Jim Cornette on The Problems With Modern Wrestling & Who Is To Blame 

I know when I go to the movies that’s not real, just a movie. However I don’t want Luke Skywalker to rip the Yoda puppet off Frank Oz’s hand and start screaming “it’s all fake it’s a movie !” That’s what today’s wrestlers are doing to wrestling.

Jim's not against modern wrestling...just STUPID wrestling!

I'm 45 years old & I still have idiots say 2 me.... "U know it's fake right?"

I was trying to break into the business in 2006. As I saw the way wrestling was moving I didn't feel to bad about quitting and getting my physical therapy degree instead.

Didn't Seth Rollins just compare himself to sephiroth from FF7. Jim was spot on about wrestlers thinking they're video game characters.

I used to love wrestling, but I haven't watched Wrestling on tv for the last 10 years. I miss guys like Dusty Rhodes, Randy Savage and Roddy piper

The invisible hand grenade was the final nail in the coffin for the wrestling business

Two years later and people still don't get what his problem is it's not the high spots it's the goofy shit like invisible man and Joey Ryan's shtick

I get what Jim's saying. I grew up with Booker t, Eddie, kenta, Benoit, etc. Seeing in ring techs go to work. People that took shit serious. Which is why I would prefer when I'm a wrestler to go to a Noah or njpw or ajpw and wrestle. So I can make wrestling still somewhat valuable. We all know its choreography but make it a Jackie Chan film not a damn anime.

"You know it's Japan, because everybody's Japanese." I did not expect that. Still choking 🤣🤣🤣 Edit: death threats in crayon 🤣🤣

I think what really caused this was the drop in mainstream wrestling interest after WWF bought WCW. As mainstream fans leave then a higher and higher percentage of your audience ends up being the really hardcore geeks. And eventually the product starts tweaking things to serve this audience because that's who is there. And the whole thing feeds into itself. More of the audience are geeks so the product is aimed more towards them and that drives away the mainstream fans even more so then an even higher percentage of your audience are geeks so you tweak things to please them more and more. Comic books did this in the 90s when they focused more and more on targeting collectors and eventually the market became nothing but collectors and the old days of comics being sold at drugstores and newsstands was over. In wrestling it's the same way. And wrestling will never return to the success it had before with this kind of product. But moving away from it is scary because a promoter would naturally be scared of turning off the niche audience that is literally his entire business.

If you look up Kota Ibushi on YT...first thing that pops up is the doll match that alone tells you all you need to know about the guys wrestling career

"Sodimised with a rusty fishing knife" My new favorite insult

Ask yourself this...Do you think AJ, Joe, Tanahashi, or Okada would ever do this stupid shit. Four modern wrestlers you can say are legit masters at their craft? The answer is FUCK NO cause they have respect for the business. Omega is a mid card hand at best. He's lucky Okada had the ability to carried his ass in every match.

I do think it's partly the fans fault and it starting with the smart marks in Philly

The fault has to lie on the promoters. They made to where anyone can be a pro-wrestler.

Everything Jim said on this topic was PURE FACTUAL! pure realism ladies gents

I quit watching wrestling after a 10 year old won a wwe tag title

I don’t know what Trump has to do with wrestling commentary..

Brian is dead on the money. This crowd grew up on an undead wizard shooting lightning bolts. Invisible grenades is more or less the same thing on a tighter budget.

I'm definitely one that watches wrestling and podcasts on RU-vid and not on TV anymore. Never on TV.

I blame Flair claiming he could get a five star match with a broom and elbow dropping the ring mat.

I blame Vince. His coming on TV and saying it's a work is more remembered than anything the NWA did and it's pretty obvious due to the cosplayer emergence.

I blame Vince Mcmahon. He outed the business, and advertised wrestling God.

There is no reason to care about modern wrestling, you can't suspend disbelief or emotionally invest or connect with any wrestlers because the promotions beat us about the head and neck with the fact it not a real contest but a scripted choreographed piece of fluff that doesn't matter and that there are no consequences for any ones actions, if they win, lose turn heel/babyface or just go home and the play wrestlers with their phoney hand grenades, stupid death matches, super kicking kids, wrestling blow up dolls , dick spots and dance routines have taken this to such extreme levels now that they have effectively put a spike through the heart of what was left of prowrestling and are now defecating on the corpse!!

