Jim Cornette on Gunther Breaking Honky Tonk Man's IC Title Record & Leap Years

From Episode 499 of the Jim Cornette Experience
Artwork by Travis Heckel!
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[@IanSane]

What I liked about Honky's record is that it wasn't intentional. The previous IC record holder was Savage, only two reigns prior, but they weren't thinking about Honky specifically beating that record. The kept the title on Honky while it made sense and then decided to put over the Warrior and Summerslam seemed like the ideal time to do it so they did it then. Then later they realized that that was the longest reign and decided to emphasize it. That's a very natural and organic record in a fake sport. Same with Bruno's reign. He was only the second ever WWWF champion so it wasn't like they were trying to set any record because that metric was met very quickly. They kept the title on Bruno as long as their business model was him as the heroic champion defending against all comers and he wanted to still be champion. Now everything is so calculated that any new record feels like a work. Bruno got a long title reign because he was selling out MSG month-after-month and if he wasn't doing that, they would have tried someone else. Roman Reigns is going for the record because the WWE feels that that's the story they want to tell.

[@chroniclesofnigeria1358]

truly one of the bizarre moments in history is Brian Last having to explain how Time works to a senior citizen.

[@williamgregory1848]

Fun fact: Honky was originally meant to be a transitional champion; however, Jake Roberts failed several drug tests following WrestleMania III and Honky was booked to remain Intercontinental champion for what would be a record-setting run. In a later interview, Honky remarked that Hulk Hogan, whom he then had a friendly, collaborative relationship with outside of the ring, had helped give Honky a chance at the title after a coincidental meeting between Hogan, Honky, and Vince McMahon took place. Hogan stuck up for Honky, even though McMahon had someone else in mind.

[@hollywood21639]

Honky was supposed to lose to macho at one point but refused to do it

[@robertdesantis729]

@@hollywood21639macho was supposed to lose the world title to Million dollar man but refused to - that’s why we have the million dollar belt

[@hollywood21639]

@@robertdesantis729 ted should have been champ once.

[@troyelich9307]

@@robertdesantis729 Savage was supposed to beat HTM for the IC belt, but HTM refused. So the WM 4 plans changed to Savage winning the tournament and the million dollar belt was created to throw DiBiase a bone since he wasn't going to get to be the world champ.

[@rebeccaroanoak5375]

Cornette being the master of all wrestling history but not knowing other history topics is always funny. And Brian trying to Google it and never getting a satisfying answer 🤣

[@stewartmcrae8007]

he is not even the master of all wrestling history i have asked him stuff about the WWF which he can't answer and he was actually employed by the WWF when some of these things took place

[@purrsew]

​@@stewartmcrae8007I believe he specified wrestling history and what you are talking about is "sports entertainment" but I can see your confusion

[@stewartmcrae8007]

@@purrsew go back to mommy's basement and cry that your precious wrestling is dead and Mcmahon reigns supreme

[@pleaseshutup7053]

@@stewartmcrae8007 you got owned you are the only one crying here

[@miniman2132]

We need an Angry History with Jim Cornette podcast.

[@maniacsioux5197]

I love Corney to death but this is him at his worst on the intelligence side “when did they start leap year in merrrika?!?!” Brian “it’s existed since the 1500s” lmao I love it!!!

[@steveomac385]

He knows wrestling and nothing else.

[@poodlehorn2438]

Came in expecting some kind of short history regarding the intercontinental title and maybe a discussion regards Gunther and where he goes from here. Instead got a bizarre argument about leap years and day light savings. Not disappointed.

[@john_blues]

Same here. 😂

[@ericfaz1427]

And still better than anything on AEW!

[@Anchorwing.]

Gunther is the best thing to happen in WWE in a long time

[@pleaseshutup7053]

You spelled the nda leaks wrong

[@wilcee238]

@pleaseshutup7053 Well played sir.

[@stewartmcrae8007]

@@wilcee238 not really it was a incredibly stupid comment

[@larkvanderpooli7794]

BS

[@WrongStanceProductions]

Facts

[@shawnkavanagh2951]

Jim and Brian trying to figure out when leap years started in America has me crying in laughter 🤣 Today's Abbott and Costello

[@haasteagle2750]

Gunther absolutely deserved to break Honky Tonk Man's reign. The quality of matches he's put on and the quality of opponents he's faced makes it a worthy accolade.

[@KHLB516]

Did he draw as much as HTM with that belt tho?

[@jdspreest]

Gunther is great, but HTK wrestled many many more matches against better quality opponents back in the day. The catch of all this tho is that HTK admitted that he lost all the time when he was the IC champ in non televised matches/house shows, but they were non title matches. He only won on TV. Still, different era back then. They don't have the grueling schedule today that they had back then.

[@ondoidlifestyle5754]

Knew I’d find all of the teenagers who think that wrestling is anything comparable to the past in this comment section. HTM is a dick, but he matches he put on and his era were WAY better than this shite today. Once in a while there will be some ruthless aggression era shills around here too. That era sucked balls as well.

[@ondoidlifestyle5754]

It’s the same bullshit as these kids with the “orton or cena should become 17 time world champions” Yeah ok. Guys like flair worked their way to the top in several promotions…this day in age “breaking a record” just means winning and losing the title a lot over and over.

[@stewartmcrae8007]

@@mancavespotcast4078 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@akamiguelsanchez9985]

Did Jim just accuse Brian Solomon of being the Long Island Serial Killer?! 😂

[@TheCavemanBrown]

“That’s only in Japan where all the people are shorter he was able to leap them easier” I just lost my shit 😂😂😂😂

[@HiHello-oz3jw]

Its gold

[@quentinkaasa47]

Bischoff should have tried that during his morning jogs in North Korea.

[@GryHen-pg9iy]

It's why the petite were so big there lol

[@captain-brickhead8317]

I love that they’ve established TWO guys with long title runs at the same time. Can’t remember a time whether both the IC title and world title felt important. Kudos to wwe.

[@joegreene7619]

You might have to go back to Hogan as world champ and Savage as IC champ for a time when lengthy title reigns with great pushes happened simultaneously for this.

[@tristateswrestling]

And the USOS had their 650+ day TAG, and Bianca her 1 year + reign. All in the past 3 yrs

[@orangemaniabrother2232]

Personally I think it's too much. There should be big spaces between record breaking title reigns because they get increasingly harder and rarer

[@hollywood21639]

I'd love history to repeat itself and have World champ vs IC champ at WM. Gunther beating Roman would be amazing for me.

[@jaybee4288]

I don’t mind it but Seth should be losing. Some belts need to trade while others are held up.

[@Pogo113]

I was hoping for a Honk run-in and blast Gunther with a guitar 😂😂 But honestly, I loved how Honk used to always refer to it as the Intercontinental Heavyweight title. Keep that extra respect on it.

[@rdfox76]

Personally, I just wanted Santino Marella to show up to celebrate it, with, one last time, "ARISE THE HONK-A-METER!" ...and then, after he's done giving Gunther the plaudits for breaking the record, Gunther comments that when he heard Santino would be participating, he watched some of the guy's matches, and was very impressed........ at how horribly disrespectful to the Holy Mat Santino had been during his matches. Cue pushing and shoving and Santino busting out the Cobra... and Gunther just *completely* no-sells it before absolutely murdering Santino in rage. Classic heel schtick that'll work just fine.

[@V3rmundr]

Gotta love Corny when he's having one of these 'MURICA moments 😂

[@Huntsdown]

Jim thinking that America has its own calander is hilarious 😂

[@GnosticAtheist]

Well, it does, although all the west uses the same and most countries now uses their own and the wests for trading purposes. But the Chinese has its own, me thinks.

[@Vidiot-Savant]

"The Gregorians!? Who did they ever beat?" 'Leaping' Lanny Poffo

[@MrSpeed-lt8gr]

Shouldn’t this video be titled “Jim Cornette versus the Gregorian Calendar?” 🤣

[@Crow5537]

Gunther is absolutely a guy worth to take the first place spot now it’s time to make him a world champion by next year

[@archaontheeverchosen7980]

Not gonna happen until reigns beats Bruno record. Maybe he can beat Seth though.

