Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru Episode 52
Release date: May 7, 2018
Recap by: Paul Briody
Top stories/moments of interest:
• Usual format in which Brian Last asks Jim Cornette email questions from fans about current wrestling and wrestling history with great chemistry between the two.
0:00 – Intro chronicles Jim’s recent Goodwill woes regarding an old mattress! Funny stuff!
16:14 – What’s Jim’s thoughts on Ken Anderson, who said in a promo that Cornette wouldn’t book him in OVW? He started in OVW towards the end of Jim’s time there and had a good look, was a decent promo but was “a little green for the main stage.” Early on, he had some decent matches and some clunkers and was in a group with The Blond Bombers.
After Cornette left, Paul Heyman came into OVW, was higher on Anderson and used him a lot more. Jim thinks that this could be why Anderson thinks he tried to “bury” him but in reality, at the time, Jim never gave it a second thought. It’s pretty clear that Corny didn’t see Ken Anderson as talentless but was more focused on the wrestlers he considered to be more talented.
23:14 – If Jim was running a smaller company, like ROH, would he book Kenny Omega or The Young Bucks despite his dislike of them? If Omega hadn’t wrestled a schoolgirl or a blow-up doll Jim would have no problem booking him even though he doesn’t agree with the “best wrestler in the world” tag. Side note: Maria Kanellis was working very cheap in ROH.
On the Bucks: “This business is not about them and there’s no reason why that they should have the power to devalue the business with all this f****** bulls*** and stupid s***, much less superkicking everybody 74 times, but just being blatantly phoney, and bulls*** and winking at everything… I would book (The Bucks)… as an underneath, babyface, high spot tag team… and I would’ve booked Omega and maybe see if I could get him out of that goofy body language and stupid f*****’ expressions if I didn’t know his background.” Their background is the sticking point!
Brian asks how The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express would fare in today’s wrestling and Jim compares them to The Bucks… no prizes for guessing which act he prefers, citing in-ring work, selling, psychology and believability. Interesting discussion about crowd demographics and behavior now vs then and the rise of the smark.
38:57 – What are Jim’s opinions of The Honky Tonk Man? He’s been on the podcast before, he’s from Memphis, Tennessee and Corny runs through his gimmick history. “He’s possibly one of those that got more out of doing very little than anyone else in the business. Brian talks about Honky appearing on Dennis Corraluzo shows, complete with singing to his music, in the 1990s. Earlier, his tag team with Larry Latham, The Blond Bombers, was a good southern-style tag team and Honky even “bumped more back then.”
44:29 – Why did Bryan Clark not have a more successful WWF career? Jim: “Gimmick and timing.” Clark got into Smoky Mountain Wrestling because he was training with Paul Orndorff. The Adam Bomb gimmick was ridiculous but Clark liked it and even got a mushroom cloud tattooed on his arm. When Jim saw it he told him that he’d probably regret it in a few years. Later, in WCW, he was lost in the shuffle in such a large roster.
49:15 – A vitriolic exchange between Sable and Chyna on a Canadian talk show! They play a clip! Jim: “I can’t wait to hear both those f*****’ douchebags sniping at each other.” During the time of the original recording Chyna legitimately thought she should be wrestling in the men’s division full-time.
Jim: ”Everybody always says she (Chyna) was a wonderful person, well she shouldn’t have been in the wrestling business ‘cause she wasn’t a good wonderful person in that, she was the s***s and I’ve said it before… she looked like Mildred Burke next to f*****’ Sable. That b**** never wanted to do anything, never wanted the learn anything.” Corny’s not a fan of either but has much more disdain for Sable.
Jim: “Has there ever been anybody that was actually allowed to wrestle… more than once, that was worse athletically and work-wise than Sable?” Jim on the women’s lock room at that time: “I talked Luna out of knocking Sable out one time” and on one occasion Luna shoved Sunny into one of the equipment boxes. At that time there was a gulf in pay between the featured women like Sable and the women who could actually work, like Luna.
