The Cancellation of Jim Cornette

[NintendoLogic]

Re: Becky Lynch, two things.

1. It's easy to dunk on a guy who criticizes someone for putting having a family ahead of the business, but I'm more troubled by the fact that family is considered the only legitimate excuse for not centering your life around your job. We hear all these horror stories about people hardly ever getting to see their spouses and children because of the work culture in WWE, but single people need time off the clock too.

2. Making as much as you can during your prime earning years and then walking away is a nice idea, but I don't know if it jibes with reality. Wrestling is littered with examples of guys who were seemingly set for life and ended up broke. Money comes and goes, but time is something you can never get back once it's gone.

[Loss]

Case in point: Undertaker is still going in part because despite making more all but a small handful of wrestlers in history, he has had financial problems for years because of divorces and bad investments.

[El-P]

1 hour ago, NintendoLogic said:

1. It's easy to dunk on a guy who criticizes someone for putting having a family ahead of the business, but I'm more troubled by the fact that family is considered the only legitimate excuse for not centering your life around your job. We hear all these horror stories about people hardly ever getting to see their spouses and children because of the work culture in WWE, but single people need time off the clock too.

Thank you for this one. The whole "a human being with kids is more important than a human being without kids" drive me fucking insane.

[C.S.]

7 hours ago, El-P said:

This is something people don't seem to get about Omega. He's not an old-school guy in that he's not obsessed about being a top guy. He wants to do different things (he said he would love to do more intergender wrestling). Plus, his dream was always Japan. Been there, done that, at the highest level. He is 36, he has other interests in life. He's making huge money now. If he's smart, and he seems like a pretty fucking smart guy, he can probably go on without having to hustle. To me it makes perfect sense. And in a way, it's exactly like Becky Lynch having a baby now, to circle back to the beginning. They don't have an unhealthy obsession with Da Business. Becky is quitting (for now) at her peak because she'd rather have a baby. Omega could push himself to the top, but he'd rather help other guys get over and pass the torch already, because to him he already has reached the top where it mattered the most to him (NJPW). Makes total sense. Now, maybe Becky will come back and maybe Omega will get that last push to the top still sometime (it would be really nice to see a great stint as the Ace of the promotion eventually), but I can totally relate to those people, at least. The Young Bucks strikes me as the same breed. And hell, didn't Cody say he wanted to retire at 40 ?

The thing is, Kenny Omega would have to be a major star in the United States for this approach to be effective. He's not. Not even a little bit. At best, U.S. fans know of his exploits in Japan. Most don't even know that. 

While I can appreciate not having an unhealthy obsession with "Da Business" and wanting to put over other wrestlers, he has to be over on a main event level himself for that to actually work.

But maybe you're right and it doesn't matter either way - he has that tight EVP spot and money no matter what - but he'd be more effective for AEW's business and bottom line IMO if he was established as a top dog first before setting into the role of the veteran who puts others over (Dustin Rhodes, etc.).

4 hours ago, El-P said:

At this point Cornette is a broken clock to me. Yeah, he can make good points at times. But so does anyone. Even Vince Russo has made good points about pro-wrestling I'm sure. Yeah, that's how low the mighty has fallen to me. 

If I ran a wrestling promotion and the Mafia/Yakuza/whoever got its claws into me and said "hire either Jim Cornette or Vince Russo, or else..." I'm hiring Russo. 

Not a good decision either way, but at least Russo isn't an embarrassment to the entire industry (as much) on a weekly basis the way Cornette currently is.  

[El-P]

19 minutes ago, C.S. said:

The thing is, Kenny Omega would have to be a major star in the United States for this approach to be effective. He's not. Not even a little bit. At best, U.S. fans know of his exploits in Japan. Most don't even know that. 

Wait, isn't AEW arguably the third biggest pro-wrestling promotion in the world now ? Haven't they been active for a year at this point ? And having selling quite a bit of tickets to live shows, and are making quite decent ratings on a major network TV, and having a few successful PPV's ? And hasn't Kenny Omega been one of the most over act in the company ? I mean, I understand having that kind of reaction last year, but it really gets silly at this point to say that Kenny Omega is not even a little bit of a star to US wrestling fans. Like, I understand he might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it would be nice to be rational about the guy's status today. AEW isn't a vague project by "a bunch of indie guys" anymore. It's been on TV for months. They have been successful beyond anyone's expectations, beating the WWE counter programming and getting renewed already with a fat TV check. And Omega is one of the 4/5 very top guys in that operation. We've way past the point of talking about Omega as "a guy who was famous in Japan". I'm sorry but there's massive denial about him and the Young Bucks not being stars in the US in 2020.

