Jim Cornette on The Scariest Riots And Worst Towns In Mid South

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[@robbiewhite2351]

I’m literally in Baton Rouge listening to this in my truck lol. My dad was a city policeman in the 80’s and worked these shows lol. They secretly loved working them

[@LoopyWorld716]

I would have loved to have witnessed a rowdy crowd like the Mid South in person. I envy your father lol

[@TempleofAmon666]

@@TruthSeekr2662 Prairieville myself

[@asaptwo9198]

And im in tulsa and can confirm everything he said about our nasty town

[@Bouts12]

The visual of Cornette spinning the racket over his head as he runs away from rioters is fucking amazing.

[@theungreatkahli]

Hilarious shit

[@thehighjedi5109]

But that’s only half of it. You forget that he was also wearing a pink dress while doing that. Bwahahaha 😂😂😂 That makes it even better.

[@YogsenForfoth]

For some reason, I pictured him spinning the racket so fast that he took to flight and elevated into the sky. 😂

[@yomuno2511]

No worries... Beautiful Bobby and Lover Boy Dennis will show up in the nick of time.

[@CasualGamerGameplay]

And the excitement he puts into telling the stories...... Entertainment at it's absolute best

[@g7721]

I don’t care how pissed and how drunk I am nor how tough I believe myself to be, if I see Hercules and Dr Death knock a shit ton of dudes out cold in front of me, I am turning back around and avoiding it at all costs

[@rockstarbd82]

"SOOO YA WANNA BEAT UP MAHHH WRESTLERS HUHHHHH????" lmao haha

[@mental_modeler2952]

Love Jim's stories, could listen to him rant all day long.

[@nunyanunya4147]

@Vinnie Provolone i have a feeling thats how many ov his traveling companions have spent their time too

[@broderickwiggins1998]

He's a national treasure. All my family watch mid south. Northeast Louisiana stand up. Man I miss these days.

[@daveomega7660]

Man I love listening to these. I work for a construction company in another town that requires me to drive an hour and a half to get to work. No gas station or anything to stop at. Just trees, one cell tower and the road I take to get to work. Recently got wifi for my vehicle and I’ve been listening to all these Cornette stories on my way to work every morning when I leave, to every evening when I gotta drive back home. I prefer wrestling stories from guys like Cornette and others over the radio or my own iTunes playlist. Makes my drives to work a lot more fun. Thank Goodness for Cornette and his amazing stories.

[@gazof-the-north1980]

Working in Mid-South wrestling back then must have been a real baptism of fire!

[@SonnyBubba]

Especially when you had Bill Watts as the boss.

[@Mark27472]

Corny has always called it the Military School of Wrestling.

[@1spizzle]

Wrestlers were rockstars in the south

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

The Southern wrestlers were usually the better workers .

[@rawsko0316]

Southern folk took it seriously.

[@wescollins2981]

Inbreeding

[@TRIIGGAVELLI]

@Jeremy Stillwell Yeah they like to have fun.

[@coodyoutdoors8766]

They was fighting in the ring and the fans just wanted to get to fight to

[@toddgedeon7401]

I could listen to Cornette's stories all day. He is the greatest!!!

[@CrazyUncle74]

"Tulsa! Both of 'em!" I was at the show when Cornette got put in a dress, and the crowd really did try to get to him. My dad was always on edge at Mid-South shows after that because the Tulsa crowds were always so fired up.

[@mr_knigh]

Man that must have been freaking great 😂 I wish i could have seen that and maybe be part of it top

[@ozzyaustin9574]

Hey I live in tulsa I wanna look up those matches what year do you think they were

[@CrazyUncle74]

@@ozzyaustin9574 1984, sometime in the spring I think. I was only nine at the time. Send Jim a question if you want a more accurate answer than I can give you.

[@Jdavid2890]

As a Tulsa native, I am proud Jim has such fond memories of our fair city.

[@Biggrittz]

Weird question but just asking, Have you been to the McDonald’s bridge near Vinita Oklahoma or have seen it? I once took a trip through OK and Went to it

[@ozzyaustin9574]

@@Biggrittz I have haha.

[@adrianostafford8240]

@@Biggrittz Yes.

[@douggambill5826]

Tulsa native myself and that macdonalds was the largest in the world at one time but not anymore

[@testodude]

Jim's memory is just amazing. Busting out an accurate reference to Galliano, La after 30 years when you know he's worked a thousand backwaters across the country is pretty impressive.

[@arthurdaffos1490]

Well he wasnt on drugs so his brain wasnt damaged

[@tonybones9638]

@@arthurdaffos1490 Exactly what i was thinking

[@FreneticZetetic]

No drugs and above average IQ.

