The Way Too Long Review for KayfabeCommentaries – YouShoot: Jim Cornette

Reviews, Wrestling DVDs

Shoot interviews and myself have a long history together, but sometime around, oh, March of 2004, we fell out of love.  Mostly because the main shoot interview guy on the web got caught doing things he shouldn’t have been doing, and I can’t support his company now any more then I can the Catholic Church.  That said, it’s not as if THAT company is the only doing shoot videos.  Kayfabe Commentaries has a wide selection of them that you can purchase, the latest of which features James E. Cornette.  Every smark fan is a big fan of his, or at least claims to be.  I’m on the fence myself as to whether or not there’s even a place for someone like him in today’s wrestling scene.  But this isn’t about that.  This is about listening to the funniest guy in wrestling who still can talk straight (sorry Bobby the Brain) answering viewer questions.  This is a two disc set running at 220 minutes which you can purchase from KayfabeCommentaries.com for $25.

For those expecting my typical blow-by-blow recap, think again.  For one thing, Kayfabe Commentaries are a business that sells the spoken word.  If I was to write those words down in their entirety, or even a brief summary, there would be no point in them selling the DVDs.  Instead, I’ll list all the questions and give a quick summary of what is covered.  Questions are blocked into categories (chapters) and after every category is complete, I’ll assign it a star rating based on my normal three-stars is a passing grade criteria.  Let’s hit it.

I’m going to open up with a quick complaint: the lettering for the questions asked is white with red highlights.  It’s practically impossible to see.  Next time, blue or something guys.

The Early Days

Jimmy answers a question about the early days, including tape trading, who were his favorite wrestlers, and creating the star rating system. This is a fairly dull way to start the shoot and all this stuff has been covered before in different interviews and videos.  It’s nice that you can still see the glimmer in Jimmy’s eye as he talks about his pre-professional history with wrestling, but come on, Dullsville.  His story about his first time watching Madison Square Garden (WWWF) matches is still kind of funny (“We almost turned to self-harming!”).  The story of the star ratings took off is neat, and as someone who uses his own variation of that, I know how controversial that can get.  Cornette points an accusing finger at people using the star rating, which includes ME… what can I say?  I’m offended Mr. Cornette.

How was his time as a photographer in Memphis? Cornette talks about kayfabe and how the talent treated him.  He was smart to the business, but fans being considered smart was taboo back then.  The question included how things in Memphis were gimmicky at the time, which leads into talk of how it’s even more gimmicky today.  “Memphis looks like fucking UFC compared to the tripe on TV today!”  He’s just now heating up.

What was the bigger indication you had made it in wrestling? Your first paycheck, your first fight with a fan, or your first rat?  Cornette cops out with none of the above, and instead talks about his first night on television, which was the first time he heard a lot of insider lingo, and also watched smart fans kayfabe marks, which he found amusing.  He does talk about his first paychecks, and then his first fight with a fan.  That’s a fairly amusing story.  He can’t talk about his first rat because technically he wasn’t in the business yet.  Fun stuff, but come on, bring on the venom!

Any memories of the late Hercules Hernandez? This is a funny story involving a fan stealing his mask, a fight breaking out, and Herc making the save for him.  Another story about fans attacking himself along with Herc and David Schultz is more of the same.  He caps off this question with a hilarious story of Hercules knocking a fan out cold that was in the dressing room waiting to be arrested.  Good stuff.  We need more wrestlers more willing to knock out rowdy fans.

His favorite “Almost got killed in Louisiana” story? Jimmy talks about a close call after a show one night where Dennis Condrey and he had a run-in with twelve angry fans.  Stories like this make you wonder why so many people are angry that kayfabe is dead.

Why weren’t the Midnight Express ever given a run against the Von Erichs? Man, scary to think how much that feud would have drawn.  Cornette had heard that old man Fritz thought the Express weren’t physically big enough to work with his boys, but then goes into other possible scenarios.  Not as informative as I was hoping.

Was old man Fritz as cheap as they say he was? Surprisingly, Cornette says no, and elaborates on it.