Now, I do think Omega is gonna get his stint on top anyway sooner than later, so everything is a moot point as far as him passing the torch already. He's just not at this point yet. He's just not that eager to be on top, obviously.

[Laz]

AEW's ratings have consistently dropped, regardless of COVID-19, despite Omega being featured regularly (often times taking up a full quarter of the program between bell-to-bell and pre/post match interviews/segments). Their PPV business hasn't been anything to write home about, but that's more on the medium than it is on him, and the ~$55 price tag doesn't help. 

He's not "Diesel as WWF Champ" terrible as a draw, but to act like he's a big star when AEW's total audience is just over a quarter of WWE's is a bit naive. 

The promotion as a whole is a success, as they expected Dynamite to only draw 500,000 weekly (and its lowest has been 654,000 for last week's show), but there are a ton of glaring issues. That more and more fans are vocalizing negative opinions on Omega's act, regardless of your personal enjoyment, is very telling of how good he is as a draw in the States.

[C.S.]

1 hour ago, El-P said:

Wait, isn't AEW arguably the third biggest pro-wrestling promotion in the world now ? Haven't they been active for a year at this point ? And having selling quite a bit of tickets to live shows, and are making quite decent ratings on a major network TV, and having a few successful PPV's ? And hasn't Kenny Omega been one of the most over act in the company ? I mean, I understand having that kind of reaction last year, but it really gets silly at this point to say that Kenny Omega is not even a little bit of a star to US wrestling fans. Like, I understand he might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it would be nice to be rational about the guy's status today. AEW isn't a vague project by "a bunch of indie guys" anymore. It's been on TV for months. They have been successful beyond anyone's expectations, beating the WWE counter programming and getting renewed already with a fat TV check. And Omega is one of the 4/5 very top guys in that operation. We've way past the point of talking about Omega as "a guy who was famous in Japan". I'm sorry but there's massive denial about him and the Young Bucks not being stars in the US in 2020.

 Now, I do think Omega is gonna get his stint on top anyway sooner than later, so everything is a moot point as far as him passing the torch already. He's just not at this point yet. He's just not that eager to be on top, obviously.

Just to correct your weird misconceptions: I am not anti-AEW (I like it) or anti-Omega (I like him). Whatever argument you're having seems to be with general internet and/or PWO perceptions of either/both.

Omega was a major star in Japan. I don't consider him a major star in AEW or the U.S.. He's a goofy midcard guy right now. So is Orange Cassidy, Marko Stunt, etc. Nothing wrong with that. But it's also natural to be disappointed at the comedown in status.

Obviously, behind the scenes, his status is higher than ever - EVP, etc.

 

[El-P]

18 minutes ago, C.S. said:

Just to correct your weird misconceptions: I am not anti-AEW (I like it) or anti-Omega (I like him). Whatever argument you're having seems to be with general internet and/or PWO perceptions of either/both.

Omega was a major star in Japan. I don't consider him a major star in AEW or the U.S.. He's a goofy midcard guy right now. So is Orange Cassidy, Marko Stunt, etc. Nothing wrong with that. But it's also natural to be disappointed at the comedown in status.

I'm not saying you're either anti-AEW nor anti-Omega. But if you really think Kenny Omega is a goofy midcard guy in AEW like Orange Cassidy or Marko Stunt, I dunno what to tell you. He main-evented Double or Nothing last year against Jericho. He main-evented Full Gear against Mox. He was part of arguably the double main-event of Revolution with Page vs Young Bucks. That's more main-event matches than Cody on big cards.

[Loss]

3 hours ago, C.S. said:

The thing is, Kenny Omega would have to be a major star in the United States for this approach to be effective. He's not. Not even a little bit. At best, U.S. fans know of his exploits in Japan. Most don't even know that. 

Kenny Omega is a star in the U.S., though. Jericho-Omega did the best AEW buyrate so far and drew a sellout crowd. ROH attendance was always up when he was on the card as well. NJPW sold out the Cow Palace with him on top.

