Jim Cornette on Andre The Giant Footage Being Sent To The Territories

From Episode 370 of the Jim Cornette Experience
Artwork by Travis Heckel!
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[@StevieDamnit]

Jim's work and research deserves to be in the Library of Congress.

[@dieselkilgore]

That's a great idea. I think wrestling today has a stigma of being too silly, but honestly wrestling has been a staple of American culture for a century.

[@seebee6804]

You know, as a big wrestling fan, my first instinct is to think how dumb that would be. I'm conditioned to be ashamed. You are 100% right. There is more history and nuance in territorial wrestling than any other sport or entertainment media.

[@TheGoodReverendSatan]

#TrueStory Get it done

[@austinburras2993]

@@dieselkilgore I wouldn't say a staple in American culture as fans we think so but in the overall narrative not really

[@jimfaust6342]

He deserves much better than that imo.

[@TheJaviferrol]

I never actually got a chance to say this but listening to Jim and Brian during lockdown while working out around the house was a massive joy in hard times. So thanks a lot guys and keep´em coming

[@TheJaviferrol]

@Living Legend2 I live in Europe actually

[@metallicbigtoe3949]

Similar situation here, your right man 👍 to anyone who wants to debate the pros and cons of lockdown, fuck off to sky news, this is a place for wrestling fans who live in the past, when shit was better 😂

[@andym8557]

@Living Legend2 what state you live in, North Dakota? That's about the only place I'm aware of that had no lockdown.

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

Yes, it's become a weekly tradition that I really look forward to!! Thankful For Corny!!

[@davey3884]

Lmao

[@NonSenseMcGee]

Truly fascinating...never tire of hearing Jim delve into the details of the inner workings of the 70s and 80s

[@Kas58223]

I never tire of Jim Cornette talking bout the territories and regarding how wrestlers got into contact with said promoter and who they be working with on their debut

[@TheTennesseeFistMachine]

"I mean Andre was great, but did he actually draw in the 18-35 demo? " Bryan Alvarez probably.

[@gqn2]

Bryan Alvarez is the Jim Cornette of WWE. Every KZbin clips of him involves some sort of rant about how this doesn’t make sense, how that guy is a bad champion. He has created a delusional fan base that thinks AEW is the most logical pro-wrestling show on the face of this Earth.

[@sgtraytango]

@@gqn2 Bryan's a failed pro wrestler who works for Meltzer, so I'm not surprised.

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

I think people forget that back in the day, the TV show was really the promotion for pro wrestling. Back them it was all about the live show...which is why you mainly saw short, 1 sided job matches, highlights from the big shows & promos/interviews on TV...and the point was to get you to buy a ticket and come out to the show to see the big matches.

[@jamief1263]

I think that’s the case with all sport sadly,

[@Snt-Berg]

​@jamief1263 And in 'real sports', they don't call it "card subject to change". They refer to that as "load management".

[@tibbs3165]

Without question, Andy Kaufman was the greatest use of an outside celebrity in wrestling history. As a master of blurring the lines himself, you can tell he got what wrestling was and fully respected and embraced it.

[@dieselkilgore]

He was great. You can listen to many comedians today who talk about how he blurred the lines of reality even in comedy. Some of them didn't even know if what he was doing was a shoot or a work as a comedian. He fit perfectly in the wrestling world.

[@kevinpayton2664]

There was no better storyline involving a celebrity than the Kaufman and Jerry Lawler angle. It was great.

[@seebee6804]

It's not a stretch to say he was the best "bad guy" ever. While it wasn't a huge draw, the work stands the test of time. Perfect guy in perfect promotion at perfect time.

[@tonysmith8566]

I believed the "Andy Kaufman" story until now, I'm 53 years old,,, Thanks with the sad face lol

[@josephcolella3107]

Tony khan should have paid Jim whatever he wanted to book AEW. Smartest mind in pro wrestling

[@charlesgreen8703]

“Who is Andre The Giant?-Turd Ferguson

[@dgb198282]

"Wanna give me Andre the Giant for ..... $1000"-Turd Ferguson

[@charlesgreen8703]

@@dgb198282 “I remembered who Andre The Giant was....he was a Giant and he went by the name of (cough) Andre”...

