10 Things You Don't Know About WWE In 1997

5. The WWF Let Jim Cornette Rant About WCW And Phil Mushnick On-Air

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il65bpBgevI With their butts being kicked weekly by WCW, the WWF tried anything and everything to bring in more viewers. They even took their resident loudmouth, Jim Cornette, and gave him a couple minutes every week to just say what was on his mind because they thought it would generate some buzz. The first of Cornette€™s promos took place the night after Bad Blood on October 6, where he put down WCW and mentioned former WWF talents Diesel, Razor Ramon, and the 1-2-3 Kid by their real names (which Hall and Nash were using in WCW). He ended the promo the same way he ended all of his promos: €œI€™m Jim Cornette, and that€™s my opinion.€ The next week, he went on a rant against New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick, who had long campaigned against professional wrestling, specifically the WWF. Mushnick had commented on Brian Pillman€™s death, and used his death in his crusade against the WWF. This continued next week, with Vince McMahon joining in and encouraging fans to write letters to Mushnick. Cornette actually put over WCW talent like Ric Flair in his rants. Eventually, these rants would be dropped, as Cornette needed to be used for the NWA revival in 1998.