| 1 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CornetteFace_4208.jpg]] |
| 2 | [-[[caption-width-right:300:"They used the [[AscendedMeme Cornette Face]] on my Website/TVTropes page?"]]-] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | James Mark Cornette[[note]]Usually referred to as James ''E.'' Cornette on TV, as a bit of a rib on legendary promoter Jim Barnett, whose particular way of speaking and being spoken of often led him being referred to as "Jimsey" (Jims-E)[[/note]] (born September 17, 1961) is one of the all time greatest and most colorful wrestling managers,[[note]]He won ''Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter's'' "Manager of the Year" award for '''12''' out of the 14 years between 1983 and 1996 that they awarded it[[/note]] promoters and personalities of TheEighties and [[TheNineties '90s]]. A former ringside photographer who was offered a more active role in his profession in 1982 by Christine Jarrett and her son, Jerry; and supposedly funded by his mother's riches ([[ItRunsInTheFamily who made her money selling wrestling merchandise]]), his instantly recognizable Southern accent and angry motormouth have entertained fans for over three decades. |
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| 6 | With signature [[IKnowMaddenKombat tennis racket]] in hand, JC has managed many great tag teams and wrestlers, most notably Wrestling/ExoticAdrianStreet, Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress, Wrestling/JeffJarrett, Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}} and Wrestling/{{Vader}}. He has worked with or for nearly every major pro wrestling group in the United States, from the [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] to Wrestling/{{WCW}} to Wrestling/{{WWE}} to Wrestling/{{TNA}} to Wrestling/RingOfHonor to Wrestling/{{MLW}}, as well as running his own promotion [[Wrestling/{{SMW}} Smoky Mountain Wrestling]] and spending several years in charge of WWE's developmental promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Jim Cornette has become popular with many fans on the internet for his insightful and often acerbic [[ClusterFBomb profanity-filled]] commentaries on the ''Who's Slamming Who'' podcast, leading him to host two podcasts of his own, ''The Jim Cornette Experience'' and ''Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru''. Known for having one of the largest wrestling memorabilia collections in the world, his long efforts to sell it off have incidentally helped younger fans learn some of the rich history of professional wrestling. |
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| 10 | He's also known for [[TrademarkFavoriteFood his love of]] [[BigEater Wendy's triple cheeseburgers]] and [[ArchEnemy seething hatred]] of Wrestling/VinceRusso, Wrestling/KennyOmega, and UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ---- |
| 13 | !!Cornette's pro wrestling career and his podcasts provide examples of: |
| 14 | |
| 15 | * AbhorrentAdmirer: Deconstructed: after posting an excerpt from one of his podcasts talking about his podcast on Youtube discussing his love/hate opinion of Dexter Lumis (short story; Cornette likes Lumis but finds his current character to be a waste of his talent as well as not being able to understand why he's being pushed as a good guy) with a preview picture featuring a drawing of Lumis, the wrestler began using those drawings as his social media profile picture. Cornette was a bit disturbed but took it as a sign of respect from Lumis, who at least on social media, stays in character meaning he was trying to show that he was a fan of Cornette and messing with his head for fun. |
| 16 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: |
| 17 | ** Jim isn't shy about his loathing of Joshi wrestler Maki Itoh. When Itoh was asked if she was Cornette's favorite wrestler, she said Jim acted like he hated her but suspected that he really liked her and was just shy. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpP_uDDK8J8 Jim was thoroughly amused.]] |
| 18 | ** Cornette enjoyed {{Wrestling/Danhausen}} as a character outside of the wrestling business. [[note]] Cornette was first exposed to Danhausen through the website ''Cameo'' and not through promos and matches. Cornette doesn't like Danhausen's promos and matches for the same reasons he doesn't like comedy wrestling. [[/note]] |
| 19 | * AgeInappropriateDress: While managing in Mid-South Wrestling he was more than once forced to wear a diaper, usually as the result of a lost wager. |
| 20 | * AmbiguouslyGay: Cornette managed Wrestling/ExoticAdrianStreet in place of Miss Linda and fans wouldn't let him forget it ''years'' after the fact. He has also made very fawning comments about the Midnight Express while at the same time expressing contempt for many women while hiding behind M.E., but Cornette's reactions to them getting him alone suggest he wasn't so much disgusted by them as [[FoeRomanceSubtext confused and embarrassed]] about finding them attractive. |
| 21 | * {{Angrish}}: His hatred of Wrestling/VinceRusso is so intense that he sometimes has trouble forming coherent sentences when he's extremely angry at Russo. |
| 22 | * ArchEnemy: |
| 23 | ** In {{Kayfabe}} |
| 24 | *** Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson), Wrestling/TheRoadWarriors and then the expies of the former group, the Rockers, especially Shawn Michaels. |
| 25 | *** He once tried to render Baby Doll sterile. |
| 26 | *** [[Wrestling/NelsonErazo Homicide]] in 2006, then Wrestling/KevinSteen through 2011 to 2012. |
| 27 | ** In RealLife, hoo boy... |
| 28 | *** It really doesn't take much for Cornette to go on a patented Wrestling/VinceRusso Rant. The wind suddenly changes direction? '''BETTER SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN RUSSO YOU COCK SUCKER MOTHER FUCKER ASS'''. Cornette has said that he's made it his "life's work" to haunt Russo and prevent him from poisoning any more companies. They've tried to bury the hatchet twice. The first time when Cornette left ROH and [[TenMinuteRetirement felt so done with pro wrestling]] he was willing to be nice to Russo so long as they did not talk to each other about pro wrestling. They didn't, but Russo did pitch the idea of them returning to pro wrestling for an angle, which Cornette rejected when told and was soon back to his usual Russo bashing ways. The second time Russo apologized to Cornette, which surprised Jim so much he thought they might finally move on. But then a fan sent Cornette Russo's phone number, email address and home address, leading Russo to file a restraining order, and Cornette was soon back to his Russo bashing ways. He's claimed that his life's ambition is to outlive Russo so he can [[ExcrementStatement piss on his grave]] and has left instructions that if he is too senile and/or infirm to do it himself, then he is to be ''rolled up to the graveside in a wheelchair''. |
| 29 | *** Kevin Dunn finds Jim to be so tiresome. |
| 30 | ---->'''Jim Cornette:''' KNOW WHAT I'M TIRED OF? THOSE BUCKY BEAVER-LOOKIN' TEETH OF YOURS, MOTHER FUCKER. FUCK YOU. |
| 31 | *** Other backstage personnel he hates include Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis, Tim Horner, Phil Mushnick,[[note]]Who isn't actually in the wrestling business at all, he's a columnist for the ''New York Post'' and formerly wrote for Magazine/TVGuide and is hated by ''everyone'' in the wrestling business because Mushnick has been on an anti-wrestling crusade since the 90s. He's also not very popular with the hip-hop community (or Black people in general, not really surprising when the ''Post'' leans pretty far to the right), or video game players, or any of the athletes he writes about. What specifically set off Cornette was the comments Mushnick made about Wrestling/BrianPillman after Pillman's death, and Vince was more than happy to let Cornette tear Mushnick apart on camera. Twice. Cornette says this was the only time he ever wrote down a promo and then had it fed through the teleprompter, as Vince made him run it by the WWF legal team to make sure Mushnick didn't sue[[/note]] Terry Landell, Ed Ferrera, Wrestling/EricBischoff[[note]]Cornette blew his nose and smeared a huge nasty booger on Bischoff's windshield one time.[[/note]] (though they have since buried the hatchet, as they bonded over their mutual hatred for Vince Russo), and Kenny Bolin. All of these are in RealLife.[[note]]Though he's stated the animosity between him and Laurinaitis was/is purely over business and he doesn't hate Johnny Ace as a person.[[/note]] Bolin is a SitcomArchNemesis compared to the others, as he and Cornette have since reconciled. |
| 32 | *** [[DumbassDJ Bubba the Love Sponge]], although again, he seems to be on better terms with Bubba after Bubba played an excerpt from Jim's "Who's Slammin' Who" podcast on his radio show and not only did he decline to argue against Jim's acerbic points about him, it ended up giving Jim's podcast an extra 30,000 hits, causing Jim to comment that he probably needed to send Bubba a Christmas card. |
| 33 | *** Notably not fond of Wrestling/TheKliq because of the MSG Incident and them exposing the business and destroying kayfabe. He has a deep level of vitriol for Wrestling/ShawnMichaels. Cornette was on the creative team at a time when Michaels was the top draw in the company and was extremely difficult to work with, though his opinion of Michaels ''slightly'' softened after watching Michaels's A&E Biography and seeing that Michaels was truly sorry for his previous behavior. Cornette's view of Wrestling/TripleH has also improved, even going on record praising Triple H for his handling of Wrestling/{{WWENXT}}. He doesn't even refer to him derisively as "the son-in-law" anymore. He also said he never really had a problem with Wrestling/SeanWaltman (Cornette even apologized for the "They only keep you around so they can laugh at you when you get drunk and throw up on yourself" promo)[[note]]Waltman being the one Clique member not involved in the "Curtain Call" probably helps[[/note]], however he still ''hates'' Wrestling/KevinNash (and the feeling is mutual[[note]]Though [[https://youtu.be/pQ8lALEFoV4?t=234 Nash has said he does respect Cornette and generally likes him]], but if Cornette is going to continue to bury him over the "Curtain Call" incident then Nash will respond in kind[[/note]]), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYlNCiA5YMA you can almost hear him dying a little bit inside when he realizes he's about publicly say he agrees with something Nash said]]. |
| 34 | *** Mark Madden. For lying about him and being an overall heartless coward who allegedly threatened to sue a promoter and take money intended for ailing referee Brian Hildebrand's medical bills when he learned Cornette would fight him on the spot if he saw him due to their bad history. |
| 35 | ---->'''Jim Cornette:''' I BOUGHT YOU FUCKING WENDY'S, YOU FAT COW! |
| 36 | *** Wrestling/KennyOmega. Their relationship started well enough before Omega, Cornette claims, lied to Ring of Honor about a foot injury in order to have some of the sillier matches (one of Cornette's tried and true {{Berserk Button}}s) in the history of Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling (to say nothing of his independent circuit work in World Wonder Ring STARDOM and Wrestling/DramaticDreamTeam). Since then, Cornette became sharply critical of Omega's in-ring style, which he views as hammy and over-the-top. [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]] making Kenny one of its Executive [=VPs=] put the promotion on Cornette's shitlist, to the point where Cornette on a podcast pondered if Omega may be even more his complete opposite than even Vince Russo. |
| 37 | *** The Gangstas, especially Wrestling/NewJack. They ran afoul with each other over a shady business deal and talked smack about each other for years. They finally made up years later when the Gangstas showed up during the filming of a Shoot interview while jokingly serenading Cornette with "Why Can't We Be Friends" (Corny loved it and immediately hugged them both to put the beef to rest). When Jack passed in 2021 Cornette eulogized him on his podcast and expressed gratitude that they were able to make up before he died. |
| 38 | *** Wrestling/JoeyRyan, whom he calls a "frustrated preliminary wrestler", a "no-talent piece of shit" and "the dick guy", whose antics are entirely based around what, Cornette considers, are shameless shock value, violations of the boundaries of good taste, don't require athleticism or charisma to perform, and drag the legitimacy of the business through the mud. This started when Ryan asked Ring of Honor for more money, and unlike even Wrestling/ColtCabana or The Young Bucks, Cornette did not even try to help Ryan, suggesting they find a fifty dollar local {{jobber}} instead. It escalated when Ryan started doing Sexxxy Eddy-type comedy in Dramatic Dream Team and reached its peak when Ryan started a promotion bordering on softcore pornography propped up by a hardcore porn company. Joey Ryan has taken it personally, often trying to pick fights with Cornette on social media. Or he used to, until Cornette was more or less proven right about Ryan when Ryan was hit with over a dozen sexual misconduct allegations and [[PersonaNonGrata he hasn't been seen in wrestling since]]. |
| 39 | *** Wrestling/{{Ryback}} for having an undeservedly high ego, working stiff, especially regarding his habit of hurting other wrestlers, having unrealistic goals and attitudes (namely for believing that all wrestlers should be paid the same amount), being a poor man's Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}, and his increasingly unhinged social media presence. Although it was initially seen as one-sided, when he made comments in return about Cornette, it was obviously seen as a mutual disliking. |
| 40 | *** Ironically, on the exact opposite end of the tonal spectrum, {{Garbage Wrestler}}s in general, for almost all of the same reasons. He has some respect for Atsushi Onita, Tarzan Gotoh, Wrestling/MasatoTanaka and Wrestling/{{FMW}} for the most part, feeling they were talented guys who needed a change and simply went "too far". With that as the root, the further along the garbage wrestling stem one gets from FMW the less amount of respect Cornette is likely to have for it. He hates IWA Mid-South and promoter Ian Rotten in particular for souring the entire state of Kentucky on pro wrestling by having blood baths in schools. Then for Rotten (who did seem to learn ''[[DoWrongRight some]]'' lessons) allowing [[OverlordJr his son]] to [[HistoryRepeats sour the entire state of Indiana]]. |
| 41 | *** Jim Herd, who Cornette holds directly responsible for driving himself and Stan Lane out of WCW. He's also stated that Herd's creative decisions and interference damaged WCW so badly that they were left to recover until the Wrestling/MondayNightWars and especially the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder finally got the company hot again. |
| 42 | *** Wrestling/PaulHeyman, although relations have eased considerably and [[WorthyOpponent they have always held each other in high regard as managers and bookers]]. Cornette has also said that the hostility between the two was way overblown, pointing to his appearance on an ECW show in 1997 as proof. He's also said that the supposed hostility between the two while they were in WCW together was actually a [[WorkedShoot complete work]] on their part, they were just so dedicated to their angle that they even wanted ''the other wrestlers'' to think they hated each other (and it worked.) The hostility only began when Heyman convinced [[Wrestling/NewJack The Gangstas]] to no-show their last match in SMW, though as noted above Cornette is ''not'' a fan of the "hardcore" wrestling ECW presented and to this day blames Heyman for the popularity of garbage wrestling in North America. |