Its Vince's fault.

Wrestling savant. Political incompetent.

I got made fun of till 1997 trying to sell wrestling as real.

I'm still one of those fans who try and protect wrestling, and let me tell ya its difficult.

As soon as he said "that's just the way it is" at the end of the interview I immediately sang the rest of the line for him and to my delight he follows up my part with "Bruce Hornsby and the range!" 😄 God I love that man!

If this video title isn't the most concise, encompassing Cornette video title ever, I don't know what is.

If only he could stick to wrestling and not politics.

When Vinnie Mc called it Wrestling Entertainment and WCW tried to copied their style with the dancers. I like ROH because it's fresh and I've checked out NWA and likeit as well.

I stopped believing around age nine or 1992 I enjoyed wrestling more when I knew I it was fake then when I thought it was real.

It will never go back. There would literally have to be an apocalypse and generations away from wrestling, and THEN maybe ppl could protect such things

i can listen to mr. cornette all day long

Jim Cornette's impression of the Twitter Crayon Death Threat people sounds exactly like Bruce Prichard and Jim Ross' impression of Jim. Lol

So glad that Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki founded AJPW and NJPW (although Inoki is kinda stupid inviting MMA professionals to fight the NJPW roster) since some people saw that the product of WWE is kinda of cringe (Ruthless Aggression to PG-era but the current NXT,NXT UK and 2016 to 2020 WWE is good)

This match was recommended to me by a friend who I thought was a wrestling fan after viewing maybe a third of it I proceeded to cut all contact with him

"This fucking kota ibushi character" no way lmfaoooooooooo

I still don't think Jim gets video games, like it's some niche market. It's the largest media and entertainment industry in the world and it Dwarves wrestling. It's bigger than wrestling has ever been. Wrestling, even WWE would beg for a portion of the gaming industry. GTA V alone made one Billion dollars in three days. Wrestling numbers are pitiful by comparison.

8:27 - god I love how articulate Jim is when angry.

No one saying Vince?? Vince killed the territories,They were so important on many aspects..Yes Mcmahon has been a genuiess on some things..But death of the territories I think was the start of the downfall..And yes,the new gen of fans have not helped

Only Video Game BOYS And Dave Metzler like these JOKE WRESTLERS. Jim C. Is 100% Correct. I wish they wouldn't let just anyone be wrestlers these days. Like Rodney Dangerfield "NO RESPECT".

This clip is historical!

I watched wrestling from the mid 90s through the attitude era, stopped for a while, and was drawn back in by the CHIKARA podcast in the late 2000s. They did a whole lot of weird and wacky or goofy stuff, but the bits I watched were the high spots. Then I suddenly realised how silly the rest of it was when you see things like Player Uno get “Paused” Etc. It’s fine as a one off, but when it started being a weekly thing, it gets boring REAL quick. I then went the complete other way and started watching old World of Sport Wrestling (im from the UK, so I remember it being on tv when I was a kid on sundays) and from there transitioned back into serious wrestling. Having enjoyed both the serious side and the gimmicky silly side of wrestling, I have to say I prefer the serious side MUCH more.

Man, l am glad that Ibushi is back doing the more serious shit!!

Social Media killed Wrestling more than anything or anyone ever has or ever will. Change my mind.

