| A Man Out Of His Element. |
I've been to about 16 states, Canada 3 times, England once, and Italy once. I haven't traveled all over the world but I've been to enough places to fully understand the small differences in language from one place to another. And frankly there are all manners of speech, everything from management seminars to love poems. But there's always one problem: WHat happens when the other person you're talking to never hears what you're saying in the way that you want them to hear it? What do you do then?
What made me think of this was the recent kerfuffle that Jim Cornette had when he did a 2-hour interview\gnashing of teeth\airing of grievances with PWInsider.com. That's the worst part of this whole thing really. It's that now, all people remember Jim Cornette for is being pro wrestling's angry old man. Not the great manager he was and can be again. Not the last of the guys who thrived in the Old West era of the territories. This was a man who has had knives pulled on him, and bags of urine and other bodily functions thrown on him. We should be remembering that, praising that, but we're not. Instead, every time Jim talks now, he comes across as your angry grandfather. Next time, he'll tell you about how in his day, he had to walk uphill to Louisville both ways in the snow.
Normally, under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a problem. Jim could just go on being himself, and no one would be the wiser. But the problem came when Jim found himself in charge of Ring of Honor. Now suddenly Ring Of Honor, a promotion that prided itself on innovation and the fusing of japanese principles into an american presentation, was going to be ran by a guy who wasn't that at all.
Let's be honest: Jim Cornette knows more about wrestling than I do. But that comes with a codifier. He knows more about AMERICAN wrestling than I do. His knowledge, and his interest, stops at each ocean and the southern border of the United States. I am sure that if you asked Mr. Cornette who the 4 Corners of Heaven were, he could tell you. But he couldn't tell you passionately, or explain why it was that Kawada was the best worker of the 4. And that's the problem.
Ring of Honor's roster is young, and influenced by puroresu (and the occasional note of Lucha Libre, ROH's unwillingness to delve into it deeply notwithstanding.) Jim Cornette believed that the over-abundance of chops was because everyone wanted to be like Ric Flair. Not Chris Benoit, or Kenta Kobashi, but Ric Flair.
Soon, Ring of Honor no longer became the place where stars broke out. It became a place for Jim Cornette's pet projects. Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor? They broke out in Chikara, Evolve, and Dragon Gate USA. ACH? Anarchy Championship Wrestling. Michael Elgin? PWG. Jessica Havok, who could have provided the danger ROH's women's division has been lacking since for ever? AAW, and assorted midwest indies. Instead, we suffered through Mike Mondo.
Simply put, Jim Cornette need only look in the mirror to realize where he failed, and why. Before he takes another modern indy promotion's booking reins, he should study on what the stars of today speak instead of making them speak his dead language.
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