Well since I worked there and was even mentioned by name in his post I'm gonna weigh in with my two cents on the whole deal. Now let me preface this by saying, I have no problems with Rodney, I like the guy, he provided a lot of us a place to work every week for several years however I don't know that I agree with ALL the statements he made in that post, but it was very interesting and in some cases informative. Like the fact I never knew that Brian Manness came clean about the fact that he and Kevin White weren't trained by Phil Hickerson. Now Brian was a nice guy and worked better than Kevin, but he was VERY small. I've said it before and I'll say it again Kevin White was a total prick. He had only had a handful of matches and lied his way onto the show but was already acting like a primidonna. I also suppect there is a lot of truth to the statement Rodney made about him being used in Memphis because his dad supplies the ring. But I'm not gonna bother going into that.
As for why wrestling died in Corinth I don't know that he's being totally honest with himself. Yes, from what I've been told the Butlers were total marks and put on some really bad shows BUT things were on a downhill slide quite awhile before that while he was still running. At one time Rodney was drawing some very large crowds(for the area) and the first time they started to go down was when he ditched the local guys and started using all Power Pro guys(which I'm sure in theory seemed like a good idea). Talking about forgetting who made you(and I'm not refferring to me, but rather the guys who had showed up every week for 4 years), the crowd really shit on those Power Pro guys and the crowds went down by half in a matter of weeks. Not to mention the fact we weren't told beforehand that we wouldn't be used, all the regulars showed up one night and was told they weren't needed. Eventually he brought back the regulars but he never seemed to regain the large following he had before. Another problem(in my opinion) was when he started letting more and more half trained and untrained people in the ring. Much like the White/Manness deal people started just showing up from everywhere saying they were workers and getting on the show. Most wouldn't stay long but some managed to linger. Like T-3/Sabu #2, he was the utter drizzlin' shits, but he used him regularly. Guys like Big Daddy Dale, now I like Marty, he's a helluva guy but he didn't need to be in the ring yet, especially against other guys who were just as green as he was. The other thing I don't understand(and didn't then either) was him using guys like Damian Rage. Now, I'm not knocking Damian, he was always a super nice guy, he's learned how to work since then and from what I hear is quite good now, but Rodney was using him regularly even though he admittedly hadn't been trained. Now he goes back and criticizes Damian, well ultimately Rodney is to blame, if you knew he wasn't trained and couldn't work why the hell were YOU using him on YOUR show???? Of course the guy is gonna get in there if you let him. Just like when Neil and I went out there and jumped those guys, and was told to beat the shit out of them, why the fuck were they in there in the first place?? The damage was already done, they had already exposed everything and brought the show to a screeching halt. That kinda shit went a lot further to damage the show than people realized. Now another sore subject for him was his pushing himself in the main events, he doesn't want to admit it but this did hurt him in the long run. Now just be honest with yourself here Rodney, if you go to a show and it's your first time there and the HEAVYWEIGHT champion walks out and he's 5'4 and 118 lbs carrying TWO belts(yes he held TWO heavyweight titles at the same time) it's pretty Goddamn hard to take the promotion seriously, especially when the "smart" fan beside you tells you that same guy happens to be the promoter, not like that was a secret. And your not out there beating guys your own size(cause there weren't many) you did an angle where you went over EVERY big man on the roster in consecutive weeks, huge guys like me and Hoss Williams. That shit makes it hard to suspend disbelief, you have to just shut off your whole brain. But I admit you WERE over with a large portion of the regulars untill.......you fucking turned heel, joined your arch enemy Don Bass(whom you had feuded with for 4 years) and became "The King of Corinth" complete with crown and all. How many people were we working in front of at that time?? Not many, I have tapes to prove it. Anyways after that went over like a fart in church you turned back face. Now from here I don't know much else cause I quit a few weeks later when that shitass Sabu #2 refused to the planned finish for a tag match, saying we might "hurt" him, even though HE had given a guy a concussion the week before. So when you were called over rather than telling him to do the finish cause Neil and I had never hurt ANYBODY, you tell me to just "give him a splash"(the standard generic fat guy finish). Now that coupled with the fact we were wrestling him and a guy called "Iceman" Chris Austin or some bullshit who came out to "Stone Cold's" music and used all his moves and mannerisms (which I thought was a fucking disgrace, made the whole show look like a cheap knockoff) I said, "fuck it" and refused to wrestle and left never to wrestle in Corinth again. It's funny after that Neil and I went to all the boards hyping a "shoot interview" on Rodney exposing him and he actually sent word through Jimmy Blaylock saying he was gonna sue us, and Jimmy said he sounded serious, so.............we posted it the next day. Nothing ever became of it and I saw Rodney at a legends show(in the crowd) a few years later and we talked and I have no problem with him(unless he get's pissed about this post)
The biggest thing Corinth was known for was piss poor payoffs, now he can say what he wants about breaking even but there was a time he was taking in a good door, and those were the nights we might get $5 a piece instead of handing Neil and I a $5 bill to "split"or just a see ya next week. I don't know what Brickhouse, Don Bass, or Gilbert was making but there wasn't much being paid out. That's why people would no show, cause if you could manage to get a paying booking you would ditch Corinth that week and go there and know you could just go back to Corinth the next week. Anyway the point of this isn't a slam against Rodney or anyone for that matter, it's to point out there's more than one side to every story, and I'm sure alot of different guys have a lot of different takes on Corinth and Rodney, but I'm glad Rodney had a show for us to work on every week it helped us get experience and I think all in all it was a good experience for everyone. Again, not trying to stir the pot or get heat with anyone just giving you my take on it all. Take it for what it's worth. If anyone has an opposing view or would like to comment please do so, either here, on Jimmy's board, or you can email me at genejackson@charter.net
Thanks for reading
GENE
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