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Jim Cornette

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Jim Cornette
Birth nameJames Mark Cornette
Born (1961-09-17) September 17, 1961 (age 62)
Louisville, Kentucky
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Jim Cornette[1]
James E. Cornette[2]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight198 lb (90 kg)
Debut1982

James Mark "Jim" Cornette (born September 17, 1961) is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker who is currently working for the Ring of Honor promotion as its executive producer.[2]

As a manager and creative writer, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation, and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He has also worked as an on-screen character in an authoritative role; as "Commissioner" of Ring of Honor (in a previous stint with the company) and "Management Director" (and off-screen road agent) for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Career

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Cornette always loved wrestling, reportedly installing a ten-foot antenna on top of his house as a youth so he could watch as much regional wrestling as possible. He began working at wrestling events at the age of 14, serving as a photographer, ring announcer, magazine correspondent, and public relations correspondent. In 1982, promoter Jerry Jarrett made the 21-year-old Cornette the manager of Sherri Martel and gave Cornette the gimmick of a rich kid turned inept manager whose clients kept firing him after one match. The most notable wrestlers in this angle were Dutch Mantell and Crusher Broomfield (who would later gain fame as The One Man Gang and Akeem, The African Dream).

In 1983 he managed a trio of wrestlers in Nashville consisting of Carl Fergie, Norman Fredrich Charles III, and the Angel, a trio that he called the "Cornette Dynasty". At the end of 1983 he would take on his best-known role becoming the frontman for the Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton, and later Stan Lane). With Cornette as manager, the team were 2-time National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Tag Team Champions and 2-time NWA United States Tag Team champions. As a manager, Cornette was known for both his loud mouth and for his ever-present tennis racket,[3] which Cornette often used to ensure victory for his wrestlers, with the implication that the racket case was loaded. Cornette was at his best as a heel manager; fans loved to see the constantly yelling Cornette and his equally annoying charges beaten and humiliated. He and the Midnights were so hated, in fact, that they had to be escorted by police to and from the ring at the house shows and have a police escort to the city limits for fear of being attacked by overzealous fans. Additionally, Cornette suffered serious injuries to his knee during a scaffold match between the Midnight Express and the Road Warriors at Starrcade '86; when dropping to the mat from the edge of the 20 ft. high scaffold, Cornette didn't allow his legs to buckle quickly enough because he hoped to have a waiting Big Bubba Rogers there to cushion his fall. Rogers was supposed to catch Cornette in mid-air, preventing any damage. But because Rogers was wearing sunglasses he misjudged his position in the ring. Cornette actually landed three feet away from the man who was supposed to catch him and ended up blowing out one of his knees when it folded inwards. Cornette, who is legitimately afraid of heights, later said that he knew he might get seriously hurt when he was told he'd have to fall off a scaffold, but that performing in front of such a large audience was more important than his own health. Cornette would later recall the incident in a shoot interview.[4]

National Wrestling Alliance/World Championship Wrestling (1986–1990)

The Midnight Express with Cornette had a short stay in World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas where they feuded mainly with The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers). When opportunities in WCCW looked to go nowhere the Midnight Express started to look elsewhere for employment and what they found would give the team national and international exposure.

In 1986, Cornette became the color commentator for Jim Crockett Promotions' nationally syndicated NWA television show, and later took over the same role on the Saturday night TBS broadcasts alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Ross.

In 1989, Cornette became a member of WCW's creative team, also known as a booker. As a booker for WCW, Cornette helped write storylines and shape the format of its television shows. Due to friction and animosity between himself and WCW head Jim Herd, Cornette quit the company after Halloween Havoc 1990.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1991–1995)

A firm believer in "old-school" territorial wrestling, Cornette began the Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion in 1991.[3] SMW promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas. By this point, however, the nature of wrestling in the United States had already changed irrevocably, leading Cornette to seek a working relationship with the WWF in 1993. This did not change the new national perception that regional promotions were "minor league". The move also did not help the federation's finances, and Cornette closed SMW's doors in November 1995. Cornette later said that he chose the wrong time to start a wrestling federation because the business as a whole was in a recession.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1993–2005)

Cornette went to the WWF in 1993 while still serving as promoter of SMW. As he had done in other promotions, Cornette held several positions in the WWF, including manager, color commentator and member of the booking committee. Cornette's most notable managerial role in the WWF was as the "American spokesperson" of WWF Champion Yokozuna.[3]

Cornette joined the WWF full-time in 1996 after the demise of SMW, and had a major role in scouting and developing new talent. On screen, he led a top heel stable known as "Camp Cornette," which consisted of Vader, Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog.[3] In 1997, Cornette became a member of the WWF announce team where he served as a color commentator. It was during this time that he also began performing a series of controversial "worked shoots" where he would praise what he felt was right and condemn what he felt was wrong in professional wrestling. Although the segments were produced by the WWF, Cornette did not hesitate to give praise to WCW wrestlers that he felt deserved it. Cornette also became active behind the scenes working on the booking committee for several years before being removed after frequently butting heads with head writer Vince Russo.

