The Mavericks of Wrestling Podcast, Episode 1

Jeff Jarrett: Hello all and welcome to… this is not My World. And this is not The Jim Cornette Experience. Nor is this Corney’s Drive Thru… No, This is the Mavericks of Wrestling podcast! Episode one. How you doing Corney?

Jim Cornette: I’m good Jeff. Excited to talk some TCW Wrestling.

JJ: That’s what this show is all about. We’re here to talk about TCW and the greatest team in TCW: The Game Mavericks of Wrestling. Corney, we’re two shows in, six nights of action… No shortage of controversy. No shortage of excitement. But I think we should start at square one. Let’s talk about the draft.

JC: yeah, let’s get into it because you and I have different perspectives on this.

JJ: To give a peek behind the curtain, I was not in the draft room for the organization that became the Mavericks, but you were.

JC: I was brought in as a draft consultant, so I was there almost from day one.

JJ: so the first thing that happens is the trade.

JC: That’s right. We traded out of the first round, and I have to be honest with you… I was against it.

JJ: I’m shocked.

JC: I was certain that our top draft targets would be taken ahead of where we would now be picking in the second round.

JJ: now you’ve talked about it with the boys, but I don’t think you’ve discussed jt publicly… there was one name ahead of Barry and Tully on the Draft board.

JC: There were a couple of versions of the draft board, but going into the first round, the board was locked with Harley Race at 1 and The Horsemen at 2.

JJ: and DDP was on 3?

JC: Dallas was at 4. The MCV was at 3 and Perfect was at 5.

JJ: So the trade worked out pretty well. Not only did we get the Horsemen, but it gave us the pieces that would then get us Perfect and Gordy in the third round, basically securing two and a half of our top five draft targets.

JC: The second trade was the key to turning it into a real win. Those back to back picks at the top of the third? Hell of a deal.

JJ: Then the second half of the draft, that’s where the focus shifted to the tag division.

JC: So we traded out of the fourth round and as a result, when we came up in the fifth, we had seen the top teams on our board either drafted or split up by other draft moves. We had the Horsemen, but knew we wanted Barry and Curt to focus on the singles title tournament, at least at first, so we were looking at picking an experienced tag team.

JJ: Where were Dennis and Randy on the draft board?

JC: No lie, Jeff, they weren’t. Dennis and Bobby were the second highest rated team on our board that we were targeting as a team, just behind Doc and Gordy. But I didn’t really know Randy that well. One of the other voices in the room, I won’t say who, wasn’t a big Randy Rose fan, so no one was really advocating for him at that point.

JJ: So what changed?

JC: So Bobby goes off the board, drafted alongside Stan. At that point we were leaning towards either The Valiants, The Dream Team, or, no joke, The Bodydonnas.

JJ: The Bodydonnas?

JC: for my money the best undrafted team. Anyway, we put on some footage of the Dream Team, and we’re watching a match they had against Dennis and Randy in some little territory called U8P. And as the match goes on, people start getting into Dennis and Randy. Match ends, we’re still not on the clock, so I pull up another match. This time it’s Dennis and Randy with a certain fat bald New York walrus-

JJ: Corney.

JC: it’s from the AWA. And it was Dennis and Randy defending the tag titles against the Midnight Rockers. The match ends, we’re still not on the clock. So I put on the footage of Dennis and Randy just beating the <expletive deleted> out of me, Bobby, and Stan in JCP.

JJ: you in the white suit.

JC: me in the white suit just bleeding buckets. And someone says ‘If those guys can turn Cornette babyface, they can do anything.’

JJ: Ha!

JC: so we come up in the fifth and everyone is on board with picking The Original Midnight Express, and I mean everyone in the room, which now includes Tully and Terry and Barry and Curt. *Everyone* is onboard except for one voice still saying Valiants.

JJ: Who?

JC: Me. I was worried that if Dennis and Randy got drafted after Bobby and Stan and on to a different team, they would be destined to spend the whole year fighting each other. And, so far, I was right.

JJ: so you were still pulling for the Valiants, and when we came up again at the top of round seven, there they are.

JC: Absolutely crazy lucky. There was zero debate about taking them.

JJ: Why, beyond not wanting to see the Midnights fight forever, were you so high on Johnny and Jimmy?