| 43 | *** Wrestling/BrockLesnar, for having no passion or respect for wrestling, bullying the ring crew, only working when he has to, [[OnlyInItForTheMoney only being in the business for the money]], and for groping Cornette's girlfriend during a spot, after which Jim told Lesnar he'd just shoot him if he did something like that again. It didn't help that at the time Syn had recently had her lady bits pierced; when Brock press slammed her he was supposed to go gentle on the crotch region. Him grabbing her hard instead was a serious breach of locker room trust, bringing Brock's willingness to protect his fellow workers into question. That being said, Cornette has generally praised Lesnar's work on camera. |
| 44 | *** His wife, Wrestling/{{Sable}}, gets even less love from him, citing her egotistical attitude, having no skills in the ring, getting by purely on both [[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful her looks]] and [[SleepingTheirWayToTheTop her screwing the right people]], setting off the trend of "pretty women who can't wrestle" that lasted for over a decade, and having no respect for the business altogether. He also expressed disgust at her pushing out/shafting legitimately entertaining colleagues or friends of his that had potential to go further and cared about wrestling, namely [[Wrestling/TammyLynnSytch Sunny]] and Wrestling/MarcMero. The comparisons drawn by him of her to Wrestling/UltimateWarrior hasn't gone unnoticed by the public either, even among Corny's detractors. |
| 45 | *** He really seems to hate Wrestling/OrangeCassidy, due to Cassidy's propensity to wrestle comedy matches with his hands in his pockets. He even goes as far as refraining from referring to him by name, calling him "My little dog Pockets" instead. |
| 46 | *** Wrestling/JoeyJanela, who he loathes as a talentless and unprofessional {{Garbage Wrestl|ing}}er. Similar to Orange Cassidy, Cornette rarely refers to him by name, instead referring to him by disparaging names, such as "Jelly Nutella" (after claiming that his "un-athletic" body looks like "the jelly on the edges of a biscuit"). During an AEW match Janela once shouted "[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck you]], Jim Cornette!" into the camera. Cornette's response? |
| 47 | ----> '''Cornette:''' Tony Khan, if you're listening - and we all know you are - tell your guys they can feel free to mention my name on your '''nationally televised''' wrestling program any time they like. ''I encourage it!'' |
| 48 | *** He dislikes the republican party in general but he ''hates'' UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump in particular. He actively stumped for UsefulNotes/JoeBiden on his podcast in the 2020 election, making impassioned speeches about his very real fear that the country could not endure four more years of President Trump. After Biden was declared the winner, all of his rants before and after the election were edited into a supercut that clocks in at just over an hour. |
| 49 | *** After a bad experience with his cable internet provider Spectrum, he has not held back his distaste for them. |
| 50 | *** Kast Media and their CEO Colin Thomson, for stealing ad revenue from Cornette's podcast (and many others) and then going bankrupt. Cornette explains the whole mess [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBlY3zUpBck here]][[note]][[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBlY3zUpBck&list=PLAYwRejbLOEOccWhdXYxyeMnqbSPv5Lli Now a full playlist!]][[/note]], litigation is ongoing. His co-host/producer Brian Last has stated that he's starting a podcast called "Does Colin Thomson Owe You Money?" so all the other people ripped off by Kast Media can tell their stories. |
| 51 | *** Ex-WWE wrestler Top Dolla joined the list in November 2023 when he posted in a social media thread thread started by singer Music/BillieEilish about body shaming that he was shamed by a "60 year old documented racist that called me a whale and a manatee", also saying that he'd "take care of" the 60 year old in question if he ever saw them in person. He never mentioned Cornette by name but everyone knew who he was talking about (see EmbarrassingNickname below for why Cornette was doing this)[[note]]He also more or less refused to dignify the racism accusation with a response, saying "I don't hate ''all'' whales and manatees, just the ones that are lousy workers!"[[/note]], Cornette responded in his usual fashion with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR0QI3J0FPc a 20 minute burial]] of Dolla on his podcast, capping it off with this closing remark: |
| 52 | ----> '''Cornette''' So point is, [[EmbarrassingNickname Flopper]], if you keep your piehole shut and go about your business we're done, because I don't... really care. But if you continue to run your ever-lovin' yap about people that are more famous and more equipped to answer back than you, then this can go on and on. Otherwise, we're done here, you're dismissed, and if I need you ''I will send for you''. Thank you very much. |
| 53 | *** Tony Khan has now joined these hallowed ranks after the 2023 Worlds End PPV. Jim said in the Jim Cornette Experience episode 323-324 about Tony's booking- "and I thought [[Wrestling/VinceRusso Russo]] was bad!" and that Tony was "Vince Russo on methamphetamines". Yes, there is now [[CueTheFlyingPigs someone worse than Russo]]. |
| 54 | * AscendedMeme: |
| 55 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGOVOYBLBdw The Cornette Face]], including a WordOfGod [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aESi5b6Z798 endorsement.]] |
| 56 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaZYWF16TRo "Thank you, fuck you, bye!"]] Now available in [[http://jimcornette.com/store/thank-you-fuck-you-bye-tshirt t-shirt form.]] |
| 57 | * BerserkButton: Jim is notorious for having a viciously short temper all around, but some things just get him going more reliably than others. |
| 58 | ** Say you're at a booking meeting that he's attending. You suggest bringing in Wrestling/HulkHogan, Wrestling/EricBischoff and Wrestling/ScottHall (and possibly Wrestling/KevinNash), give them all a main event push and sweep the undercard under the rug and/or giving them all stupid gimmicks. Or just say something nice about Wrestling/VinceRusso. Please stand back and [[HotBlooded enjoy the fireworks]]. Actually, on second thought, don't do that. The building would probably collapse. |
| 59 | ** To explain how embarrassing he found it, Cornette said he'd rather live next to a child molester than someone who worked in the wrestling business if the only things he knew about the business came from ''Film/TheWrestler''. |
| 60 | ** He nearly ran over Terry Landell and some of his friends with a car after they attacked Cornette's girlfriend. Later Jim threatened to shoot ''Wrestling/BrockLesnar'' for being a {{Jerkass}} to Cornette's girlfriend in OVW. Reportedly, this actually made "The Beast" [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness legitimately worried for his life]], sending him complaining to the other owner, Danny Davis. The two men then explained to Lesnar that trying to muscle his way through a locker room will likely get him shot, especially if he brings someone's significant other into the picture, thus giving Lesnar incentive to start toning his attitude down a bit. |
| 61 | ** He absolutely despises comedy spots. In Cornette's eyes, things like Joey Ryan's 'penis power,' Kenny Omega wrestling a blow-up doll, or Wrestling/ChuckTaylor's 'grenade' utterly disrespect the business and are heinous, unforgivable crimes. On the other hand, he admitted to finding NWA Wildside alum Lazarus hilarious, even though he rather not see Lazarus's antics in actual matches. Cornette's not against comedy in and of itself, especially not if it is at the expense of dedicated mid carders or non wrestlers, but hates the idea of wrestling matches themselves becoming jokes, and hates it even more if opener and main event wrestlers intended to be the top draws are made to look foolish for a cheap laugh. He later expanded further on what separates good comedy wrestling from bad comedy wrestling. The major bullet point was that good comedy in wrestling is treated as a joke in the story, rather than in the metanarrative. Wrestlers, in Jim's point of view, should be embarrassed to be treated as a joke and respond appropriately by getting revenge against whoever humiliates them, rather than treating themselves as a joke and getting the crowd to laugh along. |
| 62 | ** What Cornette has taken to calling "video game wrestling". As a general rule, Cornette believes that wrestlers should be attempting to simulate a fight in a logical way within the confines of the rules of a professional wrestling match, from their attitudes when facing their opponents to the type of moves they perform feeding into the story of the match (with some leeway given for moves that are impossible to perform without cooperation). Matches where the focus is on the type of moves being done, or clearly showing the two competitors working together, as opposed to the simulation of a fight drive Jim crazy. He also has a very low opinion of video game players in general (not helped by many of the wrestlers he hates, such as Wrestling/KennyOmega, being confessed video game fans). |
| 63 | *** Since this "video game wrestling" is mostly based on the Mexican ''lucha libre'' style it's probably no surprise that Cornette isn't a big fan of that either. He's said that he respects the athleticism it takes to do it and has nothing against the actual ''lucha libre'' companies in Mexico (where this style of wrestling is deeply ingrained in the culture and he understands the conditions like harder rings that led to it being what it is), but he doesn't consider it pro wrestling (often referring to it as "aggressive parkour", "gymnastic play fighting", or other derisive nicknames), feels it doesn't mesh with American style wrestling '''at all''', and believes Mexican wrestling needs to just stay in Mexico. He has made exceptions for people like Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr, however. |
| 64 | ** On that note, wrestlers who call wrestling "fake", inside or outside of the ring or dismiss it and the people involved are a MASSIVE one for Jim. He disavowed Creator/RondaRousey when the latter called what she was doing "fake fights", calling her ungrateful among other things, and has frequently said Wrestling/{{Ryback}} does so because has no legitimate talent or desire to improve his wrestling ability. |
| 65 | ** Jim absolutely hates [[GarbageWrestling hardcore]] matches, as he feels they cheapen the impact of using weapon bumps, which he feels shouldn't be done except a few times each year, and only feuds that need one. He especially is critical of women doing hardcore matches, as he feels it completely devalues weapon bumps on men if much smaller and lighter wrestlers suffer no ill effects from doing them. |
| 66 | ** Another big reason why Jim hates hardcore matches is because they often involve stunts and props that can cause horrendous [[CareerEndingInjury career-ending injuries]]. Cornette is a big believer in safety being paramount in matches because it's absurd to risk life and limb for what amounts to a single night's work, especially with the dwindling audiences at most events. |
| 67 | ** One particular weapon that's earned Jim's disdain are thumbtack spots, which he considers to be incredibly dangerous and not particularly visually impressive. |
| 68 | ** Jim also has little tolerance for complicated table/ladder spots that take lots of time to set up and require obvious cooperation. He usually refers to these spots as "playing with furniture". |
| 69 | ** Considering that he spent most of his career managing tag teams he has a pretty fierce loathing for bad tag team wrestling, be it either guys doing the video game and hardcore wrestling or the guys that just don't understand how a tag match is supposed to be structured. Phrases like "He makes his own comeback and hits the flat-footed iceberg tag" (usually with added curse words) are pretty common on his podcast[[note]]Usually when reviewing Wrestling/{{AEW}} matches, Wrestling/{{WWE}} keeps their wrestlers on a much tighter leash, though they have their terrible tag matches too, just not as many[[/note]]. Cornette didn't exactly write the book on tag team wrestling but he definitely contributed more than a few chapters, so this being a particular pet peeve of his is understandable. |
| 70 | ** Much as Jim hates Kenny Omega for personifying many of the changes he hates in the wrestling business over the last few years, he also hates Wrestling/NickGage for personifying the insane GarbageWrestling style he loathes. |
| 71 | * BiasSteamroller: If Cornette hates you, he won't even ''pretend'' to be in any way objective or fair about you, no matter what you do, up to and including sincerely wishing you either to be blacklisted, bodily harm, or that you die. Wrestling/KennyOmega, Wrestling/TheYoungBucks, and Wrestling/OrangeCassidy are just a few (out of ''many'') examples of men he will ''never'' say anything nice about, ever, regardless of how over they are with fans. |
| 72 | ** This goes both ways, as Cornette will give a free pass to anyone he respects from his days as a manager (like Wrestling/RicFlair or Wrestling/BretHart), the children of wrestlers he respects (Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, Wrestling/TessaBlanchard), people he helped train in OVW (Wrestling/RandyOrton, Wrestling/DolphZiggler), or guys he just really likes (Wrestling/CMPunk, Wrestling/{{MJF}}), so long as they're not doing anything ''really'' terrible. For example, Cornette has always been known as one of Wrestling/JeffJarrett's biggest supporters (despite Jarrett's relationship with Vince Russo), which is understandable when Cornette wouldn't be in the wrestling business if not for Jeff's father and grandmother. But a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" match in AEW with Jarrett and Wrestling/JeffHardy offended Cornette with its idiocy to the point that he [[https://youtu.be/CDPIvItMaFo?si=WUUpl_GcCcI4BeEn&t=858 read Jarrett the riot act]] and said that Christine Jarrett would have disowned Jeff had she been alive to see it. |
| 73 | * BigEater: |
| 74 | ** JC is a big fan of Wendy's and hamburgers in general, even from Dairy Queen, which is known more for ice cream. He was once asked if he has ever gone to the infamous "Heart Attack Grill" and he enthusiastically described his eating experience there. So much so that he's had to go on a diet in later years, probably to avoid becoming a FatBastard since his knee keeps him from running his meals off like he could while younger. And so he can outlive Wrestling/VinceRusso, since his life goal now is to piss on the man's grave. |
| 75 | ** Despite his love of fast food he still has ''some'' standards though, as evidenced by [[https://youtu.be/t6elFjS7eOw?t=148 this rant]] against Krystal, a southern burger chain: |
| 76 | --> '''Cornette:''' ''"Krystal? No, no... Krystal is the shame of the south, it's a White Castle imitator, they put mustard on the fuckin' things and they're already rotten enough as it is. Everything that's ever been on the Krystal menu sucks donkey dicks, and they should all be closed down immediately. It's poisonous. That was only place when I lived in Morristown, Tennessee, the only place to get food after 10 o'clock at night, that was the only place to get food, was the Krystal, and I would go hungry. [[Main/AvertedTrope I would go hungry all night rather than eat Krystal]]."'' |
