Jim Cornette James Mark " Jim " Cornette ( September 17 , 1961 ) is an American professional wrestling manager , commentator , promoter , and booker . As a manager , he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions , World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995 , was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling . He has also worked as an on - screen character in an authoritative role ; as " Commissioner " of Ring of Honor and " Management Director " ( and off - screen road agent ) for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Cornette currently acts as Executive Producer of Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet and the head booker of Ohio Valley Wrestling . Career . Born in Louisville , Kentucky , Cornette always loved wrestling , reportedly installing a ten - foot antenna on top of his house as a youth so he could watch as much regional wrestling as possible . He began working at wrestling events at the age of 14 , serving as a photographer , ring announcer , magazine correspondent , and public relations correspondent . In 1982 , promoter Jerry Jarrett made the 21 - year old Cornette the manager of Sherri Martel and gave Cornette the gimmick of a rich kid turned inept manager whose clients kept firing him after one match . The most notable wrestlers in this angle were Dutch Mantell and Crusher Broomfield ( who would later gain fame as The One Man Gang and Akeem , The African Dream ) . In 1983 he managed a trio of wrestlers in Nashville consisting of Carl Fergie , Norman Fredrich Charles III , and the Angel , a trio that he called the " Cornette Dynasty " . At the end of 1983 he would take on his best - known role becoming the frontman for the Midnight Express ( Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton , and later Stan Lane ) . With Cornette as manager , the team were 2 - time National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) World Tag Team Champions and 2 - time NWA United States Tag Team champions . As a manager , Cornette was known for both his loud mouth and for his ever - present tennis racket , which Cornette often used to ensure victory for his wrestlers , with the implication that the racket case was loaded . Cornette was at his best as a heel manager ; fans loved to see the constantly - yelling Cornette and his equally annoying charges beaten and humiliated . He and the Midnights were so hated , in fact , that they had to be escorted by police to and from the ring at the house shows and have a police escort to the city limits for fear of being attacked by overzealous fans . Additionally , Cornette suffered serious injuries to his knee during a scaffold match between the Midnight Express and the Road Warriors at Starrcade ' 86 ; when dropping to the mat from the edge of the 20 ft . high scaffold , Cornette didn ' t allow his legs to buckle quickly enough because he hoped to have a waiting Big Bubba Rogers there to cushion his fall . Rogers was supposed to catch Cornette in mid - air , preventing any damage . But because Rogers was wearing sunglasses he misjudged his position in the ring . Cornette actually landed three feet away from the man who was supposed to catch him and ended up blowing out one of his knees when it folded inwards . Cornette , who is legitimately afraid of heights , later said that he knew he might get seriously hurt when he was told he ' d have to fall off a scaffold , but that performing in front of such a large audience was more important than his own health . Cornette would later recall the incident in a shoot interview . National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling ( 1986 – 1990 ) . In 1986 , Cornette became the color commentator for Jim Crockett Promotions ' nationally - syndicated NWA television show , and later took over the same role on the Saturday night TBS broadcasts alongside play - by - play announcer Jim Ross . In 1989 , Cornette became a member of WCW ' s creative team , also known as a booker . As a booker for WCW , Cornette helped write storylines and shape the format of its television shows . Due to friction and animosity between himself and WCW head Jim Herd , Cornette quit the company after Halloween Havoc 1990 . Smoky Mountain Wrestling ( 1991 – 1995 ) . A firm believer in " old - school " territorial wrestling , Cornette began the Smoky Mountain Wrestling ( SMW ) promotion in 1991 . SMW promoted shows in Tennessee , Kentucky , West Virginia , Georgia , and the Carolinas . By this point , however , the nature of wrestling in the United States had already changed irrevocably , leading Cornette to seek a working relationship with the WWF in 1993 . This did not change the new national perception that regional promotions were " minor league . " The move also did not help the federation ' s finances , and Cornette closed SMW ' s doors in November 1995 . Cornette later said that he chose the wrong time to start a wrestling federation because the business as a whole was in a recession . World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment ( 1993 – 2005 ) . Cornette went to the WWF in 1993 while serving as promoter of SMW . As he had in other promotions , Cornette held several positions in the WWF , including manager , color commentator , and booker . Cornette ' s most notable managerial role in the WWF was as the " American spokesperson " of WWF Champion Yokozuna . Cornette joined the WWF full - time in 1996 after the demise of SMW , and had a major role in scouting and developing new talent . On screen , he led a top heel stable known as " Camp Cornette , " which consisted of Vader , Owen Hart , and The British Bulldog . In 1997 he began phasing out his managerial duties and worked mostly behind the scenes , and doing color commentary . He also began doing a series of " worked shoots " where he would praise what he felt was right and condemn what he felt was wrong in Professional Wrestling . They were controversial as he had no problem giving out praise to WCW wrestlers he felt deserved it . In 1998 , Cornette led an NWA invasion with a stable including Jeff Jarrett , Barry Windham , and The Rock ' n ' Roll Express , based on the old Crockett Promotions territory . Later that year , Cornette managed The New Midnight Express . Behind the scenes , he served as booker for several years before being removed from the creative team after frequently butting heads with head writer Vince Russo . Cornette later became lead booker and part owner of OVW , WWE ' s Former lead developmental territory , run by " Nightmare " Danny Davis of Cornette ' s hometown of Louisville . As a talent developer , Cornette helped discover current and former WWE Superstars Kane , D ' Lo Brown , Sunny , Al Snow — all of whom had previously worked in SMW — and others . Cornette returned to WWF television for one night at the WrestleMania X - Seven pay - per - view in Houston , Texas , where he took part in the " gimmick battle royal " . Cornette was suspended for several weeks in May 2005 as a result of a backstage altercation with OVW wrestler Anthony Carelli ( who would later be called up to WWE as Santino Marella ) , and released by WWE in July 2005 due to another incident shortly after returning from suspension for slapping Carelli for breaking character and laughing at wrestler The Boogeyman . In the spring of 2008 , Marella , on a Canadian radio program , publicly challenged Cornette to a match , despite Cornette working for WWE rival TNA . Cornette bluntly responded that at this stage of his career , Cornette didn ' t need to wrestle a career jobber with a drinking problem . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2006 – 2009 ) . In 2006 , Cornette joined TNA Wrestling as the new face of TNA Management . He holds the title of " Management Director " according to the press releases following his premiere at the Slammiversary PPV event on June 18 , 2006 in Orlando , Florida . After a brief speech , he departed , but returned at the end of the show in light of the " Orlando Screwjob , " taking the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt after Jeff Jarrett , Larry Zbyszko and Earl Hebner successfully executed a screwjob on Christian Cage and Sting . Cornette is seen by some as " bringing the NWA back to TNA " ; although , this has never been officially stated . During Cornette ' s first TNA Impact ! appearance , he got into a verbal confrontation with Jeff Jarrett . Remarkable comments from Cornette included " This is the NWA ! " and " This is the NWA Title ! " He also referred to Jeff Jarrett ' s family , discussing his father and grandmother . His shouts of the NWA could have been a simple mistake on his part as a common mistake made by many people is still regarding TNA as " NWA : TNA " . As the figurehead " Management Director " of TNA , Cornette did not usually take up more than ten minutes of the show , which can be attributed to both his quick tongue and TNA ' s lack of desire to create another Mr . McMahon . Matt Morgan had also become Cornette ' s on - screen bodyguard to prevent harm to his physical being , until leaving that post to become a full - time wrestler . Part of Cornette ' s gimmick was that when multiple situations build up at once , he often takes care of them all swiftly by getting all the TNA wrestlers to come out to the Impact ! Zone for a " company meeting " to hear his decisions , or exasperatedly deals swiftly with people who barge into his office . The clear impact of this feature was made evident right from the start , as the first " company meeting " ( which aired on the June 29 , 2006 edition of " TNA Impact ! " ) , where every wrestler was asked to come out and stand at either ramp , saw Cornette clear up several issues : With the return of Vince Russo to TNA , Cornette ' s run with the company would come into question . Cornette has been one of Russo ' s harshest critics and has blamed him for the " disintegration of the business " . He ' s also stated that he wished to inflict bodily harm on Russo due to his involvement in a WCW angle with Ed Ferrara in which they mocked