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Kayfabe! – Back to the Territories with Jim Cornette – Mid South Wrestling

November 26, 2014 | Posted by Mike Campbell
9
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Kayfabe! – Back to the Territories with Jim Cornette – Mid South Wrestling  

Kayfabe!
Back to the Territories with Jim Cornette

The concept of this series is straightforward. It’s not so much an interview as it is a discussion between Jim Cornette and Jim Duggan. But, there’s no doubt that Cornette is directing traffic. The production itself is up to the usual standards, that KC themselves have set. It’s a pretty basic setup: Cornette and Duggan are in front of a backdrop, more or less just talking about Mid South. The interview is occasionally interrupted with voiceovers from Cornette discussing the history of the promotion, along with a map of the actual territory, and photos of program and magazine covers, arenas where they ran shows, and photos of the major players (including one of the infamous Mama Cornette!). After watching the credits, it turns out that these photos were from Cornette’s personal collection.

If one is at all familiar with Mid South Wrestling, then they’ll know what sort of discussion to expect, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. The horrendous road trips (including Jim taking us through an actual two week period, of where all they went and how many miles they drove), the crazed fans, stories of how much of a hard ass that Bill Watts was, and memories of the boys (both in and out of the ring). The two Jims are clearly enjoying themselves and it shows while watching this. Who’d have thought Cornette could partake in a shoot interview, where he doesn’t feel the need to curse incessantly, and talk about Jim Herd, Vince Russo, The Republicans, or Greg “The Office Boy,” and still be entertaining? Even though Cornette was with Crockett and Dugan with the WWF at the time, they also make sure to talk about the promotion closing, and what their reactions were when the news broke.

There’s only one thing that I can really find at fault with the series, and it’s got nothing to do with this particular edition, because it was excellent. One of the things that made it so great was that it was Cornette and Duggan discussing their mutual memories of their times in Mid South, with Duggan as a top heel, and later a top babyface, and Cornette was managing the Midnight Express, who was amongst the biggest heat-getters in the promotion. So, both Duggan and Cornette had a lot to say. But, what’s going to happen when JC is interviewing someone who worked a territory that he never worked? Will Jim be regulated to a simple interviewer firing off questions? No different than what Sean does during the YouShoot, or Rob “What are your memories of . . . “ Feinstein? And, if so, what’s going to happen when the subject of the interview doesn’t have much to say? KC seems to have a knack for picking great guests for their productions, so I have faith in them that they’ll find someone good. I guess time will tell if future editions can hold up, but this is a great start.

9.0
The final score: review Amazing
The 411
The first edition of B2TT is an easy winner. The two hours and 35 minutes breeze right by. There's tons of laughs and great insight.
legend

article topics :

Jim Cornette, Mike Campbell