[@shaunclifton5281]

Galliano is a shithole. It's a damn 3rd world country.

[@vancebacri5894]

I’m a druggie and I remember things

[@daveconleyportfolio5192]

"Tulsa, both of 'em." :)

[@brianneeley4471]

DaveConleyPortfolio I saw a UFC in 90s fight in Tulsa OMG I believ e it. Fights in crowds were very bad. Hooters girls or copies with alcohol. Crazy time and place Tulsa OK.

[@rumtuckskatter]

I went to NWA events in Tulsa when I was a kid and I've seen how insanely riled up Cornette got the crowds. They wanted his blood. Hell I liked Cornette and tne Midnight Express back then and even I pelted Cornette in the head with a giant soft pretzel. Security didn't do anything except ask me not to throw any other crap at Cornette.

[@mkl62]

You're lucky. If a fan attacked a wrestler in the old Mid-South, he got taken to The Room. The cops might do a number on him, or they might let the wrestler that he attacked have 5 minutes with him. Or maybe even Bill Watts would come in and do a number on him. You didn't dare try to damage Bill Watts' property (wrestlers).

[@moffjerjerrod1579]

How crazy was it when Jim has to run through a list of towns to determine which one had the worst riot. Seems an easier question would be “Which towns DIDN’T have riots?”.

[@brianworley9912]

I’m from Lake Charles Louisiana and growing up heard a million stories from my dad about Mid South Wrestling and as he put it those no good sons of bitches the Freebirds. Lol. Even had a great uncle of mine jump over a barricade at the Lake Charles Civic Center and get a few shots in on Micheal Hayes. Love the trip down memory lane Jim. Dad still hates you, but I’ve grown to love you. Much respect for a man that got to travel Louisiana and has great stories of the towns that I grew up in and know. Here’s to the only man in Louisville that knows the locals call it Alec in Central Louisiana.

[@troywilson4694]

Haha I love that. "No good sons of bitches the Freebirds"

[@haitonj]

Im 30 min south of Alex, my dad took me to the shows at the coliseum when I was a kid, what a time to be a wrestling fan! My dad hated Cornette too.

[@mkl62]

When Junkyard Dog was "blind," they did an angle in New Orleans where Michael Hayes came to the ring to confront him. A fan jumped into the ring and pulled a pistol on Hayes screaming, "I got your back, Dog." The police hit the ring and got him out. JYD said years later that he almost knocked the gun out of the guy's hand, but that would have given the sport away. About like Mr. Wrestling (Tim Woods) and Johnny Valentine when they were on the same plane together back in 1975 (plane crash that also injured Ric Flair). When word leaked out, they said that it was George Woodin, a fictious promoter.

[@HorrorFreak68]

Jeremy Stillwell you had to be there at the time to understand. Most people knew something was up, but didn’t know exactly what. There was no internet and very little cable tv.

[@GangstaSparkleFairy]

@Jeremy Stillwell ITs mind boggling, I mean do people think you can just drag a man around, place his head between your legs and power bomb him without any sort of resistance? lol Then again, it is the south. I have lived here my entire life...stupid is in high supply, moreoever, when you get them in large groups they seem to feed off each other' stupidity. It's like a retard wave. Amazing to see the crowds reactions in these old wrestling videos.

[@lb2.0.45]

Man wrestling fans were crazy back then.

[@BelaskoTheNinja]

When I saw the video title I thought "Tulsa has to be on that list." And the cops are still crazy.

[@davidjackson5818]

Monroe louisiana here. There was this lady that use to jump the rail all the time. She was all of 70 years old no kidding.

[@makinamuerte7590]

"Bobby goddamnit!!" Lmao xD

[@deadaccount7520]

lol. the loss of kayfabe robs us of moments like these. Old man took me to one of the tulsa shows but was so young couldn't remember anything about it other than it was an outdoor venue. never thought about the fairgrounds it just about had to be there.

[@aaronlovell6026]

As a truck driver, still to this day you don't stop in homa, LA. Those folks are crazy. And not just normal crazy. There like spooky B movie horror movie crazy. Stay out of homa if you don't live there.

[@vancebacri5894]

Ok

[@brandonreich4627]

BS, not houma, la maybe homer , la

[@someonesomebody304]

Jim knows the terriory well, he's spot on. Lafayette here... born, raised, stil here. Yeah, I'm sorry too.

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

I am too . Midsouth fans were either complete idiots or totally aware it was a work . I used to just shake my head at people who swore it had to be a shoot .

