Jim Cornette on AEW's Backstage Drama 

No one noticed Kingston's suspension because people dropping off TV for weeks at a time is a normal occurrence and is my second biggest peeve with the company. The first is their refusal to recap or explain anything.

Say what you want about Cody's on-screen character, but he was the only adult of the EVPs and did a lot to quell backstage issues. Wardlow was a Cody guy. MJF and Cody are real life friends. Cody worked hard to put over Malakai Black. Cody covered up a lot of issues.

Eddie Kingston is the type of guy to yell _"HOLD ME BACK! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'LL DO!!!"_ while he walks backwards and pulls people in front of him.

The issue fundamentally is that Tony Khan wanted to make a wrestling promotion just so he can hang out with all of his favorite Indy wrestlers and be the cool guy. You can’t run a company with that attitude, running a company necessarily requires tough decisions that could end friendships.

"IT'S WRESTLING, HURT SOME FEELINGS!" Corny once again says what I was thinking for ages.

I feel anyone with a basic understanding of human psychology could have seen this coming. You have Tony Khan, a boss who commands no respect as an authority figure as he attempts to be everyone's best friend; this leads him to hide from conflict because he can't bring himself to be "mean" to his friends, all while refusing to fire anyone. Couple that with an increasingly bloated roster full of conflicting ideologies, and it's a recipe for disaster

Corny and Bryan called out the politics , mis-management, elite booking, uncle dave and other BS long before the current events took place… From Cody being the first exec to leave, to the bucks trying to protect their position and not put over FTR, and even TK and the weird shit he does… Crazy to see it all playing out now and corny proving everyone his knowledge of the business is unmatched.

Bret saying HBK barebacked his way to multiple main events in 1997..one of the most overlooked burns in wrestling history.

The biggest red flag was way back when Cody left. This was the guy who had left the WWE machine, and carved out his revival in other companies to where he was one of the biggest stars outside of WWE. AEW arguably may have not even happened had it not been for Cody's involvement. He helped build the alternative to WWE. Taking shots at WWE in promos, smashing the throne. I don't believe Cody ever saw himself leaving. But he did. And from some of the stuff we have seen and heard coming out of AEW I can see why. Its far from the wrestling utopia the marks want it to be. Tony needs to vastly improve the team he has around him. There is a reason WWE has so many people behind the scenes. Its pretty obvious Tony is completely out of his depth in many aspects.

I'm so glad that I was alive to see the Monday Night Wars. Because this war has been an embarrassment.

Top guys have always brought their people along with them. Macho Man always looked out for his brother ,Lanny. The difference is Lanny was not promised the WWF title two years in advance.

Lmao these coked out eyes illustration of TK will never get old 😂

I feel Cody was the glue and held a position of respect backstage at aew...now that he's gone all these young guys have NO respect for Kahn when they think they're worth millions , and see old guys like Jericho and punk making the money they THINK they should.

Valid points so far, Tony is in over his head trying to juggle every facet of aew on his own. There's no shame getting help

Back after CM Punk's WWE debut just to say that Jim is psychic, and this video is proof.

This artwork is amazing. Flame Jim Cornette is awesome.😎😎 Congrats to whoever made this.

Said it before, will say it again. AEW was a vanity project for the "Elite" (clue is in the name of the company). They started the most well funded indy promotion in history, run by the son of a billionaire and a handful of wannabes with zero understanding of business or wrestling outside of Japan. Cody wanted a real WWE alternative. These guys want to play with their mates

All time great thumbnail here, hard to beat Travis but this definitely lives up to the Heckle standards

The fact that Tony Khan wants Omega and the Bucks to lecture guys like Punk, Jericho, or Danielson is laughable and just insane. These guys were all top selling guys in the biggest wrestling company on Earth..Danielson main evented a wrestlemania and had one of the most iconic moments in Mania history..I would walk right out the door the minute either Omega or Bucks tried to tell me shit about professional wrestling and business.

