Jim Cornette on Dusty Rhodes' Booking Reputation In The Mid-80s

[@brandonpotts54]

I love the old school stories.

[@danielburger1775]

Everyone does. Jim is much better doing this than ranting about Russo.

[@myquest666420]

@@danielburger1775 his Russo rants are still gold IMO lol but I agree, this is Jim at his best. Talking about the glory days.

[@chriss1686]

Me too. For those of us who just aren't interested in the current product, there's only so much complaining about flippy midget shit that you can take. And his videos (old school stories, watch alongs etc.) seem to suggest it's a pretty commonly held opinion. It also comes down to what he wants his legacy to be. Do you want to have people scroll through hundreds of hours of roasts to find the gems of information and the endearing stories that only Jim can tell? Hell I like hearing him talk about fast food more than AEW. At this point, given his whole AEW schtick, maybe there should be a distinct brand/show that deals exclusively with old school content. But I'll take what I can get I guess.

[@heathhaynes990]

I think it's high time for a Dusty omnibus!

[@Shin-Blade]

I love the Dusty stories. I could listen to them all day... 🙏🏾

[@kingofnewyork8092]

I love all the old school stories I find it all so fascinating.

[@GerardoALLO]

Yezzir!

[@Shin-Blade]

@@kingofnewyork8092 Cannot argue with that! 😊

[@bulldogfan17]

As a native of Summerville, Ga I can agree that no one should be working there. Under any circumstances.

[@ryancarr5871]

Love Dusty stories. He was such a complex guy.

[@RedFox0909]

He’s just a common man. Working hard with his hands.

[@garybeeman1957]

Sounds like the American dream to me.

[@tobiasfarragut292]

“Kid…Dont talk about the Challengahh..go out there n doitagain…”

[@markjones952]

Dusty was the second most recognizable athlete back in the day. (According to Dusty Rhodes)

[@mightilyoats2729]

Haha I've heard him say that line. Absolutely fucking delusional. Wasn't it a story about someone driving with him, they get pulled over by a cop, Dusty assures the other wrestler it's fine, everyone recognizes him (cue the second most recognized athlete in the world line), and the cop had no fucking clue and they got a ticket?

[@Cruising_On_Lake_Havasoma]

Who was #1?

[@rickd9951]

@@mightilyoats2729 he was driving with Bruce Pritchard who was recognized as Brother Love by the cop

[@brihev4355]

@@Cruising_On_Lake_Havasoma Cassius Clay/ Muhammad Ali.

[@CraigSmithII]

@@mightilyoats2729 Yeah & it was Bruce Prichard aka Brother Love

[@Meatball2022]

They key to Dusty’s successful booking is simple - his muffler was the key!

[@colonelrobertsjr.7882]

Boys, by this time next year, we gonna be making major motion pictures and sitcoms!!

[@PontFlair]

"Don't do shit you don't know how to do, don't do shit, you don't know how to do!!" - R.I.P. Star Dust

[@MB-oc1nw]

JCP was the best promotion in wrestling history in my opinion....loved everything about it

[@patale1640]

The hottest crowds both literally and figuratively. Seriously look at the chicks in the crowd watching Flair and Steamboat in the late 70s. Holy smokes.

[@theecharmingbilly]

Nah definitely Dubya See Dubya first couple years in the 90's. PN News era, not even a close second.

[@patale1640]

@@theecharmingbilly nah it has to be the new generation with mantar and Kwang

[@PontFlair]

Even when I was a kid, I recognized that WWF was the cartoon and JCP was "THE REAL S**T"

[@holden3]

I popped when I heard Flair named his gimmick Charolett

[@jeffmac9642]

Did you pop ? Really ? You popped? I thought crowds pop in an arena 🤔 so are you 10,000 people cheering ? And normally pops happen with entrance music . 🎶 Is there wrestling music 🎶 in your house to pop to ?

[@arturoalmazan5262]

He was a great Booker in his early days but then he screwed Austin , he only wanted him as a tag team specialist. I'm not sugar coating it. he buried his career in WCW. hell Austin even made fun of him when he went to ECW in the beginning. his creative storylines weren't that good in the mid 90s. with all the nwo thing it went all down the toilet

[@philipclarke9696]

That was Bischoff not Dusty. Dusty put the World TV title on Austin as well as the U.S. title. Bischoff put him together with Pillman and later Robert Fuller( Col.Rob Parker) and gave him mini pushes that were halted soon after.

[@arturoalmazan5262]

@@philipclarke9696 no just watch his 1st ecw promo. he clearly is mad at Rhodes too. not just bischoff dude

[@thedoctor3528]

X Tldr: the answer is jim didn't know about his booking reputation in 84

[@dolandarkxgrandayy6953]

I genuinely believe that Dusty is the reason why Cody is the way he is. They have the same self-entitled, self-centered ego. But at least Dusty was an incredible talent, Cody is average at best and has the same ego. How did Dustin end up so humble? Maybe, growing up without Dusty around was a benefit because he was around Cody 24/7.

[@YellowJeep]

That's a good question. They could just be different personalities. Also, Cody is 16 years younger than Dustin. Maybe that had something to do with it?

[@dolandarkxgrandayy6953]

@@YellowJeep Dustin has gone on record that he only saw Dusty once a year when he was a kid and that was on Christmas Day, he was semi-retired and living at home every night when Cody was growing up.

[@williammitchell4417]

@@YellowJeep Dustin unfortunately was never really pushed past a mid card talent. He was always gimmicked as Goldust etc, Cody on the other hand was pushed to the moon several times.

[@DudeinGA]

What's not mentioned is the hard time Dustin Rhodes had starting out as "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes. He was basically a young babyface in early '90s WCW that they tried to push but he just didn't catch on (Dusty Rhodes Lite basically). It was only until he became Goldust that he took off. Cody is a decent wrestler but wasn't going to get anywhere in the WWE despite being on the cusp of breaking through. Now he's at the top in AEW and no one watching wants him there.

[@williammitchell4417]

@@DudeinGA I remember when Dustin started, in WCW. He even said at the time that his real last name was Runnels. He wanted to separate himself from the gimmick of Goldust

[@GerardoALLO]

Dusty is the 🐐

[@theubie]

The Mech table was never manned well at the Sportatorium. Corny was right, if they had someone who knew how to run merch, it would have been sold out constantly.

[@fjccommish]

What's a mech table?

[@brihev4355]

Back in approx. 1989, Dusty tried to re-make Championship Wrestling from Florida. Dustin was to be his biggest star. They held a card at Fla. Fairgrounds in Tampa, with main event of Kerry vs. Jerry. (VonErich vs. Lawler).

[@Dave-rf1zj]

Huh....i know bout Dusty's attempt to bring back the Florida promotion....plus his big plans for Dustin....but i didn't know he got Lawler vs Von Erich to main event though.

[@johnnysprockets5817]

Dusty was awesome... I like Cody. I just think he's trying to hard. Not letting it come to him instead he's trying to take it.

[@colonelrobertsjr.7882]

Agreed!! Cody has some good ideas and has all the resources knowledge and experience to get them over, but he has to embrace being a heel. It's not working for him as a face unless he's working with Dustin. And the other point (not trying to beat a dead horse), He has to keep Brandie off TV!! It seems like when he's in the office writing segments with Tony Khan, she changes the final draft when they leave for lunch!!

[@Sevenigma777]

Does anyone know if Cornette ever explained why in 1987 Dennis Condrey stranded them in Los Angeles changing his airplane ticket and left Crocket Promotions without ever saying a word to anyone? I never heard anyone ever give a definite reason as to why he did that and I've been searching through Cornette's content and can't find him talking about it.

[@bryneshifflett9889]

He has said that nobody knew the reason at the time but Dennis filled him in years later. All he said was he does know the reason now, but he's not telling what it is.

[@EchoFoxtrot21]

He knows why but won't say out of respect for Dennis.