Early Days Rating: **1/4 A fairly dull start, as almost all this material has been covered.  That said, I know that guys Jimbo’s age take time to warm up before they get nice and angry so I’ll forgive it and move on to the good stuff.

WCW

Was Big Mama (from Starrcade ’85) really Jimmy Valiant’s wife and are they still together?
Interesting question, as it’s one of those things that there’s conflicting reports out on.  Cornette attempts to settle it once and for all.  Yes, they were married.  No, they’re not still together.  He doesn’t elaborate on this but it’s nice to finally have an answer.  Now cue someone who gives a conflicting alternate answer, which is what always seems to happen.

Was making fun of David Crockett as fun as it looked? Does the pope shit in the woods?

What did he think of Lex Luger when he first started, at the height of his success, and now?
Corny actually likes the Total Package but can see why others wouldn’t, as he tended to look down on them.  He says the same thing countless guys have said about Lex: that he didn’t love the business.  And we get some examples of him looking down on people, but overall Cornette enjoyed his company.

Who was a better partner for Bobby Eaton: Dennis Condrey or Stan Lane? Cornette gives an apples to oranges answer, and explains why both guys filled niches in different situations.

What the fuck was up with Starrcade 1987?  Why was it moved to Chicago?  Why was the booking so bad? He only touches on the booking, noting that they shouldn’t have had back-to-back scaffold matches at Starrcade.  The Chicago question has been talked about by everyone and their dog for over twenty years now: a horrible attempt at trying to show the cable industry they weren’t bush league and it blew up in their face when Vince McMahon put the Survivor Series on the same night and told cable companies that if they wanted to carry it, they couldn’t carry Starrcade.  This stuff has been covered a million times before.

Did Animal really baby-sit Hawk over the years? Cornette doesn’t think so.

How do you think Jim Crockett and Dusty Rhodes should have handled the UWF purchase? One would think the correct answer here is to not purchase it at all and instead bid on wrestlers against the WWE once the company inevitably folded.  As for what went wrong with the angle, Corny is at a loss for why they didn’t book the UWF guys stronger.

Do wrestling historians do enough to preserve history? Weird question that’s out of place.  Just an excuse for Cornette to quickly bust on Bruce Mitchell of the Pro Wrestling Torch.

Does he have any memories regarding “Learning the Ropes”, a sitcom starring Lyle Alzado from the late 80s? Cornette’s blood pressure starts to rise as he talks about what a stupid show it was and how it didn’t pay well anyway.

Did Jimmy think that Jim Crockett was going out of business when Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson left for the WWE?
Why did they leave in the first place? Actually, everyone thought they were going out of business in March of 1988.  The Express/Horsemen feud actually got hot, but by this point Crockett was beginning to sell to Ted Turner and had entered into due diligence.  TBS execs conducted ‘private’ interviews with the talent, and when Tully was up he blasted Dusty Rhodes.  Word leaked to Dusty and he attempted to fuck with Tully, but Arn got hot at it.  Pretty good story but Cornette is missing some details, like for example the fact that Paul Ellering was getting paid more money to manage the Road Warriors then Tully and Arn were to wrestle them.

Do you ever have nightmares about the Dynamic Dudes (Johnny Ace and Shane Douglas)? And now it’s time for Angry Jimbo to appear.  Cornette has nothing to note about Shane Douglas, but then goes on a rant about what a piece of worthless shit John Laurinaitis is.  Amen.  This is why I wanted to see this DVD.  More stuff like this, please?

Does he know any ribs that were pulled on Jim Herd? Not really, though he does have a story about himself and Stan Lane sending him a dozen dead roses with a card that said “Our condolences on the death of your wrestling promotion.”  His planned method of resignation from WCW, involving a gun loaded with blanks, could have ended very badly.

Thoughts on Paul E. Dangerously in WCW? He actually liked working with him, and their legitimate hatred didn’t come until later.  He talks about their Tuxedo match from the Great American Bash where Corny had a legitimate knee injury that he wanted to work into the match so that he would have an excuse to limp, and then Paul E proceeded to work the wrong leg.  Hilarious.

His biggest payday in WCW? He made $10K for both Starrcade ’86 and ’87.  But once the switch went to WCW the big paychecks stopped.  He goes into placing the blame on management.