| 77 | ** He's also associated with being a big soda drinker. Diet Sprite/Sprite Zero became associated with him in the wrestling community enough that on ''WebVideo/WrestlingWithWregret'' Brian Zane appeared drinking it whenever he played Cornette. When working in WCW, Cornette once stress-drank so much Pepsi (his favorite beverage at the time) that he ended up in the ER thinking that he was having a heart attack... It was actually a bad case of acid reflux brought on by over-consumption of caffeine and stress. |
| 78 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: Among many reasons why he hates her, he saw Wrestling/{{Sable}} as this. Describing her as an "[[CountryMatters Undercover Cunt]]" in contrast to Wrestling/TammyLynnSytch, who he described as an "[[BitchAlert Upfront Cunt]]".[[note]]Sytch has said in interviews that she agrees with this assessment, of both herself and ''especially'' Sable[[/note]] |
| 79 | * BringMyBrownPants: During The Undertaker's casket match with Vader, Jim Ross said it was a good thing Cornette was wearing dark britches. During the Wrestling/{{Boogeyman}}'s OVW debut, Jim Cornette shat himself. |
| 80 | * BullyingADragon: Though it was understandable why he was upset, Jim Cornette calling out CZW invader Wrestling/NecroButcher to a fight on the grounds [[TakeThat neither of them were wrestlers]] wasn't too smart. Adam Pearce, who had issues with Cornette, still decided to bail him out. |
| 81 | * CausticCritic: Cornette's main claim to fame after being a wrestling manager is being a ''really'' caustic wrestling critic, like Diversol levels of caustic. |
| 82 | * CharacterCatchphrase |
| 83 | ** "Thank you, fuck you, bye.", "Fuck this company!", "I hope you fuckin' diiiie!", "Wouldn't you know who won the pony?", "You couldn't believe him if his tongue was notarized." among many others. |
| 84 | ** Cornette has actually ''trademarked'' "Thank you, fuck you, bye!" and sells collectables with the phrase printed on them on his website. He's also trademarked the "Cornette Face" (shown at the top of this page) and uses a black and white version of it as his logo. |
| 85 | ** Has a tendency to either start or end a sentence with "God damn!". |
| 86 | ** “And I just gotta ask whyyyyyy?” whenever he’s commenting on something in a wrestling angle that he finds illogical. |
| 87 | ** Ironically, "Fuck this company" was what many of the FANS shouted at ''Wrestling/RingOfHonor Killer Instinct'', October 6, 2012, in response to the botched WorkedShoot-style ending of the main event between [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/roh/roh-h.html ROH World Heavyweight Champion]] Wrestling/KevinSteen and Wrestling/JayLethal. This was the last show Cornette booked for [=ROH=], with Lethal attacking him used as a way to write him out of his role. (Booked on screen. He had just been consulting [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] and kept on doing so with changes to address fan complaints, starting with getting himself off screen, which lead to critical acclaim at the next show) |
| 88 | ** "Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy booking", for stipulation matches that happen for no real reason so guys (and girls) can do idiotic spots popularized by Wrestling/{{ECW}}, a promotion that was never profitable and has been out of business for over 20 years. This one is so popular that it's [[https://www.jimcornette.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SHT-LZY on a T-shirt]]. |
| 89 | *** "Hat on a hat" when multiple stipulations are stacked in the same match. |
| 90 | ** "Greener than a pepper tree"[[note]]Peppers don't grow on trees[[/note]] for wrestlers deemed too inexperienced for their spot on the card. |
| 91 | ** "(Looks like he's) cruising on Lake Have-a-Soma" for wrestlers (mainly The Clique and Shawn Michaels in particular) high on prescription drugs[[note]]Somas, also known as Carisoprodol, are a muscle relaxer that was added to the List of Controlled Substances (Schedule IV) by the DEA in 2012. Wrestling/KevinNash, Wrestling/ScottHall, and Wrestling/SeanWaltman have spoken in interviews about how the three of them and Michaels would eat Somas by the handful while they were all in the WWF together, something Cornette witnessed first hand[[/note]], or wrestlers so expressionless and uninteresting that they might as well be. |
| 92 | ** "He/she doesn't have any bad habits" for wrestlers known for always behaving professionally and not having drug issues or troublesome personal lives that bring negative press. Often comes up when a wrestler that ''does'' have bad habits is getting pushed in favor of someone Cornette feels is more deserving. |
| 93 | ** "He couldn't whip cream with an outboard motor" for guys that can't actually fight. Like the "Lake Have-a-Soma" example above this one is almost a reflex to any mention of Shawn Michaels. |
| 94 | ** "Flatter than a plate full of piss" or "Flatter than four o'clock" for a bad promo, segment, or match that doesn't get over with the live crowd, or a segment that buries someone instead of making them look stronger. Particularly terrible examples might also get "Deader than Kelsey's nuts." |
| 95 | ** "They're smoking the hopium" for someone who believes something that has little if any chance of becoming reality (like someone starting a promotion that classifies their wrestlers as employees), which Cornette will usually call a "Who shot John?" story. |
| 96 | ** "He couldn't draw fifteen cents in Chinese money!"[[note]]At current exchange rates 15 U.S. cents is worth 1.08 Chinese yuan[[/note]] for people that, well, can't draw money. He'll occasionally switch it up with "He couldn't draw money if you gave him a green crayon!" |
| 97 | ** When talking about Vince Russo he often says, "He's never been in the men's locker room, and if he was he'd be whistling 'Stranger in Paradise'." |
| 98 | ** "Phony as a football bat" |
| 99 | ** "You know I hate to say 'I told you so', Brian..." |
| 100 | ** "For the people who like that kind of thing, that's the kind of thing those people like", for something which he considers stupid or would be seen as ridiculous by the mainstream but has a dedicated minority of fans. He'll often follow this with "There's even some people that like having their balls nailed to a stepstool!", basically saying that just because you can find a tiny niche market for just about ''anything'' that certainly doesn't mean that it'll be accepted by a wide audience. |
| 101 | ** "If I'm lying, I'm flying and my feet have not left the ground". |
| 102 | ** “You know, it’s like Mama Cornette used to say…” or "like Aunt Lola used to say…" followed by an incredibly folksy metaphor creating a absurdist visual to whatever he’s talking about. |
| 103 | ** According to him his catchphrase to people in the WWE developmental program was "I want a degree of difficulty of 5 and an execution rating of 10, not the other way around", or in the words of Wrestling/DustyRhodes, "Don't do shit you don't know how to do" (Jim will always say this in Dusty's voice and it has basically become one of his catchphrases at this point.) In other words, stick to safe reliable spots instead of something that he would call "video game wrestling", since they'll get about the same reaction from the crowd anyway with a much lower risk of injury and long-term damage to everyone involved. |
| 104 | * ChivalrousPervert: Once said that he loved sick sex things, just not in wrestling. |
| 105 | * ClusterFBomb: |
| 106 | ** JC's commentaries on Who's Slamming Who. |
| 107 | ** His recount of the Dairy Queen visit (which also featured a young Wrestling/ChrisJericho as an instigator). "WE WERE AT THIS GOD DAMNED DAIRY QUEEN IN THE MIDDLE OF FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT KANSAS..." |
| 108 | ** Roughly half of anything Jim says about Vince Russo will be this trope. |
| 109 | ** It's easy to say that Cornette would probably answer "what did you eat for breakfast" with a dozen swear words. "Who in the saint fuck does this little mark bitch think he is to ask what I fuckin' ate..." On a side note: Cornette's favorite comedian? Creator/GeorgeCarlin. No surprise there. |
| 110 | * TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: Is in constant disbelief of how Marina Shafir is a horrible wrestler despite being married to Wrestling/RoderickStrong, a trainer and one of the best wrestlers in the business. |
| 111 | * CombatCommentator |
| 112 | ** He served as a commentator on ''Raw'' alongside Wrestling/JimRoss when Smoky Mountain failed to get a TV deal. Prior to that they were occasionally paired on commentary while both were in WCW. |
| 113 | ** He was the color commentator for the short lived LPWA. Then sat behind the commentary table of OVW television with Dean Hill and also did one of the old Mid-South territories [[SpiritualSuccessor would be successors NWA Mid South]]. Sinclair wanted Jim Cornette to do commentary for Ring of Honor too but he refused. |
| 114 | * CowerPower: Jim would run from the angry wrestlers he wronged to Midnight Express stable mate Bobby Eaton and hug him for protection. |
| 115 | * CreepyCrossdresser: After being banned from Mid-South Wrestling, Jim Cornette snuck into a show by shaving his legs, wearing a dress, putting on a wig and high heels. He then hit Ricky Morton with a purse that had a brick in it while the Rock N' Roll Express was wrestling the Midnight Express. |
| 116 | * CueTheFlyingPigs: Wrestling news observers [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el4U2lulU34#t=10s declared hell to have officially frozen over]] when WWE announced in 2017 [[https://twitter.com/WWE/status/843871526030131200 that Cornette had agreed to come back to WWE long enough]] to induct Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress into the Hall of Fame, despite his infamous vitriolic rants directed at the company and many of its top people. |
| 117 | * DamnedByFaintPraise: |
| 118 | ** One of Cornette's catchphrases in shoot interviews and on his podcasts is to compare someone or something to "the nicest guy in prison." |
| 119 | ** Additionally, Cornette himself was on the receiving end of this when Ole Anderson remarked that he "used to think [Cornette] was a dumbfuck, but so many dumbfucks have come along since that you've moved up the ladder without doing anything." |
| 120 | ** More recently, Cornette has praised Kenny Omega's physique and flexibility, suggesting that he might be better as a ballet dancer than a wrestler. |
| 121 | ** The constant barrage of what Cornette calls "indie outlaw talent" that he's subjected to while watching AEW has caused him to positively reevaluate a lot of people working for WWE, where everyone is fully trained and forced to stay in shape, and working in a much more structured environment. Wrestling/TheMiz was once one of his favorite targets, but Cornette has recently praised him because if nothing else Miz can easily work a match without injuring anyone or completely exposing the business, and he's never been known to exhibit what Cornette calls "bad habits". |
| 122 | ** While [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj7jOTPEBLo&t=443s discussing]] how Vince's business was with Wrestling/ShawnMichaels on top in 1996 (short answer: [[AudienceAlienatingEra not well]]) Cornette actually gives one of these to Wrestling/KevinNash of all people. |
| 123 | --> '''Cornette:''' ''So I never put this together at the time because you're in the middle of it, right? But now with all the hindsight of everything that's gone on the last 25 years... Maybe we shouldn't have fucking blistered Kevin Nash so much for being the lowest drawing WWF champion of all time! Because Shawn didn't do a world of good either.'' |
| 124 | * DeepSouth: Cornette is from Louisville, Kentucky, and he's ''very'' proud of it, his rivalry with Kevin Dunn having more or less started entirely because of Dunn's publicly-noted dislike of Southerners. Having said that, while Jim is proud of where he comes from and is as traditionalist as they come where wrestling is concerned, he almost totally runs against the usual assumptions associated with this trope; he's a self-described socialist and hardline atheist, he's ardently anti-gun and pro-universal healthcare, and he '''''loathes''''' UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump to a degree of vitriol he reserves for very few people.[[note]]As Jim explains it, he actually wasn't very politically aware prior to leaving OVW because up until that point his entire life had been consumed with pro-wrestling. When he took a step back away from the business, he claims he started to notice his money disappearing with the economy crashing, and then started to pay attention to the news because of that, and came to the conclusion that the Republicans were the ones fucking up the country. He still has plenty of promos to cut on the Democrats (mainly since they lost to Donald Trump, who rivals Vince Russo and Kenny Omega for the amount of vitriol that Jim spews against him).[[/note]] |
| 125 | * DefiledForever: In his quest to embarrass Shawn Michaels, Cornette claimed Shawn had done this to Diana Hart-Smith, for them simply being sort of flirty. Her husband, the British Bulldog was trying to have her distract Shawn. |
| 126 | * DesignatedGirlFight: {{Invoked|Trope}} on TNA when he prevented Wrestling/EricYoung and Wrestling/JerryLynn from destroying Traci Brooks with a folding chair (crowd boos) stating he was not going to allow a group of men to beat up a woman even if she deserved it, sicking Wrestling/GailKim on her instead (crowd cheers). {{Averted|Trope}} in OVW, where he had little problem with [[Wrestling/MickieJames Alexis Laree]] ({{face}}) or Synn ({{heel}}) fighting men. He in fact booked Linda Miles almost exclusively against men, even if it was only in dark matches and untaped spot shows, as he believed it was the only way to get a good match out of her(she tended to injure opponents and the ones [[TheGiant large]] enough to reliably protect themselves happened to be men). |
| 127 | * DuctTapeForEverything: He could sometimes be caught taping cookie sheets and dog chains to his tennis racket, though he eventually gave this up in favor of loading the case with bricks instead. |
| 128 | * DudeNotFunny: |
| 129 | ** As a {{heel}} manager in [[Wrestling/{{WCW}} Georgia Championship Wrestling]], Jim was given free reign to basically say anything to get heat, up to and including full-on racist rants. However, one night, while cutting a promo on a wrestler who Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress had hit with a fireball, Jim shouted "his face went up like the ''Challenger''!" As soon as the words left his lips, the studio went dark with an audible hum, and Wrestling/DustyRhodes called him into the control room like a schoolboy to the principal’s office. Dusty simply told him "Kid, don't talk about the ''Challenger''. Go do it again." |
| 130 | ** A short time later while cutting a promo on Wrestling/TheRoadWarriors Cornette made reference to Brian Bosworth, a former UsefulNotes/{{NFL}} player who's name is still used as shorthand for PED use in pro sports decades later. While the office didn't have a problem with this one Hawk wasn't too thrilled about it, and asked that Cornette not imply that he was using illegal substances during promos, as it might make it more difficult to get through airport security checks. Cornette apologized, and would later say that this was the only time a wrestler had a problem with something he said about them on air. |
| 131 | ** In 2019, Cornette was fired from NWA for an on-air comment that Trevor Murdoch was so tough "he could strap a bucket of fried chicken to his back and ride a motor scooter across Ethiopia". Reaction was... negative, to say the least. |
| 132 | * EmbarrassingNickname: Bestows them onto wrestlers he doesn't like during his podcast. |
| 133 | ** '''Kenny Omega:''' "Kenny Olivier" (after Creator/LaurenceOlivier due to him viewing himself as a performer and artist), Twinkletoes [=McFingerbang=], "Harpo Finger Fuck" or just "Harpo" (based on Omega's resemblance to Harpo Marx of the Creator/MarxBrothers, in between the curly blond hair and Omega's in-ring style reminding Cornette of Harpo's pantomime, as Cornette views the former as hammy and over-the-top). |
| 134 | ** '''The Young Bucks:''' "Balding Buck" (Nick), and "Road Warrior Buck" (Matt). Jim retired "Road Warrior Buck" after Road Warrior Animal's death in 2020, and started calling him "Buck Hogan" before settling on "Pie-Faced Buck". Collectively he refers to the team as "The Cucamonga Kids", "The Buckaroos", or "the Hardly Boys", the latter in reference to his belief that the Bucks are less talented Hardy Boyz imitators. |
| 135 | ** '''Orange Cassidy:''' "My little dog Pockets" (or just "Pockets"), because of Cassidy's gimmick of wrestling with his hands in his pockets. Cornette will also often refer to him as "the company mascot", mainly because he's supposedly Tony Khan's favorite wrestler. |
| 136 | ** He calls Cassidy's "Best Friends" stablemate Chuck Taylor "Muffin-Top Taylor" because of Taylor's unimpressive physique for a wrestler. Also "Fuck Taylor", obviously. |
| 137 | ** '''Kris Statlander:''' Kris Flatlander, Kris Flatliner. Cornette has mostly dropped this one in recognition of Statlander dropping her rotten spacegirl gimmick and improving her in-ring work. |
| 138 | ** '''The Best Friends:''' The Puddin' Gang. |
| 139 | ** '''Vince Russo:''' "Shit Stain", "The Archbishop of Talent-Bury". |
| 140 | ** '''Marko Stunt:''' "Marko Stunted Growth", then "Dwarf Dong Sucker" after an indy show where an opponent forced the diminutive Stunt to fellate a dildo. |
| 141 | ** '''Luchasaurus:''' "Dino Douche" (pronounced "Dee-no", not "Die-no"), picked up from an MJF promo |
| 142 | ** '''Joey Janella:''' "Jelly Nutella", comparing his physique with jelly or Nutella filling falling off a cookie. |
| 143 | ** '''The Miz:''' "Frog face", though he wasn't the first [[PhraseCatcher to see Miz and say it]]. [[note]] Cornette generally doesn't use this anymore. His opinion of The Miz has improved substantially following various promos and a feud with Gunther. [[/note]] |
| 144 | ** '''Baron Corbin:''' "The Possum King" during his run as "King Corbin." Now it's "[[TheVonTropeFamily Baron Von Corbin]]." |
| 145 | ** '''Excalibur:''' "Excrement", also "Sockface" because Cornette feels that the lead play-by-play man doing commentary with a mask on looks extremely unprofessional. |
| 146 | ** '''Dave Meltzer:''' "Uncle Dave", since he views Dave like the crazy uncle who hangs around the kids trying to be cool and this is why he puts over AEW in the ''Observer'' constantly. |
| 147 | ** '''Bruce Pritchard:''' "The Artful Dodger". |
| 148 | ** '''Johnny Gargano:''' "Johnny Same-Face", due to Cornette viewing Gargano as having limited facial expressions. Naturally, he refers to his wife Candice [=LeRae=] as "Mrs. Same-Face." |
| 149 | ** '''Tony Khan:''' "Jacksonville Dixie", since he views Khan as a money mark similar to former TNA owner Dixie Carter. |
| 150 | ** '''Chris Jericho:''' "Chris Jeri-COVID" after Jericho held superspreader concerts at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Also "Judas Lung" for the same thing; inspired by Chris Jericho's AEW theme song "Judas" and the fact that COVID-19 attacks the lungs. |
| 151 | ** '''Don Callis:''' "Don Phallus", coined by a fan after podcast co-host Brian Last said that Don looked like a penis in a suit. Cornette liked it and started using it. |
| 152 | ** '''The Dark Order:''' "The Dork Order", "The Dark Odor". |
| 153 | ** '''Brandon Cutler:''' Brandon Cutlet[[note]]"A non-descript piece of white meat. Bland."[[/note]] |
| 154 | ** '''Miro:''' "[[ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} Bluto]]". |
| 155 | ** '''Penelope Ford:''' "[[WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop Penelope Pitstop]]". The first time Cornette used this he ended up trending on Twitter after people not familiar with the cartoon character (understandable when ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' is over 50 years old) accused him of slut shaming. Cornette naturally [[https://youtu.be/f972kQsnxKg?si=huLYSav6PJyreKyM&t=1135 responded]] by ''brutally'' slut shaming her on his podcast. |
| 156 | ** '''Nick Gage:''' "Bank-Addicted Drug Robber" or "Bank-Addled Drug Robber" (or simply "BADR"). Gage being an exponent of the "Deathmatch wrestling" style (i.e. GarbageWrestling, one of Cornette's {{Berserk Button}}s), Cornette hates Gage with a passion, whom he views as an "outlaw mudshow garbage match" guy. He coined both monickers after Gage's arrest for bank robbery while he was deep in the throes of his struggles with addiction, also leading to the name "Methhead [=McGee=]." |
| 157 | ** '''Jon Moxley:''' "The CEO of Moxley Plumbing", any other reference to "Moxley Plumbing", or just "Plumber". Due to the fact that Moxley dresses in street clothes and makes his entrance from the parking lot, coupled with Cornette's perception that Moxley is physically unimpressive, Cornette surmises that Moxley must actually be a plumber. |
| 158 | ** '''Blackpool Combat Club:'''[[note]]Moxley, Wrestling/BryanDanielson, Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta. [[ArtifactName None of those people are from England]], though the stable's founder and former manager Wrestling/WilliamRegal is not only from England, but started his wrestling career in Blackpool.[[/note]] "[[BlackIsBiggerInBed The BBC]]" |
| 159 | ** '''The House of Black:''' "The House of Blech", "The [[Wrestling/AleisterBlack Black]] Fellows" |
| 160 | ** '''Adam Page:''' "Hangnail" Adam Page (rather than "Hangman"), "The Butterfly Jean-Wearing Dipshit"[[note]]He'll also often refer to Page as "the hatchet-headed idiot/fuck/jackoff/etc...", though that's more of a declarative statement than a nickname. This actually comes from Wrestling/CMPunk, who used the insult towards Page during the infamous press conference that sparked off a backstage brawl, Cornette directed the lion's share of the blame for that incident at Page and he's been burying him on his podcast ever since.[[/note]] |
| 161 | ** '''Ethan Page:''' "The Other Page" |
| 162 | ** '''The Lucha Brothers:''' "Felix" (Fenix) and "Penthouse" (Pentagon Jr./Penta El Zero Miedo). A listener of his podcast sent Cornette an email saying that "Penthouse" sounded more like a compliment than an insult, Cornette acknowledged this but said he really couldn't be bothered to come up with anything better. |
| 163 | ** '''Michael Nakazawa:''' "Michael Naka-naka-naka-knock-it-the-fuck-off." |
| 164 | ** '''Wheeler Yuta:''' "Wheeler Useless" |
| 165 | ** '''Satnam Singh:''' "[[ComicStrip/ZippyThePinhead Zippy the Giant Pinhead]]" |
| 166 | ** '''Konosuke Takeshita:''' "Take-a-shit", or just "Take" for short. Subverted in that Cornette actually ''likes'' Takeshita and has generally praised his work, but he can't reliably pronounce "Takeshita" (it's "tuh-KESH-tuh"), combine that with the low-hanging fruit of a guy named "take shit a" and this one is purely for comedic value rather than an insult. |
| 167 | ** '''Will Ospreay:''' "Will Ostrich" |
| 168 | ** '''Jay White & Juice Robinson:''' "[[Music/SnoopDogg Gin & Juice]]", White on his own is "Lightswitch" instead of "Switchblade". |
| 169 | ** '''Ruby Soho:''' "Ruby So-so" |
| 170 | ** '''Mercedes Moné:'''[[note]]The former Wrestling/SashaBanks[[/note]] "Mercedes Moan" |
| 171 | ** '''The Butcher and The Blade:''' "The Fishmonger and The Meat Gentleman." When Allie (aka The Bunny[[note]]aka Blade's real life wife[[/note]]) is with them they become "The Butcher, The Baker, and The Candlestick Maker." |
| 172 | ** '''Rick Knox:''' "The Corpse Referee", partly because he sees every possible violation of the wrestling rule book happen right in front of him but never reacts to any of it[[note]]Knox is the personal referee of the Young Bucks, and is usually the ref for all the other goofy comedy matches in AEW, so Cornette hates him on principle[[/note]] and therefore must be a some sort of zombie or undead, and partly because Knox is very old. |
| 173 | ** '''Aubrey Edwards:''' [[Series/MisterEd Aubrey Ed]], followed by jokes about her looking like a horse. |
| 174 | ** '''Renee Paquette:''' "Renee Moxley-Good"; in reference to Renee being married to Jon Moxley (real name Jonathan Good). He usually gets quite theatrical in his pronunciation, affecting the best RP accent he can achieve with his Kentucky twang. |
| 175 | ** '''Alex Marvez:''' "[[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Officer Barbrady]]" |
| 176 | ** '''All Elite Wrestling:''' "All Friends Wrestling" (due to the rampant cronyism in AEW),[[note]] Ironically, Cody Rhodes coined this one when describing what he didn't want AEW to be perceived as.[[/note]] "All [[Main/PetitePride Petite]] Wrestling" (due to the male roster being about 90% cruiserweights, or as Cornette refers to them, "middle schoolers") |
| 177 | ** '''Game Changer Wrestling:''' "[[GarbageWrestler Garbage Championship Wrestling]]" |
| 178 | ** '''Pro Wrestling Guerrilla:''' "Pro Wrestling Chimpanzee"[[note]]While PWG spells it like "guerrilla warfare" they've leaned into the homonym and use a gorilla face in their logo[[/note]] |
| 179 | ** '''Madcap Moss:''' "Moshpit Jones" |
| 180 | ** '''Bad Bunny:''' "WesternAnimation/BugsBunny" |
| 181 | ** '''Sonya Deville:''' "[[Franchise/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Cruella]]." It doesn't help that she for a time had white streaks in her hair. |
| 182 | ** '''Top Dolla:''' "Flop Dollar", or just "Flopper", thanks to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vMuB71q7Io this]]. He also takes special care to pronounce it "Doll'''ar'''" rather than "Dolla", saying "Just because they can't spell doesn't mean I have to talk like an idiot." |
| 183 | ** He deliberately mispronounces some names such as Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}'s ring name according to its more traditional spelling, (Seamus) as "SEE-mus," [[note]] He temporarily started calling Sheamus by his proper name after gaining several levels of respect for Sheamus following his match with Gunther. He reverted to his previous pronunciation in early 2023, however.[[/note]] [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Asuka's]] as "Oscar", and Seth "Freaking" Rollins' as "Seth [='=]Franklin[='=] Rollins"[[note]]This actually comes from a misprinted WWE advertisement someone sent Cornette, though the podcast is so dedicated to this nickname that they even use it in the titles of the Website/YouTube clips[[/note]]. |
| 184 | *** He also over-emphasizes names of certain wrestlers such as Riho ("REE-HOOOOOOO!") and the aforementioned Miro ("MEE-ROOOOOOO!"). |
| 185 | ** He calls Evil Uno "Pizzeria Uno" taken from the Uno Pizzeria restaurant chain. |
| 186 | ** Omos, the giant of a man who started his career as Wrestling/AJStyles' muscle and tag partner, is called "Almost" because he was pushed to a prominent role while being green or in other words, "Almost a wrestler." |
| 187 | ** He refers to the Arabic commentators used for the Saudi Arabia shows as "Slapko Fudd" and "Fubar Makafakalou". Some wiseass actually edited the page for the ''Greatest Royal Rumble'' on [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] to list Fudd and Makafakalou as the Arabic announce team, which somehow went unnoticed by their editors for a couple years. |
| 188 | ** Even title belts can get one of these, Cornette referred to the AEW All-Atlantic title as the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26P A & P]] championship", after AEW renamed it to the Continental Championship (because All-Atlantic didn't make sense to begin with) he's started calling it the "continental breakfast title". |
| 189 | ** [[https://www.reddit.com/r/JimCornette/comments/svizn5/list_of_corny_nicknames/ This Reddit post]] has a few more that aren't listed here. |
| 190 | * EtTuBrute: He's fell out with former associates Wrestling/ChrisJericho and Wrestling/MattHardy, while claiming AEW ruined Wrestling/CodyRhodes[[note]]Who then returned to WWE and became a top guy[[/note]] and Wrestling/{{MJF}}. After years of Cornette praising MJF for keeping kayfabe, MJF participating in a musical sketch with Jericho was enough to make Cornette briefly swear off complimenting any current wrestlers out of fear they would "betray him" the way MJF did. |
| 191 | * EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: The [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen unseen]] "Mama Cornette" from his early career. |
| 192 | * EveryoneHasStandards: |
| 193 | ** Jim Cornette will call people every name under the sun, but draws the line at the word "retard", as he believes it's insulting to those with real mental disorders. |
| 194 | ** When a fan jumped the rail at an AEW show to attack Chris Jericho (getting punched by Jericho and thrown out by security for his trouble) and later claimed online he did it for Cornette, Jim promptly buried and blocked him for doing so.[[note]]And Jericho actually backed Cornette on this despite the bad blood between the two, telling the fan "You idiot, Cornette would have shoved his racket up your ass and broke all the windows on your car"[[/note]] In his words, the ring is a sacred place, and while he will mock wrestlers like the Young Bucks all day and night, jumping the rail to interfere with the show is unacceptable behavior. He went so far as to agree with a Kenny Omega tweet saying that the fan was out of line! |
| 195 | * ExactWords: |
| 196 | ** Used this to [[KarmaHoudini avoid his just desserts]]. During the [=WWF/NWA=] crossover in the late 90s, Wrestling/TheHeadbangers (working face) faced Cornette's Rock & Roll Express, with the stipulation that if the Headbangers won, whichever Headbanger won the fall would get 5 minutes with Cornette. The Headbangers won by DQ when Barry Windham interfered and knocked Thrasher out with a chair. So the Headbangers won - and Cornette got 5 minutes with an unconscious Thrasher and pinned him after a couple of shitty elbow drops. |
| 197 | ** At the event where he spat in Ed Ferrara's face for mocking Jim Ross's Bell's palsy, he had promised the promoter that he wouldn't punch Ferrara. When Cornette came across him at the event, Cornette decided that he hadn't promised that he wouldn't tell Ferrara off or spit in his face, which Cornette proceeded to do. |
| 198 | * ExcrementStatement: Jim has stated multiple times that he wants to live long enough to piss on Russo's grave. He's even gone on diets to accomplish this. |
| 199 | * {{Expy}}: To Playboy Gary Hart, a young non athlete who tried to buy his way into the wrestling business with his mother's money. Only Jim Cornett was more a ''nerd'' than a playboy. |
| 200 | ** [[Wrestling/PaulHeyman Paul E. Dangerously]] has often been described as an expy to Cornette, with a New York flavor and a big cell phone instead of a tennis racket. |
| 201 | * FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit |
| 202 | ** His on screen persona fits this to a T, but in Real Life this is harshly averted. Cornette has a strong sense of values and morality and is not afraid to stick up for the young talent. |
| 203 | ** He insists his ArchNemesis Kenny Bolin is this [[FatBastard among]] [[VillainousGlutton other]] [[SmugSnake things]]. |
| 204 | * {{Fireballs}}: Back in the NWA. In particular, he singed the hair off the face of Ronnie Garvin, which lead to Garvin stomping on Jim's ass in a steel cage match. |
| 205 | * FixFic |
| 206 | ** His "Rebooking the Invasion" [[http://kayfabecommentaries.com/DVD_GB_JimCornette.html interview with Kayfabe Commentaries]], the booking's actually pretty interesting but stretches credibility at times, for instance, it involves WCW acting as a shell company in opposition to WWE, something he admits Wrestling/VinceMcMahon would never do.[[note]]Interestingly, he does make some semi-joking concessions to reality: Wrestling/LexLuger would never get a job in WWE; Wrestling/TripleH always being booked to win; Wrestling/DustyRhodes losing a Wrestling/WrestleMania match to Wrestling/HulkHogan by DQ due to manager interference (Cornette himself), because Dusty would never job clean in such a match.[[/note]] |
| 207 | ** The same interview also acts as a fix to the Wrestling/ChrisBenoit murder-suicide, as he [[WordOfGod states/decrees]] that in the parallel universe he is describing, it never happened and would never happen. |
| 208 | * ForcedMeme: Website/{{Botchamania}} forced the "Cornette Face" meme and Cornette's phrase "Fuck this company!" |
| 209 | * ForgottenFirstMeeting: Met Scott Dawson of Wrestling/TheRevival when Dawson was an indy wrestler and Cornette was looking for new talent for Ring of Honor and tried to sign him. Dawson reminded him of this when they met at a Takeover event, with Cornette having completely forgotten it despite being a fan of Dawson's. |
| 210 | * FragileSpeedster: He describes himself as never having been an athlete, yet also claims to have been too fast for anybody to catch besides Dutch Mantel, thus avoiding beat downs (and giving him a low tolerance for people who can't run the ropes). Unfortunately, they did not always have to catch him, such as when Cornette tried to assault Shawn Michaels head on [[SuicidalOverconfidence after he had already]] beaten Wrestling/OwenHart and [[Wrestling/AlSnow Shinobi]]. Cornette, predictably, went down even faster. |
| 211 | * GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: This was the gimmick Jerry Jarrett gave him, that all his clients would fire him but he would always get another one soon. It is almost true in real life, too, as he's been fired by WWE, TNA and Ring of Honor but still had people asking for services. |
| 212 | * GoodIsNotNice: Though Cornette is most famous for [[WrestlingManagersAreHeels his heel runs]], he's pretty condescending even as a face. |
| 213 | * GoodLuckCharm: He carries a lucky horseshoe in his tennis racket case, which he obtained when a fan threw it at him in the ring. He deems it lucky because it missed. |
| 214 | * GoofyPrintUnderwear: When he was pantsed while managing Big Van Vader and Mini Vader. Cornette has in fact had his pants pulled down, ripped or otherwise loosened several times over the decades be by other workers, angry fans or his own misteps. Without fail he would always have some tasteless pattern on his underwear. Some of them were [[StylisticSuck handmade by Mr. Cornette himself]]! |
| 215 | * GrumpyOldMan: Jim has qualified more and more for this as time has gone on, espeically now that he's past 60. Age has done nothing to put his profane, acidic nature to bed (even though he ''has'' softened some on comedy wrestlers like Wrestling/{{Danhausen}}). |
| 216 | * HammyHerald: |
| 217 | ** For the Midnight Express. An example from ''WCW [=WrestleWar=] 90'': |
| 218 | --->'''Jim Cornette:''' Please welcome the Kings of the Ring, the Gangster of Love[[note]]Stan Lane[[/note]] and the Sultan of Swing,[[note]]Bobby Eaton[[/note]] Beautiful Bobby and Sweet Stan, the Midnight Express! |
| 219 | ** He also did some ring announcing in OVW. Sometimes prior to interviewing someone going up to WWE, sometimes to announce someone coming down. |
| 220 | * HeroicBSOD: Eulogizing Bobby Eaton on his podcast had Jim broken up and considering walking away from it. |
| 221 | * HotBlooded: He has a tendency to become really worked up over what's done to his beloved sport: changing it from a competition to a spectacle, having wrestlers compete in full contact contests like the Brawl for All or making wrestling too violent and extreme will elicit at least a 10-20 ClusterFBomb. Bring up someone like Vince Russo, Kenny Omega, or Kevin Dunn and he will lose it completely. |
| 222 | * HeelFaceTurn: Made his first ever Face turn during the Midnight Express' [[EvilVersusEvil "Battle of the Brutes"]] feud with the Original Midnight Express. |
| 223 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 224 | ** A southern traditionalist fervently against the glitz and glamour of Sports Entertainment...that just happens to be an Internet-savvy atheist liberal firebrand. |
| 225 | ** Despite his hatred of video games players and wrestlers who frequently talk about "geeky" subjects, Cornette is an avid comic book fan. He's discussed his collection on his podcast several times. In 2019 he was even involved in the creation of a comic telling various backstage stories throughout his and other careers called ''Behind the Curtain – Real Pro Wrestling Stories'', with Creator/IDWPublishing publishing and distributing it. |
| 226 | * IDidWhatIHadToDo |
| 227 | ** Cornette was a fan and friend of Buddy Landell whom he feels Terry ruined the good name of) and wasn't happy about firing him from Smoky Mountain Wrestling, but Cornette felt Buddy had exposed the business[[note]]By singing "[[Theatre/ShowBoat Ol' Man River]]" into the mic during an I Quit match[[/note]] and wasn't going to give him a pass. |
| 228 | ** He actually suggested a double cross himself before the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob, except Jim wanted to put Wrestling/KenShamrock, a legitimate fighter, over because he would shoot, for real, if Bret would not do the job. Bret shot the match down, it had to be he beat Shawn in Montreal. Because of how troublesome it was Cornette was in support of what happened but treats it as ShootTheDog to keep the title and hates that Vince, Shawn, Wrestling/TripleH did it. |
| 229 | *** In June 2019, Cornette detailed on his podcast that he actually came up with the finish. He says he suggested it hypothetically because Vince [=McMahon=] rarely took his suggestions. He also spoke up out of anger and frustration that Vince wouldn't sign off on the simplest solution: a Hart Foundation run-in/DQ finish.[[note]]Because Vince didn't trust Wrestling/EricBischoff to not use the fact that he had the then-WWF Champion under contract in some harmful way.[[/note]] Cornette didn't know Vince was actually going to use the finish until he saw it live that night. |
| 230 | ** Cornette had no interest in booking when he went to TNA, but at times felt the booking was so bad that it would be unconscionable not to lean in and give his opinion (from the beginning he said it was time for Jarrett to let someone younger be World Heavyweight Champion). Again with GFW, he had little interest in the workings of the company but did let a few of his opinions known, most notably being against suing Matt Hardy for the Broken! gimmick. |
| 231 | * IKnowMaddenKombat: The tennis racket, usually kept inside a gaudy, fur-trimmed case. Once the Midnight Express loaded a horseshoe into the case to make Jim's racquet swings more powerful. In RealLife, Cornette claims to have used the racket to fight off several rabid fans who tried to assault him back in the territory days.. Ironically, his promos video for his debuts in territories often showed him to be incompetent at the sport. |
| 232 | * ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: Will sarcastically utter 'I'm just a small town bird lawyer' when flummoxed by something ridiculous happening, often in the wrestling industry. |
| 233 | * ImpossiblyTackyClothes |
| 234 | ** Bright red on pink, bright red on blue, and pastels in every color combination imaginable. Plus his tennis racket was for some time fitted with a boa. |
| 235 | ** A WWE Magazine mini article from an issue in the early 90's brought up Cornette's outfits and claims to have seen him pick up a full suit at a K-Mart for $19.95. This is an article that very well could have happened in real life.[[note]]Albeit as Cornette shopping for clothes for his character rather then for himself.[[/note]] |
| 236 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: This was his initial characterisation when he started out in the CWA, as an UpperClassTwit who was so sheltered and arrogant that he didn’t realise he was being insulting, and condescended to the {{Face}}s even while he was trying to schmooze them. He quickly went from accidentally insulting people to deliberately doing it when all the good guys rejected him. |
| 237 | * InsistentTerminology: |
| 238 | ** It's not a script when you're writing pro wrestling, it's a format. Sports use formats, and in Jim's mind, professional wrestling is first and foremost, a sport. Cornette on one podcast recalled he would threaten to fine wrestlers who said "script" instead of format, after getting audibly uncomfortable with his co-host using the term "script". |
| 239 | ** WWE employs "comedy writers" to write their shows (showing the lack of respect they have for pro wrestling) and Jim refuses to refer to them as anything else. |
| 240 | ** If Cornette really, ''really'' dislikes a wrestler, he will refer to them with an EmbarrassingNickname (see entry above). |
| 241 | ** Any wrestler who doesn't take their profession seriously enough by Cornette's standards is referred to as a "cosplay wrestler", since Cornette believes they’re not true professional wrestlers, but merely pretending to be. This excludes some wrestlers who literally cosplay like Wrestling/FergalDevitt and Wrestling/LowKi, despite Cornette disliking Ki on a sometimes critical sometimes personal level since he, if nothing else, takes pro wrestling ''very'' seriously. Cornette's standards have also loosened over the years, as while he's still not the biggest fan of Wrestling/ColtCabana's work, Cornette no longer considers Cabana a cosplay wrestler, just a wrestler a little goofier than he'd prefer. |
| 242 | ** "Middle schoolers" for wrestlers Cornette deems too small to be threatening in the ring. One of Cornette's many, many issues with modern wrestling is the over abundance of such, which he claims drags down the realism of the products being presented. Cornette's not as bad as Vincent Kennedy [=McMahon=] or Eric Bischoff in this regard, but Cornette is still above averages height, so his standard for small is a little stricter than the average viewer. |
| 243 | ** WWE is well known for their abuse of this trope and an official document from the company listing Vince's banned words has been circulating around the internet for years. In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6L9kOM4IzY this clip from his podcast]] Cornette breaks it down, though keep in mind that the list is about 15 years old and the clip itself is from 2019. |
| 244 | * {{Irony}}: For all of his hatred of Donald Trump, he has been [[NotSoDifferentRemark accused of being no different]]] from him by people such as Dave Meltzer and even fellow Democrats such as Brian Zane and Kenny Bolin. The latter even at one point telling him so to his face. |
| 245 | * IShallTauntYou: Continually taunted and insulted Wrestling/ShawnMichaels in an effort to get him to accept continual rematches with [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Big Van Vader]] after numerous questionable finishes that lead to Shawn winning. |
| 246 | * ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: |
| 247 | ** When Wrestling/EricBischoff called and said he's eaten too many Big Macs and was 241 lbs. in a 12 oz. sack, Jim said he eats Wendy's Triples and he's a slim 231. |
| 248 | ** When Wrestling/JonMoxley referenced Cornette as an old-ass podcaster who complains about how the business used to be because Cornette is bitter, Cornette admitted that he is an old-ass, but he is not bitter. He's exasperated with today's wrestling. |
| 249 | * JerkassHasAPoint: This was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMPOJo2ChRY Cornette's reaction]] to WWE telling their wrestlers they could no longer take third-party deals with other media platforms (Website/YouTube, Website/{{Twitch}}, etc...) to make extra cash. After delivering a pretty scathing rant about WWE's practice of making all their wrestlers "independent contractors" to deny them benefits like health insurance,[[note]]He's also criticized WWE on several occasions for their (relatively) low pay, noting that while the talent in the "Big 4" American sports leagues collect somewhere in the neighborhood of half of all revenue in the form of their salaries, in WWE it's around 15% at best. Of course, none of the Big 4 sports leagues is a publicly traded company like WWE, something else that Cornette thinks has a huge part in all of [=WWE's=] various issues. Also unlike the players of the Big 4 (and basically every major professional sports league in the world), professional wrestling doesn't have a union of any kind. A few wrestlers have [[UsefulNotes/UnionsInHollywood SAG-AFTRA cards]], but those don't cover wrestling shows[[/note]] something Cornette believes they only get away with because Wrestling/VinceMcMahon is a big GOP donor (though the "independent contractor" thing is standard practice in wrestling, [=WWE=]’s “independent contractors“ aren’t allowed to wrestle anywhere else while under contract with WWE, meaning they are employees in every sense that benefits the company, without the company having to assume many of the responsibilities it would be legally required to if they were actual employees) and the U.S. government thinks wrestling is a joke to begin with, he then agreed with WWE about the third party deals, albeit for a different reason. WWE shut it down because it considers its wrestlers to be MediaNotes/IntellectualProperty, while Cornette is against it because it always breaks {{kayfabe}} and often contradicts what's being seen on TV. |
| 250 | * JerkassToOne: While he can be just as critical of NXT as he is of AEW at times, his hatred is usually reserved for Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, whom he declares has no business being on television (let alone as a top star) due to his size and [[DullSurprise limited facial expressions]] with his only redeeming factor being his wrestling skills (believing he should be a coach for the WWE Performance Center or motion capture person for video games). To the point where when he heard that Gargano's contract was up for renewal, he insisted that WWE should cut their losses with him, seeing absolutely no value in him, and that the only way he would ever support him is if he were to job to Marko Stunt in AEW, if only to show where [[{{Jobber}} his place in wrestling should be]]. |
| 251 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Pretty much every time you hear Cornette in an interview, he's a loud-mouthed, vitriol-spewing F-bomb machine that will eat up every second of time he can to bash everyone he hates in wrestling. However, this is because he loves the business and can't stand that the younger generation is being stifled by older stars that hog the spotlight. |
| 252 | ** Cornette is a longtime supporter of the [[https://www.whascrusade.org/ WHAS Crusade for Children]], a charity in Louisville that supports services for disabled children. Both he and his fans (the Cult of Cornette) have made multiple donations, and Cornette has often promoted the charity on both his podcasts. |
| 253 | * KarmaHoudini: Views Hangman Adam Page as this, as he blamed him for the whole fiasco between CM Punk and The Elite as it was caused by his "Worker's Rights" promo to begin with, yet he came out scott free while the others were suspended and stripped of their titles.[[note]]To be fair Page wasn't suspended for the ''All Out'' fight because he wasn't there when it happened, though Cornette's point is that he should have been outright fired the moment he dropped the AEW world title to Punk, if not immediately after he went into business for himself on the promo.[[/note]] |