In 1998, Cornette led an NWA invasion,[3] based on the old Crockett Promotions territory, with a stable including Jeff Jarrett, Barry Windham and The Rock 'n' Roll Express. Later that year, Cornette managed The New Midnight Express[3] before he stepped back from managing. Cornette then did some color commentating, primarily on Sunday Night Heat, before disappearing from television. Cornette returned to WWF television for one night at WrestleMania X-Seven in Houston, Texas, where he took part in the "gimmick battle royal".[3]

Cornette later became lead booker and part owner of Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's lead developmental territory at the time, run by "Nightmare" Danny Davis. As a talent developer, Cornette had previously been instrumental in developing current and former WWE Superstars such as Kane, D'Lo Brown, Sunny and Al Snow during his time running SMW. WWE credits Cornette with helping foster numerous successful superstars including John Cena, Randy Orton, and Brock Lesnar.[5]

In May 2005, Cornette was suspended for several weeks after slapping OVW developmental wrestler Anthony Carelli backstage after Carelli had "no-sold" fellow wrestler The Boogeyman by laughing at him during a live OVW event. Shortly after Cornette returned from his suspension, a separate incident occurred and the WWE released him from his contract in July 2005. In the spring of 2007, Carelli, who had since been called up to the WWE as Santino Marella, appeared on a Canadian radio program where he publicly challenged Cornette to a match despite Cornette working for rival promotion TNA at the time.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2006–2009)

In 2006, Cornette joined TNA Wrestling as the new face of TNA Management. He held the title of "Management Director" according to the press releases following his premiere at the Slammiversary PPV event on June 18, 2006 in Orlando, Florida. After a brief speech, he departed, but returned at the end of the show in light of the "Orlando Screwjob", taking the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt after Jeff Jarrett, Larry Zbyszko and Earl Hebner successfully executed a screwjob on Christian Cage and Sting.

As the figurehead "Management Director" of TNA, Cornette did not usually take up more than ten minutes of the show, which can be attributed to both his quick tongue and TNA's lack of desire to create another Mr. McMahon. Matt Morgan had also become Cornette's on-screen bodyguard to prevent harm to his physical being, until leaving that post to become a full-time wrestler. Part of Cornette's gimmick was that when multiple situations build up at once, he often takes care of them all swiftly by getting all the TNA wrestlers to come out to the Impact! Zone for a "company meeting" to hear his decisions, or exasperatedly deals swiftly with people who barge into his office. The clear impact of this feature was made evident right from the start, as the first "company meeting" (which aired on the June 29, 2006 edition of TNA Impact!), where every wrestler was asked to come out and stand at either ramp, saw Cornette clear up several issues:

With the return of Vince Russo to TNA, Cornette's run with the company would come into question. Cornette has been one of Russo's harshest critics and has blamed him for the "disintegration of the business". He's also stated that he wished to inflict bodily harm on Russo due to his involvement in a WCW angle with Ed Ferrara in which they mocked WWE commentator and good friend Jim Ross' Bell's Palsy condition. Since then, however, he managed to come to working terms with Russo and also become more involved in TNA.

The Daily Star conducted an interview with Cornette, who had some harsh words for the WWE Chairman. "Have you seen the stock market? Vince is not a billionaire any more! He may not even be a millionaire by the time this thing's over! I will sacrifice every penny I've got and cut my neighbour's lawn to see Vince McMahon a broken man laying in the gutter!"[6]

Jim Cornette was released from his TNA contract on September 15, 2009.[7]

Jim Cornette appeared on the "Who's Slamming Who" podcast to give his side of the story regarding his departure from TNA. He said he was released because he was not 100 percent behind the creative team. He said there were no severe reasons or incidents that led to his leaving the company, and noted that the news of his firing was online within two hours of TNA head of talent relations Terry Taylor informing him of the company's decision. This was also evident of fans uploading video opinions of the happening on YouTube sharing opinions and gossip of the departure of Cornette and former TNA superstar B.G James.

Cornette said the conversation with Dixie Carter, who said he would be welcomed back to the company if he could get 100 percent behind creative. He had stated that he was never informed that Ed Ferrara would be coming in, and claims he would have resigned from his position if he had known that he would be coming into the picture with the creative team. Cornette stated that he is open to returning to TNA in the future, but simply can't support the creative team of Russo and Ferrara.

