Jim Cornette on Booking Babyfaces & Heels

From Episode 155 of Jim Cornette's Drive Thru
Artwork by Travis Heckel!
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[@philbinpar1]

“And The Devil uses all of his heel fiddle tactics from hell” what an incredible line

[@specialk9424]

"And a band of demons joined in" The Devil couldn't even go one-on-one with Johnny, he had to have a run in from his stable buddies behind the referees back. Cheating fucker still lost!

[@dhornjr1]

Jim Cornette breaking down "Devil Went Down To Georgia" as a heel versus face match may be the best thing I've ever heard.

[@elquednau]

Yeah. What a comparison. And it's so true

[@JMFSpike]

Cornette is probably the only person in the world who's ever listened to that song and compared it to a pro wrestling angle. Just goes to show you how unbelievably passionate he is about the business. He was absolutely right too, it really is like a top notch wrestling angle.

[@mikawhofan]

This is what makes Cornette so great

[@liamnguyen2819]

Lol honestly I've always thought Jim could of been a battle rapper in a different lifetime.

[@bipolarminddroppings]

@@JMFSpike it really proved his point that booking a good wrestling angle is easy too. One of my measures of whether a wrestling story is good is whether I can explain it to my girlfriend in the time it takes her to leave after she walks in, sees im watching wrestling, asks "who are these dudes"

[@madamefeast4824]

The Devil Went Down To Georgia rant and how effortless and spot on it was reminded me why I end up listening to him everyday, whether I agree with him or not.

[@joshuaeuvrard6532]

I agree with this statement. Lol

[@RaphaelSloanYusukeUrimeshi]

This is 100% accurate lol

[@philxxxx6735]

I totally agree with this!

[@InfinityEnterprises]

Honestly I thought Jim’s breakdown of the Charlie Daniels thing was just perfect.

[@emperortrevornorton3119]

99% accurate information

[@LuisReyes-pb4dt]

Jim is so correct.Wrestling years ago was so simple yet so entertaining. Jim explains it by using mid south was so informative.

[@john_blues]

Legendary!

[@mcwhorter141mcwhorter8]

Absolutely it was .

[@wyatthankins2544]

Right?!

[@mindlessdroid3630]

When people ask me why I don't watch wrestling anymore I'm going to play them this video. The Devil Went Down to Georgia thing was simplistically brilliant.

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

Corny went down to Georgia! 😈🤓🎻

[@erikgonzalez1306]

"Because Charlie Daniels books wrestling better than Triple H" we all sound crazy lol

[@garethh.6636]

If you haven’t listened to this yet, pay attention. You’re about to spend 40 minutes inside the mind of a genius.

[@iamdb1990]

it's sad how much sense this made and yet how simple it is, yet wrestling nowadays don't get it

[@Cre8Lounge]

Maybe it's an outdated concept?

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@Cre8Lounge Only if you're allergic to drawing money.

[@o.w.omarquito2047]

308328928 Then it isn’t wrestling, it’s aew.

[@MrTambourineMan.]

308328928 what specifically, that there should be a fine line between faces and heels?

[@gqn2]

The Young Bucks, killing the business.

[@thepostofficeplayboy4909]

“Heel fiddle tactics from hell” is forever my favorite term from now on

[@garygood6804]

My gawd king, my gawd! Heel tactics from hell! The carnage!!

[@King4sshole89]

Jim can turn anything into wrestling! But he's right.

[@PhillyLeotardo25]

It’s called the Bible good vs evil. Cornette Hates Trump but he has the same mentality which is comical

[@TheFatSteez]

@@PhillyLeotardo25 Please explain

[@adamconey11]

Conservatives only acknowledge what they want to instead of what NEEDS to be acknowledged lol The republican party is just a clown car full of "patriotic" morons and conspiracy theorists! It's comical how far down the shitter that party has gone 😂 Liberals have their downfalls but at least they aren't wearing Biden flags as capes looking like grown spoiled children in red hats LMAO

[@adamconey11]

@Craig Bphone Riiight, they're the lunatics 😂 Not the people that think the vaccine will turn them into lizard people and contains government microchips lmao Yeah conservatives are sooo grounded