WCW Rating: ***1/4 A fairly entertaining and informative piece.  The rating goes up slightly if you’ve somehow missed all this material in other interviews, books, shoots, etc.  Again, this is mostly old ground being

Smokey Mountain Wrestling

SMW always promised to run in Chattanooga, TN but never showed up.  What the fuck? Corny gives an informative answer dealing with infomercials and having to pay his way onto the station.  Good look at what small-time promoters have to deal with to this day.

How come Raven never showed up in SMW? This should have been in the “Stump Cornette” section because Jimmy has no fucking clue.  Nobody involved in the production of this shoot can remember what he was doing in New York, and they settle on him being Scotty Flamingo.  WRONG, he was Johnny Polo.  Ugh guys, hire me.  I know my shit.

How angry was Cornette at Chris Jericho for breaking his arm before his big match? He goes into a detailed explanation of how Lance Storm & Chris Jericho ended up in SMW.  Great story that actually had me busting up just picturing what Jimbo must have looked like when he exploded on Jericho for busting his arm practicing a shooting star press.

Corny’s thoughts on Tammy Sytch, Chris Candido, and Tom Prichard heading to the WWE to be the Bodydonnas?
Cornette puts over Sunny specifically as the biggest cunt in the history of the business… in a good way.  “No female I’ve ever seen has more natural ability to be a heel.”  Big complement coming from him, but ultimately he feels the WWE wasted their talent.  I agree, though the WWE came in second only to Sunny in wasting Sunny’s talent.  Assuming she’s clean today, I think she could come back and do the cougar thing like Sherri Martel did with Shawn Michaels in 1993.

What was the real reason Cornette closed SMW in 1995? Basically, 1995 was the worst year for wrestling period, but Cornette elaborates on this.

A question basically brow beats Cornette for not having any top singles stars in SMW.  Who could have been a top babyface because Brian Lee and Bob Armstrong didn’t cut it? The guy asking the question apparently can’t come up with the answer and Cornette couldn’t think of one either.  He wanted Brad Armstrong but couldn’t get him because Brad was in WCW.  “Brian had all the tools but couldn’t read the manual.”  There was nobody available.  He defends the use of Bob Armstrong because he was a draw in the territorial sense, and he drew more wrestling for Jim Cornette then using Arn Anderson, or the Steiners, etc did.  Nice stuff.

How many hours of TV has Cornette produced? 200 episodes of SMW of which 198 aired.  Around 300 hours of Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Why did Cornette sell the SMW video library to WWE? What a fucking stupid question.  Cornette answers simply: six figures.  Duh.  He goes into talking about selling the OVW tape collection, and that brings out his angry (re: entertaining) side.

Why doesn’t the WWE use the SMW library more?  Is it to get back at you? I’ll field this one, Jim.  First off dear viewer: you’re a fucking knuckle-dragging retard.  There’s no money in it.  AWA and WCCW were WAY bigger then Smokey Mountain Wrestling ever was and the DVDs produced off those companies were among the biggest busts put out by WWE Home Video since the DVD era began.  And it has nothing to do with rewriting history or any of that garbage.  The fan interest is just not there.  SMW will be used if they put out a “best of” set that has a classic match from the featured wrestler, but otherwise there’s nothing to be used from it.  Does that piss you off?  Too bad, they paid for it.  They can do what they want with it.  Cornette does seem to take it personally though.  A follow up question deals with if there are any plans to sell complete collections of SMW shows on DVD.  The answer is NO because such a set would cost well over $200 and there’s maybe, MAYBE, a dozen people who would actually spring for it.  Come on fans, get real.

Smokey Mountain Wrestling Rating
: ***1/2 Some really good, heated moments and some really informative stuff.  I figured the SMW stuff would be the dullest part of the DVD and thus far it’s been the highlight.  But there’s a lot more to go.

Stump Cornette (basic idea: you send in questions, and if Cornette gets stumped, you win the DVD for free.)

