Jim Cornette Looks At His Memphis Territory Schedule For January 1983

From Episode 305 of the Jim Cornette's Drive Thru
Artwork by Travis Heckel!
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[@katiewildwood5434]

I could sit here in 2023 & listen to Corny talk about 1983 literally all day !

[@florida_guy03]

Me too I love wrestling history. I wish some of the modern wrestlers would do some wrestling history to learn how this business actually works.

[@greghughes6098]

The word literally is literally not necessary

[@CaliPaliGuy]

That’s pretty sad

[@yoholmes273]

Sooooo much better than watching ALL Pipsqueak Khan-Job

[@GregHuffman1987]

im still in 1983 listening to him talk about 2023

[@Brando-Lee3725]

I can listen to Jim talk old school wrestling all day . I LOVE how he kept records of everything . So thorough and so awesome !

[@GregHuffman1987]

i recommend everyone to document their life. whether its audio, video, journal, etc... you can capture some amazing times

[@Brando-Lee3725]

@@GregHuffman1987 100 !

[@MichaelSmith-fq6hz]

Jim uses the Wendy’s triple as his consumer price index.

[@stewartmcrae8007]

😂😂😂😂

[@hijeans1103]

The is this thing called the Big Mac index that tracks the price of a Big Mac across the globe. It’s used to dispel the theory that hire employee wages raise the cost of the sandwich.

[@JoeBowler-r9n]

😅😅😅😅

[@AngieTaber]

CPI = Cornette Price Index

[@frankE91210]

i use the mcdouble, started 1$ than 1.29$ now 5.99...

[@pmcruz1112]

Nothing better than Corny reminiscing about the territories

[@walterclark3198]

Jim Cornette talking about 1983 in Memphis TN is amazing. He verbally takes you to that era and you visually see what he's talking about. Great talker's are usually the best storyteller's.

[@elijahchesterthomas5334]

Sometimes when I listen to Jim and his Arcane references, and his old school ways, I think to myself how sad a lot of us will be when he passes. Sorry for being so morbid but once he is gone, there will be no one like him to replace him. Thank you Jim. Much love from Buffalo New York.

[@DonSmith2323]

I thought about it as well but we will always have hundreds of hours of cornys pods and classic wrestling vids so we will always be blessed. and its proof that its important to live everyday like theres no 2morw. thanks jim and brian for being great

[@clarencedavisiii1412]

I completely agree with you

[@maxxdahl6062]

We'll lose basically a wrestling encyclopedia full of history and knowledge.

[@chachi958-rg8ju]

All the more reason to appreciate him while he's still here.

[@DabsDad]

the good news it is all documented here for you to refer back to when he kicks the bucket, which doesn't appear to be anytime soon.

[@matthewthomas9194]

Is that billionaire ted in the tumbnail. I haven't listened to this yet just came across the thumbnail!!!

[@matthewshelton8632]

January 1983 was when I was born, baby!

[@Mike19737]

I drove through Nashville and Hendersonville (Nashville Native)listening to this story. This is a GREAT story!

[@MrSpeed-lt8gr]

Jim, as a dyed-in-the-wool Generation X’r I just love this content. There are 2 and even possibly 3 generations who have lived their whole life being “smart” to wrestling. I miss the days of believing it was real and getting emotionally invested in my heroes such as Dusty, R&R Express, Nikita, Hulk, Macho Man and the Road Warriors. Those were special times #itsstillrealtomedammit

[@kingstonagainstcorruption2268]

Me too man! What's the point of having pro wrestling anymore? We all know it's predetermined.

[@lillagahnavich7700]

Hey buddy, easy there!!-Terry Funk 😂😂

[@Willowposting]

I'm lucky enough to have had a dad that remembers a time before internet dirt sheets and never spoiled kayfabe for me growing up. It really allowed me to truly enjoy wrestling and I find myself wishing we could go back to a time before things like social media completely killed off kayfabe. I find it harder and harder to suspend my disbelief and get immersed in the shows when you have heels acting like pieces of shit on TV then posting pictures with kids and puppies on social media. I'm only 21, so I definitely don't know that era like you would have, but alas, nothing I can do about that one.

[@mrb3ast0n]

This is awesome to listen to considering Jan 13th, 1983, I turned 1. 😂 40 years later. 🙌🏼✝

[@btipton6899]

Screw Young Rock. I want Young Corny.

[@YogsenForfoth]

YES. I live for videos like this. Give me as many hours of Jim talking about the 80’s territories as possible!

[@kingstonagainstcorruption2268]

Yes and less talk about Aew and current wwf ..

[@erikcarlson9821]

I'll take that over Brian's shitty attempts to play the straight man during the ads any day. He sounds like a buzzkill.

[@JoeBowler-r9n]

Corney should do every year from 1983 until present.

[@veegob5287]

I love these history breakdowns!!! My favorite part of the show…that isn’t Jim & Brian destroying the deserved.

[@tonyrhoton6613]

I remember old building in nashville watch cornette alot

[@televiper11]

Miss those early 80s prices

[@jonathanboyd1378]

These are my favorite segments

[@johngallagher72]

Who knew Wendy's would emerge as the new gold standard and a way of monitoring currency valuation. 😂

[@john_blues]

😂

[@michaelrood2751]

Sunday 1/30/83 - redskins won the Super Bowl. I was there :)

[@MarsNova]

He’s talking about my third year of exposure to pro wrestling. Moved to Memphis in the summer of ‘82, where I was introduced to Channel 5 wrestling after a year of nothing but GCW on TBS. Mud Island had just opened. Remember visits to the arcade across the street from my apartment complex-lots of “Tempest,” “Berzerk” and “Venture.” I was ten years old, and I don’t think I finally got to go to the Coliseum for the Monday night show until I was twelve or thirteen. But I do remember seeing Adrian, Linda, and young Cornette back then.

[@tonybob47]

What side of town, I'm from north Memphis

[@MarsNova]

@@tonybob47 North. We came up from Tupelo and landed in the Frayser/Watkins area that year.

[@pate7179]

Jim replaced big mac index with wendys index

[@jameseagler3589]

Damn hearing Jim mention cauffields novelties bring back memories that's ol school here in the Ville

[@barniculas]

Best example of "Earn while you learn" Now the greenest guys want to do a death match in a barbed wire cage their first month in the company.

[@Batony]

Finally. My kind of segment. Good job, guys.

[@mjdf122]

We’re Taking It Back To 1983 Great Times

[@GryHen-pg9iy]

Lol, making comparisons to Wendy's combos is great! Lol, I love some of Wendy's too!

[@dzig228]

I would MUCH RATHER listen to this kind of stuff than hear them talk about the shit we have going today.

[@beyondedwards]

I would give actual money for a show by Jim and Brian that only dealt with a combination of Jim’s amazing career using his records and memory on a month by month trip and Brian’s awesome history pieces with Jim’s opinions. I know we get a good bit of this stuff but to be honest.. I’m so exhausted from people (not just Jim and Brian) discussing modern day “What are they thinking?” Stuff. It’s not anything they are doing wrong or anything like that… it’s just the fact that poor horse has been beaten to death by now. The historical parts are always hands down the greatest of any podcast ever has or ever will be able to pull off.

[@three-quartersbadger2929]

I'm with you. I listen to the classic stuff over and over, but who gives a fuck about what Olivier or the Dumb Fucks did? It's the same shit every time

[@Reesrte]

I’d agree, make the experience the history show and drive thru the new stuff

[@myquest666420]

This is what I’m here for

[@clarencedavisiii1412]

This is why I love Jim and Brian

[@kingstonagainstcorruption2268]

What's up with these 20 min plus ads that KZbin is doing? I've had 2 in the first 25 min of this episode! Keep having to get out of bed and hit the damn skip button.

[@ondoidlifestyle5754]

Dude I shit you not I’ve had ones that were over an hour

[@kingstonagainstcorruption2268]

@@ondoidlifestyle5754 I believe cause I've also had some really long ones too. It's bullshit. I lay the phone 2 or 3 feet away at bedtime and play Cornette til I sleep but often hear those long commercials and can't sleep ... So gotta get up and turn them off.

[@insupportofjunhado]

When the ad is longer than the video itself that's out of hand. When the ad is even half the length of the video, unless the video is under two minutes, I don't know why anyone seriously believes it will be watched. It's bad enough when it's just some product or service I might want to pay for but am not looking for right now, it's the worst when it's someone confrontationally insulting the viewer, literally, under the assumption their behaviors or viewpoints on trivial matters are not being held or followed by the person just waiting for the content they came for.

[@kingstonagainstcorruption2268]

@@insupportofjunhado I agree 100%. I have zero interest in the ads and ignore them. There are a few that are actually like shows. They go on for an hour or more.

[@redneckdickjohnson]

I been a wrestling fan for 45 years and I still learn something every time I listen to Corney.

[@LeeShields11]

I love these breakdowns. I could go about my entire listening to these!

[@richardremick1639]

This is very interesting love Jim’s story telling 👏🏻

[@williammitchell4417]

Nice bedtime stories 😎

[@richardremick1639]

@@williammitchell4417 yah totally 👍🏻 that’s exactly what I do too!!! 😎

[@calvinlukas9]

I always wanted to know the Memphis loop. Early Christmas 😃!

[@ondoidlifestyle5754]

😃

[@nkotbfreak2983]

Thats the stuff i wanna hear about not pockets, twinkletoes or the buckaroos

[@ondoidlifestyle5754]

Psh I enjoy the ragging on those shitheads!

[@ethantracy337]

These are my favorite segments!

[@WyattHolliday]

Finally, some classic wrestling discussions again!

[@puckingrufus56]

$25 for a ring announcer per show was a pretty damn good payoff back in 83. You'd have to work 9 hours at Arkansas minimum wage of $2.75 in 1983 to earn that same amount.

[@zlinedavid]

And that’s about 75-80 in todays money for what…3 hours of work? If they were running spot shows 5 nights a week, that’s $375 a week. Not bad for a very fun part time gig.

[@dmac3183]

Good questions from Brian.

[@williammitchell4417]

Between Brian being a good co-host, and Travis the Arteest 😎 what else can one say?? Like Mussolini!!! With extra CHEESE!!!

[@guardianofchaosBD]

Good stuff Corny

[@texasblue245]

Corny pulled a Colin Thomson on Norm

[@tds42099]

I been watching whatever I can get my hands on from 1983 this year since it was 40 years ago (hard to believe Ik)

[@NC-ck5oj]

I love these segments

[@user-wj1ej5hy7z]

This is amazing. He kept all those records for so long. These guys are my comfort blanket.

[@benespinosa6725]

This is super interesting Jim Talking about the territories is more interesting and entertaining than watching modern wrestling.

[@williammitchell4417]

Absolutely. It's been great also for Sean and his Kayfabe commentaries with Corny as well. Then Dutch and James have been bringing up Dutch's time with TNA. Winner winner chicken dinner!!!

[@ChuckTreble]

Jim experiences a lot on Sundees.

[@Mollikar]

Hell I know in 1983 my parents rent was less than 200 and it the cheaper states it was probably 2014 before you saw rent over 500, probably double that in Cali and New York which is the national average is distorted.

[@chrisfox2211]

So good. Love this

[@NevetsRetsof]

Love how Corny does his math based on Wendy's combo price for that year 😆😆

[@robertlawrie7436]

I’m a truck driver and I listen to Corny all day, every day. He is such a great storyteller and incredibly intelligent. But I often find the BEST part of his shows are when he reads the live commercials. Weapons grade plutonium had me in tears! LOL. If I ever have a product or service to advertise I know where I’m spending my advertising dollars.

[@fayezfawzi3255]

The fact that the LOWEST PAID guy on the roster at the time, who was literally just learning how to manage, got paid almost the same (adjusted for inflation) as a pharmacist gets paid nowadays more than blows my mind. My god. And people say wrestlers didn't get good money in the territories >_>.

[@insupportofjunhado]

They've been fed that line from the WWF. I mean, it's the biggest, most successful promotion in the world! Why would it's employees lie? Come to think of it, just how did it get so big? Oh, so that's why!

[@deputay]

Some of these drives - Memphis to Louisville, Lexington to Tupelo?! You'd like to think these things would be planned for efficiency to get everyone around but apparently not.

[@williammitchell4417]

It sounds insane I know. This was why Dutch once said, "I had to just stop the car. All I saw was telephone poles."

[@GryHen-pg9iy]

Haystacks Calhoun?? Lol

[@johngallagher72]

If im not mistaken a movie ...eg Indiana Jones Temple of Doon or Empire Strikes Back in 1983 for youth / teen / preteen was $2.00 cdn (approx)

[@WyattHolliday]

That’s probably about right!

[@jonathanwooldridge7679]

That touched my heart he mentioned Ted Turner.

[@stewartmcrae8007]

😂😂😂😂😂😂 why

[@NuclearRicecake]

This is the stuff 👌 🔥

[@TRICH10]

I wish You guys could devote one of the shows solely to classic wrestling talk. I don’t watch current wrestling at all. But this type of content once a week would be GOLD

[@matthewbeath4834]

This is amazing stuff.

[@williammitchell4417]

That would be hilarious, Ted Turner driving a yacht in your face Vince!!! With Punk and Corny. Like Mussolini with extra CHEESE!!! Tony the Kid get your pen and paper!! Take notes you MARK!!!

[@ondoidlifestyle5754]

Wait wtf are you going on about?!

[@marvinleong5902]

Imagine Jim really driving a yacht and f**king with Heyman psyche on WWE TV. The rating will be off the roof. I would pay to see Heyman screaming and apologise to Jim who proceed to smack Heyman with his racket and Heyman dropped into the sea

[@dmc5302]

Magnificent!

[@benjaminperez7328]

Ted Turner’s green teeth….. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Bless you, Travis.

[@Hypno_BPM]

a local wrestling show seemed like the coolest thing ever

[@victorselby359]

This is fantastic

[@cosborne06]

The amount of ads for this video is insane

[@BM-979]

There is more excitement in one month of Jim Cornette’s career in 1983 than in all the modern wrestling of today. I would love more focus on the real wrestling than the modern day far as topics on both of Jim’s podcasts. I would also love to have Jim have Stevie Richards as a guest. I find Stevie is very good at teaching the physical mechanics of ring work.

[@Biffo316]

I absolutely love listening to Jim talk about wrestling history and his knowledge of pro wrestling even from before he got into the business and how he talks about how certain territories worked and how certain promoters booked certain talent.

[@jayb-clay2724]

Mama and Jim Cornette against Buff and Judy Bagwell... book it! The story writes itself 😂 battle of the mama's boys lol

[@JadesJournal]

This is the month and year I was born. Very interesting to see what was going on in another part of the world.

[@maxxdahl6062]

Original Sheik's Detroit/Ohio territory was NWA, so there was no way he'd be in an AWA title match.

[@williammitchell4417]

Um, Verne would have a show almost anywhere but Madison Square Garden.

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@williammitchell4417Um, how many times did he work for verne and have AWA title matches? And I'm sure Sheik would have absolutely have had to have Verne encroaching on his territory, you have no idea what you're talking about.

[@williammitchell4417]

@@maxxdahl6062 probably not many. Verne stuck to the Chicago area. Then slowly worked his way West. Crockett or Cowboy Watts would have done more with Sheik or Angelo.

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@williammitchell4417 The point is, Verne never ran in anyone elses territory in the 70's, that didn't happen until Vince already started expanding. 2, Sheik would have never been in an AWA title match, he was an NWA promoter, and being in an AWA title match would have gotten him thrown out of the NWA.

[@holidaystyles7952]

This is Actual Real Wrestling Historian

[@NOcode]

More. Like. This.

[@insupportofjunhado]

The flaw in Jim's logic is that he assumes Shopify has radiation shielding, disposable radiation shielding. I don't think they're big enough for that just yet.

[@skimgettinkindamoney]

Need an interview with Lawler

[@Staszu13]

The next stop Verona (where's that from, anyway?)

[@tankwfw]

Imagine being able to get ringside seats at a WWE event today for $15 (adjusted for inflation from 1983)

[@JoeBowler-r9n]

CORNETTE IS WRESTLING

[@jamesgibson6522]

Who’s a 1983 baby

[@SamuelFreeman-kv7qz]

Love storytellers like Jimbo

[@extrageneity]

There are a few stand-up comics who say that it takes about 20 years to really come into your full, mature voice as a writing and performing comic. They say it takes 10000 hours of practice to master any skill. For a comic to get 10000 hours in 20 years would take 500 hours a year on stage, they would need to perform close to 2 hours on stage, 5 days a week. Getting that much stage time is difficult for anything except headlining acts... which tells us that if the 10000 hours metric is about right, some amount of the work it takes to master comedy includes elements other than stage time, such as time spent writing, learning by watching other comics, etc. Maybe not as much as performing, but more than sitting home baking cookies. Let's say the same is true of wrestling: Time at the center of a crowd's attention is the most valuable, but isn't the only thing that counts. Time spent in practice rings, time spent watching other wrestlers at shows and dissecting what they did in the locker room, time watching tape, time practicing promos in the car, etc all counts to some level. 300 days a year at shows in territories, figure maybe 2-3 hours per day of earned experience at most, not counting time spent in the gym, or dealing with the basic indignities of travel. 600-900 hours a year contributing toward mastery. Say 1000 total if you figure in time spent watching tape, reading about finishes in other territories, etc. That's 10-15 years to master that profession. Ten to fifteen years of grueling travel, struggling to get booked, struggling to stay healthy, keeping your brain wrapped up full time in that business. And maybe not much of that time spent in cars, gyms, and waffle houses contributing to your experience level. And at the end of it, veteran wrestlers probably only had another 5-10 years as a marketable talent before age and injury start eroding your viability as a performing talent. By today's standards, those men were wizards. Not in terms of the technical complexity or athleticism of the moves they used, but in terms of their ability to electrify crowds. Jim has pointed out many times that AEW, only giving guys a chance to wrestle once a week, is never going to give their talent an opportunity to achieve mastery. It's clear that many of the best people in that AEW--FTR and MJF especially--watch tape voraciously. It's clear that others, like Jon Moxley, are adding to their hours of experience by working independent shows alongside their AEW commitments. But even with that, in a promotion where the working style chews through healthy talent without even having house shows on the schedule, it's got to be hard to find ways of climbing all 300 stairs outside of the temple every morning. AEW is only running 22 events in the last quarter of 2023. Every one of them televised. WWE is running, across all its brands, 73 events during those same 92 days. Most, not for television. So, 95 events in 92 days for anyone in the US, for anything other than a small indie promotion. In the days of the territories, there were probably around 300 events nationwide in any given 3 months--and healthier scenes internationally. Our global capacity to bring professional wrestlers along from rookie to veteran has probably dropped by at least 70% since Vince McMahon achieved his US monopoly as a major wrestling promoter, and that's even before factoring in the way the increase in injuries and decrease in match times have lengthened the number of calendar days an average wrestler needs to achieve mastery. And a significant fraction of that reduced capacity is being cannibalized to try to develop women's wrestling, which is starting from scratch, not just in terms of building stars, but in terms of developing the different kinds of in-ring storytelling needed for smaller women whose bumps don't make sound and move the ring the same way a larger man can with his. In an era where the Internet has given more people than ever access to wrestling as an audience, the wrestling industry itself is probably only producing 25% as many master-level talents as it could at its peak. Maybe the increased scripting of both matches and promos, especially in WWE, is an attempt to compensate for that monopoly-induced shortage, more than it is just Vince and co being control freaks.