[@adamconey11]

@Craig Bphone Phew! Thank god I'm on neither side definitively 😂 How's it feel to blindly follow a washed up wanna be dictator into obscurity lol I know theres alot of BIG words there for you to understand that aren't your normal go-to "liberals" and "leftists" terms so I'll let you process that for awhile

[@MrSpeed-lt8gr]

Travis Heckle is an artistic genius. Having Jim dressed up as one of Penguin’s thugs from the 60’s era Batman show is the best 🤣

[@madbrowniac7871]

With "The Band Of Demons" joining in to help The Devil give Johnny a miserable time, it even summons up the pure villainous gangjump sadism of various Freebirds, Horsemen, and whatever Memphis Heel lowlifes Jerry Lawler had to fend off. This is beyond Genius from Jim! Incidentally, "The Legend Of Woolly Swamp" is a Charlie Daniels Heel vs. Heel Classic with greedy and conniving Lucius Clay vs. three Terry Gordy styled Louisiana brothers who meet their doom shortly after they send old man Clay to his.B.W.

[@grabbity]

Find you a woman who loves you the way Jim Cornette loves wrestling.

[@madddoggnogood1491]

That's not love. Its obsession. I love wrestling too but his love if wrestling gets in the way of common sense or empathy.....sometimes. Like the stuff with Sonya Deville. He was more concerned about keeping kayfabe than the fact some asshole was trying to kill her

[@TheSportsfan35]

@@madddoggnogood1491 Cornette tells it like it is, & he actually cares about the business & respects the history of it whereas Vince Russo & Vince McMahon obviously doesn't.

[@madddoggnogood1491]

@@TheSportsfan35 I agree. Except in this situation. He was just an asshole here

[@LordKnt]

@@madddoggnogood1491 No he wasn't

[@cthulhupthagn5771]

@@madddoggnogood1491 regarding that. These days everybody seems to think that every aspect of their personal life has to be broadcast on all social media platforms. You say that cornet is unhealthily obsessed with keeping the Mystique alive. Truthfully though, everything that happened with her, there was no reason to share it with the public. This was a police matter, it was a personal matter, and it was being handled. I'm not so much concerned about keeping the storylines alive as he is, but it baffles and kind of disgust me how people can't keep anything to themselves anymore. No one except for the impacted people and the police need to be made aware of what happened to her.

[@G_Six]

Thanks to jim I now watch tv shows & movies looking for the heels & baby faces

[@adamstryker999]

That breakdown of Devil Went Down To Georgia is all you need to hear, Jim Cornette is one of the greatest wrestling minds alive today, hands down.

[@doubles7533]

I don't always agree with Jim, but this was actually pretty fantastic. His analogies regarding babyfaces and heels were spot on.

[@Jbobloochjr3]

Charlie Daniels portion was spot on. Not gonna lie: When says "Holy shit Johnny is in trouble" I laughed way to hard

[@obtuse186]

Every prospective wrestling booker or even wrestler should watch this. It's practically a sin not to.

[@G_Six]

In “some” promotions it’s a sin to listen. Ask FTR

[@manuelper]

Jim is giving away free wrestling lessons daily for any one who wishes to learn something.

[@obersveyourmind]

Manuel Perez absolutely. He is a legend

[@dirtmcgirt8269]

I love Jim, disagree w/ him a lot, and this clip blew me away, but I'm pretty sure an arena in 1984 is not state of the art in 2020 🤣

[@obtuse186]

@@dirtmcgirt8269 what does that have to do with the quality of his advice?

[@metalheadwrestling5928]

Cody: "Facessssssth and heelsssssssth are overrated."

[@KastleKrossface]

Sufferin' Succotash

[@SSGourmet702]

Yea guess its too hard to make wrestling make sense 🤣

[@miguelbayonrivera2467]

@Lloyd Bonafide Cody Rhodes.

