Jim Cornette is one of wrestling's best historians. He's also worked as a head booker, manager, writer, color commentator, and many other roles. Aside from these, Cornette also runs two podcasts: The Jim Cornette Experience and Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru. Both podcasts used to be very different from each other at one point -- the former was more of a review/interview podcast whereas the other was a fan question and answer show. But now, both of Cornette's podcasts have become a lot similar.
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Since Cornette was in the wrestling business for the majority of his career, he knows a ton of interesting backstage stories and secrets. On his podcast, Jim also brings guests every once in a while and they often reveal a few interesting tidbits as well.
10 WWE Once Made Paul Heyman Hoot Like An Owl
Working for Vince McMahon can be a very unique experience. Either the boss will take a liking to you, or he'll make you do absurd things. On Cornette's Drive-Thru podcast, he recalled a story he heard about Paul Heyman's WWE audition. Cornette said that WWE once made Paul yank his ponytail and hoot like an owl.
9 He Didn't Think WWE Would Ever Induct The Rock 'N' Roll Express To The Hall Of Fame
Jim Cornette used to manage The Rock 'n' Roll Express. For many years, Cornette insisted that Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton would never be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and if they did, Cornette won't be the one asked to induct them. He was proved wrong in 2017 when WWE not only announced The Rock 'n' Roll Express to the WWE Hall of Fame but also that Cornette would induct them. Jim was pretty mad about this because he was proved wrong. He couldn't say no to this offer, because he had previously said he'd induct Gibson and Morton to the Hall of Fame if he was ever asked and he didn't want to be wrong again.
8 FTR Was Furious When Cody Rhodes Tried To "Shit On Our Legacy"
Sometime after FTR joined All Elite Wrestling, they appeared on The Jim Cornette Experience podcast. Fans might remember that Cody Rhodes once said that FTR used to practice their matches in the Performance Center before doing them in front of fans.
RELATED: AEW: 10 Things You Didn't Know About FTR
On Cornette's podcast, FTR said Cody's comment pissed them off. They thought Rhodes was trying to "shit on our legacy" because this wasn't true. Because of this, The Young Bucks also got residual heat from FTR because the latter thought this was Bucks' opinion as well.
7 Tony Khan Wanted To Recreate Goldberg's Streak
Back in 2020, Jim Cornette claimed that Tony Khan personally told him once about his plans for Goldberg in AEW. He said that Khan wanted to redo the streak in AEW. A lot of fans called his bluff, and even Cody Rhodes chimed in and said that this wasn't true at all.
6 His Regrets In Wrestling
Jim Cornette had a long career in wrestling and a lot of things didn't go according to his plan. A fan asked about his regrets on the Drive-Thru podcast, and Cornette revealed a few.
He regretted the breakup of The Midnight Express in WCW. Cornette said it was his fault the tag team broke up because he got mad at Ole Anderson. He also regretted wasting time in Ring of Honor and his Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion's failure.
5 Vince McMahon Once Dropped An F-Bomb On Howard Cosell
In one episode of his podcast, Jim Cornette was discussing Vince McMahon's love of celebrities (many of them are even in the Hall of Fame) in WWE. While discussing this topic, Cornette also said that McMahon once tried to get Howard Cosell to WWE. But Cosell rejected his offer and McMahon said "go f--k yourself." Cowell also talked about this incident in his book.
4 Plans For Chris Jericho To Join WWE In 1996
In 1994, Chris Jericho signed to Smoky Mountain Wrestling where he reunited with James Storm as The Thrillseekers. The same year, Jericho broke his arm. Cornette revealed on his podcast, that if Chris hadn't suffered this injury, he and Storm would've likely joined WWE the following year. SMW and WWE had a relationship and they'd sign a lot of talents from here.
Cornette believed that he planned to send Jericho and Storm to WWE, but Jericho's injury prevented that. Jim also said that this would've changed wrestling history and Jericho likely isn't very upset about breaking his arm today.
3 He Suffered A Whiplash From Bobby Lashley
During an episode of The Jim Cornette Experience earlier this year, Cornette revealed that he still has some issues with his neck, thanks to Bobby Lashley. Cornette said that the injury wasn't Lashley's fault and he had no malicious intent, but he was very green during his time in Ohio Valley Wrestling.
Lashley gave Cornette a scoop slam, and while he tried to be as gentle as possible, Jim still ended up hurting his neck and it still affects him to this day.
2 NWA Powerrr Almost Debuted On The WWE Network
NWA's former Vice President David Lagana once told Jim Cornette that NWA Powerrr could be debuting on the WWE Network. When Cornette heard this, he wasn't too sure if WWE would ever put NWA content on the Network but Lagana said he was having a meeting with them.
RELATED: NWA Powerrr: 13 Recognizable Wrestlers You Didn't Know Were On The Roster
In the end, things didn't work out and Powerrr ended up airing on YouTube instead.
1 Origins Of His Feud With Vince Russo
Jim Cornette and Vince Russo had different philosophies on wrestling during their time in WWE. On his podcast, Cornette talked about the origins of his rivalry with Russo. He explained that one night on Raw, there were eight matches on the card with six of them ending in disqualification. After Triple H had a conversion with Russo, he turned Chyna's match into DQ as well (she was supposed to lose originally).
When Cornette went to Russo to talk about it, he blew him off and that's when Jim cursed at him. And Russo went to Vince McMahon and complained about it. That's how his real-life hatred for the former WWE writer began.