Return to Ring of Honor and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2009–2012)

Cornette in Ring of Honor in 2011.

In 2009, Cornette signed a contract with Ring of Honor to be their Executive Producer for the Ring of Honor Wrestling show on HDNet.[8]

Cornette made his surprise return to ROH at Glory by Honor VIII: The Final Countdown on September 26, announcing he was the new Executive Producer for the television show. Cornette made his first appearance on Ring of Honor Wrestling on the December 7th episode and immediately made waves by putting ROH champion Austin Aries into a 4-way title match later that night and created the Pick 6 contender series.

On September 8, 2010, Ohio Valley Wrestling announced that Cornette would resume his duties as the head booker of the promotion.[9] Cornette left OVW in November 2011, when the promotion announced a working agreement with TNA.[10] On the January 21 edition of Ring of Honor television, Cornette announced that chairshots to the head were banned and anyone that did so would be fined $5000. On the February 4 telecast, Cornette made another ban in which the piledriver—in any form—is banned.

On October 8, 2012, it was reported that ROH had replaced Cornette as the head booker with Hunter Johnston (Delirious).[11] ROH wrote Cornette off television by having him suffer storyline injuries at the hands of Jay Lethal.[12] As of November 2012, Cornette is reportedly "on sabbatical" from Ring of Honor and it is unknown when he will return to television. The reason for Cornette's absence allegedly stems from a public outburst he made at the November 3 ROH television taping. At the taping, ROH talent Steve Corino suffered an injury, and allegedly no ROH officials were able to pay for Corino's immediate medical attention or even arrange for an ambulance to be called, leaving Corino in pain for hours [13] Following his departure from Ring of Honor, Cornette decided to take an extended break from professional wrestling to focus on his health and work on personal projects.

Personal life

Cornette and his longtime girlfriend Stacy Goff, a former independent female wrestler who worked under the name Synn, were married in October 2007.[14]

Cornette has expressed his hatred for Vince Russo, as well as WWE Producer Kevin Dunn, in many interviews.

In September 2009, during a podcast interview on "Who's Slamming Who?" he voiced his support for President Barack Obama's Health Care Reform plans. He also condemned what he considered "fearmongering" from the Republican party, as well as calling former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin "a useless twat". He acknowledged having voted for Obama in the 2008 election, but does not consider himself a Democrat.[15] His political statements have led to media attention, including an appearance on internet talk show The Young Turks.[16][17]

Cornette has also stated on "YouShoot" that he is an atheist.[18]

In wrestling

Cornette (right) with Adam Pearce.
  • Tag teams managed

Championships and accomplishments

  • Other honoree (1997)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "Jim Cornette profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Jim Cornette". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  4. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBit9dfpmRg
  5. ^ http://www.wwe.com/superstars/jim-cornette
  6. ^ "TNA exclusive: Jim Cornette vows to break Vince McMahon". DailyStar.co.uk. 2008-11-03. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  7. ^ Boone, Matt (2009-09-15). "Breaking News: TNA Fires Jim Cornette & BG James". WrestleZone. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  8. ^ Powell, Jason (2009-09-22). "TNA News: Jim Cornette comments publicly for the first time since he was released by TNA". ProWrestling.net. Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  9. ^ Caldwell, James (2010-09-09). "ROH/OVW News: Jim Cornette announced as new OVW matchmaker; "working relationship" announced between ROH & OVW". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  10. ^ "Clarifications on TNA-OVW relationship, Cornette's standing with OVW". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
  11. ^ "Big Change To Roh Creative". PWInsider.com. 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  12. ^ Caldwell, James (2012-10-11). "Indy News: Big DGUSA Title match set, ROH footage of Lethal snapping". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
  13. ^ "Jim Cornette "on sabbatical" from Ring Of Honor (ROH) after temper tantrum". 30 November 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  14. ^ "Cornette talks highs and lows from today and yesterday". SlamWrestling.com. 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  15. ^ "NEW RANT! Pt. 1 Jim Cornette, Right Wing rant (Aug. 24)". YouTube. 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  16. ^ "Former WWF Manager Jim Cornette!!". YouTube. 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  17. ^ "YouShoot - Jim Cornette". Kayfabecommentaries.com. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  18. ^ "Jim Cornette YouShoot: Joey Styles, Republicans and Modern American Society". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-01-11.
  19. ^ The Wrestler | Magazine
  20. ^ "Jim Cornette tries to smooth things down". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
  21. ^ "Dynamic Dudes profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  22. ^ Inside Wrestling | December 1993 Edition
  23. ^ two 1998 WWF Monday Night Raw, Raw is War episodes
  24. ^ "Theme history". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  25. ^ "Jim Cornette TNA management theme (Gavel)". The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 2010-08-26.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jim Cornette.

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