[@Jim-Tuner]

Dennis Condrey has given his own account of what happened. Cornette and the Midnight Express were negotiating with the WWE. Tully Blanchard saw them at the airport coming or going to a meeting with Vince. Tully reported it to the Crocketts. Condrey claims that they had taken the WWE deal. But that Cornette and Eaton backed out at the last minute. To Condrey it was a matter of "a deal is a deal" and he left even though the other two didn't. I don't completely trust Condrey's version and there are some things he says that are totally wrong. But I think the main parts are right. They were negotiating with the WWE. Tully told JCP. And Condrey left for reasons that have to do with the WWE deal breaking down. For Condrey's version see his interview with TWO MAN POWER TRIP OF WRESTLING on 04/29/20. The podcast is available alot of places.

[@Forever_Thatter]

Lol the only thing I need to know about Dusty's booking is everything Austin said about him in his early ECW rants.

[@michaelkeha]

So one guy not getting used fully and venting is all you need to know not every good booking choice he made truly the mind of the internet smark is one of simplicity and stupidity

[@graysonwallernxt2.04]

Let's talk about the fact that nobody was at aew dynamite this week lol the arena was empty . Impact wrestling had more fans then them this week

[@Bandana_Boi]

That's funny. Completely coincidental, I listened to a Corny clip right before this of Cornette talking about apartment life in Stamford. The one down south in Atlanta was glorious and beautiful, the one up north was congested, confined and felt like prison. Atlanta is one of the biggest cities in the south, no? I'd imagine that's a congested area too. Corny's disdain for the northern part of the country, particularly New York, is hilarious.

[@salsacinco25]

Love these stories

[@carloslozada470]

Pay window if you will

[@villainouschrisk]

Some ambitious graphic designers need to submit ideas for a full on, wwe style Midnight Express t-shirt. Too close to the holidays for Jim to offer it now, but, I bet that would be a mega seller for Cornette's Collectibles. I haven't bought any wrestling merch for a while, but, that I would buy in a heartbeat.

[@peterfalvytamas2912]

Dusty was red hot whatever program he was booked in at JCP. He had a real long feud with Flair that never let off. Then Tully then the Horsemen and on and on, always top billing, almost like Hulk in the WWF. JCP fans went bananas for him to the end of 1988 when he left

[@BrotherTonyshow]

Dusty had his favorites especially himself

[@granthillberry8175]

Wheeling wv my home 💯💯💯

[@mikebowermaster4250]

Rhodes and Flair were cartoonish.

[@kevindouglas5333]

The Dusty finishes got old very fast..

[@tempestfennac9687]

The expression LLLLLLAZY BOOKING! springs to mind for those. I remember Jim mentioning that Dusty often liked to rebook angles with different people while thinking the audience wouldn't notice (that seems like it should have done far more damage to kayfabe than anything short of admitting it's predetermined).

[@brianconnelly1238]

I don't really give a shit if people get offended by this, but good grief! Dusty Rhodes was terribly OVERRATED, as both a booker and a wrestler

[@fjccommish]

That ain't gonna get ya to the pay windaw, baby!

[@dreamersdisease2481]

According to Ronnie Garvin, Dusty was a terrible booker. Killed the territory.

[@ryandoubleu.]

We know the story of you and Midnight already Jim, just say what the locker room talk around the territories was about Dusty’s booking around that time. At least he didn’t talk about the broadway and calling the office on Slater this time. He never did answer the question.

[@jameswenger511]

Dusty was a pos worker.

[@dustyhaynes5688]

Dusty only shined when he was booking. That should tell you something. Now Cody is only shining in AEW because he's office even though the crowds are booing him out of the building. The Rhodes family is the most overrated family in the history of the sport.

[@theecharmingbilly]

🤔

[@geoffreyjoseph514]

so he was always booking then? because from the time he became a big star he shone until he got old.

[@BryanHalo123]

Dusty was a bum. He was a big pile of cottage cheese, never bought him as a wrestler. His promos were boring. I love southern wrestling. But not this guy.

[@Ted_Bell]

I bet if he shoot hit you with his elbow he'd bust your ass.

[@dreamsofcosmicoceans8105]

@@Ted_Bell No he wouldn't, he's dead.

[@bryneshifflett9889]

@@dreamsofcosmicoceans8105 Sure he would. Imagine that bony ass elbow...the boneonic elbow...

[@PhillyLeotardo41]

You lost me at boring promos. You're being incredibly disingenuous lol

[@maxxdahl6062]

You have to be trolling. lol