LMFAO this Artwork is Absolutely Hilarious Awesome Job Maurice Freeman when Jim Said Kumbaya I got Flashbacks to Stone Cold Steve Austin playing guitar on Raw Before the invasion PPV 🤣🤣🤣🤣

So for the eventual “Elite: The Rise and Fall Of AEW” movie. I’d cast Ryan Gosling as Orange Cassidy. John Goodman as Jericho, Adam Driver as Omega, the kids from the “Suite Life Of Zack & Cody” as the Young Bucks, Russell Brand as CM Punk, Jack Black as Excalibur (Excrement), and Aziz Ansari as Tony Khan. The part of Jim Cornette would be played by Vince Russo (Controversy creates cash!)

For the past year (or more), there hasn't been a week that's gone by where Jim hasn't said something along the lines of: "It's all gonna go to shit if the status quo remains." And he's taken heat for it. Called outdated. Old. Jealous. Whatever. But no matter what his wrestling taste is, Corny understands the business fundamentals like no other. That stuff doesn't change. Human psychology doesn't change. People, their egos, the fragility of a locker room all stay constant over time no matter who the new guy/girl in charge is. In my view, what Jim and Bryan do very well is read the "balance sheet" of pro wrestling - the fundamentals - much like how a smart investor does no matter what they feel about a stock. And that's why this podcast is awesome.

TK reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Flanders ends up as the principal and all the kids go wild and he sees nothing wrong with it.

Just imagine if Jim didn't have an NDA. The things that he could say. I mean he already says a lot of things now, but imagine him without any restrictions

This is what happens when the boss wants to be everyone's friend and won't make the hard calls.

Brian’s AEW source has gotta be someone close to the inner workings. He has been spot on with almost every prediction he’s made so far, and now I’m just wondering how long until Harpo takes his ball back to New Japan

I can honestly say that, in 2023, that drawing of Tony "Twitter Fingers" Khan in a burning room is looking a little more accurate.

Tony is the type of dude that uses franchises and things to entertain himself. When I was a kid, one of my friends had a really annoying mom. His dad literally gave her a dance studio he knew she would lose lots of money with, just to keep her happy. That is what the senior Khan is doing here for his son on a greater level. Imagine this dude sitting at the house all day amped up on drugs annoying you with analytics while listening to that yogurt yodeling Meltzer talking about how good Kenny Omega looked wrestling in a thong doing poses from anime. *Edit* This dude was so annoying his father gave him his own house at 7. WOW.

Either Tony needs to put his foot down on a lot of these issues or he needs to hire someone who will. They've lasted 3 years so far, which is one year longer than the AWF so kudos to them. But their sustainability is getting thin here unless they make some changes internally. A company "by the boys for the boys" doesn't work if "the boys" in charge only care about a select few.

low and behold, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes are in WWE again. RATINGS

Listening to this a year later and realizing that it could have been done yesterday. It could have been done yesterday and it wouldn’t sound off or out of place in any way whatsoever.

By any metric you judge Tony on, he ain't doing well. The Jaguars are a 3 win team last season. 1 win the season before. His soccer (football) team is in rebuilding mode. A E.W ratings been declining year over year. 1.5 million to 400k back and forth to 800k. His product's brand timeline, which is established in the first five years, is almost complete. Analytics and Adderall are his legacy. Just remake Alvin and the chipmunks and have Tony do all the voices.

Brian hit the nail on the head with his sports analogy. Best situations in sports are with hands off owners who let their experienced GMs and Coaches run the show, the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Miami Heat in the NBA are perfect examples of this; stable ownership, great coaching, and smart/competent execs. Tony Khan seems like a decent dude a d means Wells, even with whatever critiques I have, but buddy needs to get someone else to help book the show, the promotions that were made will help a lot, but a good booker or booking committee will be even more valuable. There are only so many hours in the day and with hid own side business, duties with the Jaguars, and the Futbol team, he will burn himself out if he doesn't delegate more responsibilities.