JC: Jimmy is a real wildcard. You don’t know what you going to get with him. Is he going to be the tag wrestling machine? The crazy long haired bushy beard wild man of Boogie Woogie? The sneaky bad guy from Memphis? And then there’s Johnny. Johnny is no slouch. He’s the glue that can hold the whole thing together. And he’s also got one of the most underrated minds in the business. I knew in a pinch, he would throw on a sequenced jacket, some big shades and cigar and step into a manager role and lead this team.

JJ: so it was about versatility?

JC: Exactly. That, and we were getting a tag team that, let’s not forget, were the first team ever inducted into one of the biggest pro wrestling halls of fame that there is.

JJ: so that takes us all the way to round 9. Did you know you were going to be the first non-wrestler selected by the team?

JC: I had no idea. I was told it was going to be Jimmy Hart.

JJ: Really?

JC: Yup. There was a separate draft board for managers, valets, what have you. The whole time, my name wasn’t on it. It was you and it was Jimmy Hart and it was Nancy.

JJ: Nancy?

JC: Nancy Sullivan, Woman, was high on the board for a while. A couple of other ladies too. Sherri Martel. The Nitro Girls as a team. It was a strange board that I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to. So when they called my name I was shocked.

JJ: I felt the same way when I got the call.

JC: It was crazy to me that I got drafted ahead of you. Because you complete this team’s identity. You’re the Last Outlaw. You **are** a Maverick of Wrestling. You hold Vince’s title hostage to get the money he owes you. You get fired by him on national television, you go start your own company. You have a total career renaissance in your fifties. You’re the fourth horseman, for crying out loud!

JJ: Thank you, Corney. I think it’s a good fit if I do say so myself. So there you have it folks, the true behind the scenes story of the Mavericks of Wrestling draft. We’re going to take a little break and when we come back we will welcome out first guest: Commissioner Bryan Danielson.

JC: But first a word from our sponsors: The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast, Save with Conrad, and Factor meal delivery.

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Jeff Jarrett: Commissioner Dragon, Bryan, welcome to the podcast and thank you for being our very first guest.

Jim Cornette: Yeah, welcome to the show.

Bryan Danielson: Thank you guys for having me. I’m excited to be here.

JJ: Excited to have you here. Want to get right into it, congratulations on the huge success of TCW so far. TCW one, a spectacular three night double tournament crowning two champions; was a massive hit. TCW two, doing the same for the tag teams, while a little more let’s say chaotic-

JC: Ha, that’s one way to put it!

JJ: -no less successful. How are you feeling coming off six big nights of, dare I say it, total nonstop action?

BD: Well, we’re obviously pleased. We’ve got four stellar champions, we provided the fans with almost a full week of stellar action, and with a few …*cough* notable exceptions, it was the kind of clean, in-ring action that I like.

JC: Alright, can we get into it? DiBiase and his quote asterisk unquote. He admitted it. Everybody saw it. What are you going to do about it?

JJ: it being the officiating in the World Heavyweight Championship match between Firpo and Mr Perfect?

BD:*chuckles* First off, I thought the officiating was not up to our standards in the World Heavyweight Championship match. It was pretty evenly bad, though, and we’ve taken corrective action with the official. My guess is that DiBiase was just taking advantage to sow chaos and seem bigger than he actually is. But secondly, and more importantly, I’m talking about how someone ruined our World Tag Team Championship match with a guitar, Jeff. There’s actual wrongdoing there. Care to explain yourselves?

JC: Bryan, I am shocked. Shocked and appalled that you would come here as our invited gue-

JJ: Hold on, Corney. Commissioner Dragon, you’ve known me a long time, and I’ve always been straight with you. What you saw there in the World Tag Team Championship match, what was done to, check that, what we did to Doc… that was Horsemen Justice. DiBiase is out here claiming to be the reason Curt Hennig isn’t world champion, we were the reason he isn’t world tag team champion. And unlike his claim, everyone saw that we walked the walk, not just talked the talk. We sent a message. To make it clear to The Million Dollar Team and everyone else that while we may be walking on the sunny side of the street these days, no one should ever confuse the fact that we’re *good* guys to mean we are *nice* guys. And if Teddy or Doc were upset by that, they could have accepted Curt’s open challenge. They didn’t, did they though?

