The Jim Cornette Experience

[The Thread Killer]

On 7/9/2022 at 9:05 AM, WrestlingPower said:

I guess it must be something tied to the ad reads, but I don’t know why they insist on having each show be 3-4 hours.  It’s hard to keep up with, I’ve been picking & choosing shows and going to more of the youtube clips for the past year or so.  Maybe it would help maintain his sanity if they cut back to the 90 min shows and focus more on the questions and talking about all the merchandise projects JC has in the works.

 

On 7/10/2022 at 9:50 AM, SomethingSavage said:

I gave up listening to the full 4 hour shows around the summer of COVID and Hurricanes Laura and Delta. The negativity was just too compounded for me, and I say that as a huge Corny stan.

But yeah. The YouTube clips are much easier to consume and keep track of, in my opinion. The ideal move would be to just streamline the actual pod itself and trim off a lot of the fat, but I don't know the reasoning behind the marathon style shows in the first place.

I was curious to hear Cornette’s review of the ROH PPV, so I looked for his newest podcast…and it clocks in at 4 hours and 15 minutes?! What the actual fuck? And he is doing two podcasts a week! I have no life and am still off work, and even I have no time to listen to all this. Who has time to listen to 7+ hours of Jim Cornette a week?

[Embrodak]

He only reviews three matches from the RoH PPV, and he only really liked FTR-Briscoes. The segment from the last episode where he talked about taking a bat to cases of merchandise in his garage because of how pissed he was at Spectrum and almost lost his dog in all the commotion was more entertaining than the review.

[SomethingSavage]

Cornette's side stories are often more entertaining than his takes on the modern stuff- like the time the raccoon terrorized his home and the police were called onto the scene in the middle of the night.

Anyway, yeah. I used to listen to the Drive Thru in chunks during workouts, but the negativity was just too much. Plus he started reviewing all the contemporary shows at that same time. The Drive Thru was an excellent podcast for a time there, but it's basically the same as the Experience now.

Sometimes something happens in wrestling and I'll want to hear Cornette's reaction, but all his clips are readily available on YouTube and much easier to sort through there. So I'm not exactly upset. I do wish he would've just kept one show unique and left the original Drive Thru format alone though.

[Embrodak]

Corny digs into his archives and reads a 1997 memo from USA Network that may have gotten Vince Russo a spot on the creative team and inadvertently kickstarted the Attitude Era. I honestly think he should just retire the podcast and write some memoirs and history books, this is much better than him reviewing goddamn Smackdown.

[SomethingSavage]

I actively just came here to post about that same segment from the latest episode. But yes. Hearing Corny shred through Russo's notes is tremendous and somehow not tiresome to me after all these years.

Is it weird that I'm disappointed we didn't actually get to see the Soldiers of the Rising Sun stable play out in reality? I mean, I understand real life circumstances would have kneecapped it regardless, but come on. A bitter Del Wilkes, a returning immobile Yokozuna, and the Can-Am Express representing All Japan without saying All Japan? Sure. Sign me up. It isn't any worse than the gang wars and other horse shit we sat through instead.

I still think the chemistry between Jim and Brian is among the very best in wrestling podcasts, without relying on forced inside jokes or softball bromance bullshit.

Oh, and "Trampoline Cowboy" was fantastic.

[Embrodak]

Because Last is one of the only people with an encyclopedic knowledge of territory history that can keep up with Jim.

[ohtani's jacket]

I was surprised when Last couldn't recall any history between Yokozuna and the Hart Foundation. 

[Al]

There's been more than once when I have a follow up question in my head and Last asks the follow up question.

[BigBadMick]

I've been enjoying Cornette's discussion of the A&E Biography Series on Drive-thru. Nothing earth shattering, but nice to hear him happy.

[The Thread Killer]

11 hours ago, BigBadMick said:

I've been enjoying Cornette's discussion of the A&E Biography Series on Drive-thru. Nothing earth shattering, but nice to hear him happy.

He raises a valid point when he points out that those A&E biography shows for WWE Legends draw better ratings than a lot of the wrestling on TV every week…and they’re on Sunday nights. People who like to argue there are no lapsed fans who could be lured back should consider that.

Unless he’s wrong about the ratings of course. I honestly could not be bothered to look them up to confirm.

[Migs]

On 9/3/2022 at 4:55 PM, The Thread Killer said:

He raises a valid point when he points out that those A&E biography shows for WWE Legends draw better ratings than a lot of the wrestling on TV every week…and they’re on Sunday nights. People who like to argue there are no lapsed fans who could be lured back should consider that.

Unless he’s wrong about the ratings of course. I honestly could not be bothered to look them up to confirm.

Here's the ratings section from the most recent Observer. Looks like it would beat Impact and MLW, and maybe some bad weeks of Rampage in total viewers. But I do think the overall point is correct - there's a lot of lapsed fans out there, although they may not be the easiest to win back other than via nostalgia.

The WWE Sunday Night block of programs on 9/4 based around the biography on the first WrestleMania drew the lowest ratings of the series to date. It was the final Sunday night block until they go with another run of shows in the winter.