Im trying to get into wrestling I’m like 6’2-6’3 240 and have background in track and kickboxing but idk I ain’t gonna be a looked at as credible any time soon I’m just gonna get roped in with guys like Kenny and the young buck cause I’m 20I like to think I could be a good technician like Jericho or Eddie but idk my I shouldn’t they’re aren’t as many good opportunities As they’re were in the 80’s

I can't stand modern wrestling, either. They are amazing athletes, no doubt. The production value is usually incredibly good (especially in WWE). But I stand with Jim in terms of "the business" and the way it used to be. Pro-wrestling going back probably 100 years has developed a history, a tradition, a culture, a personality, a language all its own. The thing is, there's nobody left in the business who has respect for all of that. Its all about making money & being a TikTok star. Our culture now -- the whole society, not just wrestling -- is all about "reality" TV that is the furthest possible thing from reality. It's all about some idiot in their mom's basement having a RU-vid show or being an "influencer" on Twitter (and having absolutely zero of substance to offer the world). Pro-wrestling is now just a reflection of the rest of our culture: anybody can do it, there's no substance, and it's all about image. At least with old school wrestling -- which wasn't perfect -- it had some reality involved. It had tradition, personality, and some sense of self-respect. Even as a kid, I knew it was a work, but there was a code that you didn't talk about it. Kayfabe meant something. That was part of the business as much as dropkicks & bodyslams. Without a sense of self-respect, it's just a shitty soap opera.

“Whateverthefuck”

I know Brian doesnt read th comments here but Jim should watch the New Japan Cow Palace Show and the All in Show I wanna listen to an entertaining review with meltdowns so bad 😅 Btw if anybody doesnt know Ibushi, he truly is one of the best around, watch his match with Nakamura from the Tokyo Dome or his Cruiserweight Classic run

I watched a WWE video from like 2013 and it was Big E lifting at Muscle Beach. The big thing I noticed was when he was lifting, there was a crowd watching him. Why you may ask? Because the guy is a sight to see, he looks like he could bend you in half and not break a sweat. Now imagine if it was someone like Balor or Omega, nobody would even bat an eye to pay attention. What I’m saying is, when someone is flipping through the channels what do you think will get their attention? Two 5’10 190 lb Indy midgets doing kicks and flips, or watching something like Lashley vs McIntyre? Probably the one with the superhuman looking guys.

I hear the same comments from the young cats in regards 2 Hip Hop & Rap

Vince McMahon Is The Blame

I’ve seen the full match that he is talking about. I must say that I agree with Jim that the style is “garbage” in the sense of the danger to the performer. The way I interpreted though is like a one-man broadway show. It showed his skill and toughness to be able to essentially repeatedly Canadian destroy himself, amongst the other moves. Again, I almost feel like his willingness to hurt himself was exploited, it was dumb conceptually, but it did show that he has a considerable amount of in ring skill and toughness. I wouldn’t be surprised if the blowup doll thing started as a rib to some wrestler, with the promoters saying “here’s a doll. Try to get over now, chump” then they did and it became a challenge for others

I can tolerate comedy wrestling Even comedy wrestling that takes the piss out of wrestling. I don’t like that particular brand, and I think it negatively impacts my ability to sell tickets to wrestling shows, but I tolerate it. But I draw the line at comedy wrestling that can seriously hurt you I should never see a spike bump in a comedy match.

Wonder what he thinks about Wyatt’s Fun house?

How do the promoters know if the invisible man has shown up ? What if he's ill ?

I like Jim but he should let it go. As an old school fan who loves Memphis, Crockett and much of the 80’s/90’s/2000 WWF, we need to learn this isn’t the wrestling we grew up on. He lost this battle in Smoky Mountain and in ROH. If it were up to him, Kota and Kenny would be making cheesy unintentional homoerotic music videos, Mike Mondo, The Headbangers and Charlie Haas would be main eventing and every match would be booked like 1976 Memphis. Its a new generation with changed wrestling tastes. I’ve accepted this era isn’t for me. Not every fan will stay like they did in 1985 or 1998.

If Vince Russo had thought of this crap WWE would have been doing it in 1990!

He knows wrestling for sure, politics however are a different story.

