Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru Episode 39
Release date: January 29, 2017
Recap by: Paul Briody
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Top stories/moments of interest:
• Usual format in which Brian Last asks Jim Cornette email questions from fans about current wrestling and wrestling history with great chemistry between the two.
0:00 – Intro begins with more headset drama! Jim reveals that Twitter feedback suggests that the new headset isn’t very popular with listeners.
7:22 – Jim talks about Leo Newman, who was a junior heavyweight wrestler in Texas and later a manager. He was possibly the first manager to be suspended above the ring in a cage in Amarillo in the early 1960s. Jim and Brian doubt that there’s any video footage of him available. They then talk about 1970s manager Ken Ramey, who had “a lot of heat.”
15:36 – Jim talks about Mike Shaw aka Norman The Lunatic and The Bastion Booger. He had rave reviews when he was working up in Calgary because for a big man he could really move but when he went to WCW as Norman they stripped all that away and made him more of a comedy character. In the WWF, he was going to be called Friar Ferguson (a drunk monk) but they settled on Bastion Booger and he walked to the ring to sounds of burps and farts because “Vince loves that kinda s***.” Who knew?! An example of talent being used poorly and the victim of bad comedy. He was fired from WCW because he slept with a 17 year old fan. They also talk about Captain Mike Rotunda in WCW’s Varsity Club and entrance music in wrestling.
25:15 – Jim talks about the use of country music acts for the 1986 Great American Bash Tour. The “legitimate” reason was that down South it used to be the same audience (Nascar, wrasslin’, country music etc) and also because Dusty, who was booking the tour, was a huge country music fan. David Allen Coe was one of the only country stars to have any real interaction with the wrestlers because he was a wrestling fan himself.
31:26 – Jim thinks that Haku/Meng would beat Brock in a street fight but Brock would win an NCAA-rules wrestling match between the two. Discussion about the Samoan toughness reputation. Jim tells a story of The Barbarian being escorted from a bar by police because he wanted to carry on drinking… violence ensued and Mrs. Barbarian wasn’t happy. Brian tells the story about Afa or Sika mouthing “not guilty” at the jurors during Vince McMahon’s steroid trial and being evicted from the courtroom by the judge.
37:14 – Jim on the differences between ‘weekly towns’ and ‘monthly towns’ in the territory days. Monthly venues were often the larger, more expensive buildings in bigger population centers. Weekly towns had smaller crowds, smaller rosters and therefore had to be more inventive and featured more return matches with stipulations. Jim and Brian then discuss the size and operating circuits of different territories back in the day particularly Dick The Bruiser’s WWA.
41:20 – Jim is asked about his memories and opinions of Buck Robley. Jim never worked for him when he was booking but he always heard that Buck was “one of the boys” and would stick up for the wrestlers to the promoters. Jim thinks (like Vince Russo) Robley would’ve benefited from an “editor” and he did work for him once in New Orleans, at a TV taping, which was a disorganized fiasco. Robley would “spend an extended period of time living with people that he would meet… at the racetrack” and they’d often finance his various wrestling ventures.
49:03 – Jim has no direct experiences of UFOs but is sure there’s intelligent out there somewhere. Religion/creationist bashing.
52:03 – If a wrestler had ‘done an Enzo’ back in the territory days and not informed the office about a police investigation the promoters would react exactly the same way as Vince McMahon did. Jim on Enzo: “I’ve been told by people who’ve spent a lot of time with him, who also know me, that if he’d ever worked for me I would’ve stabbed him in the f*****’ heart… with a dirty knife.” No surprise there! Jim rants about wrestlers doing “stupid, goofy s***.”
55:22 – Jim is asked about The Hamo Bull in OVW, who looked like a smaller version of The Rock. He stuck his head through the curtains during a Rocky Johnson match at the Louisville Gardens and some people went crazy because they thought it was The Rock. “That’s the first person that’s mentioned that motherf***** to me in about fifteen years.”
57:11 – Jim addresses Manny Fernandez saying that he was running around on a plane carrying a hatchet! Never happened! Fernandez had a reputation for telling tall tales: “he had some f*****’ stories.”
59:26 – Jim confirms that Stu Hart called him before the King Of The Ring 1996 about the angle between Shawn Michaels, The British Bulldog, and Diana Hart because he didn’t like the use of his daughter in a seduction role. Jim thought it was Bruce Prichard ribbing him! Stu’s objection was centered around the fact that she had children in school locally and she was being portrayed as “some kind of whore.” Jim legitimately thought it was Pritchard and basically blamed the angle on him because he was a pervert and told him to call Vince! Jim had really been on the phone to Stu and he doesn’t know if Stu called Vince but they did drop the angle the next week!
1:04:44 – Outro features plugs for 6:05 Superpodcast, jimcornnette.com, Cornette’s collectibles, Corny YouTube and Twitter: @TheJimCornette and @GreatBrianLast (as per usual).
Rating: 7.5/10
Another solid show featuring discussions that include some newer names but are mainly concerned with classic wrestling.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
7:22 – Leo Newman
15:36 – Mike Shaw/Norman The Lunatic/Bastion Booger
15:15 – Country music at The Great American Bash ‘86
31:26 – Haku/Meng vs Lesnar
37:14 – Weekly towns and monthly towns
41:20 – Buck Robley
49:03 – UFOs
52:03 – Enzo and his handling of his situation
55:22 – The Hamo Bull
57:11 – Manny Fernandez tells a false Cornette story!
59:26 – Stu Hart story
1:04:44 – Outro
About Paul:
I’m just a guy, from England, who watches wrestling and listens to podcasts!
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