Manager of champions Jim Cornette has commented on the passing of NWA star Jocephus and how he was loved by all who met him for his strong work ethic.
On February 24 the world of professional wrestling mourned the loss of National Wrestling Alliance star Jocephus – also known by his alter-ego The Question Mark – who tragically passed away from what was originally said to be unknown circumstances.
While wrestling’s great and good paid their respects to a man they loved and admired, many awaited the words of Jim Cornette who worked with the talent during his time as a commentator for the company in 2019.
Now, Cornette has taken to his Drive-Thru podcast in order to talk about the man behind the Question Mark and why everyone loved him thanks to a strong work ethic that is rarely seen in the industry today. Firstly, Cornette expressed his shock at the loss:
“That came out of nowhere because he was only like 40 years old. And I guess they said it was either some kind of stroke or aneurism or something like that and I guess there was no advance notice that he was in any bad health. I didn’t know him very well but I did work with him on those NWA shows in Nashville and Atlanta over the last couple of years. He had worked with them quite a while back because he was from the Nashville area, he’d worked all the independents there…he was a nice guy, he really was, and I hated to hear that.”
After paying his respects to the star, Cornette then went on to talk about how the real life Joseph Hudson would knuckle down to any job given, be it for Billy Corgan and the NWA or for Dark Side of the Ring who he worked for as a reconstructor on the Bruiser Brody special:
“He knew he was not a world class athlete and that’s not to knock him because he knew that, he was just a hard worker and he liked being in the wrestling business. He did the same things I told the guys in OVW or I told everybody to do, he was good at different things, he was doing a lot of the editing work for the revamped NWA when they were doing the YouTube stuff and the shows in the studio in Atlanta, and he had worked with the Dark Side of The Ring guys…before he shaved his head at one point he had long hair so he could be their Bruiser Brody duplicate in their re-enactments in silhouette and he’d has a variety of different gimmicks.
Billy Corgan and everyone in the NWA liked to find things for him to do. The Question Mark thing, I can’t defend it because it was silly but the fans, instead of the promotion were the ones that kind of pushed it because they realised who it was and they just liked the guy and they wanted to cheer for him. I feel bad for his wife and his kids and everything for something like that to happen and…he didn’t have any bad habits that I aware of, he didn’t have any reputation for abusing anything…there’s no reason for a guy like that to have bad health. So I was sorry to hear about that. He was a nice guy and even though I was only around him on the NWA shows it was clear everybody enjoyed working with him and he was smart too.”
Prior to his death, Joseph Hudson had popularised The Question Mark gimmick and last competed between the ropes on the May 12, 2020, edition of NWA Super Powerrr when he teamed with Aaron Stevens to battle The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express.
Credit for the interview: Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru