?Reported by Ryan Droste of WrestleView.com

On Friday, July 8, 2005 at 3:00 PM EST

It has been announced on WWE.com that Jim Cornette, whom has been one of the main people in charge of the Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory, has been released.

Cornette had been on "thin ice" so to speak with the WWE for several months due to several disagreements and issues. He was very close to being fired around 2 months ago when he lost his temper on numerous occasions. It is believed that the nail in the coffin for his release happened at the Ohio Valley Wrestling television tapings on Wednesday night, Dave Meltzer is reporting.

Cornette became enraged at wrestler Johnny Geo Basco after Basco had taken part in an angle that was supposed to be portrayed as serious and scary, but Basco ended up laughing in the ring. It was reported that Cornette slapped Basco several times backstage as well as tore into him verbally.

The angle that was taped involved wrestler Marty Wright playing his "Boogey Man" character. The character had been introduced to fans as being a dangerous man due to a past criminal record, and he was also being portayed as a sociopathical liar. You may remember Wright for taking place in the Tough Enough series in the past, where he was kicked off the show for lying, which is where the character trait of being a "sociopathical liar" for the Boogey Man stemmed from. They also stated when describing his character that he was a sociopathical liar based on a background check, which is a story created just for the character. The part about him having a past criminal record is a work created for the character.

During the OVW tapings, Wright did a run-in. Geo Basco was in front of the fans during the run-in, and instead of selling the Boogey Man character and acting frightened, Basco just laughed at him in front of the crowd.

Afterwards, Cornette reportedly lost his temper and screamed at Basco for screwing up a major OVW angle. This is also when Cornette slapped Basco more than once. It should be noted that many of the wrestlers defended Cornette for tearing into Basco verbally, but it is said that not even the wrestlers could defend the physical part of the exchange.

Credit: WWE.com & Wrestling Observer

Back to Wrestleview.com