Between 8:27 and 8:37 is gold

On some level I'd say it's a bit of everyone's fault. With the case of the blow-up doll and 9-yr old girl, do you blame the wrestler for having and suggesting the idea, or do you blame the promoter for not shooting the idea down and instead booking it into their show in front of a paying audience? In general, do you blame these wrestlers who do these stupid things, the promoters who sell these stupid things, or the fans for buying these stupid things? Do you blame ECW for introducing a lot of people to deathmatches and inspiring new promotions to feature insanely bloody wrestling, or do you blame nostalgia blinded fans who believe the Attitude Era was the best era ever and needs to be brought back when they remember none of the absolute shit that was booked during the period? Do you blame WWE for booking absolute shit over the years and driving viewers either away from wrestling in general or to these smaller niche promotions with deathmatches and/or comedy that somehow create vocal fanbases devoted to whatever they promote? Do you blame Dave for having his head in Japan and judging all matches everywhere by the same standard even though it's completely different thus showing mainstream American wrestling to be inferior by his standards and further driving people towards the fringes, or do you blame the segment of his fans who believe the puro style is the best style and it's the big thing that'll take American wrestling out of its current stagnation and return it to mainstream success? Honestly there are so many different little reasons from all over contributing to the decline of wrestling in America as well as the introduction of some downright crazy things that keep potential viewers away, I can't list them all.

Even if you thought it by was fake you knew the moves they did could end their career or life .

The goofy shit started with Vince McMahon, it just snowballed from there.

I can see only one valid reason that any wrestler or,as in my case, stage fighter would fight with a rag doll dummy...... training. Now go with me on this,..... if you can sell taking a DDT or a crossbody from a rag doll then you can sell when an opponent does it. Or if you can punch/kick/chop/etc a dummy and lay the hit on but not through the dummy than you can do it to an opponent. So yes in training I can see the value of fighting a dummy or "the invisible man" to train selling and percussion but NOT in an actual live match .

When I was a a scruffy young fan, I had a terrifyingly sloppy but accurate DDT for anyone that dared to call Andre or Flair a phony!! I was also the most awful little bastard you ever met, hee. Boil em in oil!!!!!! I'm listening Jim!!!! Oh!! What if a dude got paralyzed wrestling the doll!!!!! ????? !!!!! What a horrible lesson for us all!! Ha

I'm sorry but its a little hypocritical of JC to keep ranting about Omega, Joey Ryan and Ibushi but some how the Undertaker and all the stupid shit he's done throughout the years is never mentioned. No wrestler has destroyed kayfabe more than the Undertaker has.

He talks about baba but what does inoki think about his own company

"I used to say horrible things about The [female Tatanka], but I didn't mean them; I was working!"

Your right Jim , why even call it wrestling this shit sucks, I miss rasas sling!

I am now just watching this video and I am ashamed I ever watched or loved to watch wrestling

Its not one persons fault, theres enough blame to go around

Brian On The Come-Up ‘ Salute

Reminds of Vince McMahon vs God

Bumps are real ,story line is predetermined its a story flying off top rope hurts. Its still fun to watch. But the crap wwe puts out is crap. Need more wrestling.

This might sound crazy, but I'd pay money to hear Jim curse me out. I've been cursed out before but never as eloquently as Jim's cusses.

Can't put the toothpaste back into the tube. 'Nuff said.

Jim you are spot on. I’m and old wrestling fan and am disgusted by this so called wrestling. I can’t watch it. It’s disrespectful

Creative for big businesses: hire bad talent then proceed to give them bad lines and a bad angle and trash their character.....

I saw that video. I had to shake my head on that shit

I blame the WWE among other things than I do the independents for wrestling in general being in the shape it is today. Because the overwhelming majority of utter nonsense in modern day wrestling comes from WWE and it's fans. "Just stop complaining, watch something you actually enjoy instead, WWE doesn't give a shit, they're making more money than ever, etc, etc." Yes, you have the absurdity of Kenny Omega and the blow-up doll as well from not too long ago. The sad truth is that not only do most of today's generation of fans keep killing the "suspension of disbelief" in modern wrestling, but also today's wrestlers whether they're new to the industry or have been in the wrestling industry for a while, kill the "suspension of disbelief" as well. And I agree with Jim Cornette, we have these weird grown men and women going apeshit because of the stupid cringing, wrestling comedy BS get torn to shreds, then these idiots proceed to send you death threats and say "It's supposed to be fake". lol It's still real to them, dammit! The stupid cringing, comedy BS, the prim and proper offendees out there, the annoying fans that keep hitting people over the head with "wrestling is fake," but stupid humor is acceptable, the promoters (depending on the promotion) and the stupid PC BS in the real world. All of those things all rolled into one has made wrestling in general look like a laughingstock, in my humble opinion.

