In the Valley: Jim Cornette invites you to take a tour of Ohio Valley Wrestling, where the WWF is mining for new talent - Interview

Wrestling Digest, Feb, 2002 by Jason Scales

So he was able to lose weight. The guy's 7'2" inches, so he's still huge. But he did lose about 60 pounds when he was here. He was also able to do the drills he was never able to do when he was starting out and learn some of the tricks. He was able to go back and learn to read after he'd already been writing essays. It will help him in the future, because there are a lot of things he missed out on because of the way he was introduced to the business.

WD: What has Mark Henry been working on in OVW?

JC: Mark Henry is a phenomenon. He signed his WWF contract at 412 pounds, and he weighed in at 327. He looks like a different human being from the last time he was on WWF TV. He came to us [in May 2000] weighing about 385. He is doing leapfrogs now and different moves that he had never even attempted before. He has lost weight and gotten in better shape while still retaining a lot of his strength. He has progressed in his wrestling repertoire. Mark had a bad reputation of being a bad wrestler. He came out of the Olympics, he was signed to a contract, and he was thrown in the ring. He had a broken leg early in his training, which set him back. Then they rushed him right into matches. He got even less training than Big Show did.

He's a wonderful human being, and he's motivated. He has fit right in with the program, and he doesn't hold his Olympian status over the other guys in the locker room. He's a better wrestler than he was the last time folks saw him on WWF television. He's in a lot better shape and mentally he's more prepared for the wrestling business. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, but in this case I hope he will because he has earned it.

WD: With Extreme Championship Wrestling and WCW becoming part of the WWF and ratings and attendance declining, do you think the business is in recession, and are you worried about your guys not having places to wrestle?

JC: With ECW, it's not a case of a wrestling recession, it's a case of bad business. These guys are all pointed toward the WWF, because that's the place where money can be made and where they can be stars. There will always be professional wrestling, unfortunately there are not a lot of places right now that are run well and are drawing, but there's always Japan. The WWF is as strong as it ever was, and just because WCW and ECW fell victim to bad business, that doesn't mean people don't want to see wrestling. They just want to see good wrestling. Things change rapidly in this business. By the time these guys are ready to go, it could all change again, and there could be 15 places they could go.

RELATED ARTICLE: Cornette Scouts the Valley's Talent.

NICK DINSMORE

"He's 23 years old with four years experience, and he is a great technical wrestler. He and Chris Benoit tore the house down for 20 minutes in the Garden [at the Christmas Chaos show on January 31, 2001]. He does things like a veteran. In 10 years he could be the next Dean Malenko or Chris Benoit."

BROCK LESNAR

"He is so massive and powerful. He's 300 pounds, hard as a rock, and does shooting star presses. More than that, he's 23 years old and coachable. He's been an athlete all his life, and he's really going to be a major player."