[@aaronsugar7228]

1983, news of Flair dropping the belt to Harley Race was shown in a text crawl on Maple Leaf Wrestling out of Toronto. The following week, they showed a single camera shot of the finish. For the cage match from Starrcade, a cut down version of the match was shown (along with the Piper Valentine dog-collar match).

[@mindlessdroid3630]

There's videos of the Kaufman Lawler feud and you can see the people are pissed One lady you can read her lips when she yells at Kaufman. "You son of a bitch" 😂😂😂

[@fritzer84]

Andre (in his prime) vs The Road Warriors would have been awesome

[@deeznutzzz3217]

Hawk and Animal woulda destroyed Andre

[@SeanRankin2]

@@deeznutzzz3217 Are you serious clown? He can handle either of them with ease dummy

[@rojayreid908]

Andre and King Kong Bundy Vs Road warriors.

[@SeanRankin2]

​@@deeznutzzz3217Sure buddy 😅

[@timshelton2896]

San Antonio ran the Lawler match ahead of Piledriver v. Piledriver against Bob Sweetan

[@zimzimma5688]

Hahaha that is one of my favourite paintings in a while. Top class as usual whoever does them. Great work

[@zimzimma5688]

@Aaron Lassiter So it is lol. Well done Travis Heckle!

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

I think Jim is getting better at doing Ernie Ladd than...well, Ernie Ladd lol 😂

[@jlang05483]

I went to Memorial Auditorium in Burlington Vt we would have Andre and Edouard Carpenter

[@HorrorFreak68]

The syndicated World Class show ALWAYS told you the main event for the following week. People in Dallas/Fort Worth would also always know the entire card for Saturday night on channel 11 because it was always from the previous Monday night card.

[@mizzygunz]

Memorial Auditorium is the name of the venue in Vermont that slipped Jim’s mind.

[@AngelMartinez-fl7vg]

In Puerto Rico, WWC showed when Carlos Colón defeated Ric Flair for the NWA title, and then NWA declared the match "non sanctioned" and Flair won the title back, but they only showed the ending.

[@PaulieD1984]

A bit like North Korea winning the world cup

[@DMS-pq8]

@@PaulieD1984 With Dear Leader Kim scoring 86 goals

[@prepsid]

I remember really liking Carlos Colon in the 80's, but the way his organization covered up the slaying of Bruiser Brody in '88 was just third world. Props to Flair for getting Colon over for a few hours with the belt, but that guy should have been black balled industry wide after that went down with Brody years later.

[@DMS-pq8]

If I remember right World Class TV would advertise matches you would see the next week

[@Karemaker]

Jim Cornette has a posse. 6'0" 200 LB.

[@MisterBeauJanGels]

During Harley Race's second title reign, they would air a variety of matches from different places, mainly so they could show that Race truly was a globe-trotting champ. Not only the title change in Toronto, but there were matches against Angelo Poffo in Florida, Rick Martel in Australia, Jumbo Tsuruta in Japan and probably others I can't recall offhand. The Martel match involved video conversion (PAL to NTSC), so they had to shell out a few bucks just to hammer the point that Race wrestled all over the place.

[@madbrowniac7871]

When Ric Flair came to NWA Southeastern to defend "The Big Gold" on a frequent basis against The Southeastern Champ (usually Bob Armstrong, Ron or Robert Fuller, Jimmy Golden, or Austin Idol) in Birmingham they used JCP Footage of Flair against guys like Roddy Piper. The Montage Theme was "Fire and Ice" by Miss Pat Benatar. Oddly enough about that same time Andre The Giant visited for a 2 on 1 TV Match against the current Southeastern Tag Champs Jerry "Mr. Olympia" Stubbs and Arn "Super Olympia" Anderson. And the original "Mr. Perfect" and the future Horseman cheated their way to victory!🤔😉🎤🐴💎👔👞👞🤼‍♂️B.W.

