The head-to-head ratings between Nitro and Raw changed an average of 0. He was obviously doing something right, going from a 2. The focus was put more on the mid-card talent and less on the main eventers who refused to move out of the spotlight.
Two men Russo had problems with were Hulk Hogan and Goldberg. I'll get onto Hogan in a minute but Goldberg didn't do Russo any favours. He had been made into some sort of monster by Bischoff and famously went on the longest ever undefeated streak in Pro Wrestling history. Russo wanted to rebuild Goldberg's character but that involved taking a loss.
Something which Goldberg really didn't want to do. The fact of the matter was that the guys were too used to doing what they wanted, demanding what they wanted and getting what they wanted when Bischoff was in charge.
Russo tried to come in and do what he did with the WWF break Nitro's 84 week winning streak and revolutionize the company but the chances of him doing that were near enough zero.
One man who was really underutilized by Bischoff was Bret Hart. He and Russo had a surprisingly good relationship considering what happened that night in Montreal if you don't know about that then why the hell are you reading this?! Bret was WCW Champion and was going to help carry the company. Both said they were injured and couldn't wrestle. The plan never actually happened but word got around that he was planning it and he was subsequently removed as head writer.
After refusing to work as part of a booking team, Russo took some time off. As soon as he left, Nitro's rating went straight back down to 2. Doesn't that tell you something? Russo returned three months later to work with Bischoff as they tried to rebuild WCW but the two often locked horns and they weren't getting anywhere. Both men wanted total control and that was something you simply couldn't have after the corporate merger ruined WCW.
I mentioned that Russo had trouble with Hogan; most people do. Not because he's a bad person, he's just an ego maniac. And who can blame him? The man more or less built sports entertainment.
I'm sure you know what happens again, if you don't then do your research, I won't bore you with the details and Hogan more or less tried to screw Russo over.
A lot of things that are said about Russo do have some truth in them but he is not a liar. He had run through the match and ending with Hogan and Bischoff beforehand and even edited it after Hogan refused to lose to Jeff Jarrett. Creative control ruining things yet again.
Jarrett laid down for Hogan and he and Bischoff left the building. Hogan tried to sue Russo for defamation and after a lengthy, drawn out struggle, the case was thrown out. He, Russo and Bischoff have since been re-united at TNA and apparently have a much better relationship.
The main thing that has changed Russo over the years are his newfound religious beliefs. He is a born-again Christian. If you read Rope Opera , you may get a bit sick of his references to God but it's obviously a big part of his life, something you can't blame him for. Over the years, I've always had a bad opinion of Russo. I genuinely disliked the guy and thought Pro Wrestling would be a much better place without him.
However, after doing research and reading his book, I've now come to respect the man. A man that suffered depression doing what he loved doing. That's how screwed up WCW was, way before Russo was anywhere near it. A man that although claims he could walk away from wrestling, obviously loves the sport.
A sport that he has had such a massive influence on, often more positive than negative. Sometimes wrestling fans can be ruthless and there are often casualties along the way.
Thanks for reading, be sure to follow me on twitter at TiltonWarrior and become a fan of mine for more in-depth, quality articles like this! Enjoy our content? Russo was an odd fit for the WCW heel authority role , as a relatively small portion of the overall audience really did.
Things got all the worse when he won the WCW Championship. Warrior would subsequently defend the choice in shoot interviews, indicating he gave everything he had to the fans, including on his entrance, and felt that running as fast as heh could to the ring was a way of giving his all.
While the explanation made some sense, critics remained judgmental about him prioritizing his entrance over his ring work. By now, the repetition is probably unconscious, but nonetheless still carries the stink of someone trying too hard to sound cool.
Jim Cornette has ripped into Russo especially savagely, but he's far from the only one. Warrior was a major WWE star. There he was in , arriving to work for the competition. His debut got all the more electric of a response for him only appearing sparingly on national television for the five years or so to precede it.
Even the greatest wrestlers blow their promos sometimes. Warrior lowered the bar to new depths, though, when he burned off the buzz of his debut over the course of a fifteen-minute-plus promo. On the 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff explained that Warrior simply got lost in the moment and ran long, counter to what was planned.
Nonetheless, Warrior burned a lot of good will with fans and colleagues alike for elongated, disjointed monologue that foretold his lackluster run to follow.
While so many fans remember the Attitude Era through rose-colored glasses, one aspect of it that hardly anyone recalls fondly was the Brawl For All tournament.
An episode of Dark Side of the Ring drilled into the history, including many facts fans didn't know about Brawl For All. Multiple parties pin responsibility for it on Vince Russo.
That includes Russo himself taking credit, suggesting one of his main motivations was to shut up Bradshaw backstage. The consensus is that the tournament was a bad idea, and Russo championing it for personal grudge only makes the concept come off worse. The encounter famously saw Warrior utterly dominate The Game to pick up the pin in one of the shortest matches in WrestleMania history.
According to Cornette, there were plenty of ideas pitched to give Helmsley look good in defeat, but Warrior was only interested in making himself look unstoppable—hence the way the match played out. Triple H himself has played both sides on this issue—speaking negatively about his experience with Warrior in the Self-Destruction documentary, and more recently suggesting it was an honor to put over the legend.
Regardless, other wrestling personalities, too, support the idea that Warrior was unconcerned with helping others get over or protect their characters, and only invested in himself.
Michael Chin is a writer based in Las Vegas, who specializes in covering pro wrestling and other forms of pop culture.
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