[Loss]

I should add that I'm not even really a fan of Omega and that I think the bar is pretty low for being a star now. But he has been a difference maker too many times to ignore. I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but there's almost an unspoken thing I'm picking up on of if something doesn't happen in WWE, it doesn't count.

[Laz]

5 minutes ago, Loss said:

Kenny Omega is a star in the U.S., though. Jericho-Omega did the best AEW buyrate so far and drew a sellout crowd. ROH attendance was always up when he was on the card as well. NJPW sold out the Cow Palace with him on top.

How much of DoN 2019 was legitimate interest in Kenny Omega or wanting to see the first big show under a new banner in the States, though? It stands to reason that, with further exposure as a talent, his drawing power has decreased, which might point more to the aura of "hot New Japan star working in the States" than it does Omega in general.

[C.S.]

34 minutes ago, Loss said:

I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but there's almost an unspoken thing I'm picking up on of if something doesn't happen in WWE, it doesn't count.

I hope you don't mean me, because I was definitely counting his major NJPW run and said he was a major star in Japan. That's about as far away from WWE as it gets. There is obviously a massive difference between how he was presented there and how he's being presented now.

3 hours ago, El-P said:

I'm not saying you're either anti-AEW nor anti-Omega. But if you really think Kenny Omega is a goofy midcard guy in AEW like Orange Cassidy or Marko Stunt, I dunno what to tell you.

I probably went too far comparing him to Marko Stunt and Orange Cassidy. In terms of card placement, no - Kenny is obviously higher than them. In terms of Kenny's present midcard-style goofiness, it's closer than he and his fans would like to admit IMO.

46 minutes ago, Loss said:

Kenny Omega is a star in the U.S., though. Jericho-Omega did the best AEW buyrate so far and drew a sellout crowd. ROH attendance was always up when he was on the card as well. NJPW sold out the Cow Palace with him on top.

39 minutes ago, Loss said:

I should add that I'm not even really a fan of Omega and that I think the bar is pretty low for being a star now. But he has been a difference maker too many times to ignore.  

That feels like a really low bar to me though. Okay, he sold out a few places in the U.S., but that won't last forever if he keeps being presented as such a goof. If WWE used Kenny this way, everyone would be crying bloody murder.

I understand wanting to put others over. I understand not making "Da Business" the be-all and end-all. I understand having that sweet EVP gig gives Kenny more security. All of that is great for him, and I'm happy for him. But as a fan, I surely can't be the only one disappointed that Kenny's star aura seems to have mostly evaporated in AEW, and a lot of that is because he's not presented as a top guy. 

With that said, I have more faith in AEW to ultimately course-correct - and I do think they will. But until they do, the direction is kind of frustrating. 

[MoS]

 

6 hours ago, Laz said:

AEW's ratings have consistently dropped, regardless of COVID-19, despite Omega being featured regularly (often times taking up a full quarter of the program between bell-to-bell and pre/post match interviews/segments). Their PPV business hasn't been anything to write home about, but that's more on the medium than it is on him, and the ~$55 price tag doesn't help. 

He's not "Diesel as WWF Champ" terrible as a draw, but to act like he's a big star when AEW's total audience is just over a quarter of WWE's is a bit naive. 

The promotion as a whole is a success, as they expected Dynamite to only draw 500,000 weekly (and its lowest has been 654,000 for last week's show), but there are a ton of glaring issues. That more and more fans are vocalizing negative opinions on Omega's act, regardless of your personal enjoyment, is very telling of how good he is as a draw in the States.

Covid does not stop being a relevant reason for the drop in ratings just by adding "regardless of COVID". Unless you mean since their debut. Which is correct, but to say the ratings have dropped consistently is not correct, given the ratings had rebounded in 2020 in a big way before COVID brought down the TV ratings for every show. AEW can be better than they are, but to compare them to WWE seems silly. 

That said, Omega I don't think is in the top 5 ratings mover in AEW. When he is put in a focused storyline like Page and the implosion of the Elite, he can be great. But left to his own devices, he would rather do dorky non-comedy with Nakazawa instead. 