| 254 | * {{Kayfabe}}: Came up in the days when it was sacrosanct and still believes it should be protected as much as possible. Contrary to popular belief, he's not opposed to things like high flying and hardcore wrestling on principle, but he does think every match should look as much like a real fight or athletic contest as possible, and hates when things are taken to such an extreme that it looks obviously choreographed. He's described his ideal match as one where fans think that the wrestlers really hate each other and the worked match may have degenerated into a shoot fight. |
| 255 | -->"Say what you want about wrestling, those guys are mad!" |
| 256 | ** When he started working as a manager in the CWA, he had been doing odd jobs in the arenas for a few years, been a ringside photographer and penned a few magazine articles. In his first promo, he acknowledged this and claimed he had been been dabbling in various roles as a hobby before deciding to use his mother’s money to become a manager. Although 95% of fans likely wouldn’t be aware of him, Jerry Jarrett didn’t want the minority who might recognize his face or name to think “Wait, why is the kid from the merch tables suddenly a manager?” and suspect wrestling was fake, and so weaved his real life history into his gimmick. |
| 257 | * KickTheDog: [[SarcasmMode "I've got to go kick some puppies, kick the cat's milk over and treat people lousy, the way I usually do."]] |
| 258 | * TheLastDJ: He is without a doubt one of the most talented managers and promoters of all time, a man whose love for ProfessionalWrestling rivals Wrestling/RicFlair's, Wrestling/JohnCena's and Wrestling/{{Ryback}}'s combined and has the knowledge to match. However, several things, including a caustic personality, a willingness to knock who he works for and his vision of wrestling not fitting in with "Sports Entertainment" or the Wrestling/AttitudeEra has kept him mostly behind the scenes, and he has walked out of or been fired from every promotion he worked for. |
| 259 | * {{Malaproper}}: Cornette tends to deliberately mispronounce the names of wrestlers he isn't a fan of, e.g. Wrestling/NiaJax, who he often refers to as "NEE-ah" instead of "NYE-ah" Jax. |
| 260 | ** Ever since Wrestling/CMPunk's 2021 return Cornette segues into reviews of his content by singing hilariously wrong words to Punk's theme song, "Cult of Personality" by Music/LivingColour. He always starts with the "Like Mussolini" line, but it quickly falls apart thereafter. |
| 261 | * MaliciousMisnaming: Basically his trademark now that he's a full time podcaster, see EmbarrassingNickname above. He used it quite a bit as a manager too. |
| 262 | * MommasBoy: Early on in his managerial career he was implied to be one of these - he was sometimes mockingly referred to as "Mrs. Cornette's baby boy". This aspect of his character was quietly dropped after his first several years in the business. Jim Cornette had started taking pictures and ring announcing while he was a teenager, so his mother had to drive him to shows. By the time Cornette became a manager though, he was 20 and had his own driver's license, so only the oldest and most astute fans would have known the "momma Cornette" people were talking about. In-storyline, it was she who gave the money that got Cornette his {{kayfabe}} bodyguard, [[Wrestling/BigBossMan Big Bubba Rogers]]. (The man who dropped him in the aforementioned reference to the scaffold match which screwed up both Cornette's knees.) |
| 263 | * MindRape: The exact phrase he uses to describe what he believes WWE did to Doug Basham. |
| 264 | * MotiveRant: Some people think that Jim hates Kenny Omega because Omega backed out of a show Cornette was involved in by pretending to be injured so he could go work in Japan. Jim has consistently denied this, and explained in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnKxPkG4L7c multiple]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOJ3bumY0ws videos]] exactly why he hates Omega so much. In short, Jim sees Omega has being one of the biggest influences on all the ways that the wrestling business has changed for the worse (in Jim's opinion) in recent decades. He thinks Kenny and similar wrestlers like Wrestling/TheYoungBucks have turned professional wrestling into a giant joke with what he considers their comedy antics. |
| 265 | * MotorMouth: His trademark promo style consists of him talking constantly and very quickly. He developed it while working for World Class Championship Wrestling in Dallas due to his interview time being compressed. |
| 266 | * MultipleDemographicAppeal: As he put it... |
| 267 | -->'''Jim Cornette:''' I remember going to arenas in the 80s, where the audience was 60% female and they were all trying to kill us for beating up RickyMorton. Those people spent the same amount of money as the guys did but now the audience is 80% men and whatever women those men can drag to the matches with em because it's their night out. So we have completely shut off... where else do you find a [[ProfessionalWrestling business]] featuring a bunch of good looking guys wearing very little clothes and no women want to see the show? Riddle me that, Lucy! |
| 268 | * MyGreatestFailure: Jim admitted to coming up with the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob in June 2019. (He did it as a hypothetical, not thinking [=McMahon=] would use it.) He later realized that the Screwjob was the event that killed off kayfabe. Cornette blames the decline of the wrestling business on the death of kayfabe and he's been trying to get the wrestling business to rebuild it ever since. |
| 269 | * NerdGlasses: A wrestling nerd and, to a lesser extent, a computer nerd. The oversized style he wears double as TheArtifact, as they have not been fashionable since the 80s, but are so associated with him he couldn't have it differently. |
| 270 | * NonActionGuy: Cornette actually has "worked" the occasional match, usually as part of a six-man tag with Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress or as a result of a wrestler winning five minutes with Jim as part of a stipulation. His contributions would generally be to cower in the corner and bump around like a ping pong ball, the only offense he ever got was a sneak attack with his racquet. Justified since his gimmick as a manager was that he was an untrained, unathletic pansy who couldn’t fight, and he would have cursed out anyone who suggested he have anything resembling a competitive match with any wrestler. |
| 271 | * NostalgiaFilter: Is open about hating most current wrestling, and holding his time with Bill Watts's Mid-South Wrestling as a golden age never to be reached again. |
| 272 | * NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: Stock in trade as a heel manager, he had that tennis racquet for a reason. |
| 273 | * NotHyperbole: When Wrestling/KennyOmega, in an interview claimed Cornette exaggerated his hatred for Omega to play a character, Cornette rather bluntly replied on his podcast that he was not playing a character, was not being hyperbolic, and meant every word of what he said about wanting someone to cripple Omega. |
| 274 | * OhCrap: "[[Wrestling/TerryFunk I]] see a sissy!" |
| 275 | * PetTheDog: Whenever a wrestler passes away, Jim usually gives them a long, heartfelt tribute replete with humorous anecdotes dedicated to their memory. |
| 276 | ** Cornette's dislike of Wrestling/UltimateWarrior is no secret, and while Cornette ''will'' speak ill of the dead in this case, he still promised to refrain from doing so while recapping Warrior's career when the news first broke. |
| 277 | ** After the passing of Jon Huber (aka Brodie Lee, aka Wrestling/LukeHarper), Cornette said he would not review the AEW "Celebration of Mr. Brodie Lee's Life" broadcast. He further stipulated that whatever they wanted to do on that show was fine and he would not comment on it at all, and also refuses to comment on anything the promotion does with Lee's young son, Brodie (who the promotion features as a recurring performer, first under the name Negative One and now as Mr. Brodie Lee Jr.). Finally, he retroactively retracted all criticism he'd ever had for Lee's in-ring work, feeling that whatever killed him so suddenly was almost certainly having negative effects on his body prior to his passing and therefore his judgment was unfair. |
| 278 | * PhotographicMemory: He seems to be a rare real-life example of somebody having something closer to it, as noted by his many, many shoot interviews. Ask him about a topic, say the [[Wrestling/WWEBrawlForAll Brawl for All]], and he'll happily describe it in great detail for 15 minutes on what it was about, who he could remember was involved and how good they were or could have been and everything he saw wrong with it. ''[[CausticCritic Especially everything he saw wrong with it]].'' |
| 279 | -->'''Wrestling/{{Madusa}}:''' How the hell do you remember this shit?! |
| 280 | ** Per Jim, this is attributable to the fact that he is a compulsive note-taker who saves everything. He has detailed hand-written records of every match he has ever participated in, booked, agented, or otherwise been involved with the creative direction of. He also has detailed attendance figures, gate receipts, and payoff information going back to his first match. He even has week-to-week notes on how much he made selling photographs as a teenager. He also takes pretty detailed notes while watching shows he's reviewing for the podcast, many of the examples listed under EmbarrassingNickname above are from Cornette having to come up with shorthand for some people's names. When he hates a show you'll usually hear him tearing up his notes in anger after the main event, for a couple shows he ''really'' hated he nearly set them on fire. |
| 281 | ** It also helps that unlike most people in the wrestling business he never got into drugs and barely even drinks, so he was sober enough to remember everything. |
| 282 | * PrecisionFStrike: |
| 283 | ** His Fuck You's of the week on ''Who's Slamming Who''. |
| 284 | ** After the aforementioned MindRape of Doug Basham, where WWE Creative sloughed off the trademark biker look of then-developmental champion Basham by shaving him bald because they couldn't imagine him bald, Cornette went off on Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis saying that, with two weeks' notice, he could book Basham in a hair match, shave it, and sell tickets and make money. "Thank you, fuck you, bye!" |
| 285 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Off camera Cornette is a huge Ernie Ladd fan who sings the praises of Wrestling/SheltonBenjamin to Music/EarthWindAndFire. On camera he wants you black people to stay out of his business, which made it strange when the sergeant of his militia turned out to be a [[Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}} black woman]]. And religious people were a favorite target of Cornette's if he happened to be working a town in the so called "Bible belt" of the South West United States (off camera he's tolerant of religious guys like Wrestling/AJStyles unless practitioners start proselytizing or forcing their practices on nonmembers). He's not much a fan of the blue collar workers either. And he has little patience for you Boricuas, though Cornette was fairly nice to Wrestling/CarlitoColon (who is black ''and'' Boricua) during one of his babyface [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure authority figure runs]] runs in Ohio Valley. |
| 286 | * PowerStable |
| 287 | ** Militia (also known as Cornette's Army in Smoky Mountain), where Buddy Landel, Punisher (Bull Buchanan), Terry Gordy, Wrestling/AlSnow, [[Wrestling/{{Kane}} Unabomb]] and sometimes [[Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}} Sgt. Rock]] handled the wrestling. |
| 288 | ** Cornette's Criminals, also in Smoky Mountain, which included two members of another power stable in Wrestling/TheMoondogs. |
| 289 | ** Camp Cornette, which featured Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}}, Wrestling/OwenHart, [[Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith The British Bulldog]] and later Wrestling/{{Vader}} and then the NWA 'Invasion' with Wrestling/JeffJarrett, Wrestling/BarryWindham, and the New Midnight Express (Wrestling/BobHolly and Bart Gunn), and, for a time, even his arch-rivals The Rock and Roll Express! |
| 290 | * PowerTrio: With the Midnight Express, The Heavenly Bodies, Owen Hart, Yokozuna, The Briscoes and others. |
| 291 | * RealMenWearPink: And just about every other pastel color imaginable. |
| 292 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Tends to give these out like treats on Halloween to pretty much anybody who's crossed his path. |
| 293 | ** The most famous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMm0Alg0bvs interview]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfEAan9NwpE about]] Wrestling/VinceRusso produced the above picture. |
| 294 | --->'''Jim Cornette:''' See, he was running a video store before Wrestling/VinceMcMahon let him write for the magazine... He ''can't spell.'' He can't write or speak English! He "grew up in Brooklyn n' da Bronx or whateva" -- I'm looking at the guy's pad: he can't spell, okay? It's not like he's a goddamn Rhodes scholar...So he's writing for the magazine. He insinuates himself. He's got good ideas. He has good ideas at a time when they ''need'' good ideas. And, you know, I'm not saying he's never had any good ideas. But you know what the problem is? The problem is that all the good ideas he's ever had is from watching [[SerialNumbersFiledOff those goddamn, cheap-ass B-movies]] that they used to rent at his goddamn loser video store. He doesn't know anything about wrestling. That's why when you hear "ding ding ding!", it's immediately followed 60 seconds later by "ding ding ding!" Keep the matches as short as possible. When that bell rings, Vince Russo is lost. Vince Russo is a babe in the woods. Vince Russo is a deer caught in the headlights, as long as there's a wrestling match going on. As long as he can make it a phony B-movie script or [[GimmickMatches an outhouse in the ring]], or [[WorkedShoot women having miscarriages]], or something that appeals to his New York bullshit attitude. So get the ''wrestling matches'' out of it, 'cause nobody wants to see that shit anyway. That's been proven over at Wrestling/{{WCW}}, where they don't even have wrestling matches anymore -- I watched ''Thunder'' the other night, because I happened to be stuck in a hotel room; I saw Wrestling/LanceStorm falling around like a drunk man. When you make ''that'' guy uncoordinated, you can do it to anybody... He's got a bunch of fucking dancing bears parading around in the ring, a bunch of women with silicone, and a bunch of club-footed, slap-happy fucking guys that couldn't work their way out of a wet paper bag. And he don't know the fucking difference. And he's out there '''beating up Wrestling/RicFlair with a baseball bat!''' Because he ''finally got to be a star.'' Now he doesn't have to subsist on the [[PanderingToTheBase internet marks]] fuckin' clapping for him. He can have the fucking roar of their dwindling crowds, going, "ooh, that's uhh–yeah, that Russo guy. He's a star now! [[PromotedFanboy He beats the wrestlers!]]" He made this statement: "Well, we'll just teach actors to wrestle, because if ''I'' can learn to work in the ring, [[KnowNothingKnowItAll anyone can!]]" There's '''a goddamn news bulletin I didn't hear about when I heard about World War II and all the other great happenings of the past fifty years!''': When did Vince Russo learn to fucking work? Jesus Fucking Christ. [[SuckinessIsPainful I wanna puke.]] |
