Nick Aldis Talks Jim Cornette’s Abrupt Departure From NWA, Into The Fire PPV
Photo Credit: Bill Pritchard
NWA World Champion Nick Aldis was a guest on VOC Nation’s In the Room program this week to talk about the upcoming Into the Fire PPV to talk about a wide range of topics.
The following was issued:
On fan interest in the upcoming PPV: “We’ve been blown away with the pre-sale and the numbers and the interest and everything. It’s an indication that business is still on the up…Everyone is focused on that one thing, growth; we need to keep building brick by brick.”
On James Storm: “When we talk about (someone) who embodies the spirit what we are trying to achieve with the NWA, James is right at the top of the list in many ways. You’re talking about a guy who knows how to tell stories in the ring, have great matches, and whether you like him or not, he’s a guy who has 100% conviction and believes in who he is. He’s as brash, outgoing, and gregarious as a wrestler should be in many ways…He’s wrestled a who’s who of the industry, and is a who’s who of the industry in many ways himself. He’s a seasoned professional.”
On Jim Cornette’s abrupt departure: “Jim has unbelievable passion for the business…He was a little bit involved as far as (behind the scenes), but really more from a consulting point of view. He certainly had no official capacity. I’ll be real: My take on it was that his podcast persona, for lack of a better term, was bleeding into and influencing our show and our audience. That was a problem. I am more than happy for any one in our audience to have an opinion on anything. What I don’t want, and again this is just me, is so early on in (our growth) to very quickly establish that we are this opinionated promotion with opinionated fans. This is not about Jim’s fans, or AEW fans, or WWE fans. I’m personally really over this divisive culture that we’re in now. There’s more information and opinion available than ever, so people should be more open to opposing views or new information. Instead, we sort of live in the opposite. Everyone is emboldened because they live in echo chambers on social media where you choose to follow people who agree with you and vice versa, and so then your so emboldened by all these people going ‘you’re right, F everybody else.’…If something is stupid I’ll say it’s stupid, and many times I agreed with Jim on many of his takes on some of the other stuff in the business. We didn’t want the show and the talent to be constantly overshadowed by a controversial commentator… Here’s the problem that I’m seeing; that episode had Trevor Murdoch completely stepping into the light after several years of being away from the spotlight. It was Trevor Murdoch’s coming out party so to speak… and then it’s Melina’s debut, but none of that mattered and no one remembered it because everyone was talking about something else which was totally unnecessary… I want the NWA to be trending for the right reasons.”
On Jim Cornette’s controversial commentary: “I have defended Jim (in the past) for stuff that was in my opinion recreational outrage…it doesn’t come down to that; what it comes down to is being a distraction. We’ve got an hour to make an impression and get everyone talking and wanting to tune in next week. If all everyone is talking about is arguing and wanting a different commentator, it puts us in a difficult spot….we thank Jim for everything he did; ultimately he can go back to his podcast and say whatever the hell he wants, and we don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
In the Room airs live on VOC Nation every Tuesday night at 9PM ET with Pro Wrestling Illustrated contributor Brady Hicks and crew, legendary guests, and listener calls.
Featuring guests from wrestling personalities such as Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Joey Styles, Matt Hardy, and Mick Foley, to entertainers like Lou Ferrigno, The Insane Clown Posse, Roberta Flack, and Kristy Swanson,
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Link to the interview here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/vocnation/episodes/2019-12-10T21_12_14-08_00
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