the best out of Cornette. It wouldn’t surprise if it was his idea for Cornette to go through his old notes on days where they don’t have guests.

 

From what I've heard, he's very similar with Fuller, and you and I share the same opinion on 6:05, so that came as a surprise.

[SPS]

Why did Bix leave 6:05? I fell out of keeping up with the show a long while back.

[GSR]

Why did Bix leave 6:05? I fell out of keeping up with the show a long while back.

 

I'm sure the man himself will post if he sees this, but from memory think it was he just didn't have the time to devote to it any more with everything else he had going on.

[SPS]

 

Why did Bix leave 6:05? I fell out of keeping up with the show a long while back.

 

I'm sure the man himself will post if he sees this, but from memory think it was he just didn't have the time to devote to it any more with everything else he had going on.

 

 

Ahh makes sense, with his Deadspin stuff and Between The Sheets that I know of him doing that'd be enough to keep a person pretty busy.

[Jesse Ewiak]

 

 

Why did Bix leave 6:05? I fell out of keeping up with the show a long while back.

 

I'm sure the man himself will post if he sees this, but from memory think it was he just didn't have the time to devote to it any more with everything else he had going on.

 

 

Ahh makes sense, with his Deadspin stuff and Between The Sheets that I know of him doing that'd be enough to keep a person pretty busy.

 

 

Yeah, he still appears every so often - for instance, the WO HOF show, so it's not like there is bad blood or anything.

[DeanColes1987]

The shows where he covers a particular week/month in depth are tremendous stuff, the one a few weeks back where he talks about SMW running spot shows and all the finances and logistics of them was awesome.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

I'm going to need to check those out.

[SomethingSavage]

Yeah, I feel like they found a winning formula for Cornette's show awhile back. I've been enjoying them again for a few months now. I think it began with some of the "dying days of Crockett" spotlights, and then they improved upon that with the WWF and SMW stuff.

 

Of course, he still rants & raves about the topical stuff, too. But it doesn't smother the shows or anything. It's presented more as part of the act - let "old man Corny" shake his fist & shout at clouds from his front porch for a few minutes, and we'll move on. It's kind of a case of something that's become his signature, so he's still going to do it.

 

With that being said, even those aren't intolerable or anything. He was honest & upfront enough to admit when he was wrong about All In, for instance - even going as far as to play his original audio and then admitting they exceeded expectations. It doesn't come without him bashing Omega and the Bucks, of course. But, I mean, come on. Corny gonna Corny.

 

Jim will hold onto his biases, but I *do* feel like the talking point of him being completely out of touch is exaggerated. His recent reviews of shows like the Raw anniversary and Mania were both on the fucking money, and his instincts about the Smackdown on Fox deal feel right on point also.

[TheDuke]

I have to say that I pick and chose from the main show, but I really love the Drive Through show and listen to all of those.

[SomethingSavage]

I listen to both, although I should clarify that I can't really recall which talking points come from which specific show by this point. If you were forced to choose though, the Drive Thru is ultimately going to be the better option just by its format alone.

[Cox]

I think the Experience shows have a higher ceiling, like when he deep dives on Smoky Mountain or Crockett, but they also have a lower floor, like if he talks too much about modern wrestling or politics. His interviews are mostly good, until the topic of modern wrestling inevitably comes up on them as well. I can see why people would prefer the Drive Thru but to me, the Experience has higher highs which is why I prefer it.

[Cox]

For me, the past two weeks are great examples of the high ceilings and low floors the Experience is capable of. Last week, the show talked about March 1994, with Cornette bouncing between Smoky Mountain Wrestling running their first shows in Georgia and the second Bluegrass Brawl in Pikeville with the loser leaves town cage match with the Rock 'n' Roll Express and the Heavenly Bodies, while also working for the WWF at TV tapings culminating with Cornette's first Wrestlemania (and first time ever working at Madison Square Garden). It was really great stuff that just flew by as I found everything he said about working for both SMW and the WWF during that time period to be very interesting.

 

Then there was this week's show where Cornette largely talked about a Kota Ibushi video from a few years ago doing some sort of wacky gimmick or another and the latest Enzo Amore video. I don't even disagree with what Cornette says a lot of the time about modern wrestling even if I have more of a tolerance for it than he does, but to me, it's the same old thing. We get it, these guys are doing hokey bullshit that's not exactly what the business was about 30 years ago. I just wish he'd steer clear of modern stuff, because it's the same reaction almost every time. I get why others might be into hearing Cornette rip into stupid modern shit, but to me, it lost its appeal a long time ago.