Wrestling WWE

[Ronin705]

Ah, very nice to see Keith doing his thing.

BOLA's boutta' Bask in his glory lol

[TheInvisibleMan]

so I see people online grousing about Lita on commentary

I never had major issue with her, shes done it before

but to a larger point, any other promotion putting women at the table?

for all of ROHs Women Of Honor stuff, not seeing it reflected in commentary

same with Impact

am I missing something

[SUPERECWFAN1]

On his podcast , Jim Cornette discussed his very brief 1993 WCW return (one PPV and angle) and how it happened.


- In 1992 , Bill Watts was running WCW and contacted Cornette about a return. Cornette was running Smokey Mountain and really didn't want a full return but he knew Watts well. So he knew that Watts was someone he could work with. Plus Watts wanted to work a talent arrangement deal with SMW then into 1993. So Cornette came back for an angle with the Rock n Roll Express and Heavenly Bodies angle they'd run into Super Brawl III .


- Jim brings up that Watts knew SMW had featured a number of young talent and he wanted 1st crack at them. Also a number of WCW guys he was gonna send to SMW and bring back later repackaged was his idea. One of the 1st guys Cornette was gonna get with this talent arrangement was Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson. Those 2 men were gonna be part of a big 9 man tag team battle royal match so he was happy to have Eaton for awhile in SMW. Plus AA was gonna be there a few months to work.


- Then by the end of 1992 , Cornette gets a call from Bill Watts saying he was leaving the company . To make sure the 1993 Super Brawl PPV deal happened , Watts made darn sure the company kept that deal in place as well . Also the deals with Eaton and Anderson. Which was 90 days at most as Cornette claims they got to use them. Then things collapsed quick and he never worked with WCW again. But he did bring up a comical 1st introduction to Eric Bischoff then.



- Bischoff was the C-List announcer then and he pretty much had conned Turner into hiring him as he had "padded" his resume. Turner executives never really checked it and Bischoff needed a job badly (he had tried getting on at WWF before this and was rejected). So he got hired. When the Heavenly Bodies confronted Watts and the Rock n Roll Express on WCW Saturday Night then , Watts knew Jim was gonna shoot pretty much. Be so off the record and he did...ripping Jim Herd and saying how Watts was running things into the gutter like Herd did. Then promote the next SMW show. Watts approved it all.


- Well comically (and you can find the clip listed below) Bischoff was working Saturday Night for WCW then and control of the show more or less. That the audio suddenly went out on several words and phrases Cornette used. Knowing he had worked production himself awhile he realized , his stuff was edited so he called Watts. Bill he claims hadn't watched it because he was busy then. But as he told Jim , its one of the reasons he was leaving WCW then. So he finally gets told Eric Bischoff had edited the broadcast.



- Cornette decided to confront Bischoff backstage at Super Brawl III and brought up what was told. Bischoff was nervous and admitted he had edited it because of the things said about WCW then and how terrible they came across. Cornette told him he had no worries about him staying cause he planned to leave this motherf-kin company after his deal at SB was complete and that Watts and him wanted to make the angle as "real as possible" and sell to fans this was legit heat. That they needed to sell tickets and no one in WCW then seemed to realize this.



- Cornette then pretty much buries Bischoff and claims since that day ....from day 1 , he never ever liked him. You don't f-ck with his --- and get away with it. Then rants how Bischoff was such a flunky piece of crap who lied running the company. That Bischoff had people he knew comically like Jason Hervey and Mike Shields send letters how great a producer he was. But he never produced anything in his life at this point beyond fetching Verne's coffee and being a terrible C-List announcer. . That Turner's people believed all these people Bischoff knew somehow and made him the guy to run WCW.




WCW Saturday Night 2/6/1993
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3rn2ia

[TheInvisibleMan]

and that kind of flies in the face of the Table For 3 when Cornette asked him about it

and Im more inclined to believe Bischoff because unlike Cornette, Bischoff doesn't have a legion of marks waiting for 'Story Time with Uncle Jimmy' each week

[SUPERECWFAN1]

and that kind of flies in the face of the Table For 3 when Cornette asked him about it

and Im more inclined to believe Bischoff because unlike Cornette, Bischoff doesn't have a legion of marks waiting for 'Story Time with Uncle Jimmy' each week

No clue who really is telling the truth on the whole SMW/WCW angle then. But the fact was Bischoff's history at getting the job is spot on though. Bischoff may try and spin that he was really qualified. But the facts were...


- He was basically thrown on air during AWA's dying days as Larry Nelson sadly had alcohol issues. He one day was sentenced to some time in jail due to DUI's and disappeared. Verne needed someone , saw Bischoff in the office and thought he'd look good in a suit and told Larry Zybesko to help get Bischoff ready to do interviews. (Larry claims he spent weeks helping Bischoff learn that)



- After AWA's failure Bischoff tried getting on with WWF. But McMahon and others found him lacking and told him no.


- WCW hired him mostly due to likely his friendship with Larry Zybesko then and made him c-level announcer.


- The big belief was Tony Shiavone would become the new President of WCW. Taking over from Watts. Paul Heyman came in for an interview he claimed but his version of WCW (a not so hardcore ECW type show) was rejected then. But Shiavone had put in the time and was believed to be front runner. Til Bischoff got the gig.


That part of Bischoff's history isn't in debate. No clue about the whole Cornette/Bischoff 1st meeting.

[TheInvisibleMan]

No clue who really is telling the truth on the whole SMW/WCW angle then. But the fact was Bischoff's history at getting the job is spot on though. Bischoff may try and spin that he was really qualified. But the facts were...


- He was basically thrown on air during AWA's dying days as Larry Nelson sadly had alcohol issues. He one day was sentenced to some time in jail due to DUI's and disappeared. Verne needed someone , saw Bischoff in the office and thought he'd look good in a suit and told Larry Zybesko to help get Bischoff ready to do interviews. (Larry claims he spent weeks helping Bischoff learn that)



- After AWA's failure Bischoff tried getting on with WWF. But McMahon and others found him lacking and told him no.


- WCW hired him mostly due to likely his friendship with Larry Zybesko then and made him c-level announcer.


- The big belief was Tony Shiavone would become the new President of WCW. Taking over from Watts. Paul Heyman came in for an interview he claimed but his version of WCW (a not so hardcore ECW type show) was rejected then. But Shiavone had put in the time and was believed to be front runner. Til Bischoff got the gig.


That part of Bischoff's history isn't in debate. No clue about the whole Cornette/Bischoff 1st meeting.

Im not so sure about that, that might have been what the rank and file believed or wanted

but considering the disaster of the Jim Herd and Bill Watts eras, Bischoff says that WCW was looking for someone who knew wrestling but wasn't a "wrestling guy"

and honestly, I don't think Tony Schiavone would have had the foresight to go after Hogan, and the rest of it

and Turner was looking for an "Executive Producer", not a "President" of WCW

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Im not so sure about that, that might have been what the rank and file believed or wanted

but considering the disaster of the Jim Herd and Bill Watts eras, Bischoff says that WCW was looking for someone who knew wrestling but wasn't a "wrestling guy"

and honestly, I don't think Tony Schiavone would have had the foresight to go after Hogan, and the rest of it

and Turner was looking for an "Executive Producer", not a "President" of WCW

If you read a lot of things from RD Reynolds to Scott Keith , almost everyone thought Shiavone would get the job due to his experience with WCW and WWF. A number of folks backstage believed he would then. It shocked them Bischoff got the job.

We have to remember WCW then was losing $6 million a year and Bischoff its claimed told them he could stop those losses. Which he quickly did by inking that deal with Orlando studios and filming there. I don't remember if it was Mike Graham who told him about Orlando , but somehow Bischoff learned he could film weeks of TV there and save costs. Graham claims he told Bischoff another idea would be to stop doing so many Clash of Champions shows. Because as Graham claimed ..."Those are free shows , were not making much just attendance...lets do regular PPV's and we can generate more $$$." Bischoff upping the number of PPV's led Vince to do that as well.

[TheInvisibleMan]

If you read a lot of things from RD Reynolds to Scott Keith , almost everyone thought Shiavone would get the job due to his experience with WCW and WWF. A number of folks backstage believed he would then. It shocked them Bischoff got the job.

We have to remember WCW then was losing $6 million a year and Bischoff its claimed told them he could stop those losses. Which he quickly did by inking that deal with Orlando studios and filming there. I don't remember if it was Mike Graham who told him about Orlando , but somehow Bischoff learned he could film weeks of TV there and save costs. Graham claims he told Bischoff another idea would be to stop doing so many Clash of Champions shows. Because as Graham claimed ..."Those are free shows , were not making much just attendance...lets do regular PPV's and we can generate more $$$." Bischoff upping the number of PPV's led Vince to do that as well.

also they were losing a TON of money on house shows with what 300 to 500 people showing, and almost half of those tickets were given away

filming in Orlando worked out, Nitro happened, so on and so forth

Cornette's still mad because a lot of people got rich on both sides during that time and he didn't

[SUPERECWFAN1]

also they were losing a TON of money on house shows with what 300 to 500 people showing, and almost half of those tickets were given away

filming in Orlando worked out, Nitro happened, so on and so forth

Cornette's still mad because a lot of people got rich on both sides during that time and he didn't

Cornette did make some money. I mean he didn't exactly not make some good money. He worked for WWF/E for 6-8 years in a stretch and made a steady paying gig there awhile. Also he made some good money off the SMW library to WWE. A fact Horner joked in a shoot a few weeks back that really Rick Rubin should own the tape library since he invested the money.

[Immortal Weapon]

Jim is good when it comes to money. He's well off enough that he doesn't need to work for a promotion to make a living. For all of the guys faults plenty of companies would still work with him.

[TheInvisibleMan]

outside of Jericho and Lance Storm, did anything or anyone productive come out of Smoky Mountain?

[TheInvisibleMan]

Jim is good when it comes to money. He's well off enough that he doesn't need to work for a promotion to make a living. For all of the guys faults plenty of companies would still work with him.

define plenty

because Id cross ROH, Impact, and WWE off that list

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Jim is good when it comes to money. He's well off enough that he doesn't need to work for a promotion to make a living. For all of the guys faults plenty of companies would still work with him.

I'd say that Jarrett would rather roll the dice with Russo (and it shocks me he hasn't contacted him) to work with young guys than Cornette.

outside of Jericho and Lance Storm, did anything or anyone productive come out of Smoky Mountain?

The list of SMW folks ...


Tammy Sytch (Dear lord she was a babe then...)
Scotty Riggs
Chris Candido
Bryan Clarke (aka Atom Bomb , Kronik)
Bill DeMott (Hugh Morrus)
Lance Storm
Devon Storm
Brian Lee
Ron/Don Harris
Glenn Jacobs (Kane)
Al Snow
Chris Jericho
New Jack/Mustafia


A lot of young guys went through there. SMW doesn't get as much credit for that , but a number of folks went through. Scott Levy in a shoot wanted to do Smokey Mountain for awhile and Cornette kept telling him to check back in a month or two. After 2-4 months Levy saw ECW and went there instead. But as he said Jim had such a roster of guys , he never really could get on there.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

In GFW news ....


- Impact has earned its next big ratings ever on Pop and seems to have started gaining momentum again.


- Jarrett revealed that Anthem is looking to add a 3rd yearly PPV to the company in 2018. Its likely gonna be Lockdown again. Since it traditionally was considered the company's big PPV where every program ended in a cage at one point. So it makes sense it would join Slammerversy and Bound for Glory.



- Anthem is looking to have these PPV's take place in other venues on the road again.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

WWE has cancelled Talking Smack as a weekly show. It will now be a post-PPV show.

WWE is on some dumb ****.