WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has opened up on the relationship between former WWE Chairman and veteran wrestling star Jim Cornette. Cornette has long been a thorny character in the world of pro wrestling and JR admits that the relationship between him and McMahon was “contentious.”
Jim Cornette joined WWE in 1993 as the “American Spokesperson” for Yokozuna. Cornette made his name as the manager of The Midnight Express in the eighties and his move to WWE also saw him join the company’s creative team for a spell.
Jim Cornette’s “Contentious” Relationship With Vince McMahon
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross explained that Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette were never on great terms:
“Contentious. I don’t know that Corny’s relationship with Vince has ever changed. They never got along great, but I think Corny had respect for the business, therefore Vince got some of that respect as well for what he had built in WWE, creating an environment where a lot of people, like Cornette, myself, and others, could make a living in the things we loved to do, and that was work in pro wrestling.”
“They never really got along. I think Bruce [long-time WWE creative team member Bruce Prichard] will probably sign off on that deal as well. They just didn’t. They had different philosophies, but they had a lot of similarities in some of the fundamental things as far as they both agreed that we can’t get better if we don’t have our talents working with other talents that are better than the rookies and are getting plenty of work.”
Jim Cornette finished up on WWE television in 1998 before becoming the booker for WWE’s then-developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.
Vince McMahon retired as WWE Chairman in July 2022 after forty years of leading his company and building it into a global powerhouse. His resignation came amid an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and hush money payments made to female ex-employees of WWE.