Some 411Mania twit asks “Who was the first person to win all three titles in ECW?” Cornette is like “How would I have the first fucking clue?”  Oh those clever 411 chaps.  They might as well ask Cornette if the Ultimate Warrior is a gentle, giving lover or a forceful, dominatrix type.  I’m pretty sure the answer is Mikey Whipwreck.  Actual answer?  Johnny Hotbody.  Cornette and I both go 0 for 1, while Mike Campbell gets to celebrate by sucking a whole lot of a cock.

Kevin Barnett asks “Besides being the first (spelled frist on the DVD) main event of the first pay-per-view, the Harley Race/Ric Flair match had another first in it.  What was it? Cornette points out that the question is faulty since Starrcade ’83 was closed circuit, not pay-per-view.  But he’s still going to make a guess at what the significant first was that surrounded that match.  Then he actually doesn’t.  I made a wild guess and said it was the first time the title changed hands in a cage match, and I was right.  Charlie 1, Cornette 0.  Booyah.

Jorge asks: “When Tatanka debuted, he went on a Goldberg-esque winning streak.  Who handed him his first loss?” Cornette asks for stuff from the 70s that he might know the answer to.  I remember that dark day clearly, when the evil Finnish environmentalist (and would-be Wrestlemania X main eventer) Ludwig Borga knocked off Tatanka to start his build towards facing Lex Luger on the grandest stage of them all.™  Cornette doesn’t know this and I go up 2 – 0, and more free copies of the DVD get handed out.

Some fucking Canadian asks “Which wrestler worked an angle that tastelessly recreated the Bruiser Brody murder?” Before I can even start to think, Cornette spits out Onita.  I wouldn’t have gotten it anyway, so we’re at Cornette 1, Charlie 2.

Jorge again asks “Who are the only two masked wrestlers to hold the AWA Championship?” I had Tim Woods, aka Mr. Wrestling.  Cornette comes up with two different names: Mr. M (Bill Miller) and Doctor X (Dick Beyer in a variation of his Destroyer gimmick).  D’oh.  Quick check on Wikipedia by me confirms that Woods won the title but it was voided out later.  We’re tied at 2.

Jorge again?  Jesus.  Next time let me know when you’re asking for questions, Kayfabe Commentaries, and I’ll make sure word gets out.  Prior to Rocky Maivia, which two non-indy wrestlers in North America used the name “The Rock?” That would be Ole Anderson and Don Muraco.  We both got it and move on.  We’re tied at 3, but the segment is over, and Cornette is still pissed over the Tatanka question.

No Rating

ECW

How did the heat between Cornette and Paul Heyman begin and how much of it was a work? Highly entertaining (if rambling) story about the Gangstas basically splitting on Smokey Mountain thanks to Paul Heyman’s double talk.  Cornette is of the same opinion as everyone else in the business: Paul Heyman is a pathological liar who believes his own lies.  He even uses the same phrase I’ve heard from, no kidding, five other people.  “Paul Heyman would rather climb a tree and lie then stay on the ground and tell the truth.”  Good story, very entertaining.

Why do you rag on ECW for being hardcore when it was so much more then that? That’s basically the gist of a long, rambling question.  Cornette elaborates, ultimately summing it up with “20 years ago, everyone thought wrestling was real and nobody got hurt.  Now everyone gets hurt and nobody believes it’s real, and that’s mostly ECW’s fault.”  He’s right.  So was Bret Hart when he said the exact same thing, and you all know how much I hate to agree with Bret.

Cornette’s thoughts on WWECW? No wait, that question gets ignored.  Ugh.  Instead we move on to…

Name something Paul Heyman did as booker that Cornette liked.  He doesn’t put over any specific angle but notes that Heyman got the most out of the least talented guys.  Public Enemy, for example, was crap everywhere but ECW.  Same with Kronus and Saturn, same with Shane Douglas, etc.  He then goes back and answers that question about WWECW, noting that it’s the only thing that made the original ECW look good, and says the problem is Vince McMahon doesn’t watch anyone else’s product.  For example, when the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express came in to do the Survivor Series, Vince had never heard of them before.

ECW Rating: ***1/4 It’s not like Cornette had a huge wealth of ECW knowledge, but at least we got a couple amusing and informative stories.