Is this a rerun?

The corn knows

To be honest, I don't think people knowing that pro wrestling isn't a shoot affects business that badly - come on, somebody in the '80s must have figured out that Jim burning Ronnie Garvin wouldn't happen in any unplanned sporting environment. What millions of people want is a quality show that allows them to suspend disbelief and doesn't insult their intelligence.

14:00 to 15:20 is epic

I've been waiting on his to respond to Omega

Marks and Vince

Even though I’m a big fan of Jim and not a fan of modern wrestling, it’s the way it is because it’s no secret that wrestling is a work now. It’s just a different era. The business is exposed. We can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Wrestling is dead, or if not dead, it’s on life support. I’d like to see old school wrasslin’, but it just doesn’t have a market anymore. Well, not a big enough market to sustain it.

WWE started the invisible Man, thing in 2006, where Vince pretended to fight God on ppv, I think it was Shane and Vince vs Shawn and "God", smh. The intergender matches started with WWE again when Chyna won the Intercontinental belt and was Co champs with Jericho against Jeff Jarrett. Braun Strowman wrestling with a kid was WWE again, when at WrestleMania, wtf. There's a common denominator, even Vince said he didn't want wrestling he wanted an action soap opera. It's Vince's fault, once he's gone hopefully it can be rejuvenated

8:22

Its basic. Jim cornette wants wrestling to be a worked shoot fight with rules. He hates wrestling that is presented as a soap opera entertainment show, either geared towards grown men or kids. He wants UFC, but worked matches. Of course, if we go back and watch mid south, and alot of NWA shows from back in his day, there is alot of goofy and fake bullshit on their shows too. Jim has rose colored glasses on when talking about 70s and 80s wrestling. My understanding is that everyone has always known wrestling was fake, but people liked watching it for the angles, and people who could work believable matches

Taker just gets a pass. Wish I was that cool.

As someone who was born in 87, and was a fan from the age of 5 watching Bret Hart, Tatanka, Undertaker, etc, I have never felt comfortable with the word fake. I'm not even part of the true old school, and even from my generation, knowing it was a work, the F word was a huge flag as a fan. I ultimately went on to joining a training school in Britain as a wrestler for 6 years at the age of 18, just did it for a fun hobby, as I knew I'd never have the commitment or work ethic to make it my career... especially in Britain. I actually became technically semi pro, I was paid to do shows, though never for big crowds. However even as someone who wasn't planning it as a major part of my life... it baffles me how even modern professionals so loosely throw around the F word... even when explaining it as a work to people interested nowadays, I still squirm at the F word... It saddens me that I look back at the pros from my generation as a level I could never even sniff at... they inspire me even when watching them all these years later... but I look at pros now with my faded amature skills, and feel like I still get it more than they fucking do...

Hey Jim how did you really feel at 8:20 in to this podcast. But Jim if your so disgusted why watch today's Wrestling at all.

Lucha underground is the best wrestling out there today

YA KU ZA! YA KU ZA!

The closest thing to comedy during Baba's tenure in All Japan would have been fellow legend Rusher Kimura repackaging himself as a comedy relief. Rusher, (who was originally known for his gruesome cage brawls and nickname "the demon of the steel cage") found a resurgence in popularity later in his career for his off-the-wall mic skills as part of a comedic tag team with fellow legend Mitsuo Momota. The Japanese audience loved Rusher's blistering and humorous rants so much that he gained another nickname "demon of the mic" in the process. And if you want Inoki's opinion on Wrestlers exposing the business: just look at Inoki's match against The Great Antonio. Neither Baba or Inoki would have tolerated today's comedy Wrestling.

If Cornette only knew how great Trump actually is. I feel bad for Jim.