STW #51: Vince Russo in the WWF/WWE 

Maynard Breslow cheers bro

Thank God.

Maynard Breslow nice one man.

bro they gotta pays the bills.

The real MVP

And

ElitePizza311 I used to do the exact same thing. I would go to my local vid store and rent all the wrestling PPV’s

There was a mom and pop video rental place by my old house that had a bunch of old Jim Crocket and Mid-South tapes. I loved that place.

And hook up 2 VCRs, dub that shit, and add to the collection. My life from 11-16yo, then I got laid.

@@j.3o21 What happened after that? You chased pussy around until you knocked someone up or something like that? I must've missed out, because when I lost my virginity it wasn't this life-altering experience a lot of other folk had. It was fun, the chick did porno a few months later. I don't think those two things are related, it's just an interesting bit of trivia. I never understood why people mention getting laid at the end of a statement of behavior like someone's either going to judge them for the behavior "naw it's cool bro, I'm not a nerd I got LAID afterwards so that cured me of my questionable hobbies because I spent more time getting fucking LAID! HIGH FIVE!" or the experience was so impactful it changed their entire outlook on existence. Let your freak flag fly, my man. There are more women than men on this planet, you almost have to work at going through this world a chaste shut-in. You can trip and fall into pussy when you least expect it, and for whatever reason the older you get the easier it becomes. I miss being able to waste my time on pointless bullshit.

BS.. things like that ruin Wrestling because it's has NOTHING TO DO WITH WRESTLING

I thought it was CRAP and was pretty SHITTY.

@@jasoncutshaw8401 I have to say with the state of things now, ratings and popularity seem at odds with that statement.

DX invading dubbya See dubbya rashlin was pretty good

@@johnsouthard541 hell yeah it was!

Bro, you don't know the half of it bro. Russo actually invented the very notion of inventing things! Bro! Almost forgot that last one...

Michael Capps what has Bret lied about? His book is lauded by other wrestlers for being so honest?

Terry Beardmore Never seems to connect the dots between his negotiating to leave for WCW in 92’ with the IC to why no one trusted him in 97’. Never mentions how much of a politician he was. Never mentions that his markish obsession for the business is what allowed McMahon to pay him peanuts in comparison with former stars, which directly forced Nash and Hall to negotiate with WCW. Never seems to mention that he didn’t draw when Hogan was on the other side with The Dungeon of Fucking Doom, whilst Michaels couldn’t draw against The NWO. Claims he got more fan mail than Hulk Hogan. Bitches about Montreal as if it was some kind of fucking crime against humanity, when all it was was a man being screwed out of a fake belt. He’s a pathetic wanker. Always has been. He’s remembered for something done to him and the fact his brother died.

Bro, swear to God bro. Me too, bro.

I knew your mom, it's certainly possible.

Russo created the atmosphere but renamed it "air" as a swerve to fool the marks. "Bro. marks are not gonna know the difference, bro. They're marks, bro"

@@pikkon899 lol

@@amd1273 stop laughing. Idiot

Bro!

@Russell Adler fuck Bradshaw

To

Ha! You forgot The word bro in 4 spots!🤣👍 take care man!🍻

BRO, it’s bronounced “BRO’DSHAWRR” bro. Bro, you gotta bro when to bro’d em and bro when to bro’d em, bro.

lol

So its 2 pages now

papamike612 do you have the original copy?

"AND I'LL NEVER FORGET"

Hahahahaha!!!

D2K Prime oh hell yeah! All praise Vince Russo!!

Bro, people love air.

michael forsythe you got that right pal! Air is good shit

Hot air, I could buy

Give this more likes!!!

The 90s was a different time brother. The things that were on prime time television could never be on tv from 2012-now. Kids who grew up in the 90s seen a lot of things that wouldn’t be considered appropriate today but nobody thought anything of it

@@justinthibodeaux6380and it showed with what those kids are now

@@hunterwade9030 what’re those kids now? Men and women in their 30s and 40s with children working in corporate America lol

Russo has always been upset that JR was over.

@@olbloodngut4039 Russo has just done a podcast with JR and frequently says he best announcer ever..

@@peterf08 Ok, I didn't know that, but at the time he had to be upset about JR being over.

He booked himself as champion because his first run in WCW the ratings rose from a 2.8 to a 3.5. They sent him home and brought him back when the ratings dipped again , so out of frustration he booked himself as champion.

I love JR but the truth IS that JR is and alway's has been an asshole behind the scenes and has buried multiple people. He also holds grudges for FAR too long. JR isn't exactly the "good ol' JR" that we saw commentate during the Attitude Era. The guy will alway's be my all time favorite commentator but I've listened to enough shoot interviews to come to the conclusion that JR was/is a douche...him being drunk that one night wasn't the SOLE reason he was fired, they were looking for a reason to fire JR a long while before that because of his attitude and just being a miserable guy in general.

I read both of his books and he said "bro" every three words. Maybe it was edited to just three instead of every other.

@@johnfinne Broconomy bro..

@@johnfinne damn, why’d you put yourself through that?

@@johnfinne was it for a punishment or something?

And then Jim Cornette buried it.

@Anonymous Anonymous 💯👍

I'm glad somebody likes Bruce.

jason hills because your a loser mark who wears new day t shirts lol

But if russo wrote mantar fat bruce would of bashed it

Just amused by the fact that he’s talking complete shit and knows it, but doubled down for a laugh. You guys could do with chilling the fuck out, what you getting so angry about things you’re not involved in for? 😂

Yeah I'm not a big fan of Russo but can you imagine writers on say NCIS being told they now have to write NCIS Los Angeles and NCIS in the same time frame for no additional money. It would never happen.

Fair or not though, that's how it works. The issue was more Russo thinking that it should change for him.

@@Nobleshield that wasn't how it worked then, nor is it how it works now. Back then, they wrote for Raw, PPV + Heat. Thats one weekly full 2 hour show and ppvs, along with heat to tie up any loose ends. There wasn't a precedent of 2 weekly full shows. Now, they have separate writers for separate shows. If your boss just randomly came to you and said he would add an extra two thirds workload, meaning you can never see your family, you have the right to reject it. It's not a fair offer, because it wasn't what was offered then, nor is it what's offered now.

Possibility 1) The "my kid was a case study" story was complete horse-hockey and he just stole his ideas from ECW. Possibility 2) Russo was even getting worked by his own kid and his son was stealing ideas from ECW. Bonus Round: Steve Austin stole his finishing move from Mikey Whipwreck and got the idea for his "3:16" promo from a "Dudley 3:16" sign held aloft by Sign Guy Dudley on the day Steve Austin debuted for the promotion and also he took Sandman's beer gimmick, because Russo isn't the only one who decided it doesn't count if it's not on network television.

@@fuzzydunlop7928 possibility 3- ADD Russo threw a whole bunch of ideas out there, most were juvenile. And Vince cmahon took the turds and found the pearls.

Even Tho Some Of His Booking From That Era Could Be Useful In WWE Right Now,Nothing Too Crazy Like The Owen Stunt. But Still A Decent Edgy Vibe On The Show.

Its called "Attitude Era Bro"

He doesn't book anything. He doesn't work with any major wrestling promotion.

@@GLPitt1 Check out Devotion Championship Wrestling. Russo books for them right now.

It's actually not Vince said the business needed to develop into a more reality based programme and he was right because that's we're TV is today

It's always been called a 'hash' in the UK

Back in my day we split the difference and just called it a pound of hash.

It was all his idea bro.

John Wigmore “Idear”

I knew somebody like that, too. It's almost a compulsive thing, like they don't even realize that's what they're doing.

Considering he's offered multiple times to come on the show and invited Bruce Conrad Cornette and bitchoff to come on his show and debate it man to man and they all were afraid to shows who was lying and who wasn't. Oh and he (Russo) pronouns pal aired a clip of The Rock giving him credit for what he claimed on a talk show years ago...I know who I believe. Prichard Cornette and bitchoff are all well known for talking bullshit and lying.

@@mrrickson3571 No one's AFRAID to go on Russo's show. They don't want to bring him any business. These people apply wrestling principles to their podcasts - it's all a work and by going on someone's show they agree to "work" with them - i.e. Don Callis and Disco Inferno bury each other all the time, but always end up going on each other's little shows, because they know that stimulates interest in both of their programs.

Wrestling has changed so much now that i don't think Russo could book anything edgey as it would offend the marks now

@Raoul's Eyepatch highest RAW and TNA ratings in both their history but he sucks because some wrestling mark on youtube said so 😂

no that was ego my friend

@@melbias5046 how do Russo’s dingleberries taste?

@@Redhotshawntexas I don't know but you should know since your thinking about them.

Even worse, you can't see how showing your face in the midst of a disease battle is Jim Ross needing to feel the love of all his fans, to continue to endure the battle and reinforce his fire to overcome an unfortunate set of life's cards. Sorry buddie, but your perception of Jim's battle with this disease is a flawed inability to sympathize with the man's reasoning in showing himself to the public after the fact. Sounds like you and Russo would be great fishing pals!

@@justinrieper8883Bell's palsy isn't a disease.

I just recently listened to cornett's show a few weeks ago and I feel your correct on think it was cornies came up with the finish I just the way he told the story as he tells it screwing bret was not even a thought it was just do it this way and get the belt off him. And if bret just went to the back and went to wcw after it would have never been as big as it is now bret just never left it alone and was all but hurt

I'm not saying Cornette is lying about all of this, but how is this possible when he wasn't an agent then? They would have leaned more on Jack Lanza or Patterson for match layouts.

Yep, Russo is still trying to interject himself, trying to take credit for things he never did. Inflating his own importance. It's easy to think "oh, Cornette is exaggerating about Russo", until you hear stories from Russo's own book. Then it becomes apparent - hes as bad, if not worse, than how Cornette has portrayed him. Russo was constantly trying to undercut, and destroy his coworkers, by bad-mouthing them to bosses and higher-ups. Everything Cornette has said about him, has been corroborated. And it's a pattern of behaviour. Just read the email Russo sent to Dixie Carter, trying to get Cornette fired from TNA. Routinely doing the same things. Not talented, not creative - actually, any actual work seems to have been done by Es Ferrara. Russo's speciality, it seems, was manipulation.

No shit

83 ads

Brandon Ford Do you have a deathwish?

Thank you. Between the product plugs and RU-vid's ads, this is unbearable. And I work in advertising.

Podcast ads or youtube ads? they both are out if control

That makes no real sense besides being vengeful. Netflix sucks. I don't think you understand how things actually work; not just what you're meant to believe.

Being vengeful can be sweet.

Ready with Charge Kimbo.

Yeah, his Funk is perfect. He has that little warble down pat. And his Vince is priceless. "God damn it, pal!" pops into my head all the time.

M

I love the Terry Funk impersonation but the best is when Cornette does an impression of Bruce doing his Corny impression.

Dhh 55u6 7ol llo lpij cz cz ,5÷,+

Yup, the women will only go so far with McMahon In charge because they will never be pushed to the top of the card….like headlining nights of wrestlemania and being pushed beyond belief. Russo is such a lying self righteous tool, among many other things. He created stone cold, the rock, the attitude slogan/era, the screw job, heel McMahon, Triple H, and Chyna and many others. He’s basically a creative genius. It’s a little known fact that the guy who wrote RAW by copying stuff he saw from Jerry Springer was also the ghost writer for some of the greatest movies ever like Casino, Goodfellas , and The Godfather. And lots more. Just an EXPERT story teller with limitless creativity smh.

Depends on their age I could see someone taking their 16-17 year olds.

I used to watch Robocop religiously when I was in elementary... I'd say that's worse than American Pie.

@@jesselewis525 I'd buy that for a dollar!

I like to think unemployment keeps a leash on it for the time being.

Cornette's is bigger

romans52345 As is his bank account...

@@Carelock Cornette got no money

romans52345 You right, most people I know with 10 acres and a 5000 square ft house who don’t work are struggling mightily.

Of course Bruce didn't read that book who would want to torture themselves like that and as far as checking out I don't know about that cause yeah he disagreed with a lot of things said in the book sure but he also gave Vince russo a lot of credit In this interview and agree to alot of what Russo said and that's really what makes me believe Bruce's point of view. Russo's biggest problem is that it's not good enough that he was a big time player in the attitude era he needs everyone to confirm that he was the only player and that just not the case.

He said a few times that he didn’t yet read the book & a lot of the stuff he heard was news to him

The 1:47:13 mark seems to exemplify that!

9u I 9u and I'm 99.1 99.1 for for you guys 👦

​@@tommyhallum2054 by checking out I think he meant, it noticeably deflated Bruce somewhat. It perhaps struck a nerve as there may have been some truth in what Russo said about Bruce not being a sincere person. Notice how Bruce mentions they *used* to be friends. Then later when asked if it's standard for WWF employees to cut people off when they leave the company, Bruce says yes and that there's a strange culture in the WWF. Something Bruce himself was guilty of.

You know bro I I I I I I d I ya ya know bro Jeff bro these marks bro. Fuckin bird man but he is entertaining.

Doctor Bastard aaas

I'm gonna be completely honest with you bro.

Yeah bro I know bro, do you know bro? Huh bro? These marks bro they..theyre so freaking out of control bro. Bro bro bro bro bro

How does he talk to girls?

Bro…

Corny is going to lose his mind

Lmao

That’s hilarious. Lol

Me too. It fit the gimmick of the Brood.

I liked that every wrestler got scared or grossed out except Big Bossman "they d'un pissed me off!"

Lol

Yes I agree, I feel Bruce is being childish and wont ever give Russo credit for anything. Part of his behavior is why I don't trust Bruce anymore than I do Russo

Well Bruce gives JR and Cornett credit

Probably because Russo takes credit for stuff that he didn't create

Chapter 101: I swear to God the end Bro.

@@scottyb003 bra

Preface word by Matt Riddle.

Right?! What a douche.

I remember that one. Taker knocked goofy. Austin said that match isnt his favorite.

crashintonickdm he really is the anti Christ of pro wrestling. That was a shoot!

His ability to sucker other companies into exactly this is why he kept getting work

Hmm, Vince Russo = God, confirmed?

That’s actually not true , he has a series where he covers all of the episodes of the attitude era starting from 12/15/97 and he religiously admits to where he messes up ... stop believing what you hear and think for yourself.

It's about damn time someone else agrees on this. Besides, as I've said before, NOBODY was even aware that Russo was the head writer for the WWF until years after when the business began to become exposed. And then people make comments as if they were there and know what was going on. Now I know I say some dumb things a lot of times, but just don't front like you knew for yourself how the guy operated.

About sums it up

How’s my bro, bro.

Find a new idol. Cornette likes to watch other men sleep with his wife.

@@Rschr101 He likes to share, so what?

@@Rschr101 Cornette's personal life is irrelevant as it relates to his knowledge and understanding of professional wrestling. I disagree with Cornette's political leanings, but as wrestling is concerned, there's practically nobody more knowledgable.

Corny is pissed because he didn’t creat the attitude era. Simple

jason battaglia 🤣🤣🤣

Juan Jimenez that's definitely something Vince would do

It might be on the Heartbreak and Triumph dvd but yes, Vince tested out the zipline personally

Russo does deserve some credit though. His writing was good at that point.

@SPACE MONKEY1102 yes I know why he's hated. Just saying the early AE stuff was gold.

Gotta give some credit to the Hardyz, edge and Christian, and the dudlyz for injecting life into the tag teams

@@dkres82 Nope. His writing was abysmal. His ideas were idiotic. From the Brawl for All to Beaver Cleavage to Meat to Hawk wanting to committ suicide to Kai-En-Tai wanting to castrate Val Venis he only wrote shit. He also wanted to kill any momentum popular wrestlers had (as Mick Foley writes in his first book, when the Rock & Sock Connection took off and became popular, Russo wanted to do 10 segments with them in just one Raw Show. Foley and Rock vetoed because they knew that would be overkill and kill them instantly with the crowd or the other example when during the height of Austin's run Russo insisted that he should do a feud with Jeff Jarrett - and lose to him. Austin rightfully vetoed) The absurd thing is that Russo even gets credit for stuff he had nothing to do with it. Like creating Goldust (that was mostly Vince McMahon), Kane (Cornette and Prichard booked his first few months) or the "This is your Life" segment (which was the idea of WWF Photographer Bill Banks upon which Foley and Rock improvised most of the stuff) or Austin - McMahon which basically was completely made by those two on their own. So no, his writing wasn't good at all, it was already abysmal but because the WWF at the time had one of the greatest Rosters in the history of Wrestling nobody seemed to really notice since the Top Stars were basically booking and improvising thier own ideas with Vince McMahon chiming in every once and again before he became completely idiotic (after all Katie Vick was his idea...) Really, Russo did nothing different in WWF than what he did in WCW and TNA later with the sole difference that most of his "ideas" were shot down in WWF while everywhere else he had a free hand and could show just how clueless he was about wrestling.

He had a million ideas but only about 10 ideas were ok then Vinny and Pat put their spin on it to make it gold

As opposed to the "genius" of Vince McMahon before Russo became part of creative? McMahon and his ultra creative ideas of wrestling plumbers, tax agents, hockey goons, repo men, pirates, mounties, mantaurs, res roosters, vikings, clowns, body donnas, max moons, police officers, hog farmers, ball players on strike, alligator men, ninjas, gobbledygookers, garbage men, evil dentists, giant sasquach, a masked guy named "who"? ... and I can go one.

Ryan Stevens you need some help

Ryan is right actually ..stuff Russo wrote was trash for most part but today's product somehow some way set the bar even lower

Russo is HOT!!

Agreed

@You Suck "for most part but today's product somehow some way set the bar even lower" Isn't that the best way to describe the stuff Russo wrote in WCW and TNA?

So it’s not just me!

@@andrewlivingston1590 Nope! Lol I don't even know how many times I have relistened. ,I do know the number is high.

Yeah I’m at about 6 or 7 😂😂

Vince thought Vince needed Vince more than Vince needed Vince

Troy Wright lol yeah. It happens a lot. Conrad asks in great detail and then Bruce repeats it as if he was gonna say that the whole time.

Rick Bradley idiot

Rick Bradley ummmm....you just used an insult as a rebuttal.

Katie Vick

Your mom... jk, he takes credit for that 😊

Brooooo

A. Thats because of the PC world we live in and the lack of control they give the wrestlers today on the control of there characters which makes them the "superstars" like rock and stone cold. Russo was part of creative not the jesus of pro wrestling who gave us the attitude era.

He was in the right place and right time for 3 years writing an ultra successful, never been surpassed, breaking into popular culture TV show every single week for 3 years. Let me say that again - he was in the right place at the right time every week handing Vince McMahon a show for 3 years? Seriously? You don't think that maybe McMahon would've fired Vince if he was simply in the right place at the right time? More like Vince Russo the most successful writer in the history of wrestling HELPED THIS TO BE THE RIGHT TIME AND PLACE?! Someone had to write for DX, Rock, Stone Cold, McMahon. Someone gave them the story , acknowledge who gave them those stories and give the man the credit he deserves. In any other profession the most successful writer in its historys peers and fans would not pretend that he was but a footnote. Seriously, the man was head writer for 3 years, the most successful writer EVER!

He’s not that good, he’s good with others involved, but he’s not this creative writer that you just made him sound like. He did help write the show, but others were involved including Cornette, Prichard, wrestling talent and the boss himself Vince McMahon. Russo does get some credit, but not all you seem to be giving him. On his own, Russo’s writing is just not good and he books VERY short matches with overbooked finishes. Example you ask??? “A 4 way ladder match with Kevin Nash as special guest referee!!!!”

@@mwcarolina Are you a Jackass or just play one on the internet???? RUSSO WAS THE HEAD WRITER.

Yeah he was the head writer, but JR had some pull as did Cornette and Prichard. In WWE the show wasn’t Russo’s show, it was a collection of talented men and in the end McMahon had the final word....When Russo is on is own look at WCW....he made that company worse than when he first started there

Mark Jett too late lmao it’s already watered down dog shit

VKM probably overruled a shit ton.

More because he had Vince working as a filter. Every other company just let him go whatever he wanted.

He was brought in as a writer to boost ratings. Which he did for WWF, WCW, and TNA. How did he "kill" any wrestling company? He was only a small cog in a huge machine.

@@GLPitt1 no he started as a writer for the magazine then was given the job on the creative team and then shared head of creative with jim cornette and schemed to get cornette fired and then after cornette left he was solo head of creative, and he was never a writer for any other company, he only worked on creative and at wcw he replaced bischoff and then was later fired after ratings tanked and bischoff was brought back.

Correct he was completely wrong, but has apologized. Its amazing though he's the only 1 who get blamed for making fun of JR when it was Vince McMahon leading the charge.

Except for the Brawl for all

Bro, he invented wrestling, bro.

He doesn't want credit but damn it if someone else is going to get credit! so he wants credit. He really does want credit, like wwe having credits at the end of show. the only man i know who had "produced by vince russo" put on the pamphlets of the World Wrestling Allstars shows.

Stop jordan. Just

@@Super122291 haha fuck off dude. Russo is shit, always has been always will be.

DM87 Helps that he married his daughter.

But then he done roids and Vince's eyes lit up

He was already main eventing when he got involved with steph. ;)

Vince McMahon also nearly gave the go-ahead to fire John Cena in late 2002.

He also apparently said Shawn Michaels would never be the World Champion

+bill gates - hey, I HATE Vince Russo, but I wouldn't go THAT far! Gillberg vs. Ellsworth would be better than ANYTHING POS Russo did, especially in WCW - imho, that is. ;-)

+Nick Conte, my understanding is that Russo WAS purposely obnoxious - well, maybe to say purposely ARROGANT for sure. The biggest mystery is how in the HELL did he ever convince McMahon to hire him in the first place!!

Ryan Andrew Black Were you even old enough to watch WCW? Why don’t you watch 1999 WCW shows, truth is it was 100X better than WWE is today as far as creative goes. Don’t get production mixed with creative! Russo’s production was horrible in WCW but if you watch it he had some good ideas & if he was able to stick with it, things would’ve been better.

WCW was an entire different beast but, it was dysfunctional from the top down. Even bischoff wanted to quit earlier than he did because of it. Russo jumped onto a sinking ship, he didnt have control over benoit, saturn, guerrero, malenko leaving or bret hart getting concussed and forcing him to retire, or goldberg nearly losing his arm smashing limos. I'm no Russo fan, he did a lot of bad stuff but WCW had probably 5/6 guys as a collective you could blame for its quality and downfall

​@@CarterHayes77 Russo jumped onto a sinking ship but he definitely wasn't removing water with a bucket as much as he was putting in new holes to make it sink faster. Arquette as champion? All the pole matches? His terrible on screen persona? His shoot on Hogan? WCW was floundering after the Halloween Havoc 98 debacle and the Fingerpoke Of Doom in 99 but Russo would have been one of those guys as a collective you could blame for its quality and downfall. His tenure was pure garbage.