59:42 – Why did anyone ever want to work for The Sheik given how bloody his matches were, his reluctance to do jobs etc? Jim: “The Sheik, from the mid-50s, was one of the biggest stars in the business. He was maybe the biggest box office heel attraction… from the 60s… 70s and 50s, too.” He owned his own territory, had TV and had a large role within the NWA. He drew well in the 60s and during the war with Dick The Bruiser in the 1970s and he paid well. During the dying days it became an “old guy’s” territory and a few people were messed around financially but in it’s heyday Detroit was a good option for wrestlers.
1:03:51 – Did The Sheik and The Iron Sheik ever have heat over the name and who would Jim pick to win in a fight? Jim: “First of all, I don’t know if they would’ve ever been on the same card, in the same place.” Their careers didn’t really overlap but “as far as who would win in a fight, The Iron Sheik would’ve stretched The Original Sheik in any type of wrestling event and The Original Sheik would’ve possibly either eaten Khosrow’s eyeball or sliced him with a razor blade so it really just depends on which one was the first one to know that the fight was going to take place, that would be the winner.” Jim and Brian surmise that Ed Farhat wouldn’t have been too happy at being called The Original Sheik after the emergence of The Iron Sheik. Corny also talks about Lex Luger not knowing who The Original Sheik was in 1988.
1:09:04 – Jim’s bachelor party! It was in Dallas. Bruce Prichard, Kenny Bolin, Weasel Dooley, Dennis Corraluzo and Frank Chili were among the attendees. Jim: “We all had a nice dinner and then we had the VCR hooked up, Weasel brought some tapes… and we had a nice time sitting and watching classic pro wrestling… some old Memphis and a lot of Japanese stuff featuring Tiger Mask and, of course, anything Terry Funk.”
1:11:23 – Who in wrestling enjoyed a cigar? Jim certainly didn’t. It was a more popular habit during the 60s and 70s. Jim tells a funny story about Leroy McGuirk (who was blind) dropping burning ash in his lap whilst in the car with Jerry Jarrett and Jarrett having to strike him in the crotch to extinguish the embers as he was driving! Jim and Brian then talk about the famous incident where Dr. Jerry Graham stole his mother’s dead body from a hospital at gun point.
1:15:52 – What is the strangest item of merchandise that Jim has ever seen in wrestling? Burger towels?! Jim Duggan sells autographed 2x4s and it fits his gimmick, that wouldn’t work for another wrestler e.g. Jerry Lawler. Jim then talks about items he’s been asked to autograph: “I’ve signed food stamp coupons, I’ve signed Dairy Queen bags, I signed a girl’s right t** one time and put the ‘o’ in Cornette right around the nipple, erm, I’ve signed toilet paper.” Brian talks about Jimmy Valiant’s house being advertised for fans to buy on flyers for $175,000!
1:22:40 – Outro
Plugs: Twitter: @TheJimCornette, @GreatBrianLast #CornyDriveThru; CornyDriveThru@gmail.com; JimCornette.com; 605pod.com, kfrpod.com, tinyurl.com/cornyyoutube, tinyurl.com/cornykickstarter
Rating: 7.53/10
A good mix of classic, Attitude Era and modern wrestling this week and the segment about Chyna and Sable was very funny.
Time stamps:
0:00 – Intro
16:14 – Ken Anderson
23:14 – Kenny Omega/The Young Bucks
38:57 – Honky Tonk Man
44:29 – Bryan Clark
49:15 – Sable/Chyna
59:42 – Working for The Sheik in Detroit
1:03:51 – Original Sheik/Iron Sheik
1:09:04 – Corny’s bachelor party
1:11:23 – Wrestling’s cigar smokers
1:15:52 – Strangest merchandise
About Paul:
I’m just a guy, from England, who watches wrestling and listens to podcasts!
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