[@shawnschaitel838]

CODY is overrated without his name and his hot wife he is nothing

[@Ramekink]

Actually is very possible to book a promotion on its entirety just with tweeners. Thing is you will need a very smart booker/promoter and a bunch of very knowledgeable talent. By knowledgeable I dont mean a walking move encyclopedia like most of indie darlings nowadays. I mean people who know and understand how to work a match instead of just doing spotfests. Now, even if you break the heel vs face logic there will be cheering and booing. It happens in every sport due to its partisan nature. Youll have fans of guy/team A, guy/team B, neutral fans and casuals. What you wanna do is booking them in a way that make sense. Clash of styles, veterans vs rookies, small guys vs big guys, slugfests, exciting fast paced openers, main events that will make everybody care about them even if they dont even follow the sport or even know who the top box office guy is fighting against.

[@whobitmyname]

Johnny even sets up the rematch like a charm.

[@zlinedavid]

And the rematch delivers as well. And you can’t beat Johnny Cash as your guest referee.

[@G_Six]

Jim needs to come out with a Booking Pro Wrestling for dummies book asap

[@tarikR.R.5120]

Yes. ASAP! It’d be more valuable than Bill Walsh’s book on coaching & personnel.

[@americasevilgenius]

While I agree with the spirit of your comment...the truth of the matter is that it's already been done. Go get Bill Watts' book, and read the middle chapters. It's as close to a textbook on how to book and present wresting as we have. Also get Jerry Jarrett's book--it has a lot of this instruction as well.

[@tarikR.R.5120]

americasevilgenius thank you kind sir

[@ChristopherJames1993]

If Jim did it it wouldn't be for dummies cause Jim is smarter than most people in the business today.

[@G_Six]

Chris Lyons that’s the purpose of the book. Written by smart people to be read by not so smart people

[@timrichards6761]

Expert analysis. Plus the delivery of experience & natural talent of James E Cornette.

[@LuisReyes-pb4dt]

Tim ,so true .Promotions are sorely missing the talent and experience of James E Cornette

[@NorthernD_C]

Jim’s breakdown of that song, shows what an absolute professor of the wrestling business that there’s ever been… and sadly, will ever be again. So many ppl will only know Jim as that tennis racket carrying, heel manager of the 80’s and 90’s…. Which honestly, I was guilty of thinking that. Until I started listening to these podcasts only a month or two ago. Now, it’s an everyday listen for me

[@naughtiusmaximus1811]

Only 8 minutes in and this is already a f/n masterpiece

[@ps1master-class150]

The devil went down to Georgia analogy seriously was so simple and so perfect, it made me want to quit my job, and become a booker.

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

11:04 Billy Robinson and Tony Charles were both British. I grew up with British Wrestling as a kid in the 70s/80s and, over here, we knew how to make matches work between two blue-eyes (babyfaces) because it was a 70/30 split in favour of the blue-eyes, so many of them fought each other in these sportsmanly technical clean matches (there is plenty of old footage on KZbin). But there was STILL a clear blue-eye/heel schism because the way it worked was that the clean matches on World of Sport established this idea of a blue-eye purist Utopia of fine scientific matches and then the heels (or "dirty wrestlers" as most fans called them) would go and spoil this utopia either by just misbehaving or else turning on the dirty wrestling after they'd shown earlier in the bout that they could have had a technical match if they'd wanted to. So it was up to the "clean wrestlers" to try and restore the lost honour by punishing the dirty-wrestling heel either by fighting fire with fire or else by winning fairly. (Ring of Honour's whole "code of honour" was the above forced through two cultural prisms - it was their take on concepts of honour in Puroresu which was the Japaneses' take on the sportsmanly clean wrestling in Britain and the occasional villain who would spoil things.) Point was, it may have worked differently inasmuch as Yes it was a different time and a different culture and yes there was an imbalance between "clean" and "dirty" wrestlers in favour of the clean and yes, two friends (or four friends for tag matches) could shake hands and have a friendly scientific match, but you still knew who the goodies and the baddies were and why they were good and bad. Two goodies fighting each other would both stick scrupulously to the rules - the moment someone stopped doing that they were instantly the villain (if only for the night.)

