The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast with Jim Cornette
Hosts: John and Chad
Interview available at Tmptow.podomatic.com
Mending fences with Eric Bischoff as part of WWE’s Table For 3: “Eric did not remember why we had only spoken once in twenty-four years. At the top of the Table For 3, I reminded him of that and we did a little jousting back and fourth and then we got onto other topics and Michael (Hayes) was an excellent moderator. We talked for an hour and a half and I understand that that program goes about half of that time so I don’t know if it is going to be a two parter or I don’t know if it is going to be cut up or what and I really don’t know when it is going to air. There was some tension, but at the end Eric and I managed to bond over our mutual hatred for the biggest idiot in the history of wrestling, Vince Russo. So the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and Eric and I were able to come to a agreement, regardless of what we thought of each other in the past neither one of us begins to be as big of a shit-stain as Vince Russo is. We bonded over that.”
Are there anymore WWE Network projects in his future: “There is and we didn’t go into this thing saying okay we are just going to do this once and never again and that I’m not going to speak to you people after this. If Connecticut was closer to Louisville, I’m sure there would be a lot more things I’d be open to. I don’t know if they want to pay me as much money as it would take to get me to drive to f—ing Connecticut on a regular basis. I don’t fly. Not only do I not fly United Airlines, I don’t fly any airlines because you don’t have any rights in an airport anymore and I don’t like being in a metal death-tube five miles in the air with some drunken f— that has probably had a fight with his wife and is now in charge of my life. If something was to come up, there are two things I enjoy and that is going back and examining and talking about the old footage of when wrestling was actually wrestling and training the next generation, which I did in OVW for quite some time (John Cena, Randy Orton are a legacy of that). If it is something to do with that then, yes, I am entirely open, not saying we are going to do it and I’m not saying we are not. I’m open to the suggestion and to be honest there is nothing I am going to be doing full time for anyone but myself.”
What is it about the Undertaker that made him have such great longevity: “Where do I start? Who else is drawing that much money? Who else has had that many great matches over that long a period of time? Who else has never brought bad publicity either in the ring or outside the ring? Who else has been a locker room leader and a true professional? Who else has never shit on the wrestling business by going out and doing asinine childish things or curtain calls or exposing the business? By any measure or any yard stick you can use, the Undertaker has been not only a true professional but an incredible gate attraction and made money for himself and everybody he has ever worked for or worked with. That right there, if you can’t respect the Undertaker than you don’t respect anybody ever in wrestling.”
Will we ever see anyone like The Undertaker again? “I think it is going to be tough. Especially with unfortunately the way that things have gone and the styles of work these days and the thinks that the guys are expecting to do I don’t know how anybody’s body will hold up for twenty-seven years again.”
His impressions of what WWE and Triple H have done to change aspects of its wrestling presentation: “I’ll tell you this, I didn’t like Triple H for fifth-teen years because of the curtain call. I thought he was a piece of shit for exposing the business along with his butt-buddies. He was the junior member at the time and (Shawn) Michaels and (Kevin) Nash were the ring leaders and Ramon (Scott Hall) but by the same token now Triple H. And remember when I said the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Triple H is now responsible for NXT, which is the most pro wrestling like, pro wrestling promotion on a big budget level in the world today, so people can change and things change. I would be a stubborn prick (which, of course, I am) but I’d be a stubborn prick if I didn’t say well he may have done some bullshit before but now guys like The Revival wouldn’t have a chance, The Revival is the best tag team in wrestling and I love The Briscoes in Ring of Honor and I was huge fans of Chris Hero (Kassius Ohno) and Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro) when they were the Kings of Wrestling. I thought they were the modern day version of the Midnight Express, but right now The Revival is the best tag team in wrestling and NXT has the best pro wrestling presentation of big budget wrestling, Ring of Honor being a close second in the business. When I walked into the TV hotel in Orlando at first I saw Ric Flair than I saw Sting, I saw The Rock N Roll Express and I’m like ‘my God, it is a Crockett pay per view?’ In the same weekend Jim Ross, Kurt Angle and Jim Cornette return to WWE television. This is like the bizarro world, I don’t know what to think anymore.”
Ten years ago, would Jim Cornette have stayed with the WWE if they had this current model in place: “No, I would have gone to NXT (laughing). I still wouldn’t want to be on the main roster and I’m definitely not going overseas except for an obscene amount of money (which I’ve been paid a couple of times) to go to England. I would have been interested in NXT because that is why I was interested in OVW and that is why I was interested in Ring of Honor. I wanted to impart some wisdom and also preserve and perpetuate professional wrestling instead of sports entertainment. I’ve always over the last fifth-teen years been more interested in the new talent and training guys to get over for the new generation than I can about ringing everything I can out of the previous generation. I would have definitely been interested in working with NXT because myself, Jim Ross, and Danny Davis invented the developmental program in the first place.”
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