[Laz]

8 hours ago, MoS said:

 

Covid does not stop being a relevant reason for the drop in ratings just by adding "regardless of COVID". Unless you mean since their debut. Which is correct, but to say the ratings have dropped consistently is not correct, given the ratings had rebounded in 2020 in a big way before COVID brought down the TV ratings for every show. AEW can be better than they are, but to compare them to WWE seems silly. 

That said, Omega I don't think is in the top 5 ratings mover in AEW. When he is put in a focused storyline like Page and the implosion of the Elite, he can be great. But left to his own devices, he would rather do dorky non-comedy with Nakazawa instead. 

I don't mean "regardless of COVID" as if to say it hasn't had an effect, I mean it in the sense that the Dynamite ratings have been in a decline since the first show of 2020, outside of a handful of spikes in February. It would have been ridiculous to expect the company to continue hitting its 1.4 million numbers of its debut, but it hung around the 850,000-980,000 range until mid-January 2020, barring the holiday shows.

And I do think a comparison to WWE is apt as it's not like TNT hasn't been advertising the program, pushing the show, or the company hasn't had an incredible amount of positive press in/out of "da business." Their merchandise is carried in a major retailer geared towards nerd culture, which, despite any personal opinions, is a major deal. If you're priming the general public for a new take on a known medium, giving it major television hours and setting it up for success, but it continues to struggle to crack a larger audience that is even half of the competition's? There's a sign you're doing something wrong.

I don't even necessarily think Omega is the wrong move, but I will say that acting like he's a big star because a handful of diehards love him, especially when there's a growing vocal continent of that same base who cannot stand him, is a little presumptuous. He's not moving the needle in any legitimately measurable way and, if we're being honest, there are other talents whose star power is greater than his by virtue of having worked, on a major level, for the largest company in the medium's history.

Mox is a bigger star. Cody is a bigger star. As much as I may hate his act, Matt Hardy is a bigger star. Jericho is, without a doubt, a bigger star. This puts Omega at #5 in terms of star power for his own company.

...why are we doing this in the Corny thread? This definitely warrants its own separate discussion.

[MoS]

35 minutes ago, Laz said:

I don't even necessarily think Omega is the wrong move, but I will say that acting like he's a big star because a handful of diehards love him, especially when there's a growing vocal continent of that same base who cannot stand him, is a little presumptuous. He's not moving the needle in any legitimately measurable way and, if we're being honest, there are other talents whose star power is greater than his by virtue of having worked, on a major level, for the largest company in the medium's history.

Mox is a bigger star. Cody is a bigger star. As much as I may hate his act, Matt Hardy is a bigger star. Jericho is, without a doubt, a bigger star. This puts Omega at #5 in terms of star power for his own company.

This I agree with. And fair point regarding the inability to grow its core audience. And yeah, this definitely deserves its own thread. 

To keep this connected to Corny, he has made the point about the need to expand its audience, and it's a valid point. I am not sure Corny's vision of pro wrestling would be able to do the same either, though. Maybe it can, if it has the best talents who can execute his vision, but his model is also an inflexible one, and that, coupled with his infamous temper, has led to several problems between him and multiple promotions. 

[Big Pete]

The whole Becky Lynch diatribe just came across half-cocked. Like others have pointed out, Jim was under the impression that Becky Lynch has been portrayed as a Stone Cold type when really she just comes across as her own person. If anything, her sharing this moment with the world in the fashion she did felt on par with the character. The WWE actually handled it well and while the carnies wanted there to be an angle, that moment attracted just as much if not more attention since it came across as real.

If half the roster was pregnant maybe I'd understand the need to have the conversation but the whole diatribe just came across ill-informed.

To their credit, they addressed the situation again and while it began with Corny going 'y r u so mad tho' they did walk back a couple of points. Last pointed out Hulk Hogan took time out to be there with Linda for the birth of their first child in '88 and Jim walked back his point about money because of the nature of guaranteed contracts. The lesson of this whole fraccas should be gathering all the relevant information before going off, but Corny is going to keep being Corny.

I'll echo Thread Killer's sentiments around Jim's improvised Archer promo, that was fantastic and he delivered a similar one not that long ago for Jacob Fatu that was also really good.