WWE commentator and good friend Jim Ross ' Bell ' s Palsy condition . Since then , however , he managed to come to working terms with Russo and also become more involved in TNA . Cornette has had numerous anger management problems throughout his career as a manager as well as in WWE and Ring of Honor and as the part - time owner of Ohio Valley Wrestling . This has also translated into his TNA character , who , while still a face , has shown some pessimism in his promos . The Daily Star conducted an interview with Cornette , who had some harsh words for the WWE Chairman . " Have you seen the stock market ? Vince is not a billionaire any more ! He may not even be a millionaire by the time this thing ' s over ! I will sacrifice every penny I ' ve got and cut my neighbour ' s lawn to see Vince McMahon a broken man laying in the gutter ! " Cornette worked in WWE for years and ran the old Ohio Valley developmental territory . Jim Cornette was released from his TNA contract on September 15 , 2009 . Jim Cornette appeared on the " Who ' s Slamming Who " podcast to give his side of the story regarding his departure from TNA . He said he was released because he was not 100 percent behind the creative team . He said there no severe reasons or incidents that led to his leaving the company , and noted that the news of his firing was online within two hours of TNA head of talent relations Terry Taylor informing him of the company ' s decision . This was also evident of fans uploading video opinions of the happening on YouTube sharing opinions and gossip of the departure of Cornette and former TNA superstar B . G James . Cornette said the conversation with Dixie Carter , who said he would be welcomed back to the company if he could get 100 percent behind creative . He had stated that he was never informed that Ed Ferrara would be coming in , and claims he would have resigned from his position if he had known that he would be coming into the picture with the creative team . Cornette stated that he is open to returning to TNA in the future , but simply can ' t support the creative team of Russo and Ferrara . Returning to Ring of Honor and Ohio Valley Wrestling ( 2009 – 2012 ) . In 2009 , Cornette signed a contract with Ring of Honor to be their Executive Producer for the " Ring of Honor Wrestling " show on HDNet . Cornette made his surprise return to ROH at Glory by Honor VIII : The Final Countdown on September 26 , announcing he was the new Executive Producer for the television show . Cornette made his first appearance on " Ring of Honor Wrestling " on the December 7th episode and immediately made waves by putting ROH champion Austin Aries into a 4 - way title match later that night and created the Pick 6 contender series . On September 8 , 2010 , Ohio Valley Wrestling announced that Cornette would resume his duties as the head booker of the promotion . Cornette left OVW in November 2011 , when the promotion announced a working agreement with TNA . On the January 21 edition of Ring of Honor television , Cornette announced that chairshots to the head were banned and anyone that did so would be fined $ 5000 . On the February 4 telecast , Cornette made another ban in which the piledriver — in any form — is banned . On October 8 , 2012 , it was reported that ROH had replaced Cornette as the head booker with Hunter Johnston ( Delirious ) . ROH wrote Cornette off television by having him suffer storyline injuries at the hands of Jay Lethal . As of November 2012 , Cornette is reportedly " on sabbatical " from Ring of Honor and it is unknown when he will return to television . The reason for Cornette ' s absence allegedly stems from a public outburst he made at the November 3 ROH television taping . At the taping , ROH talent Steve Corino suffered an injury , and allegedly no ROH officials were able to pay for Corino ' s immediate medical attention or even arrange for an ambulance to be called , leaving Corino in pain for hours . Following his departure from Ring of Honor , Cornette decided to take an extended break from professional wrestling to focus on his health and work on personal projects . Global Force Wrestling ( 2015 – present ) . On May 1 , 2015 , Cornette revealed on his latest podcast that he will be working the June 12 – 13 Global Force Wrestling events in Jacksonville and Knoxville , Tennessee . Personal life . Cornette and his longtime girlfriend Stacy Goff , who portrayed independent female wrestler Synn , were married in October 2007 . In September 2009 , during a podcast interview on " Who ' s Slamming Who ? " he voiced his support for President Barack Obama ' s Health Care Reform plans . He also condemned what he considered " fearmongering " from the Republican party , as well as calling former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin " a useless twat " . He acknowledged having voted for Obama in the 2008 election , but does not consider himself a Democrat . His political statements have led to media attention , including an appearance on internet talk show The Young Turks .