Jim Cornette on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
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Jim Cornette was a guest on Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast where he discussed Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. You can listen to the podcast here. You can read highlights below, with a h/t to Jules Allen for the transcription:
Cornette on Kevin Owens:
“[Owens] is fulfilling his potential now because he has changed the way he thought about being told to do things by his employer,” Cornette said. “I always knew he had the talent to [be successful in the WWE]. Christ, we made him the Ring of Honor World Champion for a year. He was undefeated. But the problem is, I didn’t think he had the attitude to do it. When we asked him to lose weight, when we asked him to take time off and come back with a different look and a different push, when we asked him to do a match a certain way or anything a certain way, there was so much argument and push back and refusal and not producing any of those things, et cetera, that I thought, basically, when he went to Florida [NXT], either he, the WWE, or both, would need a psychiatrist within 90 days. But, he, apparently, he is never going to be svelte, and we didn’t want that, we wanted him to not be obese, to lose a little weight and he [has] done that. His [ring] gear may not look any more professional, but at least it is cleaner. And what’s more, he, apparently, is doing what he is asked to do instead of going into business for himself or arguing about anything, whether it be inside of the ring or outside of the ring”.
Cornette on Sami Zayn:
“[Zayn] got mad at me because I always said that his selling was impeccable and he was an amazing athlete, he was very strong for his frame, and he was a wonderful babyface in the ring. I said he needed to ditch the silly mask and the goofy gimmick, he needed to learn to speak and do interviews, and try to get a tan even though his is a red-headed, ginger Muslim from Montreal. I said, ‘then you will find mainstream success, my son,’ and he thought I was crazy.”
Cornette on the Professional Wrestling Business:
“I know there [are] some things I do not agree with with modern day wrestling that are probably good developments, but at the same point, it has, you know, become an entirely different industry. And, as I mentioned [during the Jim Cornette Experience live show], it is not even predicated on the same kind of logic that it used to be. We used to be simulating a conflict and now we’re exhibiting a performance. It is completely different. I’m not real good at that, nor am I interested in that.”
