Jim Cornette on When He First Saw Ric Flair & How Their Relationship Developed

From Episode 174 of Jim Cornette's Drive Thru
Artwork by Travis Heckel!
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[@rigormortis3532]

I like listening to these stories better than I like the actual wrestling today. Thanks for posting this

[@KingPossum]

I agree. Also what those camp counselors and campers did to your son and you is criminal. I hope in the end Jason finally gets his just deserve vengeance and can finally Rest In Peace.

[@andreperkowski2082]

@@KingPossum She's trying to put that part of life behind her, and here you are shoving it in her face like that. I know you are trying to be helpful, but there is such a thing as manners.

[@jokerman2681]

Pumpkin Nerd, I totally agree. I don’t like the wrestling of today. I grew up during Hulk Hogan and Macho Man and all the way through the attitude era. The best era. I listen to all of these stories. It is better than wrestling. I could listen to Jim talk wrestling all day 👍

[@MM-qi5mk]

I haven’t watched wrestling since 2005 but I watch and listen to Cornette videos all the times. I love hearing about different aspects of the business and his historical knowledge is a pleasure to hear

[@gregclark3268]

When Jim talks classic wrestling like this i can listen to it for hours.

[@arnavbhagwat4232]

The artwork! Mr. Travis Heckle is the GOAT

[@priyadarshidash4353]

Preach!!

[@grindpivot5165]

Def

[@barryfields2964]

If you told a 15 year old that you use to have to take your film to the pharmacy and drop it off and go tick up your pictures a week later. They would laugh at you and thank you were lying to them.

[@larryosselborn8353]

Lock a 15 year old in a room and the only thing in the room a rotary phone

[@oldgoat142]

@@larryosselborn8353 That was hilarious when that was pulled on those boys on the tube.

[@larryosselborn8353]

@@oldgoat142 did not see that at all just saying with what we use to do and you back in the 80s the old phone modem to use the computer or use a house phone or walk to see if some one was home

[@oldgoat142]

@@larryosselborn8353 Yep. You actually had to talk to each other. Yeah, I remember those old modems. They were so high tech back in the day. Now, you'd find them in museums.

[@larryosselborn8353]

@@oldgoat142 to show your kids what we are talking about with the modem have the watch war games from the 80s the only move I can think of with it is in

[@stephenrogers4537]

I saw Brody wrestle Ric Flair in St.. Louis that was a match I will always remember💯👍

[@brandonwb1973]

Talk about a clash in styles. Im gonna have to look that up. Who won?

[@stephenrogers4537]

@@brandonwb1973 if you want to see some great matches between Brody and Ric Flair they're on KZbin just type in Brody versus Flair you won't be disappointed I guarantee it, by the way you can also try Brody versus Bockwinkel ,Brody vs. Harley Race those are also great matches👍

[@brandonwb1973]

@@stephenrogers4537 i heard a story where brody tried to get stiff with harley. It didnt work out well. Harley hooked him and said "you really wanna do this Frank?" He immediately stopped his nonsense, lol Nobody fucked with handsome harley.

[@seancuebas2332]

@@brandonwb1973 flair. 2 out of 3 falls.

[@gullyblanchard5750]

It’s incredible how sharp Cornettes memory is with wrestling history.

[@genewolf7097]

His addiction is wrestling he is a wrestle-a-holic or some shit, lol

[@xylsky1300]

And it helped that he wasn't doing drugs or drinking every night. So his brain is drug free

[@BeeBumper]

Man knows his history for sure

[@gullyblanchard5750]

@@bleeding4721 we’re talking about actual events and stories in wrestling. No one gives a fuck about where sting was born lol

[@ladistar]

@@genewolf7097 hahahahahaha awesome

They should show Ric Flair’s 30 for 30 to school children.

[@nathanielbaxter8044]

It should run for 24 straight hours on the 4th of July. Flair is the spirit of America.

[@abnuridd24]

@broootal don't say that, it can always get worse

[@joeycobb6697]

Holy shit! Charlie from Starkville is that really you?! Idk if I need to be in ahh of you and ask for a autograph or something or try to make my trolling famous by taking you out!!

[@joeycobb6697]

I dont have a pen or paper so that only leaves us with one option

[@jamesbyersmusic]

All they would get from Flair's 30 For 30 would be How NOT to be a faithful Husband How NOT to be a responsible Father How NOT to save your money How NOT to pay your taxes How NOT to live as a functioning adult Ric Flair is the greatest Wrestler/Performer of all time and as a fan I've always been obsessed with the Ric Flair character. But Richard Fliehr? I don't think he would be a good example of how to live a life at all!

