Jim Cornette may hate almost everything the WWE puts on today but once upon a time, Cornette was a long-time employee of Vince McMahon and a part of his inner circle, alongside the likes of Jim Ross, Michael Hayes, and Kevin Dunne. He worked as an on-screen, color commentator and held various positions backstage, from an agent to a member of the booking committee.
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His constant clashes with his mortal nemesis, Vince Russo, got him removed from the booking team but Cornette remained an employee for the next several years and out-lasted Vince Russo, who left the company in 1999. Cornette, on the other hand, was fired in 2005. Something went down at Ohio Valley Wrestling that was brewing for months beforehand. It all began when a certain someone was promoted to the position of Vice President of Talent Relations.
Jim Cornette Ran WWE's Ohio Valley Wrestling
In 1999, Cornette became the head booker and part-owner of WWE’s development territory, OVW. He worked alongside Danny Davis, and for the first couple of years, it went well. He coached some of the biggest superstars of all time in John Cena and Brock Lesnar and maintained a great relationship with the parent company. An important component in this business relationship was Jim Ross, who was the Vice President of Talent Relations and a very close friend of Jim Cornette.
Unfortunately, in 2004, Jim Ross was replaced by John Laurinaitis, a former WCW road agent. This led to a rift between WWE management and Jim Cornette as the OVW booker found Laurinaitis difficult to work with. The new Vice President rarely consulted Cornette about OVW talent and one example of this was Doug Basham. He was later a part of JBL’s cabinet on SmackDown but in OVW, Doug was a big deal, and a top heel.
One day, Doug Basham visited WWE headquarters and showed up on the next OVW taping with a bald head. Jim Cornette was irate, and understandably so. Basham told him that Laurinaitis wanted to know how he’d look with a bald head, so he had to shave his hair off. Cornette then left a scathing voicemail for John Laurinaitis, thanking him, cursing him, and then saying his goodbye.
To this day, Cornette has maintained that Laurinaitis purposely worked that way so he could get him pissed off enough and then find a way to get him fired. In 2005, Laurinaitis got his wish and the reason, according to Cornette, was a future WWE superstar by the name of Santino Marella. By that point, Cornette was fed up with the micromanaging, and he was burnt out. One week before this infamous incident, Cornette walked out of OVW, claiming that he was done, but he returned an hour later to finish the show. This was a sign of things to come.
After Attacking Santino Marella, Jim Cornette Was Fired By WWE
The next week, Santino Marella was at an OVW taping, where he laughed at the Boogeyman when he was supposed to express fear. Cornette saw this, brought him backstage, and then slapped him about ten to fifteen times. WWE management got word of this and Cornette was first issued a suspension, and then he was fired.
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Cornette and Marella have remained enemies ever since but the former manager has maintained that Marella was just a pawn. The real battle was between him and John Laurinaitis, who wanted him gone so he could send his own people to lead OVW.
After his release, Cornette appeared as a guest on Between The Ropes and gave his thoughts on what happened. He said he held no ill-will towards Vince McMahon or the WWE for his release. In fact, he was grateful that the company released him as he was extremely burnt out from managing OVW. Since then, Cornette became a staunch critic of WWE, and he still regards John Laurinaitis as one of the most awful human beings in the wrestling business.
Cornette did a fantastic job of coaching talent in OVW when he was in charge. John Cena and Brock Lesnar are two of the biggest superstars in history and Cornette was the one who guided them and prepared them for the big show. Unfortunately, John Laurinaitis got in the way and that brought an end to a 12-year working relationship between Cornette and WWE.