[@Crow5537]

@@archaontheeverchosen7980 obviously I’m talking about Seth or whoever the champ will be

[@chico1680]

​@archaontheeverchosen7980 So Roman's gonna be champ another 3-4 years so he can be a 7plus year champion?

[@DuragAllDay]

​@@archaontheeverchosen7980I hate that.

[@sebastianwhpx298]

​@@chico1680lol it's not going to happen.

[@dwade6322]

The MIZ is only a few weeks from Gunthers record as far as total days that he has held the IC Title in total days.

[@bigglilwayne7050]

Pefect time to bring Honky back and let him play his song(Guitar shot to Gunther)

[@rajakghosh6602]

Gunther is the perfect candidate to break the IC record. But now he needs a bigger push like a fued with Brock Lesnar at WM 40.

[@jamescarey2912]

Likely gonna be the Rock/Brock.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

@@jamescarey2912rock facing Brock?

[@robertnapier624]

@@jamescarey2912 The Rock and Brock connection?

[@wilcee238]

Only problem is Brock can’t afford to lose another feud. He just lost feuds to Lashley, Reigns and Cody.

[@Gamessnia]

⁠@@wilcee238it’s Brock.. he really should be putting over talent like he has done with the 3 you mentioned and he should do it one last time with Gunther

[@bricemckeel255]

America always had some permutation of the Leap Year, but the system adopted in 1752 (years wholly divisible by 4 other than years ending in 00 with the exception of years divisible by 400) is the leap year system still in use today.

[@tonyslicer7399]

..wish I was born on leap year look like my 50s be age before finishing college lol

[@ebransc09]

Of all the ways they could’ve gone with this topic, this was the most stupid

[@JDW79]

And to answer the question of what happened to the extra ten days when countries switched to the Gregorian calendar, they were just skipped over. So in Catholic countries that immediately adopted the change in 1582, the next day after October 4th was October 15th.

[@iceteehehe754]

Greece, in 1923, was the last European country to change. Today, the Gregorian calendar is accepted as an international standard, although several countries have not adopted it, including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iran, Nepal and Saudi Arabia.Feb 28, 2020

[@talon12020]

I can't believe anyone is taking Corny seriously during this bit. He's clearly fucking around and illustrating how to work the marks into a shoot at the same time.

[@chuckmendez8446]

With how eloquent he is and how much he knows about the history of the business, sometimes I forget Jim didn't go to school. Then he says stuff like this and I remember. Your dad was a highly educated man, Corny, c'mon.

[@IllyrianHighlander]

Man Jimmy Cornette not realizing everyone in the west follows the same calendar is funny

[@konnanelbarbaro]

The same thing goes for CM Punk's reign, with Stan Pain (CSW) pointing out that 2012 was a leap year and the WWE missed it, and everyone went along with it. He also factored the correct number for Bruno and the other territorial champions as well.

[@DarkBlueBaker]

When did leap year start USA? After 1752 we adopted the system still in use today where an additional day is inserted in February in years wholly divisible by four, other than years ending in 00 with the exception of those divisible by 400 which are still leap years (like 2000).

[@FlashFirePrime]

I always found it funny that the Maya Calendar is more accurate than any western calendar, the only issue being is that there’s like 3 more units to each reading

[@lonardgetchell-bm9lc]

My grandfather was born on February 29th.

[@theubie]

I could literally hear Brian wanting to reach through the internet and goozle Corny.

[@konnanelbarbaro]

Leap year existed before the US and automatically came to the US with the Pilgrims, like Brian Last pointed out.

[@AmateurHour1111]

This is why I have loved this podcast for 4 years.

[@elmagnificodep]

I've seen on Wikipedia where they have the number of days and the number of days recognized by WWE.

[@FatDirector1]

Leap Year was adopted in the in America in 1752 (before the Revolutionary War).

[@TakeNoteOfThat]

For some reason, I’ve subconsciously cared more about Honky’s record than the Streak.