[@MilMaska]

"Im gonna walk down the aisle in style and profile" - Ric Flair

[@FIXTREME]

Wow, that's the first time that quote ever made sense

[@stinkypinkeee5085]

Ric Flair said that? When? Sounds unlike his usual rhetoric...

[@ennbee2051]

This guy never gets the quote right🤣

[@btipton6899]

Weasel Dooley is my new alias!😁

[@oldgoat142]

Awesome!

[@Viper316RKO1]

Sounds like a trucker's handle

[@_TheShowStopper]

Love This! So cool to hear how Jim saw Flair as a pure fan! The Best Artwork in the Thumbnail As Usual!!!

[@jeffreyb6165]

I would see Ric on magazine covers in the late 70s and thought to myself just another pretty boy with the PR machine behind him to make him seem like a big deal, but boy did i wind up eating crow as the old saying goes. My first time seeing Flair was on WTBS (at the time) and GCW, and i wasn't 100% smart to all the nuts & bolts of this wacky world that we all know and love called professional wrestling, but i thought i knew enough to get by in terms of what was going on and what its objective was from a fan perspective, and then i saw Flair, and everything i knew or thought that i knew as to what wrestling was supposed to be like.went out the window. This guy was in a league of his own, and you could see that without question he was the man. Since i started watching wrestling no other performer did i connect with and become emotionally invested in what they were doing in the ring and on the schtick as i did with Flair. This guy was putting on clinic after clinic the likes that i had never seen before. On one hand i wanted to punch this arrogant bleach blond in the face but at the same time i couldnt wait to see him perform. As a fan, this guy had me wrapped around his taped finger, and before long even though i always rooted for the good guys (that was unless Flair was was on the card) I watched some great Flair classics on TBS, and if Ric was in the main event of the evening and there was still 20 minutes of tv time remaining, then you knew you were in for a treat. It was a heckuva time to be a wrestling fan when Ric was in his prime, and he was the quintessential measuring stick that everyone else would strive to become but could not because well....he was freakin Ric Flair!

[@1madinjun]

Flair made you believe. He sold the wrestling business, the championship, and that he was living the dream.

[@nicholastudor8216]

Another Cornette listener from South Wales, love it!!

[@bizieb23]

The artwork is an instant classic!

[@mattpomara1967]

First time i saw Flair was in Pro Wrestling Illustrated about two years before the Horsemen! Thought the robe was great!

[@btipton6899]

God bless Bill Apter!

[@deanw0rmer]

People that don’t like Flair don’t have a clue about what wrestling is and is supposed to be

[@chadk890]

I could still hear Flair and Ronnie Garvin chop the hell out of each other.

[@Taurus791]

Or maybe they just don"t like him.

[@deanw0rmer]

@@Taurus791 they have no clue

[@alsandrofai1786]

Jim cornette is the best RIC FLAIR is just the man HE HAS SHOES OUT! cant wait for mine

[@Blackhawk211]

Ric Flair was supposed to be disliked. He was a heel If you like a heel they aren't doing their job properly

[@Wadzillia]

I grew up in the Mid-Atlantic territory, going to Greenville on Monday night and Spartanburg Tuesday night TV taping. Flair and Magnum title vs title in the main event after TV taping in Spartanburg is still the best Match I've seen in person.

[@Viper316RKO1]

Then you and I were probably at some of the same matches...grew up in that time in Laurens, SC...just 30 minutes from both Greenville and Spartanburg. Saw Flair vs Wahoo many times.

[@patrickdoran180]

Hey, nice mention of Cincinnati Gardens! I saw quite a bit of WCW wrestling there as a kid. Unfortunately, it was torn down a while back.

[@deanw0rmer]

Weasel Dooley lol love it

[@Nergling]

My favourite thing about Flair is he looked like my late grandad, hair and all!

[@FuriousJack-wu5jf]

Jim Cornette reminds me of Howard Stern because I could listen to the both of them forever.

[@brownmut5518]

Dec 1978 Brantford Civic center. He was in the opening match of the card. His back was wide. He was huge and muscular

[@ualreadynowhatitis]

The first time I saw Flair was in Arkansas when I wash about 5 years old. My first impression was: This is the wrestling version of God.