All I can think of when I hear all this about AEW treading water backstage is "... ffs, William Regal's right there - let him be the guy nobody likes because he tells the bratty indie darlings to grow the hell up" As for letting the other person know what is and isn't kosher to say in a promo... I dunno. I wouldn't have it be an official thing, but I can see the value in having it be a thing, especially these days. We can scoff at the concept, but then you have to remember that time Paige mentioned Charlotte Flair's dead brother in a promo on Raw.

Brian is absolutly right on Kingston I don't think he was mad about being called fat, he was mad at the constant disrespect and apprent arrogance Sammy has had. The insult just pushed Eddie over the edge and I don't blame him

Crazy how much can change in a year. This time last year, AEW signed Adam Cole and Daniel Bryan, and everyone thought WWE was done 😂

The last time i was this early, AEW was still "all friends wrestling" Hah how the turns have tabled

He should demote all those VPs. And just have another partner helping him out

The honeymoon period is over. The public will no longer accept bad wrestling because it isn't WWE. They need to deliver at All Out or its over imo

I doubt Sammy knows who Ernie Ladd is.

If Tony had given Cody what he wanted this wouldn't be a thing. Cody as GM and lead booker with Arn or Dustin as head coach would have stood a chance. I'm a fan and this is a big oof for TK.

"The biggest threat AEW has is if Tony Khan just doesn't wanna run it anymore" -Technical WorkRate Productions; commenting on the possibility of Sasha Banks going to AEW and coming for CM Punk's Mega Push over there and what that would do with her Big Damn ego.

This artwork is a classic, goddamn. It's not Travis, but Maurice FreeMAN killed it with this one.

I really tried to get into AEW and they had me for a while with CM Punk and MJF. But I lost interest months ago. Such a poorly booked and mismanaged product.

I am not surprised with the curses and the middle finger thing. Just because you are tv-14 doesn't mean you have to do that all the time. Guys on raw dispite being pg will curse every now and then when it makes sense. Guys and girls in aew just do it for fun.

Disco got punked by a 500 pound big show. Kingston got punked by a middle school looking dude. Lmao

Quite literally over a year later and the bad language is still very much present along with the blood and the ridiculousness and the bad booking. Clearly Warner Bros Discovery didn't care that much.

I love the story at 16:00. Shows how fair Jim is.

Only reason AEW had momentum was because wrestling fans were rooting for them, but fans have also always rooted for WWE. The fans are always going to root for all companies because we lost WCW, ECW, TNA, and ROH, and we don't want to lose anymore.

Vince may have been a crazy lunatic, but at least he knew how to be a leader. Tony is acting like one of the boys and needs to act like a leader cause he’s being played like a chump.

I agree with all this, but I just have to say, that might be the best non-Travis thumbnail yet.

I'm highly convinced Cody was the guy that put out fires because there is none of that going on now.

Dustin Rhodes needs to be that guy with the foot down that all the wrestlers have to go to express whatever to whoever...hes got the respect and the knowledge, not saying he should run things but he needs to be that guy between the wrestlers and the management...Rhodes needs to be the mouthpiece/mediator back n forth

For years, I was saying that I would love to see a hardcore IWC fan start up their own wrestling promotion and make it a promotion that gives everything the hardcore fans want: just to see it crumble and see the hardcore fan fail Looks like it is happening. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Tony got caught up in trying to prove they he was better than Vince. Vince knew when to put the hammer down. Also, he wasn’t the locker room leader. Taker and then Cena kept the boys in line.

Bro! That's a funny ass picture y'all used on this video. 🤣

As Corny has pointed out before, you shouldn't be in the wrestling business if you don't want your feelings hurt. Keep doing your thing Punk cause you are god dam entertaining right now. I just really hope that this whole MJF situation gets resolved because at this point, I don't know what to think right now, work or not.

