ICYMI: Jim Cornette and Santino Marella yelled bad words at each other

While you were focused on getting ready for the latest bi-weekly WWE pay-per-view (PPV), or big shows from Progress and New Japan - or just enjoying your weekend without any pro graps - some full scale WRESTLING DRAMA broke out!

You may have seen this elsewhere, as we’re admittedly late to the party. But we wouldn’t want Cagesiders to miss out on Jim Cornette and Santino Marella yelling at each other in a Detroit convention hall.

At an event held by Michigan promotion XICW on Saturday (Oct. 7), the two men revisited an old beef. The story goes all the way back to 2005 in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), then WWE’s developmental territory. Marella was caught on camera laughing and just generally not acting terrified during a Boogeyman segment, a breach of kayfabe which set Cornette off. This lead to the legendary manager and promoter slapping Santino, an act for which he was fired.

Reports from Cobo Center say the two men appeared to be cordial to one another at the start of their appearance, but things got heated a short time later. An account from a Wrestling Inc correspondent claims Santino asked Cornette what he thought of him, voices rose, profanities were hurled and Corny threatened to slap Marella again.

Here’s some video posted to Facebook by a fan who attended the convention, Shaun Sisk, again with a WARNING THERE’S NSFW/INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE in both:

The he said/he said continued afterwards, with reports claiming either Cornette or both men were asked to leave the venue by security or that The Louisville Lip chose to leave on his own. Either way, the promoter doesn’t seem pleased to be losing a couple of his draws due to the incident, so factor that in when you’re having the inevitable “is this a work?” debate that comes with everything in this sport/performance art.

Cornette has, of course, already addressed the incident on Twitter, where he claims Santino was thrown out and he left of his own volition:

Pro wrestling everybody!