[@TheEnzyme94]

Lol! The devil went down to Georgia will never sound the same way again. How awesome. I think that match took place at Starcade! You know that year that Jim came out, not with a tennis racket but, with a golden Violin? ;) But all jockes aside, Jim Cornette is a true Wrestling Scholar!

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

The Devil Went Down To Corny's! 🤓🎻😈

[@xmikerx666]

I'm never going to listen to that song again without thinking of Cornette. And for some reason Macho Man is singing it in my head now.

[@adamsandle7265]

I want to start a wrestling promotion so I’m taking all the advice I can get from Cornette

[@tylegend1986]

Do it❤️

[@richardauthement3105]

just make it as corny says how you start a promotion.

[@studogable]

If you can get local TV, go for it. Just make sure your talent is trained and can do this stuff safely.

[@mainevent-ually5531]

Poor Jim can't even hear Charlie Daniel's without thinking wrestling!!

[@tg995nation6]

I'm thinking he might be more of a funk fan. So its only county music makes him think wrestling.

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

Corny went down to Georgia! Lol 😆

[@CallmeA_B]

"Holy shit Johnny's in trouble!" I literally laughed and went awww at the same time. My fiance's name is Johnny 🤼‍♂️😆

[@SonOfAnarchy91]

Cornettes breakdown of Devil Went Down To Georgia is one the greatest things you could ever listen to 😅

[@iandouglas4145]

"The Myriad" is indeed still standing. Saw Ozzy and Sepultura there in '96. Now it is called the Cox Convention Center

[@guyhill6269]

"Just 'cause you can cut your ear off, doesn't make you Van Gogh." Absolute genius.

[@IamBrixTM]

I like leaving these podcasts playing in the background while I sleep, and jumped up to point out the brilliance of that comparison. Jim is a wrestling genius. That's the perfect hero v villain/ babyface v heel symbolic summary I've heard.

[@6043231041]

Yes!! I would love if styles came out as a flat earth heel! Trying to convince everyone why its flat! Kinda like bryan with the whole eco friendly/ eating healthy/etc and punk with the whole straight edge thing. Styles can be that kinda heel!

[@TheFluffyWhiteCats]

This is my new favorite Corny promo. Such a great breakdown

[@TheWarmupLap]

I Knew Cornette put the heels on one side and faces on the other but had no idea what the thumbnail was trying to say. Why the hell does he have a fiddle? Why is that such a bad Undertaker drawing? - then I listened. Classic!

[@danielwilson9724]

Thts not Taker though! Lol Bill Dundee

[@MerryOlSoulGigglesmith]

This was a piece of art, I've downloaded it.

[@davindavis3085]

Do you know who a great Booker was? Who, in 3 minutes, booked one of the greatest angles ever between babyfaces and heels? Charlie Daniels. The Devil Went Down To Georgia is one of the great babyface and heel jobs of booking. All the way through. Everything you would want to do. Think about this. Replay the song in your mind. From the very start they establish.... they do everything you should do to hype a fight. Establish a location and the opponents. Tell you what their motivations are. Give you the stipulations. And then you hear the challenge asked and answered. Right? 🎶 The Devil went down to Georgia. He was lookin' for a soul to steal. He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind. He was willing to make a deal When he came across this young man sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot. And the Devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said "Boy, let me tell you what.” “I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player, too. And if you'd care to take a dare I'll make a bet with you. Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the Devil his due. I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul 'cause I think I'm better than you." The boy said, "My name's Johnny, and it might be a sin, But I'll take your bet And you're gonna regret 'cause I'm the best there's ever been."🎶 Right there. Location, opponents, motivation, stipulation, challenge asked and answered! Now you got the ballyhoo, right? Now you gotta sell the tickets. You gotta reinforce the match, the stipulations, paint the babyface as the underdog. 🎶 Johnny, rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard. 'Cause Hell's broke loose in Georgia and the Devil deals the cards. And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold, But if you lose the devil gets your soul. 🎶 Holy shit! Johnnys in trouble. Right? And now, now comes the match. And of course the heel jump starts it and gets the heat. 🎶 The Devil opened up his case and he said, "I'll start this show." And fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow. And he pulled the bow across the strings and it made an evil hiss. And a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this. 🎶 And the devil uses all of his heel fiddle tactics from hell and the devilish licks and gets his heat all over Johnny. But when all hope is lost, Johnny makes his comeback. 🎶 When the Devil finished, Johnny said, "Well, you're pretty good ol' son, But sit down in that chair right there and let me show you how it's done."🎶 And he goes through the whole... "Fire on the Mountain." Run, boys, run! The Devil's in the house of the rising sun Chicken's in the bread pan picking out dough Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no" And he goes through the whole goddamn grand ole opry fiddle lick and finishes with a nod to the Orange Blossom Special. And the devil taps out! And the babyface gets the last word. 🎶 The Devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat. And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet. Johnny said, "Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna try again, 'Cause I've told you once--you son of a bitch--I'm the best there's ever been."🎶 Three minutes! Babyface, heel, stipulation, the match, finish.