End of Disc One, Insert Disc Two.

WWE

What are Cornette’s thoughts on Tuesday Night Titans? He hated it, and elaborates.

Can you tell us the story about Vince McMahon meeting with the Midnight Express in 1986, and tell us about the dolls? Sadly, Cornette has released a book on the history of the Midnight Express where this is an entire chapter unto itself.  Thus, he gives us a cliff-notes explanation and basically tells people that if you want a non-sucky version of the story, buy the book.  Mind you, this set costs $25 and this is not the first time Cornette has told people they should buy his book instead of giving an answer.

Did you move to Connecticut when you worked for WWE? Yes he did, until 1999.  Lame question.  Who gives a fucking shit where he lived?

A person asking a question basically chalks Dusty Rhodes’ “fat ass white man who acts black” routine getting over because of geography.  What shocked Cornette most about wrestling above the Mason Dixon line? He’s already talked about this, having been disappointed the first time he saw WWWF programming, but elaborates on how nobody really believed the New York style.  Compare that to the South, where if word from the PA announcer came in the middle of a show that a heel wrestler had legitimately been killed in a car crash, the place would explode in euphoria.  Yipes.  My kind of people.

Was he close to Howard Finkel? Cornette loves the Fink.  That was brisk.

Why was Bill Watts’ tenure as a booker in WWE so short? Because Vince rewrote everything.  Watts went up to Vince and said “There’s only room for one Titan in Titan Sports, and you’re it.”  Direct quote.

His thoughts on Stan Lane as an announcer in WWE? Cornette liked his work.  Jerry Jarrett actually was the one who hired him, during a period when he was set to take over the WWE had Vince gone to prison for steroid distribution.  Cornette then describes how every Southerner who worked for WWE was miserable.

Did he like managing Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart? Cornette got his start managing Yokozuna but hated the matches… except his match with Undertaker at the Royal Rumble.  People thought I was nuts when I said that nearly 100% of wrestling insiders consider that match a classic, one of the best matches ever.  And there it is, straight out of the lips of the ultimate ‘purest’ Jim Cornette.  Yep.  But he did enjoy working with Davey Boy and Owen and has a couple quick, always funny Owen Hart rib stories that are sure to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

Did he ever travel with Yokozuna? Nope.  He does elaborate.  Follow up is did he ever eat with Yokozuna? Yes he did, and man is that story scary.  People say 34 years old was too young for him to go.  I’m shocked he made it that far!

Any truth to the rumor that Lex Luger was booked to win the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania X but the finish was changed when he got drunk and leaked out the results the previous night? It’s not true.  Lex was going to win the title at Wrestlemania X but that had been changed LONG before March 19, 1994, when Lex allegedly leaked the results.

Having worked with Owen Hart and Mr. Fuji (the two most notorious ribbers in the industry at the time), did they ever pull ribs on him?  Did they pull ribs on each other?  Did they team up to rib on others? All I was thinking is “God, this could be good.  Don’t let him blow it.”  They didn’t rib each other.  Thankfully, they never teamed up either because otherwise the world could have ended.  We don’t get any super good stories… in fact, we only get one story.  But that story makes me think “Damn, Fuji took those jokes to a new level.”

His favorite Owen Hart rib? He actually doesn’t tell a rib, but something he thought was a rib by Owen.  This story had me laughing until it hurt.  I’m telling you, Kayfabe Commentaries, you should put together a DVD of nothing but rib stories.  I guarantee you it would be the biggest selling shoot video of all time.

Why was Vader a flop in the WWE? He doesn’t think he was a flop, and then blames Shawn Michaels, and then raves about what an asshole Shawn Michaels is, basically saying that he thinks his being saved by the Jewish Zombie in the Sky is a load of bullshit.  Tough story to listen to, as you hear about Shawn reducing Vader to tears, and to quote Jay, “There’s nothing worse then watching a fat man weep.”  Oh, and this is covered in a separate DVD by Kayfabe Commentaries featuring Vader.  I want to hear that one.

Is it true Vader never washed his ring attire to upset opponents? No, he just never washed his ring attire, period.

