Jim Cornette Resigns From National Wrestling Alliance After Offensive On-Air Statement

Publish date: 2024-07-26

Professional wrestling mainstay Jim Cornette has resigned his position with the National Wrestling Alliance.

“Effective immediately: Jim Cornette has resigned from the National Wrestling Alliance,” the company said in a statement released Wednesday. “As an announcer on the November 19th edition of ‘NWA Power,’ Jim made remarks during a singles match between Nick Aldis and Trevor Murdoch that were both offensive and do not meet the high standards of decency and good faith of the National Wrestling Alliance. To ensure that such an error can never happen again, we’ve established new procedures of review for all NWA programming going forward. We sincerely regret our failure in this regard.”

Cornette had been working as a color commentator on the NWA’s recently-launched weekly YouTube wrestling show, “NWA Power,” but during the Nov. 19 episode he said, “[Trevor Murdoch] is the only man I’ve ever known that can strap a bucket of fried chicken on his back and ride a motor scooter across Ethiopia. Trevor Murdoch can take care of himself!” Viewers quickly condemned the statement as racist, with the NWA briefly pulling the episode off of YouTube to edit it out.

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Cornette has been in the professional wrestling business for most of his life, working in numerous major and independent promotions. Throughout that time he has worked in various onscreen and behind the scenes roles, including as a commentator, promoter, and manager. He also currently hosts two podcasts, “The Jim Cornette Experience” and “Jim Cornette’s Drive Thru.”

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Around the same time the NWA released their statement, Cornette posted the following on Twitter: “Morning everybody! Heard any good jokes lately? This coming Friday’s Jim Cornette Experience (wherever you find your favorite podcasts) is liable to be a good one if you like hearing stupid people told what they can do with their stupidity.”

The NWA was originally founded in 1948, with “Smashing Pumpkins” frontman Billy Corgan purchasing the brand in 2017. Based in Atlanta, “Power” was launched in early October and was positioned as a throwback to the studio style of wrestling show of the 1970s and 1980s.

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