[@RB-rk6qo]

Weasel Dooley. What a fuckin name

[@paulweston8408]

Remember Gordon always telling us that Flair's figurefour was from the left handed side!

[@BigMick502]

It was like the Charlie Murphy Hollywood stories where he first meets Rick James that's how Cornett met Flair and he had a golden light coming out around him

[@whitebathroomguy]

The 60 minute man! Space mountain

[@maxand.1462]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@FerretJohn]

Not sure exactly when I first saw Flair, it was sometime around 84, either on TV on TBS just before the Horsemen were formed or here in the Northwest when he came to defend the title against Billy Jack Haynes

[@jeremyboehm5512]

@Ferret John Where in the northwest are you? I'm in Moses Lake Washington.

[@FerretJohn]

@@jeremyboehm5512 Portland

[@whitebathroomguy]

6:05 eastern time on TBS

[@jeremyboehm5512]

@@FerretJohn I love living in the PNW. later brother.

[@RyWilsonGaming]

he's tellin the truth. we would go to Cincinnati Gardens in Cincy for NWA wrestling and Dayton Hara Arena for WWF. i saw Flair and Nikita wrestle for the World title one night..the top rope broke (first time i ever seen that) and Flair was disqualified for backdropping Nikita over that broken rope

[@kraw3026]

3:32 **Talking about laurinaitis Brian: Its hard to spell Corny: It's even harder to stomach 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@mcole442]

Flair went to ALL those territories around the world, and pumped em up, for DECADES......WOW🙄

[@jimmyleon2983]

Back in the 70's & early-mid 80's, St. Louis was the wrestling capitol of the USA.

[@MrJay197409]

Wrong Jim , Lex Luger is the total package 😆😂😂😂😂😆

[@tiandrerichardson2435]

Has Flair ever missed matches due to injury? The only injury I've heard or read about was a non wrestling injury from the plane crash. Thanks and keep up the work!

[@jmc7504]

i really dont think he has, lawler had a broke leg in early 80s & nothing since

[@MIKELIN8]

NWA (Crockett) used to come into Philadelphia every month during the mid 80s. I had been a life-long WWWF fan, but I gave that up to go and watch guys like Flair, Magnum, Dusty and others who (in my mind) were superior workers to what I saw at the WWF shows at the Spectrum. Plus, I really hated Hogan.

[@brandonwb1973]

The greatest damn promo of all time was jay lethal being ric flair to flairs face.

[@eddiesanders3383]

The knowledge jim has is amazing.

[@BeeBumper]

Jim was around for Kaufmann feud with Lawler. Did he hate that, seems he would?

[@thmpsn85]

Kaufman stayed in Kayfabe 🤣

[@brandonpotts54]

His matches were great.

[@charleybarley914]

Masterclass

[@cappy2282]

Flair is the man

[@jamirimaj6880]

Corny after seeing Flair for the first time more than 45 years ago: This is awesome! I bet the wrestlers in the future would be much stronger and much charismatic than Flair! Corny 45 years later: Stunted Growth, Pockets, Jazz Hands, Skinny Emo Skateboarder 😑

[@fredflintstone7943]

Wrestling would be held at Norfolk Scope. It would be held in the exhibition hall. When Flair was on the card it would be moved to the main stadium, he put butts in seats!

[@51385jrod]

Weasel Dooley? 🤣

[@btipton6899]

He "invented" the 5 star rating system.

[@oldmanb4]

Jim was the pitcher and Rick was the catcher? WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

[@davebetts9843]

19fuckin'80...love it!

[@suzanneflowers2230]

Heel or face, ric was great.

[@diamondwchamp]

Corny hit the nail on the head. Nobody has a clue. The 2 main companies may have the big money backing them. The angles are goofy and with so many finishing moves during a match there are no high spots. No wonder the Indy's are doing so well.

[@chrischar9428]

Missed out on great STL SHIT

[@grahamkilpatrick4862]

I remember JCP , I grew up on it. One of my favorite jobbers was Abe Jacob's. In Richmond at the Arena he would be an under card. Watching him do the Kiwi Leg Roll was a treat. Wrestling back then was about mat grappling and time limits and 2 outta 3 falls. Vince and his 30 minute promos and 6 minute matches just don't do it for me.

[@enochancient9931]

More watch alongs

[@wraithstrongopark]

just to be that guy, they did have home video back then. it was just that your average middle class person couldn't afford to go into debt to buy a vcr yet.