While Jim does go 'full Corny' on Omega from time to time, I don't think it's completely unjustified. By design, Kenny is going to get a reaction out of you. Either you love the overly goofy tongue in cheek highly acrobatic style of wrestling or he's so over the top it's difficult to get invested emotionally. It reminds me of a story Raven shared on a shoot interview where he got mad at Stevie because he delivered his 'Big Dick Dudley' joke wrong. Instead of acting oblivious, Stevie winked at the camera which hurt the joke entirely and Stevie for the life of him couldn't understand why. Omega is constantly winking at the camera like a Looney Tunes character, rarely letting himself get lost in the moment.

[The Thread Killer]

22 hours ago, C.S. said:

If I ran a wrestling promotion and the Mafia/Yakuza/whoever got its claws into me and said "hire either Jim Cornette or Vince Russo, or else..." I'm hiring Russo. 

Not a good decision either way, but at least Russo isn't an embarrassment to the entire industry (as much) on a weekly basis the way Cornette currently is.  

Cornette might be an embarrassment for what he says and does on his "own time" as was proven when he tried to work for the NWA. (Although Vince Russo is hardly without stain in that area himself.) But if I'm starting a Pro Wrestling company, at least Cornette also knows a ton of stuff about how to format television shows, edit, produce and about a million other things that Russo literally has no clue how to do. Even though some people love to shit all over SMW and OVW, Cornette was booking, producing and editing those TV shows almost by himself.  You can criticize the actual booking, but there is no way in hell Vince Russo would even have the faintest clue how to do any of those other things.

Do you remember when Vince Russo went to WCW and got sent home after a couple of months due to his insane booking?  WCW brought Eric Bischoff back from exile specifically to try and reign Russo in creatively and work with him, much like Vince McMahon had to do with Russo in the WWF.  At first, Bischoff actually liked Russo personally and wanted to work with him. (This was before the Bash at the Beach 2000 incident, which spelled the end of Bischoff and Russo working together.)  Bischoff has said one of the first things he did is sit down and meet with Vince Russo, and asked for a written outline of Russo's creative plans for the next 8 weeks.  Bischoff claims Russo actually got angry, defensive and emotional and claimed that wasn't how he worked...he didn't plan things ahead like that?!

Jim Cornette has confirmed that (and there is zero love lost between Cornette and Bischoff.)  Cornette claims that Russo was never able to provide Spike TV with usable show formats ahead of time, and when he did they were handwritten and riddled with spelling errors.  One of the reasons Jim Cornette was able to work in TNA so long, is because the television production staff couldn't work with Vince Russo, he was pretty much banned from the TV production truck during shows, because he literally had no clue how to direct or produce Pro Wrestling on television.  Jim  Cornette's main job in TNA was to direct the action in the TV truck and act as a buffer between Vince Russo and the production staff. If you don't believe Bischoff or Cornette, Dutch Mantell (who actually doesn't seem to mind Russo) has pretty much confirmed the same thing.  Russo would write "scripts" and hand them in, but he had no idea how to do anything else.  Face it, there is a reason this guy has never worked again in Professional Wrestling.  He's pretty much useless.

That is not the kind of guy I would hire for my Pro Wrestling company. Besides, the embarrassment with Russo might not come over the stuff he says outside the ring (although I would hardly guarantee that) but there would definitely be embarrassment when people saw the crap he put on television.  Keep in mind, this is a guy that Dixie Carter had to pretend to fire and secretly keep on the payroll, because Spike TV wanted nothing to do with his so called "writing." And then the moron accidentally outed himself and pretty much ruined TNA's relationship with Spike TV because he didn't know how to stay hidden.

5 hours ago, MoS said:

To keep this connected to Corny, he has made the point about the need to expand its audience, and it's a valid point. I am not sure Corny's vision of pro wrestling would be able to do the same either, though. Maybe it can, if it has the best talents who can execute his vision, but his model is also an inflexible one, and that, coupled with his infamous temper, has led to several problems between him and multiple promotions. 