Does he have any good Mantaur stories? He thought the gimmick was a rib at first.

His opinion of Ahmed Johnson? None really.  He notes nobody could understand a word he said, but mostly does an impression of Ernie Ladd.

Question thanks Cornette for tearing Joey Styles a new one and then asks how the NWA-WWE invasion of 1998 came about? He thinks the angle was created by Vince Russo to simply fuck with him.  He elaborates.  He then explains the ‘tearing Joey Styles a new asshole’ thing, related to the right wing Republicans and how Styles is basically a racist (he is) and how the Republican party is generally filled with and caters to racists (they do).  He then goes on to talk about how he doesn’t get why tea baggers hate Obama.  Duh, he’s black.  I know that’s supposed to be taboo to say, but it’s the fucking truth.  If the South could vote to bring back segregation it would, even today.  Which is why you can’t let people vote on stuff that is civil rights issues, like gay marriage.  Cornette goes on to bust on healthcare, of which a bill was just passed that will help nothing.  Angry Cornette finally shows up in full, saying that he can’t believe how stupid and racist Republicans are that they would rather have a white guy in office that does nothing then a black guy in office who gets them healthcare.  “I’ve paid a million and a half in taxes over the last twenty years.  If I get sick the government should send a nurse to my house who proceeds to blow me.”  Absolutely glorious rant that ends by pointing out that he doesn’t believe in the Sky Bully either but the Republican party is interested only in waging a holy war.  God created the earth in six days, and he didn’t put any gays, blacks, or towel-heads in it.  Jim Cornette speaks the taboo truth.

The New Midnight Express?  What the fuck? It goes back to traveling with the entire creative team, including Vince McMahon, and people would say “HEY JIM CORNETTE!  MIDNIGHT EXPRESS!”  Not Yokozuna, not the Harts, but the Express.  And thus Bart Gunn and Bob Holly come around.  He talks about the Brawl for All, wrongfully crediting it entirely on Vince Russo (the idea to work Dr. Death Steve Williams through the tournament had been Russo’s idea, but the actual tournament was fucking Bradshaw’s brainchild) and laughing at him when it cost the company $10,000,000 in one night (I have no clue what this is about, anyone know?).

During the Monday Night Wars did they air Nitro in the back? No.

What ideas did Cornette come up with that the WWE used other then Hell in a Cell? Angry Jimbo rears his ugly/entertaining head to trash the shit out of Vince Russo while taking credit for the cool aspects of the Kane character.  Good stuff.  Some of his unused ideas for Kane would have been HUGE!

How often did he talk to Dave Meltzer when he was on the booking team? Not that often.

How much did Cornette know about Montreal? Hilarious rant, with a couple more digs at Shawn Michaels’ faith.  He knew that they had “a finish” but wasn’t specifically in on Montreal.  I bet he had a hunch though.  When it played out, Vince Russo had no clue what had just happened and was confused.  Meanwhile, Jimbo bolted for his car.  “I was out of that fucking building before Hebner!”  Good stuff.

How would Cornette have resolved Montreal?  And would he have continued Over the Edge ’99 after Owen Hart had died?
Just to put my two cents in: the Over the Edge question is SO loaded because there’s no good answer.  People in the stands had been drinking and the fans were mostly smart, or semi-smart, and they might have assumed it was a work, even if they were outright told it wasn’t.  I would expect some violence would have gone down, maybe violence against WWE officials, maybe violence against others in the stands.  Cornette himself said that fans back in the day used to pop when the announcers would say that a heel had died.  Owen was a heel at the time and maybe the WWE wanted to spare the marks in the stands from getting their ass kicked when they heard Owen died.  Who knows?  Loaded question and total bullshit to ask it.  Let it go, people.

Cornette’s answer to part one: Why on earth did they not take the title off of Bret BEFORE he was told to go ahead and negotiate with WCW?  Cornette’s idea going into the Survivor Series was to insert Ken Shamrock into the match at the last second and have him shoot on Bret.  Damn yo, that might have been even more fun.  He elaborates a lot more on Montreal.  As far as Over the Edge ’99: he would have stopped the show instantly, and he blames Vince Russo for Owen’s death.  Thankfully, Russo has since forgiven himself and come to realize that he was just doing God’s work.  For real.  Cornette goes back to tearing Vince Russo a new asshole, and then lays into Dixie Dumbass in TNA for hiring him.

