Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru Episode 42
Release date: February 19, 2017
Recap by: Paul Briody
Top stories/moments of interest:
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
• 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 – Jim opens the podcast by accusing the Republicans of ruining the weather in Louisville by denying climate change and Brian talks about there being a foot of snow in New York overnight and he’d ran out of toilet paper! That would not be good.
6:07 – Jim answers a question about The Heavenly Bodies working for Giant Baba in Japan in 1994. Jim didn’t go because he was running Smoky Mountain Wrestling. The offer to The Bodies came about after they worked for the Funks in Amarillo and they were impressed, particularly Dory Jr. They went with Jim’s blessing after finishing up in SMW and afterwards they went to the WWF.
Baba had a great relationship with The Bodies and booked a lot of American stars on his shows. Jim didn’t worry about his biggest stars going over to Japan because it attracted talent in the first place if they knew that a lucrative run in Japan could be offered if they impressed in SMW. Abdullah The Butcher was booked to appear on SMW Thanksgiving Thunder, they’d released posters and advertising and he called Jim ten days out to say he was going to Japan instead. Lots of other little tidbits about Americans working in Japan.
14:02 – Jim talks about the scaffold matches between The Midnight Express and The Fantastics during the 1994 Great American Bash Tour. The scaffolds weren’t any higher but Jim didn’t bump off them because he had two blown ACLs at the time. Dusty was loading all the cards at that time after a poor year at the box office. Working so many scaffold matches “got old after a while” but they were an attraction for fans.
18:04 – Jim is asked about the origin of Vince McMahon’s walk/strut! It’s a case of art imitating life with lots of exaggeration and possibly some Buddy Rogers in Madison Square Garden influence.
19:11 – Question about different referees having different ‘cadence’ and speed to their counts and if that ever caused an issue for Jim. Some referees counted slow pin attempts for the heels and fast ones for the babyfaces so that the crowd wouldn’t turn on them. Some newer referees would have fast counts due to nerves but veterans were ok. Jim has another pop at George Scott and his “stooge son” Byron. Jim then talks about Bronco Lubich in Texas (WCCW) counting pins with his feet when he was too old to get up and down.
25:35 – Jim tells story of Doink getting tackled and beat up by the crowd during his WWF debut (they’d sent him out to do balloon tricks or something). Tony Garea was at the Gorilla position and he said “The clown is down, the clown is down” and they had to “send security to get all the kids from throwing wadded up f*****’ cups at him and everything.”
26:45 – Jim is asked about blading! Blades are usually a trimmed off corner of a razor blade wrapped in white athletic tape so you could hold it without cutting yourself. Different wrestlers had various thicknesses of blade based on their preference. Some wrestlers would hide blades between their teeth and lip or in their trunks, both seem dangerous! Ric Flair would hide his in the tape on his fingers. They also talk about using aspirin as a blood thinner so they bled more. Interesting tidbits. Jim was always too worried about “f*** ups” or audiences seeing him do it to do too many blade jobs.
35:39 – Jim is asked about the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama. Super over, junior heavyweight pioneer and one of the most influential wrestlers of all time. He worked in Mexico and England and was successfully able to incorporate those styles into his matches. He only had a two year run but his wrestling style wasn’t conducive to long term health.
42:09 – Jim answers a question about good and bad finisher names in wrestling. Brian suggests the Fame-Ass-er as bad but DDT, the claw and the brain buster as good examples. Jim thinks it’s a bad aspect of modern wrestling that everyone has a named finisher, that focus should be saved for the top guys.
46:48 – Jim is asked about the possibility of DDP going to SMW around the time of Superbrawl 3 (1993). There was no interest from any party involved so he can’t elaborate. They then move into a discussion on Tracy Smothers, how underrated he is, and Steve Armstrong, who also wrestled in the WWF around that time as Lance Cassidy, and their Southern Boys team.
53:21 – Jim is asked whether a ‘rat’ could write an honest, tell-all book that could make money. In short… yes! It would have to be a perfect storm, though.
55:08 – Jim is asked about Dick Slater’s history of violence. Jim: “You didn’t want to f*** with Slater.” He once assaulted Sting because he thought there was something going on between Sting and ex-girlfriend, Dark Journey. Tough guy, by all accounts.
58:10 – Jim is asked about managers in wrestling, specifically if they can work as a heel or face by an emailer who wants to enter the business managing his friend who’s currently training under George South. Jim’s answer quickly devolves into mocking the emailer but he asks him to say hello to George South “and I love him.” Funny stuff.
59:59 – Question about heel wrestlers ‘smartening up’ their families to the wrestling business back in the territory days. They often didn’t, especially when they had younger children. Mario Galento’s wife pulled a gun on many of his opponents.
1:03:01 – Outro
Rating: 7/10
Entertaining show, funny and informative.
Time stamps:
0:00 – Intro
6:07 – The Heavenly Bodies in Japan
14:02 – Midnight/Fantastics scaffold matches
18:04 – Vince McMahon strut
19:11 – Referee competency
25:35 – Doink story
26:45 – Blading
35:39 – Original Tiger Mask
42:09 – Finisher names
46:48 – DDP in SMW?
53:21 – ‘Rat’ tell-all
55:08 – Dick Slater
58:10 – Emailer with wrestling manager aspirations
59:59 – Heel wrestlers ‘smartening up’ their families
About Paul:
I’m just a guy, from England, who watches wrestling and listens to podcasts!
Be the first to comment