"He seemed very unmotivated" - Jim Cornette details former world champion being uncomfortable throughout major WWE run
Jim Cornette recently shared some details about a former World Heavyweight Champion's demeanor during their time together at WWE developmental in the early 2000s. It was a response to Batista's comments about his time in OVW and how it "stunted his growth" back then.
The wrestler-turned-actor was a guest on Insight with Chris Van Vliet and described his time working with Cornette. He had nothing but praise for the former WWE manager but admitted that he felt that OVW didn't help him develop as they should have.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette responded to Batista's comments. He appreciated the kind words The Animal had to say about him and explained his side of the story.
"Dave, at that time, I've said he was very meek, and I appreciate the nice things he said about me. I'm not saying anything bad about him except he was very meek and he seemed very unmotivated a lot of times because I don't think he was comfortable with the gimmick," Cornette said. [3:57 - 4:12]
Batista wrestled as Leviathan in OVW, which was booked by Jim Cornette from 1999 to 2005. Cornette helped shape the careers of stars like Batista, John Cena, Brock Lesnar, and Randy Orton, who were all part of the same class at one point in time.
Jim Cornette explains the root of the rumored beef between him and Batista
While Batista and Jim Cornette have mutual respect, the rumored beef between the two remained unexplained until now. Cornette shared on the recent episode of his podcast that it started with Batista's autobiography about his time in OVW.
Cornette didn't appreciate The Animal's remarks about not learning anything in development despite having the best trainers and teachers in pro wrestling.
"It's nice that he's clarified things because originally, the bone of contention was, from what I recall again after the years have gone, by his blanket statement in his book was, 'I didn't learn anything in OVW.' And I'm like, 'Really? You didn't learn anything from Danny Davis, from Rip Rogers, from all of the WWE-affiliated trainers and coaches and producers that came down, from Tom Pritchard to Al Snow.' I can't remember who was going through it his specific time period," Cornette said. [14:37 - 15:10 in the video above]
Despite his seemingly not so satisfactory personal experience at OVW, Batista thrived on the main roster and won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2005. He had an undefeated streak at developmental, which led to a call-up in 2002 as Deacon Batista and the rest is history.