Global Force Wrestling (GFW) got fans buzzing when legendary manager and promoter Jim Cornette showed up on Impact last night (Aug. 17). The brash Kentuckian had an immediate (pun unavoidable) impact, firing Bruce Prichard and booking a gauntlet match to crown a new World champ.
But what brought him back, and what can we expect from Corny now that he’s joined the Force? He explained on a special edition of his Jim Cornette Experience podcast from last night:
“I like a challenge and I also don't like to... basically, I've said these things and when I was contacted by a representative of Anthem corporate, not even a couple of weeks ago, basically the tone of it was more professional than this, but it was 'okay, big boy, you think you know the right way to do these things and how to work with these wrestlers and handle these problems so come on and do it if you're so inclined to do that and if you're so smart.' And well I couldn't let that just sit, could I?
Let's clear a few things up. I'm not a member of the Global Force Wrestling roster. ... As everybody knows, I'm not interested in anything full time with any promotion for just the simple fact is I got too many things going on and I don't like to travel. But in this case, to come back and right a few wrongs and see some of my friends. And boy, it's amazing, I haven't been here in so long but the air is so much fresher. It's almost like there's just a grisly stench that has been lifted from the Impact Zone from the last time I was here. But at any rate, I wanted to come down, and we're still in the process of taping a lot of television over the next week and there's a few more things that corporate wants me to do, some messages they want me to deliver. But as I said, I'm not a member of the roster. I'm not an announcer, I'm not a wrestler, I'm not a manager, I'm not a production person, I have nothing to do with creative. I work directly for corporate and I handle the problems that they want me to handle.
I'm an independent contractor. I'm a corporate representative as an independent contractor. I'm not a member of the roster, I've not signed a contract. I've signed agreements, obviously, for my likeness to be used on television, don't get me wrong about that. But I will be here as long as there's a problem for me to solve. I look at it like this: I'm going to be like Paul Lynde on Bewitched. I'm not going to be a regular member of the cast on every show but I will be making appearances when necessary and I will probably steal the show when I do so. So just consider me Uncle Arthur in Impact Wrestling.
I'm my own boss. I'm not signing any exclusive deals or long term deals for anything with anybody. ... I'm too old to do this on a regular basis but I will be appearing when there's a reason for me to do so.”
Not making Cornette, or any non-wrestler, the center of a bunch of angles sounds good to us, as an over-reliance on authority figures as a storytelling has been a problem for Impact and their Stamford, Connecticut-based competiton for years now. And, as much as he gets teased by a lot of wrestling fans, there aren’t many performers who have Jim’s gift of gab, so he can certainly be an asset for GFW.
Will occassional appearances in a vaguely defined role move the needle in terms of viewership or public opinion? Time will tell.
What do you think, Cagesiders?