I actually agree with this point.  As much as I agree with many of Jim Cornette's opinions, I don't think his vision of Pro Wrestling would work in 2020.  I think if you gave him an unlimited budget and access to whatever talent he wanted, he'd probably still be unable to produce a watchable Pro Wrestling product for a significant period of time.  I think a lot of his opinions are totally valid, that modern Pro Wrestlers need to calm the fuck down with all the perpetual motion and countless spots, they're burning out the crowds.  I think they need to focus on psychology and tell a damn story in the ring.  I think there needs to be much clearer lines between faces and heels.  I think the majority of today's Pro Wrestlers couldn't cut an unscripted promo off the top of their heads to save their lives, and that's pathetic.  I think all so-called "writers" should be fired and Pro Wrestling creative should be handled by people with experience in the Pro Wrestling business.  I think Pro Wrestling would greatly benefit from more realism and less self-referential comedy. I think modern "garbage wrestling" is exactly that...garbage. I still think old school, traditional, competition based Pro Wrestling could work in 2020.  But I don't think Jim Cornette could adapt and make it work.

However, ideas like "Seth Rollins needs to hide his relationship status so he comes across as a sex symbol" are just antiquated and wouldn't work in 2020. Like it or not, the territory days are over, kayfabe is dead and buried and those things aren't coming back. I don't agree with Jim Cornette's opinions on a lot of talents. I despise so-called "modern wrestling" but I still think a lot of modern talent have a lot to offer, with proper production and coaching.  But Jim Cornette would not be the guy to offer that coaching.

Jim Cornette has made his choice.  He has retired from managing and he has now officially retired from broadcasting following the NWA debacle.  He has even greatly cut down on his public appearances (before the pandemic.)  Cornette has made the decision to focus on his collectible's business and focus on using his podcasts as his platform to act as a critic of modern Professional Wrestling.  He can't contribute to modern Pro Wrestling anymore,  he doesn't want to and I don't think he should.  He has value as a historian and critic.  He certainly has comedic value.  But his days of actively contributing to modern Professional Wrestling are officially over. He doesn't want to, and honestly I don't think he could.  Pro Wrestling has passed him by.  Whether that is good or bad, depends on how much you like Jim Cornette.

[Strummer]

On 5/17/2020 at 12:50 PM, Loss said:

If I remember right, Dana Brooke was hired and has gotten so many chances because Vince and HHH are really big fans of her background in competitive bodybuilding. But it hasn't translated at all, as we know.

 

Just to add  Dana was supposed to have a big singles match against Charlotte at WM 32 but it was dropped when she failed to get over.

i remember it being reported she was more of an HHH project than Vince. Although both were behind her 2015/2016 push.

and I kinda think her current gimmick of "lovable dumb jock that just can't get out of her own way but keeps on chugging along" has to be some sort of rib on her

[NotJayTabb]

Yeah, when you listen to Cornette actually break down a wrestling match, you can see his value far exceeds that of Vince Russo. For starters, Cornette hasn't managed to get a show kicked off a network with his mere presence like Russo does. But also, when you listen to him break down the psychology of tag team wrestling in his review of Omega/Hardy vs LAX, you can see his mind for wrestling. I thought him breaking down how a hot tag works, with how much offence the FIP should get before making the tag to maximise the drama, was genuinely fascinating stuff. 

[William Bologna]

Cornette's better when he talks about things he loves than when he talks about things he hates.

[Loss]

100%. I would love if his podcast was just his honest take on wrestling history without the gimmick, but the gimmick is what too many of his listeners want, I guess.

[The Thread Killer]

I think Brian Last bears a lot of the responsibility for that, at least when it comes to the Drive-Thru.  The Monday podcast is supposed to be nothing but Cornette answering questions from the fans, and I used to love it.  In fact, I used to listen to the Drive-Thru exclusively, because Cornette used to make an effort to limit his ranting about modern wrestling and politics to the Jim Cornette Experience on Thursdays.  Brian Last used to select questions for the Drive-Thru podcast about the Territories, Pro Wrestling History and Cornette's career.  The more popular Cornette has become, the less educated his fan base seems to be getting.  The questions are getting dumber, I'm sad to say...or Brian Last is ignoring the interesting questions that get sent in, in favor of sensationalism.  If you go back and listen to an old episode of Cornette's Late Night Drive-Thru from two years ago, and then listen to a recent episode, there is a very noticeable difference.