[@dannybyers6751]

Flair did not do 10,000!

[@grandpajoe91]

Cornette is like the guy you want to meet. but might get upset what he thinks if you do

[@jamiewilson5679]

Ashley Schaeffer must've been based on him.woo.

[@davidthiebout3842]

Can we Please have Jim discuss the Mulky Brothers Bill and Randy please

[@mdwayne741]

Gotta love the Mulkeys....watch the match where they went against The Midnight Express. Beautiful Bobby suplexed Randy Mulkey on the concrete. It was hilarious how badly the Mulkeys got stomped!

[@heisensaul5538]

I like hearing about this kind of stuff from Jim. You can only hear him talk about modern wrestling or Vince Russo or Donald Trump or w/e is making him mad right at that moment for so long.

[@TeefrmGA]

I've seen those blonde locks live many many times. Love to hate him. "To be the man, you got to beat tgw man. Whoa" FREEBIRDS Fantasia

[@ennbee2051]

*love him OR hate him. (You mean, surely?)

[@donobedabest8446]

@@ennbee2051 No love to hate or hate to love are expressions. Love to hate means kinda he views Ric Flair as a heel which is how he mostly operated(bordered on tweeneresque) but was so entertaining that even when you Bono’s him or wanted him to get hiss ass kicked, you knew you would get a kick out of whatever he was doing and enjoyed the experience every time you saw him(especially his promos, can’t miss). Kinda how Hollywood Rock 0’3 or NWO Hogan was viewed(especially’97 besides the promos).

[@whitebathroomguy]

I remember when Ric Flair called Michael PS Hayes on TBS the spandex cowboy... LMAO

[@Nonlifting_breezy]

Cornette as usual sucking off the rock n roll express lol

[@dandrewashington6633]

Cornette needs a talk show wrestling would take over prove me wrong

[@joniahdemarco3371]

I am almost sure he has a podcast or something

[@IamElPolloLoco]

Jim Cornette is celery

[@brandonhinrichs387]

Jim has to go on Theo Vons podcast

[@maxand.1462]

or JRE

[@juansanchez209]

Otis is the modern-day Dusty Rhodes!

[@Burger-urger]

Man stop trolling! Haha

[@jb0609]

wrong

[@chadk890]

Let's not get crazy now

[@juansanchez209]

@@chadk890 I don't know man, looks like at least a few people agree.

[@dankahaner]

That is just disrespectful

[@teresabarrera6855]

I wonder if Stacey ever took a ride on Space Mountain...WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@sacredsteeler]

Any man would be proud if his lady had been with Flair; in the past

[@ONPASSIVEZB]

WOOOOOO!!!!

[@Mahinskerrr]

First? Lol

[@jackiethompson3610]

...rest in peace mr dunsworth

[@christophersuswal9544]

First...... in being the liquor!

[@Mahinskerrr]

@@christophersuswal9544 you’re the only person who’s made a reference to my name in the last couple years and I’ve always been shocked 😂

[@charliewise1971]

Ole said he sucked

[@Dakatari]

Same match Flair everything the same nothing special.. According to Ole that is.

[@chadk890]

Hogan did the same moves too and they both drew money

[@mrcent1]

With all due respect to Ric Flair, his “Figure Four Leg Lock” only looked entertaining when Flair bobbed his head around like a mad-man. The move was, and is still flat.

[@wrestlingtapes2036]

Ric Flair is overrated

[@juansanchez209]

Honestly, this is a hard topic to address because the correct answer IMO is yes and no. Ric Flair is not overrated in the sense that he absolutely is one of the greatest professional wrestlers to ever live. 99% of the crazy amount of praise he gets is justified. However, you could argue that he is overrated in the sense that some people make claims like “Ric Flair is objectively the best wrestler to ever live” or “WCW would have won the war if Jim Herd didn’t drive Flair away for a while”. It’s important to note that overrated is NOT the same as bad, the problem is that a vocal minority make claims about Flair that simply aren’t true or can’t be proven.

[@larryosselborn8353]

No that's hogan

[@jb0609]

wrong. AEW is overrated

[@jeremybarcelo6486]

I used to think this until I watched the entire 92 rumble with my cousin who isn’t a wrestling fan at all. His explanation of how flair was amazing him was so cool as an outsider looking in and it made me respect flair on a new level.

[@chadk890]

That's blasphemy