[@Tizzle1888]

Jim ran a clinic with this, pure quality 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❤

[@xthe_nojx5820]

Who else had to go listen to the song? Holy shit, that was spot on. Gg, JC. PS Travis Heckel ftw.

[@johnrevene3053]

Bad Leroy Brown and Jim from 'Don't mess around with Jim" are heels, they get their comeuppance from Slim whom was hustled and Toomy the husband who didn't like Bad Bad Leroy messing with his girl.

[@madbrowniac7871]

@johnrevene3053: Bad Bad Leroy Brown started out in JCP as a Face then joined fellow Heel convert Ray Candy in NWA Florida as members of The Zambuie Express under the tutelage of first "Gentleman" Jim Holliday and then J.J. Dillon.🤔😉🎤🐴💎👔👞👞🌊☀️🍊🌴🤼‍♂️B.W.

[@funclips2981]

This was one of the best Cornette video that I have seen in a long time. I am not a big fan of Kaka, I thought that he was an average footballer at best.

[@ThaARossBoss]

I didn’t like kaka but he was more than an average footballer. I do however, think he benefited greatly from being in that fantastic AC Milan side in 07 and winning the champions league.

[@dragonforcecam]

As an Oklahoman I can tell you that fortunately Jim the Myriad building is still there but it is no longer called that, its been through two different names sense then (the cox communication building and most recently the Chesapeake energy arena) it's still a beautiful buliding where the OKC NBA team The Thunder plays there and it usually looks like alot of folks can fit in that building.

[@allenjenkins06]

Dutch is right, these concepts and themes are as old as storytelling itself. Look at classic, epic literature like The Iliad. In that story, there are clearly defined sides (including the gods), clearly defined personalities (some of them absolutely larger than life), and clearly stated reasons for fighting (Helen, glory, and defending their home). The spice is in how everyone feels about the reasons for fighting, the intrigue inside the groups, and the fact that there are heroes who are massive jerks and antagonists who are noble paragons (that are slightly less jerkish).

[@TheFatSteez]

That last 45 seconds is the wrestling business today in a nutshell, niche entertainment for people that think they're apart of it.

[@madbrowniac7871]

So Jim sets up a premise with a "Fiddler" early on and then a number of minutes later pays tribute to "Tradition!"? Very impressive!😏😂🎻B.W.

[@gqn2]

Stone Cold changed the babyface and heel dynamic. He made heels cool, thus causing an entire generation to think that heels are walking badasses. And when he switched babyface, he still kept the badass persona but the cosplayers don’t understand what got him over. So now you have babyfaces doing heel things to be edgy and have heels trying to look cool for the fans.

[@darrengordon-hill]

When did Austin make heels cool?

[@manuelper]

The NWO (really Hall and Nash) made heels cool before Austin.

[@insupportofjunhado]

The Freebirds were cool heels before the nWo. It's just that when the Freebirds were the cool heels, everyone didn't feel the need to copy them...probably because there were more than 2-3 big money promotions in the US at that point. The nWo was when every other heel had to be a cool heel. A lot of those heels, up to and including most of Bullet Club, are still unlikeable dorks to me, but fans think they're cool for whatever reason.