[@dwayneharris5662]

I remember Vern Gagne showing incident with Andy Kaufman on AWA

[@chrischar9428]

I love when Jim Crockett promotions debuted Brian pillman here is making his debut the previous week they showed a video of him wrestling in their rings so kind of hard for it to be a debut

[@ddave7026]

Great story. The whole behind the scenes insight

[@ELPRES1DENTE45]

Let's just appreciate the fact that we've got another historian on our hands that actually appreciates the history and seeks out the answers/details/expertise to get the proper information.

[@timmylong833]

This is much better than him bitching about AEW... I personally cannot stand that Cornette. Not bc I like AEW, but bc I want to listen to what matters.

[@ELPRES1DENTE45]

@@timmylong833 - Whether you like it or not, his opinion should always be considered relevant. He's one of the greatest minds that the business has ever seen, and there aren't many people that know it inside and out nearly half as well as he does. He knows his shit, and AEW is often pretty goddamn ridiculous. They bring it on themselves, and their fans eat it up, regardless, despite the fact that if/when WWE does the same exact shit, they'll bitch an absolute fit and shit all over it. It is what it is, but there's always something to learn from what he has to say.

[@jenisia3600]

I'll take content like this over aew reviews, appreciate him calling their crap out, but i preffer stuff like this.

[@timmylong833]

@@ELPRES1DENTE45 I see you are a strong minded person of yourself. All I was saying is, this JC is much more enjoyable. We all know and can comprehend bad wrestling. Say back in the day, I knew CZW was shit. No matter how many people wanted to bash me on the internet.

[@ELPRES1DENTE45]

@@timmylong833 - I'm not bashing you. I'm simply saying that shit is shit, even if it's your shit.

[@SmithCommaBenjamin]

You can agree or disagree with Jim's preferred booking, but there is no mistake he is a the premier archivist or wrestling history. He's the best first hand source about wrestling history alive today, second to Vince McMahon; whom obviously will never delve into wrestling history. Hw amazing a 10 hour long McMahon shoot interview or book would be

[@JuliusC1973]

I would think people like Howard Finkle, Lou Albano, Pat Patterson, Jerry Briscoe would know even more than Vince McMahon would.

[@ronaldturner3624]

The eighth wonder of the world

[@dquanissavage6287]

Awesome Shoot Today Jim!!😎🐐🐐

[@chrischar9428]

Wrestling at the chase also had a lot of main event matches on TV

[@trussdprocess5003]

The road warriors were on their way 2 being this type of attraction where they could b loaned 2 different territories...if the system still worked that way in 85-88 the warriors coulda been used in the same way andre was

[@trappenweisseguy27]

Jim’s right about the week to week tv shows in the 70’s. it was all squash matches, with the stars going over terrible jabronie’s who didn’t get as much as a single punch in. If you were lucky you’d get some footage from the last main event 1-4 weeks later.

[@maxxdahl6062]

The tv was the advertising to get you go to the live shows rather than today where it's the opposite.

[@heyyou9693]

The 80s was the same. It was a treat to see a top talent vs a top talent on WWF superstars or challenge. Prime time wrestling was solid, and Saturda Night's main event was great.

[@ernestcruz6316]

@@heyyou9693 WWWF Championship and All Star Wrestling in the '70s and into the early '80s would occasionally show TV main events that were more like house show midcard matches, like maybe Ivan Putski vs Bulldog Brower, Tony Garea vs Mr. Fuji or Larry Zbyszko vs Ivan Koloff, or maybe a tag title match where the titles would change hands. But other than that it was all squash matches.

[@paulweston8408]

I think I saw the Andy Kaufman vs Jerry Lawler match on Inside Edition. As for matches that different promotions with show was a Jumbo Tsuruta versus Ric Flair match from Japan, Were Flair actually one with his figure four! I unfortunately lived in the Central States territory so, yeah🤭🥴🤥. One good thing is we did get some of the video packages from other territories.When your biggest star is Bulldog Bob Brown, we'll happily view matches from other promotions. They also showed Race beating Flair in a non title match from Japan. And the Flair-Kerry title changes from both Dallas and Japan.

[@colinhudson3867]

My first introduction to Andre was the movie "I like to hurt people". But living in New Zealand we would never be able to be at a live show to see Andre...RIP

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

Considering how massive the ratings for wrestling were back in the day, it’s always been interesting to me that more promoters didn’t strike better TV Deals. I understand how different things were, but you’d think drawing ratings of millions upon millions of dedicated viewers every week would have given them some better bargaining chips.

[@TK-mf2fr]

I feel like I remember wwwf showing a title change in nwa happened in the 70's...maybe it was part of the Superstar Billy Graham vs Harley Race or Ric Flair angle

[@85futureshock]

Andre looks like Hugo from Street Fighter or Andore from Final Fight in this image.

[@pjsretrogamesmusicandwrass5795]

Both characters are based on Andre..

[@piperar2014]

I dumped a hella lotta quarters into Final Fight. I almost always played Mike Hagar. Belly to back suplex, diving clotheslines, flying pile drivers.

[@A_real_Ha_So]

I'd thought it was weird that Andre beat Larry Hennig and Butcher Vachon in a handicap match 1974 in the AWA

[@lilstonerelf3472]

Lance russel said most the card for the gardens every saturday

[@nicholasfarrell8403]

That’s different. They were advertising a house show, not the tv programs

[@lilstonerelf3472]

@@nicholasfarrell8403 yeah but every week in the 80s , love corny hate politics in my wrestling

[@lilstonerelf3472]

@Aaron Lassiter cornys hate for half the country

[@michaeladderley5180]

Hey Jim...I just witnessed Andre the Giant getting slam by Kamala....🤣🤣🤣

[@itcummifaegg]

ANYBODY WANT A PEANUT?!?

[@guyboost6392]

Hopefully The WWE will show the lost Episode of WWWF Championship Wrestling airesd On July 3 -1976 The Feature Match was Chief Jay Strongbow vs Excutioner 2 Big John Studd with Captain Lou Albano and Excutioner 1 Killer Kowalski later Billy White Wolf runs in to help Strongbow but it's a 3 on 2 Until Andre The Giant makes the Save Must watch Email the The WWE Network and WWE for them to show it Thanks for your help and support all you old school Wrestling fans

[@mox19380]

I've said it before but some university with a history major focused on entertainment need to get Cornette on staff.

[@louiscsanko3673]

I hope Mr. James E. Cornette Lives for Another 50 years,but when that sad day comes. I demand that it become a National Holiday!!!! If they deny that request, I will never watch Future Wrestling shows ever Again!!!! I will watch Reruns of the Drive- Thru and Matches that CORNETTE Would Approve.of.

[@AntonBProud]

GREAT QUESTIONS = GREAT PODCAST MOMENTS BRAVO

[@scaryharryflanagan70]

When Andy Kaufman forced them to bring in an ambulance was the best part of that whole angle and the Man in the Moon movie. He was less of a mark then most of today's wrestlers.

[@LostOneOmega]

Kaufman had a lot of respect for the business and the people in it. He also took entertainment very seriously. He just wanted to be a part of it and made sure to protect as much as he could.

[@Kas58223]

@@bigblob1623 yea was crazy all he did was wrestle woman then Jerry Lawler came along and he was the most brilliant chicken shit heel were you wanted Kaufman to get this ass whooping so badly

[@michigan9191]

This art work made my day 😂

[@insupportofjunhado]

Mr. Heckel is never going to let Cornette live down that time he cross dressed, is he?

[@paulweston8408]

I watched Georgia wrestling, Tri States wrestling, Mid South Wrestling and Central States wrestling back in the early 80's til they all want under and honestly as bad as the wrestling was Central States showed both Von Erich vs Flair title changes. It of course showed the end of Flair beating Dusty in 81. They showed Race beating Flair in St. Louis. They also used to show some of Flair or Races matches in Japan that were great for the time. One was Flair beating Jumbo Tsuruta in a really good match with the figure four.

[@paulweston8408]

I'm getting old. I just found my comment from a year ago saying about the same thing.

[@trappenweisseguy27]

I can remember those Andre handicap matches against up to 4 guys at a time. Of course he’d be rag dolling them all over the place. They’d also have a bunch of jabronie’s trying to pry Andre’s arms open with him clasping his hands together.

[@kitfo18]

Funny thing, listening to this just told me how to make prowrestling real again and return the the days of the business being protected...

[@jyesucevitz]

I thought wccw would announce a week before?

[@anthonytropiano6650]

in detroit it was andre and bobo brazil against the sheik or bulldog don kent and someone

[@MrSniperfox29]

I bet the Sheik won

[@anthonytropiano6650]

@@MrSniperfox29 no bobo was a huge babyface in the area and alott of times if it was one on one it was a dq but if andre was in he never lost

[@MrSniperfox29]

@@anthonytropiano6650 Neither did the Sheik, that's why business in his territory died eventually because of his refusal to lose.

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@MrSniperfox29 Then ohio got georgia championship wrestling. That was quality wrestling.

[@zamplify]

For years every single match I ever saw Andre wrestle was a handicap squash.

[@AntonBProud]

CLASSIC KAUFMAN STORY HAHA

[@piperar2014]

In the 1980s (and prior) wrestling shows on local TV were advertising for house shows. Just like 1980s cartoons were advertising for toy sales. He Man, Thundercats, Transformers, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, kids ask your parents to buy the toys for you. Then there was GI Joe advertising current toy sales and military enlistment 5-9 years in the future. That's the long game. Anyway it wasn't until well into the 1990s that TV ratings mattered more than ticket sales.

[@piperar2014]

He'll fight for oil whenever there's profits GI Joe is there.

[@scottmiller4859]

Lol love this analysis thank you for reminding me of my premature yet fucking predetermined mind. I enlisted into the marines at age 15 but had to wait til after high school at 17

[@piperar2014]

@@scottmiller4859 Interesting. How did that turn out? What did you learn?

[@scottmiller4859]

@@piperar2014 terrible as an immature fuck. I got a dui saturday night when recruiters were coming to pick me up sunday night to go to harrisburg for my physical. Wouldve been right off to boot camp. Im 38 now so its been awhile. Any how my dui caused the recruiters to hand me a card with number on the back for army, national guard, and i think another. Marines naturally are a bullshit outfit. Greatest regret of my life

[@scottmiller4859]

@@piperar2014 army and national guard wouldve had charges dropped long as i enlisted for 4 years. I declined. Wanting to be a marine. Become a horrendous decade or so of me beating myself up which didnt help. My dui i got was with a blood alcohol level of .0223 but being underage its a dui. I showed no signs of being intoxicated. The cops later on said if they had know they wouldve taken me home as they pulled me over with tail light out literally 5 houses from my house not even 1/10 of a mile. But we live and learn life offers few do overs...

[@michelledavidson8190]

Love listening to Jim's wrestling stories about the history of wrestling.

[@samiamcolesioe2469]

St. louis did

[@BabyCee713]

Wrestling just wasn’t the same after the territory era

[@dwade6322]

#400 WOO !!

[@Ludvik789]

Hope Jim sees this thumbnail

[@deucefloyd9858]

I'm wondering if it's supposed to be a rib.

[@prairiehawker]

Bruno vs. Zbyszko is the classic example of old school buildup. I was in High School when it happened and it was fucking HUGE around the country. It even ran on National News because Bruno was so loved by the Public at large

[@maxxdahl6062]

Bruno wasn't that over on a national level. Northeast? Sure. Midwest and south? No, Any of the NWA champions or AWA champions were more over in their areas.

[@ollieox1975]

I don't think the Hawkster said he was over, he said that it made national news, a lot of stories about wrestling made national news, not because wrestlers were "over" but just because they were interesting or had a crazy gimmick.

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@ollieox1975 But Bruno didn't even really have a gimmick. Other than being italian american. My grandmother was too, but she wasn't a huge Bruno fan.

[@ollieox1975]

@@maxxdahl6062 True, I wonder how he truly felt when he came back and everyone seemed to have or get stuck with a gimmick from Vince Jr and Co.

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@ollieox1975 Hell my grandma liked Lou Thesz and Verne Gagne more. Gagne more since he was more "local" and a mid westerner.

[@pulsarstargrave256]

Was there an agreement between Mid South and World Class because some wrestlers like Junkyard Dog seemed to go back and forth!