| 295 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByYTyiSw1ts A rare editorial segment]] allowed to him on ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw Raw]]'' during the Wrestling/MondayNightWars saw him [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome quite soundly]] tear apart a cage match pitting Wrestling/HulkHogan against [[Wrestling/RoddyPiper "Rowdy" Roddy Piper]] at ''WCW Halloween Havoc 1997'': |
| 296 | --->'''Jim Cornette:''' I'm Jim Cornette, I just wonder if any of you are sick and tired as I am of people who claim to be the "[[MeaninglessMeaningfulWords ICON]]" of wrestling? Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper claim to be the icon, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels is the "icon that can still go", Wrestling/BretHart would claim to be the icon if he wasn't too busy crying about being screwed, and I guess Wrestling/RandySavage is still [[HarsherInHindsight "thinkin', thinkin'!"]] Well, Shawn Michaels is still the single most talented wrestler today ''inside'' the ring, but outside, he's an adolescent, [[{{Jerkass}} obnoxious jerk]] who takes his tights and goes home if he doesn't get his way. Bret Hart is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, but if he'd been screwed as many times as he claims, he would've struck oil by now. And Randy Savage is a legend, but let's face it, how many records ''did'' Music/FrankSinatra sell last year?\ |
| 297 | But the pinnacle of this "icon" garbage came at last night's cage match between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper, to determine–in their minds only–who the real icon is. WCW had the gall to say "this is the greatest cage match in history", when it was only the greatest in three weeks since ''Hell in a Cell''. But here you've got a 46-year-old bald movie star wannabe who looks like Uncle Creepy with a good build taking on a guy with an artificial hip that hadn't wrestled a full schedule in 10 years! It's a tribute to the massive egotism, in my mind, of both men and indictment of WCW's promotional policies that this match ''even took place'', much less being the main event, when the card was probably [[TallPoppySyndrome the best that WCW's capable of havin']]! By the 10-minute mark, they were suckin' wind so bad the first three rows passed out [[AlmostOutOfOxygen of oxygen deprivation]]! – would've been funny if it wasn't so sad.\ |
| 298 | ''Well'', I'm sick and damn tired of hearing guys claim to be The Icon, especially when it usually comes from guys who just didn't know when to quit. Roddy Piper was my idol when I was a teenager, but that was 20 years ago. Hulk Hogan during his best years was 50% media creation, and those are long gone. This match was a slap in the face to every wrestler that takes pride in his profession! And in my mind, no one man is bigger than this [[InsistentTerminology sport]], but if there ''is'' an Icon, it would be a man who has great ability inside the ring and professionalism and maturity outside of it! Let's leave all the petty, backstabbing, I-make-more-money-than-you BS with the hat-check girl, and concentrate on talent and attitude! Wrestling/TheUndertaker, Wrestling/RicFlair, and [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin Steve Austin]] have never claimed to be icons, which means they're big candidates to be just that!\ |
| 299 | And on a personal note to Hulk Hogan: you are a household word, [[TakeThat but so is garbage; and it stinks when it gets old, too.]] I'm Jim Cornette, and that's my opinion. |
| 300 | ** He [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyruyxQm1zs delivered]] a pretty stiff one of these to Wrestling/ImpactWrestling after seeing a particularly embarrassing match from a Impact-produced indie show during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. The entire rant lasts about 6 minutes, but the closing alone is a pretty nasty example. |
| 301 | ---> '''Jim Cornette:''' "So if you would have asked that yesterday I would have said 'Well, ya know, they're trying, and they've got some good guys there, some friends of mine and employees there or...' but now, no. After I saw that, [[ClusterFBomb fuck you. Just get out of the fucking way at this point. Just let guys go somewhere where they can be fucking stars instead of goddamned subjecting the few remaining legitimate talents you have to this fuckin' horseshit and being associated with that until they get the stench of goddamned play wrasslers and grisly death on them too. I don't know why the fucking guys would even goddamn... contemplate going to... Why would you want to be involved with Impact Wrestling if that's the kind of shit they're putting out or validating? As a talent - why would you want to be there? Why would you want to be... especially not contractually obligated, when somebody legitimate might want to give you a fucking job, but just why would you want to validate something like that with your fucking presence if you're a real talent?]] If they can't do any better than that, quit." |
| 302 | ** Wrestling/TammyLynnSytch has been on the receiving end of two of these after her arrest for [[DrunkDriver DUI]] manslaughter in 2022. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0CDThE69Cc The first]] was Cornette more coming off like a ''very'' disappointed father, as he's one of the few people that Sytch has always got along with (and vice-versa). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPlcInLyRMg&t=2s The second one]] after Sytch was convicted and tried to blame wrestling for her personal problems to get lighter sentence[[note]]Using the usual claim of CTE, while in many cases this may be warranted for wrestlers (and other pro athletes) Stych '''wasn't a wrestler''', just a manager. Cornette even points out that in the all the time they worked together he didn't see her take a single bump[[/note]] (it didn't work, she got 17 years), sees Cornette take a much harsher tone, even saying that she should have got an even longer prison term. Naturally, the second one [[ProductPlacement was followed by a Stephen P. New ad]]. |
| 303 | * TheRival: Wrestling/PaulHeyman, in a more WorthyOpponent [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXLn4bPC7Eo manner than some of his other rivalries]], they respect each other as bookers, but aren't fond of each other as people. |
| 304 | -->'''Jim Cornette:''' He'd rather climb a tree and tell a lie than stand on the ground and tell the truth. |
| 305 | * SanitySlippage: This is Jim's attempt to explain the horrific allegations about Wrestling/VinceMcMahon that came out in 2024. In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Bd2mu11YI his video commenting on the revelations,]] Jim says that he never saw Vince write the sorts of texts or do the kinds of things the revelations described during his time in the WWE. Vince was always a ruthless bastard who didn't think the rules applied to him, but he never went this far. At about an hour into the video, Jim lays out his theory that years of late-age headshots, drugs and simple age all caused Vince's brain to pretty much melt, which caused SerialEscalation in his belief that he didn't have to follow any rules and could do whatever he wanted. |
| 306 | * ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: He absolutely refuses to do any shoot interviews or projects with Russo regardless of how high the offer is. He asks people who make these offers to call Russo and tell him how much money Jim costed him. As of 2020, it was in the neighborhood of $40,000. According to Cornette, Rob Feinstein offered them more money than he's offered anyone to do a shoot together with a unformed police officer standing between them. Jim's response? |
| 307 | -->'''Jim Cornette:''' I'll do it for free if you won't have the cop there. It'll be short but interesting. |
| 308 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: His reaction upon seeing the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob. Being in the dark regarding what the plan was to end the match, Cornette hung around the back to see how it'd go down before quickly leaving the arena to avoid the mess that he'd knew would happen. That said, [[http://thesmartmarks.com/old_site/artman/publish/article_1093.shtml he said in a shoot interview]] that he would have done the same thing and that Bret should have just bitten the bullet. That being said, he has pointed out that most of the blame falls on Vince [=McMahon=] himself as he did not think to take the belt off of Bret before he decided to go back on the contract he had just signed Bret to. Cornette also has mentioned that, as wrestling has become sillier and sillier, with fake hand grenade spots and people being [[Wrestling/JoeyRyan suplexed by a man's genitals]], that he has grown to really appreciate, and miss, the seriousness in which Bret Hart took himself, and the sport of Wrestling. Finally, he has mentioned that he completely understands why Bret refused after all the crap Shawn Michaels had pulled, including openly refusing to ever put Bret over after Bret had just put him over in the Iron man match, and that if anyone in the whole world deserved to be treated with such disrespect...it was Shawn. |
| 309 | * SelfDeprecatingHumor: Jim originally spoke the above line about HouseholdNames in reference to himself when he was called such on the news, saying that the name people used in their houses for him couldn't be spoken on television. |
| 310 | * SeriousBusiness: '''Wrestling.''' Jim lives and dies by the sport and is a staunch traditionalist. He ''[[BerserkButton despises]]'' people who disrespect and look down wrestling and cause damage to its credibility and integrity, such as Wrestling/VinceRusso (who, among other sins, [[InsistentTerminology insisted]] that he wasn't a wrestling booker, he was a "TV writer"). |
| 311 | * SevenYearRule: Besides naming the trope, he had the following to say when asked by ''Slam! Sports'' about Wrestling/SamoaJoe and Wrestling/KurtAngle putting on an "MMA style match" (which is also what people said about Joe vs Wrestling/LowKi in Ring of Honor): |
| 312 | -->'''Jim Cornette:''' UFC and MMA is really professional wrestling from 100 years ago. Unfortunately they have been able to present our business better than anyone in our business can present our business! Everything that they are doing came from wrestling. But it's the circle; wrestling will pick back up from UFC and MMA, the things that it used to do 100 years ago, and will present them as new to our wrestling fans. NBC used to have a slogan: "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you," and that was their way to sell re-runs. Well we can do the same thing that wrestling did 50 or 100 years ago, and then we can act like we just thought of it. |
| 313 | * SharpDressedMan: Pastel suits! He would manage wearing more gaudy outfits and colors than seen in ''Series/MiamiVice''. |
| 314 | * [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen She Who Must Not Be Seen]]: Mama Cornette. Jim [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P11nJxDDoZE explains]] that the main reason why she was never seen is that a lot of people in his home territory actually knew what she looked like because she drove him to matches when he was a teenager. |
| 315 | * SissyVillain: Invoked this trope during his early career, wherein he talked about his (unseen) "mama Cornette" and how she apparently paid for his tennis lessons (which explained why he carried around a tennis racket) |
| 316 | * SmugSnake: As an interviewed fan said upon watching Cornette try to wrestle when he came to Charlotte, North Carolina, "Jim Cornette is the lowest life form there is." Cornette was insistent the people loved him while this was going on. When the crowd started chanting "Faggot!" he then admitted "some" people didn't like him and he couldn't please everybody. |
| 317 | * SomebodyDoesntLoveRaymond: Kenny Omega is widely respected and praised by many wrestling legends. Jim is an exception in that he has a ''seething'' hatred of Omega, who he considers a symbol of everything that's gone wrong with the wrestling business. |
| 318 | * SpoiledBrat: His original gimmick was a rich kid who bought his way into the wrestling business with his mother's money. |
| 319 | * StartOfDarkness: To explain to the Memphis Wrestling fans why the ring photographer was suddenly a {{Jerkass}} manager, Cornette initially offered his services to several of the company's top stars. They turned him down and made [[BreakTheHaughty fun of him in the process]], leading Cornette to want revenge. |
| 320 | * StealingTheCredit: Among the many other things Cornette hates Vince Russo for, he doesn't seem impressed with Russo implying that he was responsible for the success of the WWE's Attitude Era. As Cornette put it, it's not like having Wrestling/VinceMcMahon as a filter, the WWE shows' high quality production values, and stars like Wrestling/MickFoley, Wrestling/DwayneJohnson and Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, had anything to do with that success. |
| 321 | * SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome |
| 322 | ** Cornette has a ton of stories about his violent altercations with fans in the late Seventies and early Eighties, including getting arrested multiple times and even spending a few nights in jail. As a result of this fairly extensive record he is (legitimately) no longer allowed in Canada. |
| 323 | ** In 2020, [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]] contracted wrestler Joey Janela, who has taken shots at Jim online and on the air before, and who Jim vocally and publicly hates, announced that he and his TagTeam partner Sonny Kiss would soon appear in AEW as [[Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress The New Midnight Express]]. Many of Cornette's detractors were thrilled by this epic {{Troll}} and couldn't wait to see Jim absolutely lose it. However, since Cornette co-owns the rights to the name "Midnight Express" (a least in a [[Film/MidnightExpress wrestling context]]), he simply had his lawyer call AEW's legal department and inform them that one of their contracted performers was planning to commit trademark infringement. As of yet, Janela and Kiss have not appeared as the Midnight Express. |
| 324 | * TakeThatCritics: When ''[[UsefulNotes/AmericanNewspapers New York Post]]'' writer Phil Mushnick used Wrestling/BrianPillman's death as an excuse to launch a crusade to shut down professional wrestling, Cornette fought back in one of his angrier segments where one of the many many things he said is that wrestling fans do not appreciate being insulted by a publication they pay money to read. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G1h_5T1PU8 This was point 141 of about 200 he got off his chest,]] and there was a follow up video where fans [[https://www.youtube.com9/watch?v=gSfTWb3F6kQ voiced their opinion of the New York Post being used to attack wrestling fans.]] |
| 325 | * TalkShowWithFists: "The Louisville Slugger" |
| 326 | * ThisIsGonnaSuck: How he described the infamous 25 ft. scaffold match. "Boys...the University of Alabama Crimson Tide couldn't [[IronicEcho 'catch me like they catch the girls at the football games']]..." |
| 327 | * ToothyIssue: Blamed a mouth injury he received in Ring of Honor on guest talents from Wrestling/{{CZW}} but this was later changed to Wrestling/LowKi because Ring of Honor needed a way to write him off their shows. |
| 328 | * TrademarkFavoriteFood: |
| 329 | ** Man loves his Wendy's. |
| 330 | ** And will order a Sprite with that combo. His trademark drink. |
| 331 | * UnderwearOfPower: When Jim Cornette actually wrestled alongside the Midnight Express ([[{{Jobber}} or rather, tried to]]), he wore them. Unlike most wrestlers, Cornette wore these over top of his pants! This has basis in the way real athletes dressed in the 1920s, but Jim was doing this in the 80s! |