[@PilgrimPiper]

Municipal Auditorium next door to Lafayette Gen ! Those cards were awesome ! Seen the Last Stampede there ! Peace

[@jbelton1989]

Shout out to Louisiana..... Im from Lafayette

[@WNC411]

Shout out Jim and Brian.. #Louisianians

[@michaelobrien9689]

From Lafayette myself. Waited many hours in line at the Municipal Auditorium for tickets.

[@johnlabrott2835]

Tulsa isn't nearly as rowdy as it used to be. Most of the fans here nowadays come across as bored.

[@cmc5394oparva]

Glad these guys can laugh about the experiences now--I've heard other shoots from Mid-South heels about that time period, and it sounds like it was legitimately terrifying to deal with the fans down there. They weren't quite as bad as the ones in Puerto Rico, but pretty close. I'm surprised more of the heels didn't end up in the hospital.

[@asurlybarber3620]

In Puerto Rico, it wasn't the fans a wrestler had to worry about, it was the booker.

[@user-sv6kq3kd7g]

Both. The fans would throw stones at the wrestlers. Especially heels. They say if heels wud win there match it would almost be a death sentence

[@cmc5394oparva]

@@lucienswift447 LOL, please. I realize your type loves trashing white rural people, but the urban sophisticates in the Northeast weren't any better or smarter, and given what I've already cited about the Puerto Rican fans--who were so violent that the faces typically had to protect the heels on the way back to the locker room--this sort of predictable, lazy classism is just tedious and pathetic.

These are first-rate stories with first-rate storytelling.

[@oveidasinclair982]

Jimmy said he was scarred, but at the end of the night they all loved it, Massive Heat means one thing...Big Payday !

[@cra0422]

7:07 When the cop tells you to run, you know you're in deep shit.

[@darrinh.2322]

whenever i worked security for the heels i wore an old biker style helmet to keep the marbles, batteries and pennies from hitting me

[@azapro911]

I'm finding it difficult to picture Bill Watts in a Rolls Royce.

[@heisensaul5538]

If I was going to picture Bill Watts driving a car or vehicle it of any type, it would be a pickup truck

[@IanH707]

As a Lake Charles, Louisiana native, accurate lol

[@holly160684]

This might be the best wrestling story I've ever heard. I love you Corny

[@tommygilliam8890]

Love hearing his stories. What a great man

[@TheBwee123]

Louisiana is like that to this day every weekend. Bar room, grocery store it doesn't matter. Cool place to grow up though

[@BabyCee713]

These stories are solid gold!! I love this shit

[@davidgerow]

Love Jim’s stories.

[@chriswillis1585]

two 6-5 uncles were cursing Humongous when he came out the locker room in Alexandria but as he got closer, they shut up. dude was huge.

[@brianaguila6925]

Wrestling during the 80s and 90s: Wrestlers being amsbushed in the ring by fans coz their persona are being exceuted perfectly and can get really under the skin. People vandalizing cars and flat its tires just to show the hate. Wrestling in the present: Wrestlers being ambushed by fans in the ring just for the 15 minutes of fame.

[@bradpaton3927]

15 minutes oFame waStarting to happen on WCW: Nitro in the 1990's.

[@robbybee70]

when heels really knew how to get heat....

[@deadaccount7520]

lol. the loss of kayfabe robs us of moments like these. Old man took me to one of the tulsa shows but was so young couldn't remember anything about it other than it was an outdoor venue and someone arrived in a helicopter. never thought about the fairgrounds it just about had to be there.

[@shanepleasants6280]

The running with the cops story sounds like the raptors scene from Jurassic park the lost world

[@jameskoog9263]

I just love listening to Jim Cornette story. They're just amazing.

[@blacquesjacques7239]

Galliano is a very hick place , but Houma is worse .

[@blacquesjacques7239]

I spent summers in Lake Charles , its a city with a village mentality

[@blacquesjacques7239]

phillip martin Lol Hell yeah , it just sounds different lol

[@austinha11]

It's no Chalmette

[@elijahnakumura4375]

Blacques Jacques Im from shreveport, 2-3 hrs from LC. It couldnt have been that bad huh? Granted folks aint the most progressive in the south

[@kylemma33]

@phillip martin As someone from mobile I travel i-10 pretty frequently lol.

[@itslildaryl7426]

He tells a good story..!!!

[@jbellflower83]

Ok bill watts is rockstar. Loved that he stood on the guys head.

[@PlatinumRoseLady]

This is horrifying. There's getting passionate during the matches and then there's THIS kind of nonsense.

[@donnymoney4222]

fucking better than the crowd trying to get themselves over at the expense of the wrestlers!

[@bradpaton3927]

@@donnymoney4222 which iStill > going to see wrestlers who AREN'T over.