BD: No, they didn’t, but that’s not my business as commissioner. What is my business, though, is making sure that we give the fans what they we promise, and that’s the best wrestling action you can find anywhere. You want to hand out Horsemen justice or whatever, that’s fine, but don’t do it in the middle of one of our title matches. Consider yourselves on notice.

JJ: …

JC: Okay, I’m sure Jeff and the other Horsemen will take that under advisement. Here’s a question I’d like to ask; what in your opinion was the biggest surprise of the draft? For my money, it was the Valiant Brothers being on the board still when we drafted them.

BD: For me, it was the Rock and Roll Express falling down to the bottom of round four. Part of the art form of tag wrestling is named after Ricky. And look, they're already champions. They were a steal at the bottom of round four.

JJ: For me, it was Doc being drafted without Gordy. That showed a real lack of vision and foresight to break up one of the strongest teams on the board… But it worked out great for us!

JC: <expletive deleted> yeah it did! Okay, we’ll be back with more with Commissioner Dragon after these messages from our sponsors: Blue Chew, Ringside Collectables, and The Dave Report Online!

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Jeff Jarrett: And we’re back. Bryan, I want to ask you about a rumor we’ve been hearing in the locker room, and has just hit the dirt sheets from Scooter Ottman over at totallynotmadeupwrestlingnewsdotcom. It’s being reported that you are looking to expand TCW for year two from 10 shows to 15, and from six teams to eight. Care to comment on either of those reports?

Bryan Danielson: Well, to be clear, I’m not necessarily privy to all of those discussions. As commissioner, my job is to make sure we put the best product we can out there within the boss’ parameters. So, I don’t necessarily have the answers you want. What I can tell you, though, is that nobody’s told me about any plans to make any changes, but there’s plenty of room to grow. With TCW structured the way it is, adding new teams and subsequently adjusting the number of shows we’d need wouldn’t be difficult at all. I know that the boss would always like to have three TCW-booked shows every year - first, mid-season, and last - and wants to at least have a one- month offseason. So with that in mind, we’d certainly have room to grow to eight teams. Again, there are no plans for that that I’m aware of.

Jim Cornette: I’m not gonna let you off that easy, Bryan. What I heard from Randy, who heard it from Johnny, who heard it from Boogie Woogie, who heard it from ‘Miss Atlanta Lively’, so you know it’s legit… he said that you personally would be heading up one of the two expansion teams, tentatively named ‘Team Dragon’. And that to facilitate this you’ll be turning the commissionership over to either Ernest Miller or Mojo Rawley. Can you confirm that?

BD: (*laughing in the smug self satisfied way that only a vegan can*) Do you hear yourself? Jeff, play this back for him when we’re done so he can hear himself.

JJ: (*laughing, not in that heelish way he used to when spelling his name, but in a genuine way*) I think Corney’s had maybe one too many Baconators today.

JC: He didn’t deny it!

JJ: Bryan, I know you’ve got a lot of press commitments coming up ahead of Survival of the Fittest, so we’ll let you go after this… we’re gonna go around and give our predictions for Survival of the Fittest, starting with the big cage match: Bruiser Brody vs Pampero Firpo for the TCW World Championship. Corney, who’ve you got?

JC: I’ve got Brody. I’ve been wrong every time I’ve bet against Firpo so far, but Brody is a cage specialist and I think Firpo’s luck runs out.

JJ: I’ve got Firpo. He’s got the momentum and I think he retains. Bryan?

BD: Guys, I’m a neutral arbiter, so I’m going to say that the winners are going to be the TCW fans. I wouldn’t want to be locked in a cage with either of them, though, that’s for sure.

JJ: But surely as a student of the sport, you’ve got an opinion on who you think is going to win?

BD: Yeah, obviously, but I’m paid to keep them myself and happen to like my new job.

JC: How about the Survive Andre challenge? Andre may not have a bigger challenge all year than Nature Boy Buddy Rogers.

JJ: that’s for sure, but I still think Andre gets the win in the end. I don’t think Buddy will suffer the penalty though.

JC: Dragon?

DB: It’s called Survive Andre for a reason. I don’t expect the big man to lose all year long. There’s a reason he works for TCW and not for one of you guys.

JC: for what it’s worth, I’ve got Andre winning and Natural Selection losing 3 points.

JJ: World Tag team championship, the Road Warriors against The Valiants. Bryan, we’ll let you dodge the question first.

