“Cowboy” Bill Watts knew Jim Cornette had
the potential to make it big in wrestling because Watts just wanted to kick the
daylights out of him. It was 1984 and Cornette was
not yet 23 years old when Watts agreed to import him to his Mid-South promotion
from Jerry Jarrett’s Tennessee territory. As
the Cowboy recalled: “Here’s a kid that Jarrett wants me to take off his hands. I’m
watching this kid and my hands are clenching because I want to slap him, just
watching him out there in the ring. I think, ‘My gosh,
and you want to give me this kid?’ I want to slap him. I know he’ll draw money
if I want to slap him just sitting here watching!”
Nearly 30 years later, the only slaps Cornette should
be getting are backslaps as he enters the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
in the Colleague category. Born September 17, 1961, Cornette has
been one of the most important and controversial characters in the business
since he first made a mark taking pictures at ringside as a teenager in his
hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. “I loved the matches more than a sick man
loves penicillin; I was in the Louisville Gardens to see wrestling for the next
eight years,” he quipped. Jarrett got him to drop the camera and step in front
of the microphone when he was barely out of his teens. His first managerial
duty was Sherri Martel, before he moved on to Dennis Condrey and
Bobby Eaton, a talented heel duo that needed a mouthpiece. Cornette’s career
as the tennis racket-wielding manager of the Midnight Express was begun. “I
really think he was a natural because he was a serious student of wrestling,”
said Tennessee star Dutch Mantell.
“And he studied wrestling like most people study map books. … Even talking to
him today, he’s got thousands and thousands and thousands of hours on of
footage on DVD that’s transferred from VHS.”
Cornette talks
with a rapid-fire delivery and it’s no wonder; it’s a mouthful for him just to
recite his biography. Lane replaced Condrey in
1987 but the Midnight Express never missed a beat as one of the world’s best
teams. Cornettewas
a color commentator and booker for World Championship Wrestling before spinning
off his own promotion, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, an old-style territorial
promotion that ran in the Kentucky-Tennessee-Virginia area from 1991 to 1995
and launched the careers of stars such as Kane and Sunny. With WWE, he was a
talent scout, manager, and part-owner of its Ohio Valley Wrestling
developmental territory. Three hectic years in TNA Wrestling followed before he
moved to an executive producer position with Ring of Honor. Throughout his
association with wrestling, he’s been passionate about treating wrestling as a
sport and not an endless series of nonsense skits. “People who know me know
that I don’t view pro wrestling as a job, or a hobby, but a way of life. Our
sport is a unique American art form,” he said. Cornette lives
near Louisville with his wife Stacey.
- Steve Johnson