[@SonnyBubba]

There were no cameras and no camera phones. People were allowed to let down their guard.

[@chmiciotto]

Shreveport Municipal Auditorium was classic. Smelled like cheap cigar smoke and piss. The wrestlers would peak out from behind the stage curtain to see what was happening in the ring. Irish McNeel's Boy's Club was were the TV tapings were done. Every other Wednesday evening. I went to every TV taping from 1983-1985.

[@1spizzle]

I remember when Jim set Ronnie garven on fire people went crazy

[@LRM23936]

They were ready to murder him that night.

[@jonbaird8835]

"Don't talk about the Challenger kid, go do it again"

[@connor7177]

Jim's lucky to be alive. I think no other manager got as much heat as he did, cause even though I wasn't born or thought of during that era, I can tell ya, he can rile up a crowd to the point where people were wanting to beat the shit out of him. I don't know why he sells himself short but he should be in considered in the Mount Rushmore of top managers along with Bobby Heenan and Lou Albano and JJ Dillon. He's among the top 5 list for sure.

[@ChaosDevin]

It sounds like he's saying "homo" lol

[@oldjms1965]

you can't make this stuff up, Jim is a really great story teller

[@bobbybabinjr.4388]

Im here trying to track down the few instances lake charles was mentioned

[@tonyperone3242]

This should be titled "Audience Participation." Why anyone would want to honk off the wrestlers is a mystery.

[@johnnihil1689]

They believed it was real. No wonder Savage was so protective of Elizabeth.

[@kerryblanchard9425]

@@johnnihil1689 Alcohol would also have been involved. Because a lot of those fans would probably have had a drink before the show, then at least one or more during.

[@johnnihil1689]

@@kerryblanchard9425 Yeah, I'm glad they stopped serving alcohol at shows. Always gets people into some shit.

[@mkl62]

@@johnnihil1689 No. IMO, he was mean to her. I mean, locking her in their motel room, and accusing George "The Animal" Steele of having an affair with her?

[@mickey6275]

Liquid courage 🤣

[@billjeffries4685]

Great story Jim originally from Louisville but now live outside Houma la

[@jakkeflame]

Need more of these

[@keithwilliams2283]

I’m from Houma 70363 and he’s not joking the municipal auditorium was the Best as a kid

[@lukeboard696]

The good old days!

[@diggitydave75438]

These sound horrible. The stories about the Puerto Rican territory, WWC, sound worse where fans would put rocks in empty cups and throw them at the wrestlers

[@insaniam_convertunt_scientiam]

Wrestling audiences in 49 states: That looks painful Louisiana wrestling fans: _TAG US IN RIGHT NOW!!!!_

[@lesliemiros6743]

There are very few interstate highways in Louisiana and even less in Mississippi.

[@JamesDillard-gk2xb]

I wrestled in that building in Houma in the 90s… super dangerous… one way in and out of the front of the building for everyone… locker room was a small concrete cube… only thing that made it fun that night was working with Honky Tonk Man. We sat in the back and commentated on the fans and the other boys lol. Promoter tried to stiff me on the payoff and HTM squared me up out of his own pocket?!… pretty sure THAT almost never happened lol.

[@damienthorne3012]

Gods I miss Kayfabe

[@Gothy420]

I wish Travis Heckel would do a piece for this: Corny running in a dress while the fans throw trash at him with JR and Watts Rolls-Royce in the background

[@mrdubusey]

Can only imagine houma and Galliano matches.... Spooky places, not much as changed.

[@hobiecollins6030]

From Galliano I only wish I could have seen some mid south in my time

[@brandonreich4627]

im born and raised in houma, not spooky and not the hole in the wall it was in the 80's and before, it really has grown a lot

[@beatlejim64]

When wrestling fans were wrestling fans!!! Those were the days!!!

[@tammyforbes2101]

Meh it sucked for some.

[@toddsill6230]

Hey I seen the pink dress match how many times did u do that skit

[@williamgregory1848]

“Infrastructure has never been one of Louisiana’s strengths.” Glad that’s been established.

[@omegahorizon82]

Soo pretty much Louisiana is irredeemable by every measure.. Go BUCS!!

[@brandtsavoy6123]

Born and raised in Nola. My dad is from Aurnaudville which is right outside Lafayette. So very Cajun. I know a few people from Houma and Galiano. Been to Houma a few times..... No thanks.. also lived in Baton Rouge . It was right after Katrina... NOT SOOOO BAD

[@j2times2006]

Awesome stories.

[@mh18744]

When is the Cornette movie coming out ?

[@kyleshiflet7932]

@@jacobhook9610 i have Netflix and if they did a jim cornette show i would watch the hell out of it

[@rawsko0316]

Corny needs a show!!