Did Cornette get along with Triple H? He did at first, and then the curtain call happens.  A nearly ten minute rant at Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Vince Russo follows.  No point in even recapping it, because it’s awesomeness can’t be conveyed in recap form.

Why does Cornette think Shane McMahon left WWE? He doesn’t have a theory, firsthand knowledge, or an opinion.  But he thinks that Shane wanted to be his father and knows now that it’s going to be Stephanie and Triple H instead.  Jim loves Shane and hopes he does better then his dad.

Biggest WWE payday? Not counting the six-figures he got for Smokey Mountain’s tape library or the $50,000 he got for OVW’s?  (Mind you, the WWE paid LESS to Turner for WCW’s collection.  True story).  As a talent, he got $15,000 for Wrestlemania X, which wasn’t very much to him apparently.

What’s the deal with Randy Savage and Vince McMahon? He has no clue, other then Savage walking to WCW without giving notice.  He doesn’t believe the Stephanie/Savage rumor, but would love for it to be true.

Does he think steroids are in the WWE today because Vince says they aren’t?  What’s his opinion of Wellness? He says that Vince always wanted big muscle heads but his opinion always was “As long as I don’t see it.” and goes on to say that it’s likely less a problem now, but if people with money want to beat the system they can and will.  Just look at the Olympics.

WWE Rating: **** Some of the questions were lame and I wish he had elaborated more on others, but when Cornette gets angry, he gets funny.  And he got angry quite a few times here.

Ohio Valley Wrestling

Was there ever talk of bringing Kenny Bolin up to WWE? None.  They didn’t watch the show and had no clue how good any of their talent was.  They especially didn’t care about Bolin’s mic skills or the fact that he could get anyone over.

Channel Dusty Rhodes and cut a promo on Kenny Bolin. Jesus.  Why not just say “Stand up and dance for us you fat, four-eyed fucker?”  Cornette does cut the promo though.  Dance, fat ass, dance!  Muwahahahaha.

What does he think about what Batista had to say about him in his book? Angry Cornette shows up.  Kayfabe Commentaries offers this up as a promo for this set, so have a look for yourself.

Good stuff.

Thoughts on Nick Dinsmore and the Eugene character? Hated the Eugene character, figured it would be the end of Dinsmore’s career and it pretty much was.  Doesn’t vicodin get any credit?  Anyway, Cornette loves Dinsmore, thinks he was the #1 guy Ohio Valley Wrestling ever had, and would love to have him in Ring of Honor, but the stink of the gimmick will always taint him.  He talks about some other gimmicks, including the Spirit Squad.

Was there a turning point where he realized that the OVW/WWE relationship was fucked and would never work out? Yep, when Jim Ross got fired as head of talent relations and Johnny Ace took over.  He then goes on to trash Ace in spectacular fashion.

OVW Rating: *** The best part was given away for free on Youtube, but otherwise I can’t complain.

The Shit List

I’m not even going to bother recapping.  Cornette ranks his shit list.  He rants on a few people, but this feels like time filler.  **1/2

TNA

Was Cornette embarrassed about losing his cane in his TNA debut? He was amused by it.

Did he ever have a bowel movement in the TNA Impact Zone? Jesus fucking Christ, maybe I’m missing the context or something, but what kind of question is that?  Well, indeed Cornette took a dump.  It was the only thing he could do to stop himself from murdering Unibrow.

Will TNA ever charge fans to watch shows at the Impact Zone? No, but they should charge people when they want to leave.  (Rim shot)

With Jerry Jarrett being a successful booker in Memphis, why didn’t that translate well to TNA? Jerry only wrote the first twenty or so shows.

Did he ever see Dixie Carter get lost backstage? No but he was hoping he would.  This section sucks… until the talk goes back to Unibrow.  He goes back to how he never watched TNA before he debuted, and then goes into how he was stunned by Vince Russo’s hiring.

