The Cancellation of Jim Cornette

[NintendoLogic]

Cornette likened the way he felt when Meltzer defended Marko Stunt to finding out a close friend was a Trump supporter, so jumping on the MAGA gravy train would be a pretty severe volte-face.

[El-P]

7 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

Cornette likened Meltzer defending Marko Stunt to finding out a close friend was a Trump supporter

How stupid is that ? I mean, really, you're gonna talk about a friend like that because you don't agree with his opinion about a pro-wrestler's qualities ? How immature is Cornette, really ?

[C.S.]

1 hour ago, peachchaos said:

It's all he needs to earn an income, sure, but he's clearly not someone who is enjoying their existence on this planet. As time goes on and he ostricizes himself from the mainstream audience and is excluded from all the legends gatherings year after year, it's gonna eat away at him. I really wish he would do the opposite of someone like Trump here and actually get some help and figure out how to exist comfortably in society without causing all this noise rather than isolating himself completely. 

47 minutes ago, El-P said:

That's the saddest part to me. Corny would be revered and loved by a crowd a pro-wrestling fans at legends gathering like Starrcast, where the old and the new generation get together. Instead, Corny is isolating himself, only speaking to a cult of sycophants and will now play victim of "political correctness" to boot...

This is from the Powerrr thread, but I'm responding here. It's already happening.

Renee Young and Paige are openly rejecting him now. Renee Young and Paige!

Combined, they don't have a fraction of Cornette's experience and accomplishments, but Corny did this to myself.

 

[Mad Dog]

The problem with trying to work with Cornette is you can't trust the guy. Yeah, you can bring him in for a convention or something but then you're left holding the bag when he goes off the rails on Twitter or shows up and says something fucking stupid. The only way to win is to not play at all when it comes to him.

[The Thread Killer]

45 minutes ago, Log said:

I doubt it. He seems to fucking hate Trump. 

Yeah, I was going to say...on the occasions that I listen to The Jim Cornette Experience I usually have to sit through at least 10 minutes of him ranting and raving about how much he hates Donald Trump and the entire Republican Party in general.  It's pretty tiresome, actually.

[The Thread Killer]

I have to interject here...there is no way in hell Cornette would have ever wanted to appear on that pointless WWE show anyhow.  He has turned down multiple chances to go back to WWE for a variety of reasons in the past.  He has zero love for that company and most of the people in it.  It was only the Rock n Roll Express getting inducted into the Hall of Fame and them wanting Cornette to induct them that got him back there the last time.  While he was there, he shot an episode of Table for 3, Photo Shoot, and they got his comments on a bunch of topics for DVD's and documentaries they were doing.  People are already starting to act like this whole situation is going to cost him bookings when he's made it abundantly clear over the past couple of years that he doesn't want to be booked anywhere.  I'm sure Cornette couldn't give less of a shit what somebody like Renee Young thinks of him.

[El-P]

10 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said:

People are already starting to act like this whole situation is going to cost him bookings when he's made it abundantly clear over the past couple of years that he doesn't want to be booked anywhere.

Yet he did the WWE HoF.

And he did the first NWA PPV.

And he did MLW.

And he did NWA Powerr.

For a guy who doesn't care about getting bookings anywhere and had stopped working for any company in any capacity years ago when he was doing all those (great) shoot interviews, he sure took a whole lot of bookings in the last two years. He has been more visible in the last couple of years than he's been in a decade as far as appearing on actual pro-wrestling shows.

[sek69]

It's wrestling, anyone with a name will get booked again at some point. Doesn't seem to matter what they say or do. 

[C.S.]

Ryan Nemeth (AKA Dolph Ziggler's little brother) added absolutely nothing of worth to the conversation with this observation:

 

[El-P]

And I don't want to give the impression I take any pleasure in piling on Cornette. Like I said, he's been a favourite of mine forever. What is happening is sad and disheartening, and I don't say that often about people in pro-wrestling. But I know where this is going, and it's nowhere good. A few years ago Corny looked saner and healthier than he'd been in years, as he was saying he should stay away from pro-wrestling. He living happily, doing his podcast taking about old stories. Well, there was the instance of his co-host leaving because she was offended by comments she thought was anti-muslim. But mostly, Corny was shitting on Republicans and doing interviews of old wrestlers, working with KC doing the Back to the Territories and seemingly having fun with life. But he could not stay away nor try to understand pro-wrestling had evolved... 

As much as the comeback of Tony Schiavone is the coolest thing that happened in 2019 as far as old-school guys goes, Corny becoming what is seemingly is now may be the saddest thing. I guess a lot of people had seen the writing on the wall way sooner. I just did not, or did not want to see what was there. 

