James Mark Cornette (born September 17, 1961) is an American author and podcaster who has previously worked in the professional wrestling industry as an agent, booker, color commentator, manager, promoter, trainer, and occasional professional wrestler.
Cornette remains one of wrestling's more controversial personalities, but his beliefs are rooted in more than four decades of wrestling experience. Cornette worked with writer Vince Russo in the WWF during the 1990s and in TNA during the 2000s, and regularly conflicted with him due to his views on the business, which emphasize entertainment storylines over actual in-ring action to the point of intense hatred on Cornette's part. Cornette has criticized Russo publicly since his departure from TNA in 2009, which Cornette has stated was a result of his lack of support for Russo's creative direction in the company. In March 2010, Cornette sent then-TNA official Terry Taylor an email in which he said: "I want Vince Russo to die. If I could figure out a way to murder him without going to prison, I would consider it the greatest accomplishment of my life." TNA sent the letter to a California law firm, who characterized his comments as a "terroristic threat" and said "any further threats to contact Vince Russo or any other TNA personnel (directly or indirectly) shall be viewed as acts in furtherance of such threats and shall be pursued and prosecuted accordingly." During a 2017 podcast, Cornette challenged Russo to a fight. Russo responded by filing a restraining order (EPO) against Cornette for "stalking him across state lines since 1999." As a response, Cornette began selling autographed copies of the restraining order on his personal website, with all proceeds being donated to the Crusade for Children. The Russo vs. Cornette rivalry was prominently featured in Viceland's Dark Side of the Ring episodes covering the Montreal Screwjob and WWF's Brawl for All, which aired in 2019 and 2020 respectively. On his current podcasts, Cornette has continued the conflict with Russo, often referring to him as 'Shitstain'.
Cornette has been very vocal against other styles of wrestling, such as Paul Heyman's Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) hardcore style, which he referred to as "hardcore bullshit". "Comedy wrestling" (that which is deemed silly or goofy as opposed to serious) has also been on the receiving end of his rants, with him routinely criticizing those he considers "comedy wrestlers" such as Orange Cassidy, Joey Ryan, Kenny Omega, Riho and Chuck Taylor. He has also criticized the physical appearance of wrestlers; for example Marko Stunt's height. Cornette has garnered support for his opinions from industry personalities including former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis, who wrote an article for Flagged Sports defending Cornette and his position as NWA commentator after a separate article asked promoters to stop hiring him. and AEW owner, general manager and promoter Tony Khan - whom Cornette and Last have often critiqued - has also defended him on multiple occasions, citing his longevity in the business and his right to criticize the industry. Cornette has a criminal record which includes a number of assaults, mostly stemming from incidents involving fights with fans who attacked him while he was a manager in the 1980s. The record has made it difficult for him to work in Canada, and he was turned away from the Canadian border in November 2010. He has been recently fired for racist comments he said during a NWA broadcast. He has lost many fans for crazy left wing liberal nonsense he constantly spews on his podcast and is very anti religion. Fans have stated that he is always so vocal but just like most liberals he has no solutions or understanding of the way politics works. It's a illusion that you have a choice like the great George Carlin stated and fans are very frustrated that he was quick to destroy Trump but Biden can't walk in a straight line, ride a bike , complete a sentence and is constantly smelling childerns hair but Jim has no response to that.