BD: So, I had Animal in my office last week, actually. Did you know that for their four matches to win the belts, they were in the ring less than seventeen minutes total? It’s nuts. Anyway, I’m talking to him about maybe putting on more of a show for the fans. Not like letting the other guys hit them or anything, but maybe some showboating. A little more playing with their food, that kind of thing. He looks me dead in the eyes, and with that voice and with spit flying everywhere, he yells, “We don’t get paid by the hour! Tell ‘em, Hawk!” Then he just left. Guys, Hawk wasn’t even in the room. He was in Chicago. So anyway, I’m predicting the shortest match on the card.

JJ: Jimmy?

JC: I love the Valiants, I am big fans of the Valiants. I don’t disagree with the Commissioner.

JJ: Guys, I think it’s a mistake to underestimate Jimmy and Johnny. I’m not saying it’s likely, but them winning is certainly possible.

JC: So you’re picking them?

JJ: No.

JC: okay let’s finish up with the Survival of the Fittest match. And Dragon, we’ll let you up easy this time. You don’t have to give us your winner, give us your dark horse pick.

BD: I like all three of the Taylor boys in OBE, so there you go. Go get ‘em, Taylors!

JC: I tell you what, I think TCW is about to see what old Terry Allen and do.

JJ: good picks. I’m gonna go with, and Jimmy, I know this is going to make you mad, Bobby Eaton. We can respect someone with out liking them and pound-for-pound, it’s hard to bet against Bobby Eaton.

JC: Shame he’s been let astray by bad companions.

JJ: Well, with that we’re going let Commissioner Danielson go. We appreciate your time this afternoon Bryan. Anything you’d like to add in parting?

DB: No more guitars, Jeff. (*They sit in silence for a couple of awkward seconds before Dragon starts laughing.*)

JJ: (*also laughs*) Thanks Bryan. We’ll be back after these words from Rocket Money, Kreg power tools, and Harris-Walz 2024

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Jeff Jarrett: And we’re back. Corney, things got a little heated there with Commissioner Dragon at one point, but overall I think he’s doing a great job. I hope we get to have him back on sometime.

Jim Cornette: I still think the rumors of him starting his own team are true.

JJ: speaking of starting a new team, I thought it would be fun to end with a little game. I’m calling it The Leftovers game. Corney, for the purposes of this game, you're fired.

JC: What!

JJ: Just for the game. You’re now solely in control of a 7th TCW franchise, but the only people available to you are those who went undrafted in the initial draft. Same rules apply. Minimum eight guys, same salary cap. Who’s your team?

JC: Really putting me on the spot here. Okay, well I said they were the best undrafted team earlier, so I’ll start with Chris Candido and Dr Tom.

JJ: You did say that.

JC: what does that leave me with?

JJ: you need to pick six more at least and have 21 points on the salary cap.

JC: okay, I’ll take Marty Jannette next. He’s another versatile guy, I can find him a partner or I can have him work singles, yeah. Marty third.

JJ: five more and 18 points.

JC: I know, I know, I’m thinking… Masked Superstar.

JJ: Good pick. I was surprised he went undrafted. That leaves 15 points for four more picks.

JC: know what? I’m gonna go for the dads next. Give me Joe Blanchard, Larry Hennig, Mike DiBiase, and Bob Armstrong.

JJ: The Dad World Order!

JC: Yeah. Just a bunch of good hands.

JJ: That’s 11 points for those four picks. You got the minimum number but have three points left over.

JC: I’ll go ahead and take Brad Armstrong for the last pick. He can be a partner for either his dad or Marty or anyone else and can have a great match against anyone.

JJ: Any non-wrestlers?

JC: Besides me?

JJ: let’s assume.

JC: Jimmy Hart. If we can get old school Memphis Jimmy Hart and not the parody New York turned him into, and not Hogan’s stooge, but the Jimmy I knew back in the day.

JJ: There you have it folks, Jim Cornette’s leftovers! The Bodydonnas, the Armstrongs, Marty Jannettey, Masked Superstar, and the Three Dad Band. That’s all we have for this first episode. Next time, we’ll have the fall out from Survival of the Fittest, we’re looking to line up another guest, and we will have the first announcement for TCW 5, Global Gold: The Lethal Lottery!