[@jb0609]

@@insupportofjunhado The Horsemen was cool heels before the freebirds.

[@chrischar9428]

The road warriors

[@studogable]

The breakdown of the Watts cards is interesting. I didn't realize that Von Erich worked in Mid-South that much.

[@chrischar9428]

Sister territories

[@AmericanWrathchild]

To this day I still believe this is the single greatest moment in Cornys podcast.

[@corbinmacklin185]

I was talking to my best friend earlier about how they turn ppl heel and face often for no reason and there is no consistency with the characters so why WOULD ppl care?

[@n4l734]

I love that damn song!!! Trump 2020 🇺🇸

[@KastleKrossface]

Grew up cheering for the Heels! Jim and The Midnight Express was my favorite. #Heel4Life

[@ajcoopa]

It's simply basic story telling. Every good tale has at its core, a protagonist (babyface), antagonist (heel), a premise (the stakes), and a narrative (the match) with a conclusion. Now, you can make it as involved as you like with a "Who Shot John bunch of bullshit", but at the end of the day, each match and feud is just a self-contained little story. People overthink Pro Wrestling - it doesn't have to be complicated. Any good tv show succeeds because you are invested in the characters and the storyline. No-one watches for the "special effects" (aka the 'moves'). And the idea that people like engaging stories didn't die out in 1989. Everyone just convinced themselves they were too smart and sophisticated for it. Yet at the end of the day, the highest grossing movie franchise of all time with the MCU is basically just Good Guys vs Bad Guys - with a few twists and turns sprinkled in to extend the life of the story. Star Wars is just a White Meat babyface overcoming the odds to defeat the monster heel. Just because the storytelling is simple, doesn't mean it isn't engaging.

[@danielwilson9724]

Devil went down to Georgia as a metaphore for heel vs babyface pro wrestling is possibly the best wrestling metaphor I ever heard.. Gotta love Cornette

[@drelane79]

Jim always on point..... can't wait for the All In review.......

[@MisterE1976]

You & me both.

[@alvagoldbook2]

It’s amazing how wrestling today misses all the basics. Every time I watch all I can think is “nice flips bro, but why should I care?” You don’t need to do backflips to establish who’s the heel and who’s the babyface.

[@MrTNA-ml8tt]

God dammit JC is so good at cutting promos even now...better than everyone in the biz

[@TabbyTheCat]

Did anyone else sing along with Jim?

[@LJE3]

Damn this was good.

[@TheRomosapien9]

I had a buddy who used to keep a [picture of the Russians in his wallet....lol Heel since the 80s

[@egyptian316]

I don't hate face vs face booking as much as Jim, but I think there's got to be a clear reason for the match. Rookie wants to prove himself against somebody he looks up to. Two guys competing for a title match. A couple guys who both blame each other for something, but you're not planning a heel turn because it was all really Wrestler #3's fault. Give them a story to hang on to. I think if you never do clean face vs face matches then people never see how wrestling is 'supposed to be'. What's wrong with choking a guy on the ropes, if it happens in every match and nobody ever gets punished for it? Well it's wrong because it's against the rules, and the guys in the fourth match sure didn't have to do shit like that. I also think there's room for shades of grey. Break a face team up because one of the guys is bending the rules and his partner isn't having it. Don't turn him heel-everyone expects that, and you want this to simmer in the pot for a bit before you dish it out. All that said, yeah faces and heels is the way to go. Just ffs don't be dumb with it. The wrestling fans today are pretty genre aware (for lack of a better term), and you've got to work a little harder at it.

[@SirVic42]

Well, of course the Devil could get heat on someone. He's a natural!

[@kovulion7777]

So damn, Big Iron vs Texas Red must be a great heel vs Face then :D

[@garymartling6055]

There are certain people who may not do their profession better than everyone else but they understand their profession better than everyone else. Fight me if you disagree that Jim Cornette and Jerry Seinfeld are two of these people.

[@TheSportsfan35]

I would love to see & hear Jerry Seinfeld try to talk wrestling like Cornette.

[@garymartling6055]

Travis Weberling Cornette is wrestling. Seinfeld is comedy. If you heard Jerry talk about comedy you’d hear a guy talking about his profession the same as Cornette talks about wrestling. It’s next level

[@johngallagher72]

One of the problems with AEW is outside of MJF no one is really a strong heel or face . It makes everyone look like a geek.

[@officegossip]

Even literature does this. Its not that hard to understand. I like how he laid out the exceptions to the rule but that you had to reset things in order to fall back to a neutral state before you wear out and spoil the audience.

[@TheoONLIous]

The guys on the right look like Jesus and Keanu Reaves

[@travisheckel5576]

Ummmm...it’s Dutch Mantel. He didn’t always have the “Uncle Zeb” look

[@waltermorris9921]

@@travisheckel5576 your animations are ace bro! Keep it up!

[@michaeldownstairs]

That must have been why I couldn’t enjoy the Rock as much as I wanted to. He was a face but he acted like an arrogant heel. We were expected to root for him regardless because we were told he was the hero

[@kelman727]

Agree in almost every way... ...but Austin became the biggest draw in the business by being an anti-hero, not by being a straight-forward babyface. What we are seeing is the long-term fall-out. A reminder how things can go wrong because something earlier went right.

[@HitmanKurt]

I agree but only to a point, and Jim’s point on Charlie vs the Devil is even more perfect. Austin was going up against the biggest and greatest heel in professional wrestling, Vincent Kennedy McMahon. There has never been another character that has been more reminiscent of the Devil than Vince, and despite Austin being Charlie in this example (Vince has the corporation, Brisco and Patterson) he still prevailed over Satan himself.

[@jb0609]

Austin was 100 procent babyface.

[@GVGames1986]

My Dad used to tell me about the Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks days where old ladies would sling their handbags at the bad guy.

[@chwenhoou]

Cornette needs to open a school or sell a Masterclass on professional wrestling. This is pure knowledge of the industry crafted from years of experience. He's seen wrestling at the best of times and at the worst of times.

[@RomanticRebel267]

I agree with Jim but my big dislike with today's pro-wrestling is there's no value in the titles. When anyone can win them and whoever wins is told to win that ruins it for me. I don't want to cheer for a baby face when they finally told to win the World Championship only to realize they were told to win; not through legitimate challenge between two men. Face it, with professional wrestling exposed there's no turning back, what we have is sports entertainment that originated from WWE in the 80's.

[@Ticketman99]

Time to watch MMA

[@mr.mirchenstein6549]

I've been going back & binge watching old Mid South on the WWE Network. Trying to watch every episode on there. Right now I'm just entering 1983. Great stuff, great stuff!!! "IS IT ME" - Stager Lee

[@rosiegratz8377]

Corny just impresses me more and more Everytime I hear his psychology of wrestling.

[@madbrowniac7871]

Does the Georgia fiddling boy grow up to be Johnny Gargano?😂🎻B.W.

[@THEBROTHERSNORWICH]

Amazing! I made an entire KZbin channel devoted to this video.

[@EmmaBonn96]

I was waiting to see Travis do some art of this

[@sgtraytango]

As much as Jim didn't like Lucha Underground, at least they had clearly defined heels and faces, and reasons that people disliked one another.

[@ellieellieonthewall9189]

“Undertaker was an emissary of death” this is a perfect way to explain to people what the undertaker was about

[@24magiccarrot]

I find it strange that it's harder to book a face v face match than a heel v heel match. I'd consider it a face move for two wrestlers to just want to face each other to see who the better man was. Whereas for heels there surely needs to be more in it than the sport of the situation.

[@DuxyVargol]

A heel can be a coward or an idiot so you can book the evil monster vs de coward and it'b be entertaining Face vs Face can be a good match but since none of them can be made to look "weak" it becomes harder. A heel can go for à cheap finish, not the babyface.

[@24magiccarrot]

@@DuxyVargol Of course a face v face one of them can be made to look weak, they can lose to a superior competitor as long as they were brave and didn't use cheap tactics. The weaker wrestler just needs to be seen not to back down and play fair even though they know they can't win. But face v face is really only meant to be top guy v top guy, because in real sport you just want to see the best battle each other in a good fair hard contested match and see who the better competitor is. When Nadal plays Federer in the final of Wimbledon you don't need one of them to cheat or be a douche for it to be a good match.

[@DuxyVargol]

@@24magiccarrot The match isn't really the problem in a face vs face. Of course the better wrestler will win, but the program, the reason "Let's fight and find out who's the best" only goes so far.

[@24magiccarrot]

@@DuxyVargol It goes so far that every real sport outdraws wrestling on that principle.

[@DuxyVargol]

@@24magiccarrot not really almost every sport at every game thé commentors invent New stories to each game. The star returns to the place where the thing happened ... Will it happen Again ?

[@MerelyAFan]

The messed up thing is that wrestling used to get presented as a sport and received a theatrical reaction of boos and cheers from fans. Now it gets presented as a theatrical show and gets the sports reaction of polite clapping at the athletic showcases.

[@TheSportsfan35]

@ MerelyAFan, Thank Vince & him feeling embarassed to be associated with the business & therefore has made his company an extension of Hollywood here in 2020 & it's hurt the entire industry overall.

[@haroldpierce1987]

@@TheSportsfan35 unfortunately wwe is the industry... not many people growing up now can seperate wwe from wrestling. it has become wrestling. all people that wrestle now were inspired by wwe and likely the attitude era(and dont know how bad it was) and try to mimic that over and over

[@janabanana1976]

Sweet I love The Devil Went Down To Georgia. Thanks for the lesson using that song

[@psychobluesfxt]

This is required listening for any aspiring booker or writer for a wrestling show.

[@mlbalfour1977]

I will always support Jims idea of booking. Heels and Faces, give me a reason to care outside of the 'moves'. 90% of the fun was in the details. to me anyways. "sending monkeys in to do moves' made me seriously LMFAO

[@someparts]

For those wondering the Myriad in OKC is now called the Cox Convention Center and is still there. I hate open ended comments, had to look it up....

[@joninwm]

I wonder what percentage was Watts take of the profits. I grew up watching and going to many house shows and had no idea they brought in that kind of money. I always wondered then how Watts had enough money to buy a small plane to fly around the territory.

[@mr.speyside5240]

I hate to say it but Cornette is right and Tony Khan better start listening before AEW implodes. It can’t sustain the product with a cirque du soleil style of wrestling.

[@sugartbube]

Devil goes down to Georgia by Jim 🔥🔥🔥

[@stephenrogers4537]

IRemember column A and column B column A WWA Dick the Bruiser column B WWA Pretty Boy Bobby Heenan Now That's a classic example🤑👏💥💫🤩

[@richardeichelberger8610]

Corny is just the fuckin truth bro bro!!! And not only one of the greatest wrestling historian and a legend in the business..cornette is fuckin hilarious!!! Also Travis Heckel is the fuckin man!

[@metalmafia7722]

Holy crap Jim Cornette's the best there's ever been! Gosh Damn!

[@gregclark3268]

At fiest i thought, what is he talking about but then as he went on it made sense. Simple booking from that song. Heel, face stip, location, match, finish. Brilliant

[@Craggle88]

Him doing the lyrics to "the devil went down to Georgia". Now one of my all time favourite KZbin videos

[@michaelsuder486]

Only Jim could compare "Devil Went Down to Georgia" to a wrestling match 😂

[@CujoKelly]

Personally I always thought the devil won that fiddle off. His part in the song didn’t have to rely on the vocals to get the cheap pop.

[@demetriuscolburn252]

Wrestling needs morality. There's no point for fans to engage emotionally in amoral stories... there's nothing to relate to. Even the Attitude Era shenanigans had morals

[@ibanezbtb91]

I usually don’t comment on JC’s vids despite listening to him basically every day, but this video motivated me to comment. Simply. Brilliant.

[@chrisflick1989]

Someone please chop this and put Cornys The Devil Went Down to Georgia to the music its absolute gold!!!

[@asmreatz4686]

Corny just listing off random cards and gates. 😂