[Coffey]

5 minutes ago, sek69 said:

It's wrestling, anyone with a name will get booked again at some point. Doesn't seem to matter what they say or do. 

Yeah, Hulk Hogan has showed up in WWE again & what he said was a lot worse than what Cornette said. Not that that excuses Cornette, mind you.

I thought Hogan would be blackballed for life. I was shocked he came back.

[The Thread Killer]

1 hour ago, El-P said:

Yet he did the WWE HoF.

And he did the first NWA PPV.

And he did MLW.

And he did NWA Powerr.

For a guy who doesn't care about getting bookings anywhere and had stopped working for any company in any capacity years ago when he was doing all those (great) shoot interviews, he sure took a whole lot of bookings in the last two years. He has been more visible in the last couple of years than he's been in a decade as far as appearing on actual pro-wrestling shows.

I guess your definition of "a whole lot of bookings" and mine are different. He was scheduled to do a meet and greet before the NWA PPV (which is obviously not happening now) and aside from that he isn't booked anywhere until some fanfest in February 2020. Before this mess blew up, he had been claiming that he probably wouldn't be appearing anywhere until the Spring of 2020 at the earliest. He refuses to fly, and there are a bunch of States he won't go to anymore (New York chief among those.) He's said it a million times on his podcast, he isn't doing any more autograph signings, conventions, personal appearances or stuff like that unless it is somewhere within reasonable driving distance of his home (like The Crockett Cup and NWA 70.)    He has said he will make exceptions for two reasons, if it is a favor for a friend (like the WWE HOF for the RnR's or MLW for Court Bauer) or if they make him a financial offer which is so large he can't afford to turn it down.  When Brian Last asked him what that figure would be, Cornette said it would have to be six figures - which is probably bull, but still. There is a big benefit as a tribute and to raise money for Bobby Eaton coming up in December, (www.DontTellBobby.com) which Cornette said he was going to have to miss because he was going to be working for the NWA.  I am curious to see if he goes to that event now, because he had mentioned that he wished he could be there.

All I am saying is that in this particular case, I believe what Cornette is saying.  Jim Cornette is full of shit just as much as all people involved in the Pro Wrestling business, but in this case I think he's telling the truth. After the whole suicide controversy last month he claimed that while he was actively working in the Pro Wrestling business, he had to bite his tongue all the time and keep his opinion to himself (?!) in order to avoid conflict and presumably costing himself work. For him, I think the turning point was when he quit Ring of Honor in 2012. Cornette claims that once he made enough money to retire he made the conscious decision to start speaking his mind about the Pro Wrestling business, regardless of what the consequences would be to him professionally.  He said this during the same segment where he said he didn't really care if the NWA fired him. Without getting into specifics, he has claimed that aside from his collectibles business and podcasts, he invested his money wisely enough that he doesn't have to work anymore.  He has claimed multiple times that since quitting ROH he has never once had to go looking for work, the work comes to him and he has the luxury of turning a lot of it down.

I know a lot of people want to "cancel" Cornette in response to his comments about modern Pro Wrestling over the past couple of years and especially in light of this latest controversy. They want to see him lose work and be exiled from the business.  My main point is that he has already pretty much exiled himself.  I've said it before and I think it bears repeating, I honestly don't think Cornette gives a shit about the consequences - which is why he says a lot of the shit he does.  People who already love him are just going to love him more, and people who already hate him are going to keep hating him.  It's natural to want to see him held accountable for his words. It's always satisfying when somebody does something wrong and we get to see them suffer the consequences of their behavior.  I'm not convinced that is going to happen in this case.  I'm not sure what they can take from Cornette that he actually wants.

[The Thread Killer]

One thing occurred to me today.  I guess this whole thing pretty much scuttles whatever small chance there was of The Midnight Express ever getting into the WWE Hall of Fame.  Jim Cornette has said many times that he'd probably accept if it was offered, but he'd be basically doing it for Dennis Condrey, Stan Lane and especially Bobby Eaton, because there is a payday involved.  Cornette himself doesn't care if he gets in.  A lot of guys (Steve Austin being one of the most notable ones) have been vocally campaigning for a while to see The Midnight Express get in.  There was even the theory that WWE wanted to see how Cornette behaved himself when he inducted the Rock and Roll Express as kind of a test when deciding if they would induct The Midnight Express.