Lately Brian Last seems to only select questions that seen specifically selected for the express purpose of sending Cornette into full on rant mode.  In some ways, Cornette is almost becoming a parody of himself.  Cornette's newer fans don't seem to care about Pro Wrestling history or even Jim Cornette's career, they just want to hear him scream and yell and insult AEW. Lately I've noticed that Brian Last is also making sure most of the questions aren't even historical in nature, they're usually about things that happened the previous week in Pro Wrestling news.  "Did you hear what Ronda Rousey said about Pro Wrestling being FAKE this past week?  What's your take, Jim?"  Cue rant.  It's very disappointing. If Cornette and Last are to be believed, their weekly downloads and listener numbers are at an all time high. His podcasts are apparently regularly getting 250,000 to 300,000 downloads a week.  As a result, Brian Last claims he is getting swamped with questions for the Drive-Thru every week.  You'd think more questions would mean better selection and more interesting answers, but apparently all it means is more questions about AEW. 

I remember a few weeks ago, a fan asked a question about Fritz Von Erich and how he was able to turn babyface after pretending he was basically a Nazi.  Not only did Cornette answer that question, but he ended up basically explaining the entire history of Texas Pro Wrestling.  That is the Jim Cornette I want to hear.  That's why I listen to the podcast.

[Loss]

I agree. When I saw that Brian Last presented him with a listener question asking if Otis was the modern Dusty Rhodes, all I could think was, "Please stop trolling."

[sek69]

Jim spending all his time getting worked up over modern wrestling is very similar to Dave spending too much time giving attention to trolls on Twitter. Both say it's good for business but you have to wonder at what cost? We're going to have a whole generation of people who only see Cornette as "guy who hates AEW and is prone to saying problematic stuff" and Dave as "guy who can't help but try to correct everyone with an egg icon obviously having a go at him" instead of both being absurdly vast resources of wrestling history. 

[C.S.]

Seth Rollins on Jim Cornette:

Quote

Jim Cornette recently criticized Becky Lynch for getting pregnant while being a top star in WWE. Now, Seth Rollins has spoken out against the former wrestling manager’s “misogynist” comments.

During an interview on Corey Graves’ “After the Bell” podcast, Rollins addressed Cornette’s rant.

“It hurt my feelings on a personal level, because Jim Cornette is someone who is a legend in our industry, and he is someone I have personally worked with in Ring of Honor,” Rollins said. “For him to come out and say some real negative things, some real misogynist things about women in general, and pregnancy in the industry. It kinda caught me off guard and made me lose a lot of respect for somebody that a lot of people had already kind of lost respect for, and I was still holding on to hope that somewhere along the line there was a personal connection between Jim and I, that he would think twice before making some egregious comments about women, about my wife, that were just completely – I can’t even forgive them. I don’t even want to repeat them.”

For those who missed Cornette’s rant, the former NWA announcer blasted Lynch for getting pregnant while making a huge salary as a top star in WWE and said she’s got years before the “Easy-Bake Oven gets shut off.” 

“What would you do if your wife came home and said instead of making a million dollars next year I’m gonna basically just be a raging bitch for the next nine months and then give you more sh*t to worry about around the house,” he added.

Rollins addressed this line of thinking while talking Graves on ATB. 

“Just on a grander scale, the mindset that has to go into that needs to be eradicated. All around,” Seth explained. “It’s just so disgusting and the more I sat and thought about it and talked about it, I knew we had this appearance coming up and we were gonna have this conversation, I wanted to address it just because I want to make it very clear that this is something that I am so proud of my fiancee of what she is doing.”

Lynch announced her pregnancy earlier this month on Raw while relinquishing the Raw Women’s title to Asuka. In a post-announcement interview with People.com, Becky said she’s unsure about her future in wrestling as it’s possible her priorities may shift after bringing a baby into the world.

“The courage that it takes for her at this point in her career to make a decision. Look, she’s thirty-three-years-old, once you hit thirty-five you start running risks with these pregnancies, so she made an incredibly tough decision,” Rollins continued. “She went out there on national television, she had to say things the way she wanted to do, and the fact of the matter is she is the most talented woman I have ever seen in my entire life. She’s gonna be just fine being pregnant, making money, doing alright. So everything that Jim Cornette said is complete nonsense, not just for her but for women all around the globe. It’s been, honestly, for the most part, aside from what we just discussed, it’s been extremely positive and I think everybody is just really happy for us.”

Not sure where the transcript is from - my friend sent it to me - but I assume PWInsider, which I avoid like the plague because the site used to contain massive adware/spyware. Maybe still does? I dunno...  

Update: Actually, it's from WWE Sheet.