[@micmaliss]

5:05 took me TF out 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@theboxingboy7422]

'well god damn what's gonna happen to strangler Lewis's legacy'🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@TheOfficialSlimber]

Jim's whole life has been flipped upside down.

[@OmegaRedFan]

Time splitting the cult into pizza slices

[@dvon1097]

I cant wait to hear Jim explode about the disatrous return of nia jax

[@robertevans5205]

Poor Walter ohh Keith that tweet will go in the hall of fame of step my foot in it 😂🤣

[@misterelom]

Keith has been getting dragged on twitter for that tweet for like a week now 😂😂😂

[@jdixon390]

What tweet?

[@-xGenesis]

To be fair he qualified it with "if what I'm hearing is real," so if anything he learned to take that source with a grain of salt.

[@ZeusTheTornado]

​@@jdixon390He was thinking Walter/Gunther was going to get buried after they changed his name

[@Nathan-oo2ik]

Did they talk about Gunther in this clip somewhere? All I got was nearly 10 minutes of the history of the leap year, not exactly what I was hoping for.

[@joeymanny]

Well Gunther is credible beating that record because he is a real deal and produce quality match, believable in the ring, and can storytell in the ring. His promos is decent as a heel. IC champ reign is prestigious, it will suck if some mid card will erase that record

[@scattonm]

I sometimes look at the thumbnail and try to figure out what in the world could Jim have said to inspire Travis' artwork. This is one of those times.

[@foxbear60]

One of those "Times" I see what you did there. (Side note, I also love playing the "Guess the photo inspiration" game.)

[@ericrogers97]

my guess is leap year has been around prior to the USA becoming a country.

[@scottmartin3228]

I thought this would be a discussion about Honky Tonk Man reacting to having his record beat, not some rambling obsession about a couple days one way or the other.

[@MrBeavis84]

This clip killed me 😂

[@AdmiralKleinStarfleetCommand]

Leap year was first recognized in the Colonies in 1752

[@john_blues]

Well this is not what I thought Jim talking about Honky Tonk's record would be. It went wayyy left. And I'm ok with that.😂😂

[@jasonmercer5779]

It's one day God damn it!🤣🤣🤣 Gunther still broke the record.

[@michael_stout79]

Perfect timing wake and bake and taking a poop

[@brianb99]

Same 😂

[@michael_stout79]

@@brianb99 best start of the day then shower and breakfast

[@goby1764]

The cornette + morning shit combo is elite

[@ernie316]

Bah, I baked a 3 tier chocolate cake whilst listening to Corny at 5am (12am ET) after a long meeting with keef

[@MrGoombasticveryFantastic]

Im glad it is 9 minutes long because Ive got the hershey squirts after attending a pro football game yesterday

[@kenmiller9838]

Jim Cornette and Honky Tonk Man dressed like Pilgrims 😂😂😂

[@tobiasfarragut292]

Does this mean the Ultimate Warriors corpse will be exhumed to have another 30 second squash match w/ Gunther @ summerslam 2024?

[@marvinleong5902]

So? When with the leap year, GUNTHER still broke the record so it doesn't matter

[@savievere9759]

Started talking about the Honky Tonks IC reign. Devolved into a discussion of when leap yea started

[@YMOE95]

An Edward R. Murrow HS reference on the podcast? Nice. Shout out to E.R.M.H.S.!

[@LemoncookieTV]

I was 3 days old when the Honky Tonk Man won the title, I can imagine how long he held that record hehe

[@antonlifer4449]

Why don't you know the FNG answers to these questions Brian? Idk why but Jim pelting Brian with question after question and not giving Brian a second to find the answers and then throwing that at him had me cracking the Fxck up.

[@armysheep75]

"The Gregorians? who'd they ever beat?" hahahahaha

[@QAZ-OMEN]

Well GUNTHER maybe be the longest reigning Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion in WWE history, The Honky Tonk Man can still say he is the longest reigning WWF Intercontinental Champion in history

[@youreokayboah2128]

Same company different name

[@nealfeldpausch715]

Many wont know how great HTM was. It was a worthy record to last this long. I'd rather it not be beaten, however Gunther is one of not many at all who is deserving.