After this latest incident, Cornette is pretty much radioactive and I'd be shocked if WWE touched him now.  Remember how people reacted to the Moolah Battle Royal?  Imagine if WWE announced Jim Cornette was going into the Hall of Fame.  His detractors would be out with their knives in full attack mode, and there is no way a publicly traded company like WWE would want to touch a situation like that.  If they erased Hulk freaking Hogan from history for three years, no way in hell Jim Cornette gets in.  Which is sad for Condrey and Eaton, since they are both in very poor health and might enjoy the benefits of a HOF induction.  According to Cornette, Stan Lane is totally out of the business and has no idea what is going on in the industry now, so he likely wouldn't care.

[sek69]

The worst part of all this is all the disingenuous white dudes on social media all "I don't see what was racist about what he said, and if you do then you're actually the Real Racist!"  As if fried chicken + black isn't the most distilled racism you can get. It's practically the moonshine of racism. 

[The Thread Killer]

9 minutes ago, sek69 said:

The worst part of all this is all the disingenuous white dudes on social media all "I don't see what was racist about what he said, and if you do then you're actually the Real Racist!"  As if fried chicken + black isn't the most distilled racism you can get. It's practically the moonshine of racism. 

Agreed.  I don't even doubt that Cornette intended the joke to allude to how tough Trevor Murdoch is...but how anybody could make a joke involving black people and fried chicken and not expect a backlash is beyond me.  This reminds me a bit of when Michael Hayes gave that interview where he was acting mildly puzzled that people found the Confederate Flag offensive. He may not have worn it with the intention of offending African-American fans, but you can sure as hell understand why it would offend them.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

4 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

Cornette likened the way he felt when Meltzer defended Marko Stunt to finding out a close friend was a Trump supporter, so jumping on the MAGA gravy train would be a pretty severe volte-face.

At the end of the day he is a carny grifter so that’s what makes me think he would do the turn.  He could go on Dave Rubin and talk about free speech in a second.

[hammerva]

2 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Agreed.  I don't even doubt that Cornette intended the joke to allude to how tough Trevor Murdoch is...but how anybody could make a joke involving black people and fried chicken and not expect a backlash is beyond me.  This reminds me a bit of when Michael Hayes gave that interview where he was acting mildly puzzled that people found the Confederate Flag offensive. He may not have worn it with the intention of offending African-American fans, but you can sure as hell understand why it would offend them.

someone on Twitter made a great point about why are people holding him against the fire for saying something that he said in the 80's.  We aren't judging these comments when it was done in 1985 and not even in 1995.  We are judging based on comments he said in 2019.  Whether the reference was dated is irrelevant to me.    

There is a reason why Disney+ is quite persistent in telling people over and over again that most of their movies and cartoons before 1960ish are racist as hell.  

[C.S.]

It's amazing how many people I didn't even realize had issues with Cornette.

Exhibit A: Kenny King

Exhibit B: Dixie Carter

BTW, King just put easily the dumbest and most obnoxious Twitter wrestler on blast.

 

[Mad Dog]

Jim Cornette shit talks Kenny because RoH was dumb enough to put a tag title on him and he bolted for a better deal in Impact.

[C.S.]

1 minute ago, Mad Dog said:

Jim Cornette shit talks Kenny because RoH was dumb enough to put a tag title on him and he bolted for a better deal in Impact.

Not exactly professional of Kenny, but knowing what we know now about what an unprofessional shitshow ROH is behind the scenes and what an unprofessional shitshow Jim Cornette is in general, I'm more sympathetic toward Kenny for sure.

[Mad Dog]

I mean, knowing RoH at the time, he was probably making 30,000 a year and Impact rolled up and offered him something he could actually live off of.

[hammerva]

13 minutes ago, Mad Dog said:

Jim Cornette shit talks Kenny because RoH was dumb enough to put a tag title on him and he bolted for a better deal in Impact.

Plus Kenny is/was friends of Austin Aries and in Cornette world that is a perfect example of guilt by association. 

[MoS]

There's certainly no love lost between Dixie and Cornette, and to be fair, I can see why he would hate someone who liked Russo so much she would literally lie to keep him involved. I don't know the details, but I believe Russo and TNA management did try to screw Cornette.

[joeg]

Usually in the past when Cornette did or said something offensive, I always defended him as simply being unfiltered or politically incorrect. But this comment really can't be explained or reasoned away. Its just in poor taste and unfunny. It is the exact sort of joke or comment that gets people fired.

[PeteF3]

Russo getting Cornette fired from TNA is what really got the fiery hatred burning in Jim. Cornette says that, past differences aside, they were actually cordial with one another when working in TNA though they tried to avoid actually talking wrestling in order to maintain that. Then Russo goes behind his back and it all went back to shit.