Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru Episode 65
Release date: Aug 13, 2018
Recap by: Paul Briody
Top stories/moments of interest:
• Brian Last asks Jim Cornette listener questions about current wrestling and wrestling history with great chemistry between the two.
0:00 – Intro. Jim’s favourite undercard Memphis wrestler was Pat Hutchinson who “epitomised a job guy.”
9:22 – Did a match featuring The Undertaker and The Gangstas ever happen, and if not, why and what are some matches that Jim never got to promote that he would’ve loved to? Corny would’ve loved to promote The Rock on a big show at the Louisville Gardens in OVW. In SMW, the main event of the Christmas night show in 1995 was planned to be the heels vs Bob, Scott, Steve and Brian Armstrong in an Armstrong family reunion but it never happened due the company folding. A match between The Gangstas (New Jack, Mustafa and D-lo) and The Undertaker, Tracy Smothers and Bullet Bob Armstrong (with Corny and Paul Bearer in their corner) actually happened at Bluegrass Brawl 1995 in Pikeville, Kentucky. In the build-up, there was a segment for TV featuring The Gangstas in a graveyard and that’s Jim’s favorite angle involving them in SMW.
16:16 – Is a dead a**hole still an a**hole? Jim: “Yes, I agree with that one hundred percent.”
17:24 – Why did Ole Anderson disappear so quickly from JCP? Jim: “I don’t know if it was something, or his heart wasn’t in it anymore.” Ole’s son, Bryant, was growing up around that time (1986) so Jim and Bryan wonder if it wasn’t as simple as wanting to spend more time at home.
21:37 – Could Jimmy Garvin have been a good babyface or was he just much more suited to being a heel? Jim: “He knew how to work as a babyface, it’s just that the gimmick really didn’t work unless you know why he had become a babyface… but he had a lot of history there and Dusty probably thought ‘Let’s do something with Gorgeous Jimmy because it’s been a while.’” Fun discussion about the angle where Ric Flair gets a night with Precious, JJ Dillon tries to hide in the closet and Ron Garvin was in drag. Jim: “It just got a little showbiz for me to be comfortable with but at the same time I was not about to tell any of the people involved that they shouldn’t be doing it, at that point.” Funny story about Ronnie Garvin in drag catching the Barbarian’s eye backstage before he knew who it was.
26:22 – Did anybody watch the promo with JJ Dillon standing in front of War Machine and not know that it was Big Bubba in a mask? It was a very small mask. He was flown into Atlanta just to stand there in a mask and not say a word! Jim and Brian then talk about the Bubba/One Man Gang title change in UWF (1986). Jim: “He (Bubba) was just a really big guy who could move and was light on his feet and that’s what One Man Gang was (early in his career).”
33:38 – Jim talks about Gary Hart’s creative input into the wrestlers he managed, including the One Man Gang name.
35:37 – During a Yokozuna/King Mabel match from WWF In Your House 4, October 1994, Yoko fell on Corny in the finish, was it planned? How did they get Jim to agree to it?Jim: “I can’t say for sure it was a Bruce and Pat but it certainly sounds like a Bruce and Pat… I didn’t have any problem doing it because I knew Yoko wasn’t going to hurt me but also Yoko and King Mabel, what’s the finish gonna be at that point in time?”
38:29 – What are Jim’s memories of working with Nancy Sullivan? Jim: “I loved Nancy, I thought she was the greatest… perfect for the business… fun and nice and no issues.” Jim tells a story about his mother keeping the videotape of an angle involving Jim and Woman in a hotel room where Jim opened a bottle of champagne. She labelled the tape ‘Jimmy pops his cork’ and Corny found the tape after his mom had passed away.
44:08 – Would Paul Heyman be the world’s best used car salesman? Jim: “Oh good lord, he could sell you the idea of a car that hasn’t been manufactured yet… you’d gladly hand the money over.” Jim lists Bobby Jaggers, Paul Morton, Buddy Wayne and George ‘Two Ton’ Harris as massive yet entertaining liars and Hulk Hogan, Paul Heyman (for the lies he’s told to wrestlers) and Vince Russo as amongst the more malicious liars in wrestling. Jim: “Hulk Hogan’s told some f****** whoppers.”
46:53 – Will a wrestling company ever go back to having normal moves, definitive finishes, fewer false finishes and, if so, will it get over with the fans? Jim: “No.” Main events would always have false finishes but now it’s bled down into the lower card matches too because those wrestlers want to emulate the big matches they’ve seen.
50:33 – Is Jim ever able to get lost in an old match as a fan, having done so much in the business? Jim: “I can get lost in a match because I’m appreciating all the little things that no one does today.” Simple but effective. Good discussion about Jerry Lawler vs Terry Funk in the ‘first 5-star match.’ Good stuff and a truly great match.
1:01:00 – What’s the most fun Jim has ever had at a wrestling show? Jim: “I’ve been going to live wrestling for over 44 years, the first night, then you see better matches, the first time I went to Memphis was a huge card, I saw Dusty Roads and Terry Funk in person… I can’t say one place where I’ve had more fun than another.” Jim talks about meeting Tommy Gilbert at the hotdog stand in the Louisville Gardens in the mid-seventies when Jim was a kid. He also talks about snapping a photo of Dennis Condrey at the Gardens in 1975, pretty cool.
1:06:40 – Outro
Plugs: Twitter: @TheJimCornette, @GreatBrianLast #CornyDriveThru; CornyDriveThru@gmail.com; JimCornette.com; 605pod.com; kfrpod.com; tinyurl.com/cornyyoutube; the law offices of Stephen P. New: newlawoffice.com.
Rating: 7.3
Timestamps:
9:22 – Undertaker vs The Gangstas
21:37 – Jimmy Garvin
35:37 – Yokozuna/King Mabel IYH 4, 1994
38:29 – Nancy Sullivan
44:08 – Paul Heyman
50:33 – Classic matches
1:01:00 – Jim’s fun wrestling experiences over the years
About Paul:
I’m just a guy, from England, who watches wrestling and listens to podcasts!
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