10 Things We Learned From VICE’s Dark Side Of The Ring: New Jack
8. How Jim Cornette Viewed Him In Smoky Mountain
To Jim Cornette, Jack's controversial nature was box office.
He described the wrestler as "Eddie Murphy if he was a bad guy instead of a comedian", and admits he knowingly told New Jack to "go out and p*ss some white people off". That's not the only demographic Jack targeted though; he'd openly cut down people of all ethnic backgrounds whether they agreed with him or not.
These barbaric verbal retorts flooded Smoky Mountain's offices with complaints. Fans were angry at some of the things they were hearing, and they regrettably made their opinions known by shouting the dreaded 'n-word' at Jack and Mustafa whenever they appeared on SMW shows.
VICE didn't broach exactly why Cornette encouraged Jack's promos, or what the WWF (who were using Smoky Mountain as a feeder system at the time) thought of it all. Footage of an alarmed Jim Ross interviewing The Gangstas in-ring is pretty fascinating. He must've been totally bemused.