The 8 to 10 p.m. show on WrestleMania did 385,000 viewers with an 0.07 in 18-49. It finished No. 52 for the night and 12th in the time slot. It was down 13.3 percent in viewers and down 41.7 percent in 18-49 from last week’s show on Rey Mysterio.

WWE Rivals at 10 p.m., covering the Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella feud, did 251,000 viewers and an 0.05 in 18-49. It was No. 70 for the night and 10th in the time slot. It was down 20.6 percent in viewers and down 44.4 percent in 18-49 from the Rey Mysterio vs. Eddy Guerrero show the prior week.

[Migs]

Adding the week before, as the numbers were a bit stronger.

The A&E Biography on Rey Mysterio on 8/28 did 444,000 viewers and an 0.12 in 18-49 and 0.06 in 18-34.

It was No. 33 on the charts and 14th in the time slot. It was down 3.1 percent from last week’s show on Edge, but up 9.1 percent in 18-49 and up 100.0 percent in 18-34.

WWE Rivals with Mysterio and Eddy Guerrero did 316,000 viewers and an 0.09 in18-49. It was No. 54 for the night and ninth in the time slot. It was up 2.9 percent in viewers and up 12.5 percent in 18-49 from Edge vs. Cena last week.

[BigBadMick]

Cornette's cover Inoki this week. Curious to hear how much he knows about his career - Cornette seemed spotty on Japanese wrestling, covering AJPW with Hansen on a shoot a few years back.

[Al]

Cursory but nothing historically inaccurate from what I could gather.

[justinsdrown]

On 9/3/2022 at 5:07 AM, BigBadMick said:

I've been enjoying Cornette's discussion of the A&E Biography Series on Drive-thru. Nothing earth shattering, but nice to hear him happy.

Same. 

[BigBadMick]

No drive thrtu or Experience last week - anyone know what's happening there?

[TheDuke]

I am not sure how the technology of podcast works, but I believe the thought is that he is switching platforms or something?  People have noted that in the most recent podcasts there were no ad reads I believe because someone ( the platform that hosts the podcast maybe? I find it confusing)  was demanding a cut of the ad money.

The reviews for Forbidden Door and Money in the Bank I believe are on YouTube which I don't like for podcasts because I don't pay for Premium so I have to leave youtube maximized on my phone screen and cant do anything else while listening to it that way.

[Mr JMML]

4 hours ago, TheDuke said:

 I believe are on YouTube which I don't like for podcasts because I don't pay for Premium so I have to leave youtube maximized on my phone screen and cant do anything else while listening to it that way.

I thought I was the only one with that problem.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

YouTube premium might be the best $12 I spend every month.

[SomethingSavage]

Saw those missing episodes added to my Spotify lists today, for what it's worth...

[The Thread Killer]

Yeah the Corny podcasts took a week off but they announced on YouTube and Twitter that all is well, and they would be back this week...and they were. In fact, it sounds like they are about to announce a very lucrative exclusive hosting deal. I don’t know if it’s going to be similar to when Joe Rogan went to Spotify but it sounds kind of like that.
 

It’s kind of crazy how popular the Cornette podcasts still are. I check out the Pro Wrestling podcast rankings every month and you can pretty much count on The Experience and The Drive Thru being 1 and 2 in the rankings. People just don’t seem to be getting tired of Cornette’s act. I would have bet that they would’ve run out of steam long before now, but if anything, the opposite is true. He just keeps getting more and more popular. Love him or hate him, he’s hit on a winning formula and it sounds like they’re about to cash in. You can’t argue with their download numbers.

[Mr JMML]

He's very entertaining.

[Big Pete]

It may have something to do with the genre. Conrad has completely exhausted the timeline genre and the interview genre relies too heavily on the guest. I can't remember the last buzzworthy guest on the Jericho pod, in fact the last Jericho podcast I was inclinced to tune into was the appearance he made on Austin's WWE show.

I don't think the wrestling scene could have played out any better for Jim than it did in the past 18 months or so either. Whether it was all the CM Punk news, Cody leaving AEW only to get over with the WWE audience, the Bloodline success, MJF's rise, Vince etc. These are all topics Jim has built his brand on and he's been proven right more often than not.

Drama has always been a popular genre on YouTube and there's nobody better at monetizing it in Pro Wrestling than Corny.

[SomethingSavage]

Your enjoyment will obviously depend on personal tastes, but Jericho's best episodes BY FAR are the ones featuring the True Crimecast guys. His wrestling stuff rarely feels genuine anymore. It's usually just shilling and spotlighting the latest AEW signing.

[pmo]

Yeah I think a few things help;

* Cornette; he and Last have a great rapport.  Their non wrestling bits, especially on food and travel, feel natural and are generally relatable/funny. 

* Last is a good straight man who isn't afraid to disagree with Cornette.  He also does his research and know his stuff.

* They are willing to go in hard on both major promotions and not pull punches.  As mentioned a lot of stuff elsewhere sounds like shilling.  He clearly doesn't care much who he pisses off and that's a good thing.

* As mentioned it's helped a lot Cornette has been proven right.  The fact they have nailed a lot of what's going on gives him credibility where others don't.

 

Is it perfect show no, it's way too long and Cornette can get lost rehashing the same things over and over again, but it's better than a lot of what's still out there.