Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru Episode 71
Release date: Oct 15, 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 includes a rant about the weather in Louisville.
12:08 – What are Jim’s thoughts about the Saudi Arabia/WWE situation? Jim: “If they’re kidnapping, torturing and dismembering people with chainsaws… I don’t know why the United States has not put a ban on anybody going there until we see what the hell is going on but this puts the WWF (E) in an awkward position because if the United States is not gonna ban it then all the rest of these companies are gonna keep taking this money because Trump’s probably still taking the money. So then it comes down to do they not take this $50,000,000 when everybody else is going to.” Brian adds that they’re not just over there for a wrestling show, it’s a PR exercise for the Saudi regime. Jim: “How are they gonna do PR for this?” Jim and Brian talk about talk about Shawn Michaels coming out of retirement for the show, which may now be in jeopardy. Jim: “I don’t think we’ll be doing any ‘gofundmes’ for him, regardless.”
17:36 – Would Dusty Rhodes have been a better choice for WWWF/WWF champion instead of Bob Backlund? Jim: “I don’t know if he was the style of ‘WWF champion’ that they were gonna go with at that point in time. He would’ve made a ton of money but I don’t know if he’d have been happy doing that. He would’ve have been ‘The Dream,’ full time, the way that he became ‘The Dream,’ the more gritty, hard-edged and bull rope and everything, he couldn’t have got that flavor fully… he would’ve drawn because of his personality and his promos, yes, but he might not have got to be the Dusty that was the big box office guy for Crockett around the world.”
As for Dusty possibly wanting a piece of the territory, Jim muses “eventually, if you got to that point but it’s awful hard to get to that point.” The story has always been that Vince Sr wanted an All-American champion at the time and Backlund fit the mould. Good discussion about Billy Graham’s career and his ability to draw at MSG, as champion, in the year before Backlund and whether he would’ve been a better choice for long-term champion. They also discuss Backlund’s limitations, the crying episode and the cage match with Jimmy Snuka etc. If he hadn’t been given the WWF title, Jim could see Bob Backlund having a successful career in Florida under Eddie Graham or “maybe in Georgia.”
28:02 – What’s the heat between Rocky Johnson and Jim, as Johnson verbally eviscerated Corny in a 2004 shoot interview? They were both at OVW for a while but didn’t really interact with each other. “The summation was that Rocky was good at sitting around drinking coffee, making potentially litigious remarks to some of the female talent and telling people about the way it oughta be. So, after a couple of months I think they just started sending his check to him at home in Florida and not flying him to Louisville.” Johnson was essentially given the role as a favor to The Rock and Jim also remembers a slanging match between Tony Atlas and CM Punk.
33:40 – There is a match between Nova and Eddie Guerrero in OVW, in 2002, how did the match come about? Jim: “Nova was the perfect person to work with him… I think it was just a matter of wanting to have the best TV match that I could… I always tried to match the guys in OVW that fit best with the WWE star when he came in.”
36:26 – How should a wrestler carry a belt to and from the ring? Jim: “I don’t think that there’s any one way to carry a belt” – it’s about what fits with that character.” Jim then talks about Kerry Von Erich carving his initials into the ‘domed-globe’ NWA belt and Brian talks about someone carving ‘stooge’ into the old Mid South North American title belt.
39:30 – Jim’s asked about the nature of ‘calling spots’ during a match and has he ever noticed how much Lou Reed and Paul Orndorff look alike? Jim: “Wha? No!” High Spots and precise actions are worked out in the locker room beforehand with the referee present. Heels usually call the match. For the general motions of a match, buzz words like “comeback,” “arm drag” or “drop kick” are used, along with regular communication with the referee but Jim “cannot tell you how to call a match or how it’s done within the space of a one-hour podcast.”
43:08 – Who was the biggest the biggest curmudgeon, Jonathan Boyd or Ole Anderson? Boyd because “Ole was willing to laugh if you tickled him… Jonathan was an unhappy, miserable, cantankerous, gruff human being.” Ole was “so smart and so witty” and “much more entertaining.” Jim talks about getting sick of Ole when he was booking WCW, under Jim Herd, because he wouldn’t push The Midnights or even use them properly.
46:36 – Are there any wrestling retirements in wrestling that have been stuck to? Does Jack Brisco count? Jim can’t think of anything after Ron Wright’s retirement in SMW in 1995.
49:31 – Jim’s asked about his thoughts on Vince McMahon interviewing Brian Pillman’s widow the day after he died and why weren’t Shawn Michaels or HHH present for the ten-bell salute? Jim: “I wasn’t a fan when they had the gun at Pillman’s house and Austin and the whole nine yards and people getting shot at, this was even worse.” Jim recalls being told about the planned angle by Bruce Pritchard but he has no idea about Shawn or HHH. Jim: “You can make wrestling a shoot without making it uncomfortable… it’s just s***** all the way around.”
52:33 – Was Baby Doll’s moniker ‘the perfect ten’ an effort to generate to get heat or was that the way Dusty really viewed her? Yes! It was part of the heat – “that’s your perfect ten?!”
54:47 – Bruce Pritchard recently talked about Jim sending a note from OVW to WWE about Carlito Colon calling him ‘lazy,’ ‘unmotivated’ and ‘thinks he’s wrestling royalty.’ Does Jim remember this? Yes! Jim: “It wasn’t that he wasn’t a good worker it’s that he wasn’t giving a s*** in OVW and felt like he should’ve gone to the main roster, in my opinion.”
56:46 – In light of Johh Cena debuting a new finisher, what is the worst finisher that Jim has ever seen? Brian: “Cena’s finishers have always been weak especially that STF, which is garbage, so if this one is worse than that it must really be something.” Jim suggests The People’s Elbow and Jackie Fargo’s Atomic Drop finisher, despite Fargo being so over. Jim and Brian talk about Terry Funk using the piledriver in Memphis when it was banned and people in the match having to improvise.
1:01:52 – What is a spot show? A house show was a regular, non-televised events within a promoter’s territory. Spot shows were smaller, irregular venues that you’d only run three or four times a year and they’d often “filled up your schedule in between the major arenas that you ran in your large, regular markets where you’d have your house shows.”
1:05:35 – Was there ever any thought to have touring NWA tag team champions? Jim: “I don’t think so” … it’d be too much work to keep all the promoters in line to recognise the same champion team. It also worked better for the local promotions to have their own dominant team to put the territory over.
1:08:05 – Does Jim think that Vince ever wanted to use Kerry Von Erich’s missing foot in an angle? Jim: “I don’t know but it could’ve been made more positive than it was” i.e. a positive, obstacle-overcoming story.
1:12:33 – 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, Arcadian Vanguard Podcasting Network.
Rating: 7.5
Timestamps:
12:08 – Saudi Arabia
17:36 – Dusty instead of Backlund?
28:02 – Rocky Johnson heat
33:40 – Eddie Guerroro vs Nova, OVW, 2002
36:26 – Belt carrying
39:30 – Calling spots
43:08 – Jonathan Boyd/Ole Anderson
49:31 – Vince interviewing Pillman’s widow
52:33 – Baby Doll
54:47 – Carlito Colon
56:46 – Awful finishers
1:01:52 – Spot shows
1:08:05 – Kerry Von Erich
About Paul:
I’m just a guy, from England, who watches wrestling and listens to podcasts!
Be the first to comment