[@edstockton3685]

- Run! - Fuck! Hahahaha

[@SonnyBubba]

Try to imagine a show where there were no cameras, no camera phones, and everyone knew it.

[@whosregis2000]

"I'm losing cops"

[@IRON5]

Hearing these Jim cornette stories from back in the day. Made me wish I was a wrestler back then!

[@jameshowell8282]

Yes it's fishing village about 30 miles down below Houma gilliano

[@Alanthe918mobilemechanic]

Talk about my hometown of Tulsa Oklahoma the most amazing place on god green earth for me!

[@matthewsmith4647]

Guntersville Alabama is a nightmare

[@christopheroliver4757]

That and Boaz lol

[@paull.rayborn1225]

Why don't you walk to Guntersville? You walk 10 or 15 miles my friend you won't be struttin that ass struttin that ass....

[@forlornvaalan7630]

​ @christopheroliver4757 several years later Ive got to ask. What?

[@ChrisSmith-wj8yw]

Funny as hell

[@michaelmedina8304]

Want to hear the story where security told him to run

[@jamesmarcus612]

Chase you to the interstate 😂. I believe it

[@slightlybetterthanaveragej6777]

Lol. Only 11 mins worth? I was in Lake Charles....

[@raphwalker9123]

Typical America where you jump over a railing to assualt someone then you Sue when they defend themselves.

[@BeeHatGuy]

Eat shit weeb

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

Right?

[@dwade6322]

NOBODY...i mean NOBODY tells a story like Corny.

[@gravewax5892]

Jim please do a spoken word tour! Whether it's places like funny bone, cuz your stories are funny as hell, or venues of that size you'd easily sell out anywhere! Hell I know I'm a nobody but I'd do it with ya! I'd be your opener or your hype man. But please Jim tour with your stories just you n your stories... Maybe guests for spots, but you would be amazing

[@blastingsound]

Houma ? thats so north, it basically just fishing hole lol aint even the heart of LA aahhahahahah when he mentioned Lake Charles i cracked up X,D lived there large portion of mah life

[@durden2480]

Baton Rouge and Tulsa sounded like a fucking good time!

[@yoyomcgavin2986]

Wow a whole new respect for bill watts on that day huh?

[@davidgerow]

Run Jim Run. Lol

[@shakeandjake_1]

Rioting today is just tweeting their anger

[@tomwalker389]

Were these fans trying to get justice against the heels, or were they just drunk and mean?

[@nicholasfarrell8403]

Leon Tan probably all of the above

[@zyphos9444]

Both. Being a heel was pretty dangerous way back in the day haha.

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

Just stupid honestly

[@vondeckbar72]

Hey ! If the Super Destroyer is reading this I'm the little kid from the Superdome match against the Junkyard Dog that threw a fountain drink at you when you and some other asshole took out JYD! When I saw JYD carried out on a stretcher I fucking lost it!

[@scottmiller3025]

This is some funny shit😝😄😁

[@quionnaandsaquangordon5209]

Yeah what he said

[@mixhaelamikovich]

Crazy times lol

[@michaelpaiva9924]

Thats cus Watts is the promoter who is paying the cops to.do detail and im sure the cops were charging top dollar to detail a wrestling event. So hence why the cops lets Watts do w.e he wanted to the guy before they hauled him off cus he's the man thats payin those cops and signing there slips. And it's his hometown as Jim said so they already know he's a rich dude and you know how thats goes..

[@rockmedia4405]

Lol classic 😂

[@spacecowboy225]

Louisiana gang.

[@80shorrorronniepierce67]

It just goes to show it use to really have to be in your blood ,it's to make money and a job now back then they would travel the us for barely enuff to eat every night their isn't many that would do that now I love it back before the internet the bad guys you really believed were bad and the baby faces were thought to really be baby faces I didn't get to be in the great good ole days I was born in 76 but it's changed alot in my lifetime

[@timhannah2321]

WOW U KNOW THERE WUS SOME CRAZY TIMES IN CORNIES LIFETIME ALL THE TERRITORIES HE WORKED AT AN PROMOTIONS GUY HAS SOME COOL STUFF TO SHARE

[@SAVikingSA]

I think the closest we got to this in the modern area were ECW shows in places like Philly and Poughkeepsie. Those shows were wild and if you were at them like I was you know what I'm talking about.

[@SonnyBubba]

It was different before everyone had smartphones. Back then, what happened at the arena stayed at the arena, unless the cops got involved. These days, there’s just nowhere to publicly vent about whatever, because it will end up on KZbin, and your boss will end up seeing it.