During the latest episode of “Grilling JR,” Jim Ross and Conrad Thompson talk about one fo the greatest talkers in wrestling history and one of the most controversial people, Jim Cornette.
Ross talked about his initial thoughts on some of the smaller AEW talent when he started working for them: “There is talent in AEW who I did not have the utmost confidence that Tony Khan had in them because of their size and ol’ J.R. was wrong. At the end of the day, how well do you perform bell to bell and can you put sentences together that encourage me to stay tuned or to come back. We have a lot of smaller guys in AEW that can do that. I know one of the things in today’s world, today’s Jim Cornette thinks a lot of our guys are too small. I can understand his logic of where he is coming from knowing his background. I had some of those same tendencies in the early days of AEW, but they’ve been alleviated. I don’t ever go to work anymore saying they are awfully small.”
Jim Ross discussed Jim Cornette’s constant bashing of the AEW product: “I don’t know why he doesn’t lambaste another company other than AEW. I take some of that personally. I’m like wait a minute. I know as much about wrestling as you do. We’ve been on a lot of the same journeys. So don’t bullsh*t me about this should change and that should change. It’s a different world in that regard. I’m not telling you I like it. I’m telling you that’s what it is. The world’s changing and a lot of us have to change with it or get out. You get along or you move along. Corny was willing and saved his money. He has some other ways to make money. Cornette’s Collectibles have done real well. He has written books. He’s an entrepreneur and a damn good one. But I don’t think in today’s world where you are talking to young talents that have been raised in different homes with different philosophies and different eras than we were, you can’t manage them exactly the same. You just have to change because when you’re not able to communicate with talent, when you’re not able to communicate with a family member, when you’re not able to communicate with an employee, you’re not doing the best you can for you and them. Sometimes, that means that the senior members like me have to compromise and you have to change and be willing to listen to another alternative. There’s things I call in wrestling, and it’s been this way for years, that I don’t like. But, that’s not my call. My call is to show up and do my job and do the best I can to get talent over. It’s as simple as that. Whether I believe or not that they deserve or ever will get over, that’s irrelevant. I’m able to move on in that regard and I’m enjoying the hell out of my experience right now. It’s the best job I’ve ever had and the best boss I’ve ever had in Tony Khan. The bottom line is I don’t think Cornette would ever be able to bend his principles and his philosophies in his own mind’s eye to make that work.”
Ross talking some more about Cornette: “We don’t agree philosophically on a lot of things especially as it relates to the company I work for. That’s a fact. I’ve never gone on social media, and won’t, to complain about it. I know we have talent on the AEW roster like FTR that do a lot of things that Bobby and Dennis and Bobby and Stan did in their own way, but I’ve never gone on social media and knocked Corny because I look at it like this, and I may be wrong, but when he knocks AEW, he’s kind of knocking me. I’m the voice of the brand right now.”
“He’s created a brand new persona to a brand new audience. Now the persona may not be brand new, but to this audience it’s new because he’s been off national television for quite some time. He’s reinvented himself to today’s audience. That’s a mark of a great entrepreneur. He’s chosen a character of being a villain journalist and a person with strong opinions. If you look at it in that regard, take a side that you don’t agree with if you’re a fan. It really doesn’t matter if you agree or not, you’re talking about it. You’re listening to his shows. You’re getting his soundbites on Twitter. He’s reinvented himself in a very strategic way with the platform he has at his disposal to create income and cash flow. Sounds like he’s doing a damn good job of it.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