| 332 | * UngratefulBastard: He considers [[Wrestling/{{Batista}} Dave Bautista]] this. Batista was pushed as the top guy during his run in Ohio Valley Wrestling, winning the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ky/ovw/ovw-h.html OVW Heavyweight Championship]] and going over such wrestlers as Wrestling/{{Kane}} and Wrestling/TheUndertaker, and only doing the job a few times, once to Kane and on his way out to Wrestling/JohnCena. Later in his career, Batista would run down his time in OVW, saying it was his OldShame and disrespecting Cornette and Danny Davis. Cornette was furious. |
| 333 | * UnPerson: |
| 334 | ** While he certainly has his unfavorites (see above), he has since created "rules" in regards to certain wrestlers/performers of which he will refuse to watch ''anything'' involving them, notably the "[[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling Tooth and Nail rule]],"[[labelnote:*]]Dr. Britt Baker, Reba, and Big Swole, all three of whom were involved in the "Tooth and Nail match", basically a hardcore match held in Baker's real-life dental office. Cornette has apparently rescinded this one as he's watched plenty of Britt Baker matches since.[[/labelnote]] the "Wrestling/DrakeMaverick rule,"[[labelnote:*]]Maverick got involved in several skits around the WWE 24/7 Championship, most of them involving Maverick getting into increasingly embarrassing situations along with his (real-life) wife, while also trying to "consumate" their marriage.[[/labelnote]] and the "[[Wrestling/{{WWE}} Blissful Orton rule]]."[[labelnote:*]]Wrestling/AlexaBliss, Wrestling/RandyOrton, and Wrestling/BrayWyatt, the three who were involved in a storyline that led to an intergender match between Bliss and Orton match at ''Fastlane'' 2021, which consisted of Bliss demonstrating supernatural powers to Orton for a few minutes before Wyatt (returning after being absent for a while) attacked Orton to give Bliss the win.[[/labelnote]] At least he's ''willing'' to watch matches that involve people such as Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks. |
| 335 | *** [[Wrestling/BrayWyatt "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt]] deserves his own mention. As anyone aware of Cornette's dislikes in wrestling could predict, it wasn't a surprise that every appearance by "The Fiend" has Cornette like him less each time he watched his matches/segments due to Cornette perceiving them as increasingly ridiculous. It's reached the point where he has stated that he didn't want to watch two wrestlers he was previously high on again [[GuiltByAssociation due to their involvement with him]] (Randy Orton and to a lesser degree John Cena). The Orton/Alexa Bliss match at ''Fastlane'' was the last straw, resulting in the aforementioned "Blissful Orton rule", as he declared it to be [[BeyondTheImpossible worse than even the "Tooth And Nail" match]]. |
| 336 | ** While Cornette has discussed episodes of ''Series/DarkSideOfTheRing'' on his podcast (as he is a regular contributor on the series), he refused to watch "The Ultra-Violence of Wrestling/NickGage", as he doesn't acknowledge Gage as a wrestler due to being an infamous GarbageWrestler who is the embodiment of deathmatch wrestling. |
| 337 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: He says in one interview that he was the first one in a booking meeting to suggest (jokingly) a double cross on Bret Hart in [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob Montreal]]. However in his version, Bret would have faced Ken Shamrock instead. In June 2019 Cornette detailed on his podcast that he actually came up with the finish. He says he suggested it hypothetically because Vince [=McMahon=] rarely took his suggestions. Cornette didn't know Vince was actually going to use the finish until he saw it live that night. This crosses over into MyGodWhatHaveIDone territory when Cornette realized that the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob killed kayfabe, and he came up with the whole thing. |
| 338 | * VillainTeamUp: In Mid-South Wrestling, Wrestling/WendiRichter would sometimes come to the frail manager's aid and slip him weapons to use on the baby faces, especially [[PoisonIsEvil fabrics soaked in ether]]. |
| 339 | * VitriolicBestBuds: With a fellow/rival manager Synn, the wicked witch of Kentuckiana, who caused trouble in OVW with her disciples, whom he eventually married in real life. To a lesser extent, Wrestling/SherriMartel, the first wrestler he ever managed but later wound up as the valet of his enemy, Shawn Michaels. To an even lesser extent but still worth mentioning, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. Jim does not like Vince's business practices, politics or philosophy on wrestling, but will admit Vince kept the WWF smoothly running, got the industry better than the [[Wrestling/{{WCW}} Turner]]/[[Wrestling/RingOfHonor Sinclair]]/[[Wrestling/{{TNA}} Panda]] [[ExecutiveMeddling suits]] and that his main gripes were with Vince's [[YesMan stooges]] than with Vince directly. |
| 340 | * VoodooShark: Or as Cornette puts it, "lazy booking". He usually uses this term to refer to no-disqualification matches, which he considers to be zero-thought ways to create a screwy finish that always [[FridgeLogic leave the fans asking more questions than they had answered]]. He's especially critical of the recent trend that three- and four-man matches are no disqualification by default, as it makes him and the fans wonder why the wrestlers in the match don't immediately bring out weapons or get outside interference involved. |
| 341 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: |
| 342 | ** Cornette and Chris Jericho. Both men met in the mid-1990s when Cornette was running Smoky Mountain Wrestling and developed a long friendship that lasted even as Jericho signed with AEW. Several incidents in 2020, however, made Cornette very critical of Jericho, especially Jericho's public support of Donald Trump (and his later less-than-convincing attempts to sound apolitical) and his decision to play the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2021, Cornette finally confirmed that he and Jericho are indeed no longer friends. |
| 343 | ** Cornette also burned bridges with ''WebVideo/WrestlingWithWregret'''s Brian Zane after the latter tweeted in defense of comedy wrestling and asked an "old man" to "let people enjoy the clowns." Although Zane wasn't referring to anyone in particular, just referring to what he considered "old man mentality", he was snitch-tagged by one of Cornette's followers, leading to Cornette cutting ties with Zane and blocking him from Twitter. |
| 344 | ** Cut a promo on Dave Meltzer on his podcast after Dave said that The Young Bucks were the modern-day equivalent of The Midnight Express. He concluded the promo by announcing that their friendship was over, and Dave was dead to him. Cornette later elaborated on, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zelFRlY9MrI accusing Dave of having slandered him for disliking Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks]], and that he'll never mend fences with Dave. |
| 345 | ** He was childhood friends with Kenny Bolin, but after a series of incidents that he considered AllTakeAndNoGive from Bolin, Cornette started to view him as a poisonous friend which led to their infamous debate on the "Who's Slammin Who" podcast. They later became friends again, but that soon went south once more after Cornette found out that a phone call between himself and Bolin was recorded during Vince Russo's podcast, which angered him.[[note]]Bolin was a co-host at the time.[[/note]] Being shunned over this, on top of feeling that ''he'' was now the one suffering from AllTakeAndNoGive, such as Cornette forcing Bolin to cooperate with a man who he condsidered "[[ArchEnemy his Vince Russo]]" during Mama Cornette's funeral, is what led to Bolin being the one to end the friendship this time. Though Bolin has stated that he's open to make amends, him seemingly supporting the accusations made against Cornette during the [=#SpeakingOut=] movement shows that it won't be anytime soon. |
| 346 | ** Believe it or not, but Wrestling/VinceRusso. When he was first brought onto the creative team, Jim wanted to train Russo about wrestling. They would ride in a car together and actually enjoyed playing up TheCityVsTheCountry dynamic between them- Russo as the [[CityMouse New York City slicker that eats healthy and that knew nothing about "wrasslin'"]] and Jim playing the part of the [[CountryMouse country boy that likes fried/fatty food and is a wrestling encyclopedia]]. After a few weeks, Jim noticed that Russo didn't care about wrestling and the friendship terminated. |
| 347 | * WimpFight |
| 348 | ** Jim was initially terrified when he, a manager, was asked to participate in matches. Wrestling/JimmyHart reassured Cornette that they need only roll around. |
| 349 | ** In regards to women in the sport, he has said women do not make as good as managers as men, because it's not as acceptable to beat up on a petite woman as it is a wimpy man. He's also said there is nothing worse than pretty women who can't wrestle trying to do pro wrestling. He has said there is money to made in building two pretty women who can't wrestle towards a {{cat fight}} though. (For the record, he ended up dating and marrying a female manager.) |
| 350 | * WorkedShoot: |
| 351 | ** He had several during the Monday Night Wars when he was still employed by the (then) WWF as on-screen talent. Of course, how much was "worked" and how much was "shoot" was up for debate, since apparently his instructions were limited to "Don't curse, don't get us sued." A few even lambasted then-current WWF stars, as Cornette said later "I'm going to hit us for jaywalking and petty theft so when I hit them for arson and murder no one can say I was only taking shots at one side." These segments are basically the SpiritualPredecessor to his now-famous rants from so many online sources.[[note]]Though really the first documented one of his rants happened a couple years beforehand during his brief return to Wrestling/{{WCW}} in 1993, where he cut a worked shoot promo on the company that was so nasty that Wrestling/EricBischoff bleeped a lot of it before it aired and killed the proposed Wrestling/{{SMW}}/WCW crossover right out of the gate (though Cornette ended up just taking it to the WWF instead, where he got SMW even more exposure than he would have with WCW). This promo also got executive producer Bill Watts fired... and replaced with Bischoff, which caused Wrestling/JimRoss to quit and head up north. Bischoff, of course, is the guy that thought Wrestling/SteveAustin, Wrestling/MickFoley, Wrestling/TripleH, and Wrestling/{{Edge}} (among others) couldn't draw money. [[Wrestling/AttitudeEra We know how that worked out]]. Pretty crazy how one little insignificant promo that never really went anywhere had such long-lasting effects on the business, right?[[/note]] Ironically they started when Jim decided to go off on web show ''Byte This'', figuring no one watched them. Someone did, and there was a demand to see more on ''Raw''. |
| 352 | ** During the feud between Jim Cornette's Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress, and [[Wrestling/PaulHeyman Paul E. Dangerously's]] Original Midnight Express, Jim and Paul were booked in a tuxedo match. What fans (and the bookers) were expecting was a brief comedy match between two non-wrestlers with minimal bumps. The two got together and decided to make it look like a legit brawl between two non-athletes who didn't know how to fight but wanted to cripple each other. It looked for all the world like Cornette and Paul had decided to settle their bad blood in the ring, that they really hated each other in RealLife, and that this feud was not a performance. |
| 353 | * WrestlingManagersAreHeels: He was so viciously hated early in his career that several fans were apparently arrested for trying to assault him during shows. Cornette has often joked about keeping actual death threats from young fans of the Rock N' Roll Express as mementos of the heat he had, even showing off examples for a scrapbook of photos and other memorabilia from his time managing Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress. |
| 354 | * WriterOnBoard: Cornette has a low tolerance for head drops, never mind garbage wrestling. Also little for "cartoon wrestling", rapping, breast implants...which made him an ill fit for promotions that run off of one or more of those. Most famously, he always ranted about the WWF production crew while he was on commentary rather than admit Undertaker's special effects came from a supernatural source. It was also Cornette who decided Boogeyman just ''thought'' he was the Boogeyman. Banning pile drivers in Ring Of Honor turned out [[SubvertedTrope not]] to be a case of this, but an attempt to get heat on the wrestlers who would inevitably keep using them anyway. This had worked for NWA figures the fans tended to like but not in ROH because [[TheScrappy the fans hated Cornette]] and gave him heat instead of any wrestlers ([[DemotedToExtra so he had to be removed from sight]]). |
| 355 | * YouWouldntHitAGuyWithGlasses: Averted during his career as a mostly Heel manager. Comes with the territory. |
| 356 | * YokoOhNo: {{Discussed|Trope}} by Jim on his podcast. It's usually {{averted|trope}}, as Cornette points out how many wrestlers and managers who were either introduced to the business by a significant other or got together while working in the business went on to successful careers. However, he does note a few cases where a wrestler's significant other caused him or her major problems: |
| 357 | ** Allison Horner, the wife of Tim Horner in Wrestling/SmokyMountainWrestling. She shared her husband's belief that he was a bigger star that deserved more pay and better booking than Jim thought he did, which caused him no shortage of problems. The LastStraw for Horner in SMW was when Allison humiliated Cornette at a TV taping by yelling at him about not paying her husband enough in front of nearly the entire roster ''while holding her newborn baby in her arms''. Cornette, knowing full well that Horner put her up to it, fired him the next day. |
| 358 | ** One of Cornette's many problems with Wrestling/{{Sable}} was how she buried her husband Wrestling/MarcMero by powerbombing him on national TV, essentially killing any chance of him ever being taken seriously as a main event talent. According to Cornette, she just got in the business to get famous and didn't care about actually helping anyone else--even her husband--get over, and as soon as she got more famous than him, she divorced him. |
| 359 | ** Cornette's not a big fan of Bonnie Steamboat, the wife of Wrestling/{{Ricky|Steamboat}}, finding her incredibly controlling and hard to work with both in and out of {{kayfabe}}. He cites her as a major reason why Steamboat's 1989 FamilyMan gimmick got so much hate--she came across to the fans as a stuck-up bitch, and the fans didn't want to see their hero look like a HenpeckedHusband. Outside the ring, she earned Cornette's disdain for refusing to let Ricky appear at a NWA/WCW tribute event Cornette was helping run ''that was less than 15 miles from his house''. |
| 360 | ** He often talks about how Brandi Rhodes is someone who just drags Wrestling/{{Cody|Rhodes}} down, as he's annoyed by the sheer amount of screen time she got in [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]], both in her husband's feuds and outside them, despite, in Jim's opinion, not having the talent as a wrestler, manager, or even other on-air talent to deserve it. |
| 361 | ---- |
| 362 | -->'''"Thank you. Fuck you. Bye!"''' |
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