[@SaikoGato]

Has Jim talked about the show Heels yet?

[@GryHen-pg9iy]

Holy shit, Jim just said what I've been saying for years about guaranteed contracts! That is the biggest problem in wrestling today, the talent don't care weather people watch, cause they are already getting paid, complacency is the biggest reason no one cares to shatter the ceiling like Austin did or the rock, they either got over or didn't, it's on your personal talents, they need to get rid of guaranteed contracts, then you'll really see who wants it, it forces you! Plus they can make way more money than that guarantee! Austin did, the rock did too! Plus you weed out whoever is content to sit in the back and collect a paycheck for doing nothing. They would really good for aew too.

[@SamuelFreeman-kv7qz]

One of favorite talkers heel or Babyface

[@randomconsumer510]

Righteous bucks

[@ScottM94]

Where’s Jim’s reaction to Cash Wheeler’s arrest?!?

[@LoPhatKao]

sometime in the future

[@joegreene7619]

Who cares? One person claims, with no video or photo evidence, that Cash pointed a gun at him in traffic. Cash turned himself in and there's nothing to talk about until the situation either goes to trial or gets thrown out for lack of evidence.

[@nathangillispie51]

They don't record every day. Jim will reply. He will likely say that he should not have put himself in that position. And that he probably has just dumbed ftr out of their position, ala bundy did and insert ernie ladd imitation.

[@eptx830]

It's going to be an epic rant "fire him, crack nuts!"

[@Cruising_On_Lake_Havasoma]

@@nathangillispie51 He probably dumbed himself out of a Wembley payday too. Regardless of what TK does (which is probably nothing) I doubt he's getting into England with a pending gun charge.

[@sheriffofrockridge9095]

Looeyvull

[@bilklein]

I'd rather hear more about the old days than the critiques of modern wrestling. F**k AEW and WWE, let's just hear the stories and more Guess the Program.

[@MrMarcodarko]

AEW breand is one of the most tarnashed in the world. better to rebrand as GFW with 80% Saudi investment and Jarret runs it

[@AGCcachanilla]

Still waiting on the CASH video……

[@chico1680]

You didn't have to wait long

[@chrischar9428]

It's out there go find it

[@richquan4159]

Never noticed how low this man views is when he doesn’t mention aew😭

[@chyguy9132]

Insult me if you want but this part of podcast was so boring because it went on for over a hour.

[@chrischar9428]

Then pound sand

[@john_blues]

Go warm a peg then.

[@ondoidlifestyle5754]

Both funny responses, but super tolerant of you guys!

[@MarsNova]

No, that’s fair. I usually skip the ratings reports myself for the same reason, but it doesn’t affect my enjoyment of his content.

[@richquan4159]

I pray Jim could get over this time in history it was a time where his talent and booking was so bad he went out of business

[@WyattHolliday]

Choose Your Snarky Comment: (A) Ah yes, back when Jim owned Memphis. (B) Well, not everyone has a billionaire daddy to buy them a business doing something they aren’t good at.

[@gobo6175]

Get a clue 🤡

[@richquan4159]

He had a music producer backing him when he opened the promotion someone with millions and his company filled for bankruptcy within 4 years so he ran Memphis and was out of business in 4 years wow

[@mairimsulaiman8230]

You’re trying too hard. And failing.

[@chrischar9428]

​@@richquan4159TF YOU BABBLING ABOUT

[@MrMarcodarko]

russo was a better booker than jim. FACTS