What does he think about the new 2010 TNA? Who would he like to see jump ship from WWE to TNA? He can’t think of anything nice to say about the new TNA and elaborates on this, basically blaming Vince Russo.  He thinks TNA needs to stop trying to be WWE-Lite.  He totally buries the whole thing, and he also buries the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon angle as “Two gray-haired guys yelling at each other.”  Ratings would say otherwise.

Is the only reason he still busts on TNA so that he can use the term “Shine a Turd” in a sentence? I have a cure for that: make him Chris Hero’s manager.

When TNA inevitably fails and is bought by WWE, will he allow himself to be interviewed for the Rise and Fall of TNA DVD? He doesn’t want TNA to fail because he doesn’t want the WWE to have a monopoly.  Going by TNA’s ratings, I would say “As if they don’t already.”  But he talks about the importance of TNA and how sad he is that they’ve failed.

TNA Rating: **1/4 Mostly dull actually.

Ring of Honor

What was up with the Ring of Honor/Combat Zone Wrestling feud? He wasn’t in on the booking meetings, but talks about the program.  There wasn’t any true hatred, but there was a lot of shooting going on.  Okie doki.  He busts on CZW as garbage and then goes into hating on The Wrestler because he thinks that people think that’s what all old wrestlers do now and it put him in a depression.  Hardcore wrestling gets busted and busted good.  This rant topped the entire TNA section ten-fold.

Did he think Ring of Honor would grow into what it is today when he appeared there in 2003?
No, but he’s happy he was wrong.

What does he think of Ring of Honor from back in the day versus now?  Oh, and is he part of the booking team?
Adam Pierce is the booker and he simply makes suggestions.  He liked the glory day of Ring of Honor, but he says that he has a better time whenever someone leaves for the big leagues, because it gives him a chance to make an elevation and that excites him.

Who could be the next John Cena that’s in Ring of Honor?  Who in the WWE is the most underutilized? He thinks Tyler Black will be a huge star some day.  He ducks the WWE question, but says all the Ohio Valley Wrestling guys got the shaft.

Will ROH ever start doing shows in the South? Yes, they will be doing a show April 3rd in Charlotte, NC. He talks about how cool the market is.  They’re going to play in Kentucky and Georgia too.

Thoughts on Ring of Honor suing Ric Flair? Ric got paid money to make appearances and then Vince McMahon caught word that ROH had a TV deal and that blah blah blah, he doesn’t want to take sides.  It’s a shame though.  And that’s it for the show.

Ring of Honor Rating: ***1/4, mostly just for the CZW rant.  We’ve all heard it before, but it’s never any less funny or insightful.

BOTTOM LINE: The three hours and forty minutes of this shoot fly by.  Most of the information is old ground, and perhaps it’s time to retire Jim Cornette from these things.  He’s done, what, a half-dozen over the course of his career?  That said, when Jim blows his stack, there’s fewer things in wrestling that are more entertaining.  If you’ve never owned a shoot interview before, this would be a good one to recommend as a starter.  That said, I hated the whole YouShoot concept.  Some of the questions were downright baffling and I think a competent interviewer could have come up with a lot fewer questions that would have provided more material for the subject.  I like Kayfabe Commentaries and am happy that there’s a shoot interview company out there I can recommend without feeling like I’m lining the pockets of a child predator.  But not enough new ground is covered here and $25 seems like a bit of a rip-off when Corny is often more interested in shilling his own products.  I really hate to do this, but I have to give this set a marginal thumbs down.  Just not enough meat to this interview, especially at its $25 (not including shipping) price point.  There were a couple really insightful stories and one or two laugh-out-loud moments but I couldn’t recommend anyone pay close to $30 with shipping for this when there are much better options for your non-mainstream wrestling entertainment.

If the price ever comes down $5 or you’ve NEVER seen a shoot interview before, I would change this to a marginal thumbs up.  You can buy it from the KayfabeCommentaries store by clicking right here.  Keep your eye out in case they ever have a sale.  If they ever do buy one, get one half off or free or something like that, snatch this set with the Honky Tonk Man’s shoot.  Damn good times to be had.

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