Jim Cornette has once again taken aim at AEW's in ring style, this time reacting to the highly acclaimed match between Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland at Forbidden Door 2026, which received a 5.5 star rating from longtime wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer.

Speaking on his podcast, Cornette argued that today's AEW main events rely too heavily on spectacle at the expense of believable wrestling fundamentals. He criticized what he sees as excessive near falls, ignored rules, referee distractions, and elaborate sequences that he believes undermine the credibility of a match.

Cornette said, “Good Lord. Every finish, every piece of excess, they bury the referee, ignore the rules, act like video game characters, and kick out of everything to the point where it’s not only unbelievable, it’s ridiculous. They fulfill their own self-aggrandizing, masturbatory fantasies because they think, ‘Well, nobody deserves to get out of here before 12:30 in the morning. We’re going to do what we want.’”

He went on to argue that an emphasis on eye catching spots has come at the expense of the basics, claiming many wrestlers have neglected core fundamentals such as striking, holds, positioning, and ring psychology.

Cornette continued, “Well, besides that, it’s a whole different scale because when you look at the overall level of the rottenness of the basics of how guys work today, because they’re all concentrating on trying to do these convoluted spots, set up cool sh*t, and work with the furniture, everybody’s punches, arm drags, Irish whips, basic holds, and basic positioning have fallen to hell.”

To illustrate his point, Cornette compared modern wrestling to a well written film that suffers because of poor production quality.

He added, “So to me, I’m sorry, but I think it’s like having a movie with a really good story, but you hire a guy from the front of Home Depot to be the cinematographer and it ends up looking like a home movie. That takes away from it.

“It’s the same thing. You can do all your spots and all your furniture, but if you can’t actually make the sh*t in the middle look right, I’m deducting points. Screw you.”

Cornette has long been one of AEW's harshest critics, particularly when it comes to the promotion's faster paced, high impact match style, making his latest comments consistent with opinions he has expressed for years.