25 Great Wrestlers That EVERYBODY Turned Against

10. Jim Cornette

Dark Side Of The Ring Muhammad Hassan Jim Cornette
VICE

Long considered one of the sharpest minds in industry history, Jim Cornette - or at very least those advising him - applying said sharpness to the wrestling content game forever transformed perceptions of him, and not unjustifiably so.

Forever somebody known for digging his heels in, 'The Prince Of Polyester' did so at the expense of agendas even he probably didn't always believe in when it became apparent how much money could made having such divisive and/or derisory takes. One of the first major external profiteers of 2020s tribal war between WWE and AEW fans, Cornette's deep-rooted dislike of Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks in particular endeared him to everybody that also hated them, but alienated him to the man that considered "Elite" to be the most important part of the nascent organisation.

A proponent of "funny ain't money" when referring to wrestling booking, Cornette made small fortunes getting chuckles out of his cult-like (in his own words/branding) following. Amongst those that either never saw him work, or never saw him talk and think passionately and analytically in the years following his departure from the mainstream, he is now simply the guy that pioneered a cottage industry in taking potshots at All Elite Wrestling. 

Time plays tricks in wrestling too; there may come a day where he's been the latter longer than the former (he's been a podcaster longer than he was an on-screen WWE character, for example), but perhaps he views a mixed legacy better than no legacy at all. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett