WWE: 7 Innovations Jim Cornette Did That Changed Wrestling

7. He Spoke His Mind About WCW During A Period Where They Weren't Acknowledged

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njzm6_LSdDw When WCW was battling WWE for viewers during the Monday Night War, there was a period of about two years where WCW was winning nearly every week. It was rare for WWE to even mention WCW on television. Instead, they resorted to cheesy things like the Huckster and Nacho Man while also trotting out characters like Fake Diesel and Fake Razor Ramon. Then they had Jim Cornette out there "shooting" against WCW. Cornette would go on these three minute rants about whatever was on his mind. He would say things like WCW stinks, the NWO stinks and ECW is embarrassing. He even said that the WWF stinks at times by complaining about "sports entertainment" and the lack of wrestling in the company. Why would WWE let him say such things on their flagship show Monday Night Raw? Part of the reason was because they knew Cornette was a gifted talker that could relay his message as well as anybody. He would be fired up ranting for three minutes while making sense along the way. It was also because Vince McMahon didn't want to address WCW directly, so they would use Cornette as a way to make comments towards the competition. These Cornette rants were very popular because it wasn't about a character complaining about something. It was a WWE employee voicing his opinions, most of which were very strong and from the heart. As a teenager watching wrestling during the Monday Night War era, I thought Cornette's rants were some of the best parts of any show because he could say what he wanted and he got away with it. It was so cool to see something like that.