AEW NEVER had momentum over WWE. That was something the internet marks and youtubers made up. Vince kept them in there place, he knew how it was going to be and he knew folks would think the grass was greener, only to find out it wasn't. That's what I loved about it, Vince was killing them when folks said he wasn't even able to. LETS BE HONEST, all the guys who got released or left, are LUCKY HHH got put in control. They would be suffering on the indy scene and/or AEW. HHH is just trying to put the nail in the coffin. HHH is just a new extension of Vince. People are crazy thinking Vince isn't laughing now.

That thumbnail art is BRILLIANT! And so accurate! Lol

I was thinking just this morning that Corny was going to cover Tony and all I hoped was the new artwork would keep the eyes, and it didn't disappoint!

Everything MJF said on his last promo, could have summed up everything AEW needs to fix. They could have played that promo, and did everything he said. Problem would then be solved.

I struggle to remember hardly any decent aew matches in the past 3 years, I just remember the botches. If it's not gymnastics, it's people copying old greats, but without the creative build-up or meaning 👍

Aaahhhh, the good old "THIS IS FINE"-meme as the artwork. :)

Bin waitin’ on dis’ one!!!(Been waiting on this one)

I worked for two big companies. One was run by firm, strong man, similar to Vince. That company had its troubles and ultimately kinda fell apart, but the leadership was strong, the issues were somewhere else. But when the company was at its peak, it was literally one of the top companies in the country in its area (won't write specifics). Second was run by two escapees from the first. Both of them industrious, really smart, but neither a firm, strong man who can slam his fist and retain order and both trying to act like they're much better than the former company. It's still functioning, but it's nowhere near being among the top companies although the ambition was there and it's become a total insane asylum. It's just a collection of talented or good people with no clear direction, or path, with egos running rampant, and with many people having different ideas and visions for the company, which of course in the end all boil down to "I'm on top". It's just a nightmare to work there. Several good or talented people left these past few years, several others will, it's the first company I work for where I think it's past the point of saving and it will ultimately crumble. The first one was IMO redeemable, but no one took charge of it and then it was too late, but it truly was no. 1 at one point and you could feel it. And this second one is...IDK, just a bunch of talented but a bit too confident blowhards who fucked everything up before they even properly established themselves and the sad and worst thing is they all want to pretend this is not the case and they're pushing forward, but it's just a tiring, exhausting kinda aimless experience. And just like AEW, the response to problems was establishing pointless systemic stuff like a PR department when the company had other issues and really, the problem was with the bosses. And the worst thing was not addressing clear issues and problems between certain people (including myself, I'm a culprit too I admit) and making a clear decision on who is who in the hierarchy, that's where it all fell apart. Just incompetent weak leadership. So when I see AEW now, see the messy, weird build-up for All Out, the whole mess with ROH, I'm thinking of my own experience and I'm thinking just like Corny that it was obvious from very early on TK doesn't have firm control and it was only a matter of time before it falls apart. I mean announcing a fucking PPV main event 4 days before the show? On a 14 match card? Jeez. I think we're just at the beginning of shit getting really bad in AEW and just like all the chest puffing caught up with my bosses, all the "best place ever" shit will catch up with AEW too. And it will be similar to TNA and WCW and within 2 years, mark my words, AEW will be half at best of what it is now. No 140 wrestler roster, nothing like that. The downfall has begun.

..Can we have a wrestling promotion where the owners stay behind the scenes?

King Kong Kingston. He should do a five count after his spinning backfist.

The bank addicted drug robber never gets old.

A lot can change in a month... WWE has been improving and backstage morale is way up and AEW is in a state of chaos. It's a complete role reversal and it's kinda surreal to see unfold. 2022 has been a weird fucking year for professional wrestling.

Even Hunter said in his book if you rip the guy your fighting and call them say a weak, useless and a nobody etc. when you win who have you beat? A weak, useless nobody and makes the win meaningless. When mankind “morphed” into cactus jack hunter sold it like he’d just come face to face with his worst nightmare and then went on to have one of his best matches at rumble 2000.

The way they tried to fix the What The Punk episode last night was even more eye rolling. 😂

"rubber room at the puzzle factory" is a killer line lol

Need an AEW drama omnibus for Xmas.

I really want aew to succeed, if it fails wrestlers will have fewer chances of making good money in the industry

Just gonna say the artwork here might be my favorite guest art so far. I'd hang this one on my wall.

Tony is involved with Fulham FC, they have a star player called Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is a 6ft1 musclebound Serbian man who looks like an 80's pro wrestler lol

Tony should have made guys like Mark Henry and Big Show as EVP’s. They aren’t out for themselves and they also won’t take crap from any of the talent.

Few bigger marks today than the wrestlers themselves

This image though🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Where's Travis BTW?

this video is been a real good one for me as I have been wanting to know what Jim's current idea of this whole WWE/AEW situation

Male version of Dixie carter.he wants to be friends and not a boss.

This artwork is amazing!

I was not expecting a “This Is Fine” meme parody for the thumbnail, but here we are.

Honestly, the worst thing to happen to AEW and TK, was Vince retiring. Up until now, 3/4 of AEW programming, from the gimmicks, to the promos, is “WWE is the bad place!!!”…. Well with HHH in charge, the good will of the fans for WWE is probably the highest it’s been in a decade. HHH took away TKs favorite toy… now it’s up to TK to prove that wasn’t his only toy.

Why does TK look like Spike Spiegel?

Just look on how the "Sacksonville" Jaguars fell apart due to locker room turmoil --- AEW is slowly stumbling toward that pit.

This art is giving me beavis and butthead vibes. Especially with the recent new episode where there is a fire in a dumpster telling beavis stupid things to do

There a clip of Joey Janela interviewed by Chris Van Vilet, in which he talks about staying up until 7 am doing tequila shots… That’s not what you want the head of a wrestling company to be doing 😆

I wonder if he’s still happy to be the “longest tendered CEO in wrestling”

Everybody saw this coming. Too many people and too many different people from different background. Now TK can't deal with that due to is ''character'' he's not able to be strict and don't want to. Kingston beat up Sammy got two weeks suspension. He's going to continue after this for sure.

I love how fire Jim in the art work is still wearing the damn shirt

Tony should pull a Late 90s Vince McMahon and try to market the backstage drama. Pretend all the actual beef is a work by making it a live event. "AEW Civil War" It has this big 60-man Battle Royal Match as its main event. Where: - the Young Bucks get eliminated and then screw over FTR out of spite - Eddie Kingston eliminates both Moxley and Claudio. But then gets thrown out by Sammy Guevara when his back is turned - Jericho's own appreciation society tosses him out - Wardlow sets the first record for eliminating 30 people - And MJF makes a surprise return as entrant number 60. Throwing out Omega. Stealing the win in a lucky way. And then gloating about it for the next 4 months.

Viable claims by Corny, AEW is definitely following the same precedent as WCW and TNA regarding the leadership, creative, and locker room morale. Can’t wait for the dark side of the ring episode regarding the rise and fall of aew!

Soon on RU-vid : AEW Kindergarden Dark

I absolutely love Jim , the truth he speaks in regards to the business is fantastic

@JimCornette In Football/Soccer Most teams have a transfer committee to sign new players. Unfortunately the role of director of football of Fulham was Tony Kahn

It's not a big problem because the mighty leader Kenny Omega is back there to hold the company together lmfaooooo

Haha! I like the meme reference the artist did. It'd be cool if Jim got Lawler to be a guest artist on the show. Jerry is a really good artist.

There is someone who the AEW wrestlers are afraid of, it's the EVPs, EVP just proved they can get CM Punk fired

Glad to see Bryan back but we also need Travis back