[@chrischar9428]

The agreement was if he wasn't booked for his main territory he was allowed to take bookings outside of his area

[@andym8557]

Why does the illustration make Andre look like Vince Vaughn

[@chrischar9428]

I was thinking of the Goof from Young Rock

[@MrRabiddogg]

The closest I can remember to announcing a match the week before is if somebody attacked someone else, and the guy who got beat up screamed into the mike after. "Next week I'm going to get my revenge, in the ring" or something

[@michaelconnors7668]

Eddie Graham had Gordon Solie interview Andre and Solie asked Andre non-wrestling related questions. It's a fascinating segment.

[@guyboost6392]

Can you ask Jim Cornette if he knows the story on when Bruno Sammartino gave Andre The Giant A Big Bowl of Pasta Fusil with Fava Beans and Chicopee s and made Andre The Giant Fart and every one left the building ??

[@treyhamiter6509]

Bill Watts was a genius in the 70s & 80s.

[@GM-tw4el]

Of all the amazing Andre stories people have told, the one that sticks out to me the most is when someone asked how he went for a shit and corny replied "in the bath tub" which is crazy because it's so trivial but kinda sad too

[@timmc8444]

hoped he tipped the maid well! LOL!

[@GM-tw4el]

@@timmc8444 you'd give up if you were earning minimum wage and found a 3 foot shit in a bath you had to clean 😂

[@timmc8444]

@@GM-tw4el fuck yeah!

[@HkFinn83]

The stories are exaggerated if not totally made up. He was 6’10 - 7’. Huge guy ofc but...he could use a toilet😂

[@GM-tw4el]

@@HkFinn83 he was definitely over 7ft and weighed a quarter of a ton at his heaviest. I think this is true.

[@Bearwolf13]

I loved a lot of things about the Attitude Era, but I grew up watching Mid- Atlantic and to me that's what Wrestling really should be!

[@johngallagher72]

The Best Territories imho 1. Mid South 84-86 2 Crockett 84 -88 3. NJPW 2013-Present 4. ECW (original) 5. Attitude Era WWE

[@louiscsanko3673]

CORNETTE is WRESTLING

[@jenisia3600]

Give me more content like this than aew reviews

[@King4sshole89]

I love Jimmy's AEW Rants, but his history lessons are the most enjoyable thing about the channel.

[@TomFoolery350]

AEW reviews got shorter and NxT isn't covered anymore, only a matter of time until the experience is all about old school wrestling 😂

[@jenisia3600]

@@TomFoolery350 hopefully they keep them brief.

[@DespicablepunK25]

Jim Cornette is a wrestling encyclopedia.

[@jeffbrumbaugh5366]

Back in the day those guys traveled all over and put matches on in schools to everything. My first matches I ever saw was with bull dog Bob brown. In a school gym. Also on the card was junkyard dog I was like 6 or 7. Andre the giant was in Salina Ks a couple times back in the day. My best friend has a picture of him standing by Andre the man was truly a big big man

[@jordycabadas]

Wwe shouldn’t promote matches ahead of time. It makes no sense for their show. During the show they air the angle to set up the match. The match was already promoted on social media. So you know it was already going to happen. It takes away any sort of spontaneity.

[@ian0143]

Talking of non athletic celebrities. Shaq!

[@chrischar9428]

I hated the out-of-town promo where the wrestler tries to act like he's delivering it in the town he's coming to

[@jonmoss5176]

Thick shower soap wtfffffg I just sat thru 10 sec of that shit lmfgdao I hated that song blllaaaaaaughb

[@ChickenParmesan45]

#FJB

[@guardianofchaosBD]

Corny!!!!!

[@sashabanks485]

1rsttt

[@bruisergiraffe4660]

I dint get why people think andrew was this great wrestler when he's not. He's just like hogan an attraction

[@paulpnut]

Jim was relevant 40 years ago!! People like him ruined the business

[@jameshenderson4668]

Went back and watched some Andre matches because I was really young back then and didn't have the appriciation for certain things..but after all that, dude was not good. His work was shit and his promos made Ultimate Warrior seem coherent.

[@randywark8865]

Watch his stuff back in Japan in the 70s. Andre was actually a pretty good athlete.