[@662chillin]

Gunther was the absolute right guy to break it He's made the IC title relevant again so whoever he drops it to will be worthy And Honky Tonk Man is still a 🐐

[@three-quartersbadger2929]

Is the emoji a goat, or an ass?

[@pleaseshutup7053]

@@three-quartersbadger2929 😂😂😂

[@NonSenseMcGee]

February 19, 2024 - that's when Gunther's one reign as IC Champ will become the longest combined IC run in WWE history. Gunther at 465 days right now has only got 3 ahead of him for combined days as IC Champ - Don Muraco (539), The Miz (592), and Pedro Morales (617). I'd expect him to probably break that one too.

[@CoolCATs2814]

IDK if there's any heat between the WWE & HTM, because he should've been there, costing Gunther the title & keeping his streak. Need to get the IC title off of him so Gunther can go after the world title. I guess Cody is going to be the one to take it off of him now, especially how they booked Gable this week against Bronson Reed.

[@Powerball247]

I swear I didn’t even hear Gunther’s name past the first minute of that ramble

[@steelenigma17]

The leap year doesn't matter for Honky Gunter isn't losing until WrestleMania at least.

[@whattheheckification]

Corvette made it sound like Honky had an entire year that didn’t count. But a leap year just means once every four years February has an extra day. Meaning maybe Wwe was off by a day on honky’s reign.

[@suchiuomizu]

Those silly corvettes.

[@OmenCrimson]

They brought the calendar, as we know and use it today, to the USA in 1752....according to google....in case anyone was wondering

[@markula_4040]

What are they talking about? Honky's reign isn't classified wrong because someone forgot leap year. It says he's was the champ for 454 days. 6/2/87 to 8/29/88 is 454 days. You just have use an online calculator to get that. The only issue was the title win was taped and aired over a week later so if you go by TV dates his reign could be considered shorter because WWE likes to pretend everything is live.

[@kaijusdad6220]

Brian's pause and then "No" was great

[@wilcee238]

Serious question. Should Gunther ever be booked as a face? Or should he be an eternal heel like Miz? (I know they tried and failed to push Miz as a face a few times).

[@pleaseshutup7053]

He already feels like a face now. That segment with gable. Gable came off as a whinny punk blaming gunther for losing in front of his kids. Gunther said after gable interrupted his celebration to come to the ring and face him like a man. Combine that with the way everyone wanted to see gunther break the record. The only heel thing about him at this point is that he’s foreign.

[@wilcee238]

@pleaseshutup7053 Calling someone a disappointment to their kids was a heel move though.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

@@wilcee238 true I saw it as he said that because gable was whining and blaming others for his loss. When gunther called him a terrible father I laughed so hard. The way wwe has booked this feud I now want gunther to squash gable in their final match. That may say more about me I am now relating to gunther more than gable.

[@wilcee238]

@pleaseshutup7053 fair enough

[@pleaseshutup7053]

It’s funny gunther is only a heel at this point because he’s a foreigner. His segment with gable made him look like a face he was celebrating the accomplishment gable came crashed gunther said come to the ring and face me like a man. Gable cried and whined blaming gunther on losing in front of his kid. Then gable unprovoked punched gunther and got beat down. Gunther the man

[@Chops_4114]

Well said. I actually didn't think of it like that.

[@Blind_Sexy_and_Taken]

I would not say it is just because he is a foreigner. I don’t think that has anything to do with anything. He is a he’ll because I’ve been trying to present him as a heel. I’m not saying that they always do a good job of that, because I really don’t. but it also has to do with the way he carries himself in things that he says, and all that. There are a number of people that are not American that are not presented as a heel.

[@pleaseshutup7053]

@@Blind_Sexy_and_Taken what little things have they done to present him as a heel. When he wrestles he wrestles very clean and his last program with drew and current program with gable. Last time I remember him cheating was in a match against stroman. Since coming to Smackdown he has felt like a face

[@Blind_Sexy_and_Taken]

well, there’s the fact that he has had his faction interfere and matches and help him win. It’s also in the way he bullies the smaller wrestlers in the way he carries himself in the way he talks to other wrestlers. Again, I am not saying that he has been presented as the greatest heel of all time. My point was that to say that he is only considered a heel because he is foreign is just not true. People love him because of how good he is in the ring. It’s the same thing with MJF. People love him because of how good he is even though he has done everything under the sun to be viewed as a heel.

[@bigwillystyletv]

for your information brian and jim the leap year started in america after 1752

[@frankejk]

i honestly cant tell if jim's serious abour the leap year stuff lmao

[@Robby_C]

Does Jim think that America made up their own calendar?

[@kingslayer2999]

Will you please speak American 😁

[@CharlesSpadina3030]

We didn’t?! What about American cheese?!

[@mickeymojito]

Why not ? Americans make up their own reality in their own little world 😂

[@GregHuffman1987]

how long will gunther keep his record

[@bigp744]

Not as long as honky that's for sure

[@mistamaog]

Remember when we rejected Walter's name change to Gunther?

[@scrappy93]

Well if a leap year is that old that means it came over with the settlers. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

[@SomePotato]

It hurt to listen to the scientific and historical illiteracy when they talked about leap years.

[@erlockruuziik7237]

"did they just add 10 days??" Yeah basically. Phantom days that never happened.

[@johnathanmichaud867]

Corney, Leap Years have been around for centuries. Just shake, rattle and roll with it.

[@mjcastro82]

If you want an internet rabbit hole to fall into, look into medieval calendars being off by decades...

[@adamhowser2869]

Leap year in US was introduced in 1752

[@megawatt9242]

Jim cracking me up here.

[@mike2884]

The leap has always been widely accepted and adopted in USA . But SOME people and generations did not count those extra days from gregorian change. That's why people like George Washington had TWO different bdays according to recorded history among other events. As generations past, the x days desrepency wasn't much of issue when ev3ryone caught up to the change . But SOME history records are off by those 10 or 11 days. Historians have to factor that in and sometimes "add an asterisk" like baseball records (broken with less or more games" blah blah.

[@jessycruz2465]

If anyone highly deserves to beat the record it's gunther.

[@scottsmith8277]

Ben Franklin would have confirmed the US recognition of the Gregorian calendar 😂

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

lol imagine if the revolution got rid of leap years

[@IngenieurKane]

Leap year every 4 years, except the year that’s evenly divisible by 100 and not evenly divisible by 400; So 1972 was a leap year, 1988 was, 2012 was, 1900 was not, 2000 was, and 2024 will be.

[@L9_LOGHAN-GHZT_2]

This was a masterpiece.

[@acelarson911]

never ever trust the WWE when it comes to records, numbers, and dates...NEVER EVER

[@michaelscalzo9515]

Technically Honkytonk Man reign is actually 355. Because 1988 was a leap year

[@insupportofjunhado]

WWE should invite Brian Solomon on their show. Have a salty Gunther attack him for telling the truth!

[@JohnnyDouchbag-nr5yf]

F Guther! HTM will always be the greatest IC champ of all times! I took some serious heat in junior high for admitting that I was a huge HTM fan!

[@positively_broad_st3780]

We're all just a few days older than we realized...

[@jordanwillis542]

Went to sleep October 4 and woke up the next day October 15...true story.

[@jordanwillis542]

US would have adopted as colonies in 1752.

[@jd9119]

The days that they were off, they pretended to never happen.

[@john_blues]

Only Jim Cornette, and maybe George Carlin, could cut a promo on the calendar.

[@steveholland1163]

1752 is when they started leep year is the us

[@MCAWESOME19]

From my very simple Google search with very little fact checking, it says 1752 is when Leap Year was introduced, but then again that’s before America, it was a British Colony.

[@db-jk8dl]

Gunther needs ro drop the belt to Flop Dollar or Shoosh Boy now!

[@_Dave_S]

Gregorian Calendar 1, Jim Cornette 0. 😂😂