Wrestling News & Rumors The other side of WrestlingRevealed.com

Vince Russo Interview

Interview Recap Of Vince Russo On The Pain Clinic
Rich “Cashman” Jones | www.feelthepain.net

Show: The Pain Clinic

Air Date: 02/20/2010

Guest: Vince Russo

Host(s): Rich “Cashman” Jones
Dangerboy
The Artiste

Vince Russo on “The Pain Clinic” – 2/20/2010

Host introduces Russo and notes that Russo was part of the creative team in the WWF when the highest rated segment in wrestling history: an 8.4 rating starring “The Rock” and “Mankind” (The Rock and Sock Connection).

Russo said he feels the Hogan/Bischoff meeting in late 2009 was a great time to end his new book as the events that happen afterwards will be the good start of a third book that he is planning on writing. He talks about the “Fire Russo!” chants and says when they were happening (and he isn’t pointing fingers), he wasn’t head of creative of the time. He said when the chants happened, there were segments in the ring that he had nothing to do with.

He talks about the TNA LockDown pay-per-view a few years ago with the electified cage when the “Fire Russo!” chants were louder than he ever heard. He said he was actually leading those chants louder than anyone. He said when the concept of an electrified cage was first presented to him, he said there was no way to do that in a believable manner or fashion. But at the time, he wasn’t head of creative. He didn’t become head of creative for TNA until this past July.

The host says Russo went to WCW in October 1999 and people were calling Russo the savior and when WCW wasn’t saved, they put the blame on Russo. He said when he was interviewed for the job at WCW and it was WWF killing WCW in the ratings (not the other way around), Russo would always say over and over again that ratings wouldn’t turn around overnight. It wouldn’t be “instant gratification”. To build ratings, it takes years of good consistent weekly TV and he knew that based on what he did with the WWE. All the money/resources/talent that WWE had, it took 2-3 years to climb over WCW. When he interviewed for the WCW job, he knew it wouldn’t turn around in 3 months and he made it clear.

When he started working in WCW, they wanted results immediately. He said he told them before he took the job that it doesn’t happen that way. Russo was one month into the job and everyone wanted WCW to overtake WWE in the ratings; Russo said that wasn’t going to happen. There were unrealistic expectations and he wasn’t the one that gave them the expectations.

The host mentions TNA as opposed to WCW and whether Dixie Carter/Spike Executives have the knowledge that ratings will grow slowly instead of instant success. Russo says everyone wants the ratings to change overnight. It’s not just the wrestling world. He says in the television world and that doesn’t happen. It takes years of constant programming. He says there are people in his own company that has that same mentality that wants things to happen right away. Russo says he understands that but it’s not a reality. He says going into the Monday Night War, he doesn’t expect TNA to take a chunk of the WWE audience in the next 3 months, or 6 months – he says if anyone expects that to happen, it’s not going to happen – it’s not realistic.

Host asks about the ratings spike on January 4 and the curiosity factor that the television executives may have had. Russo says that if they get people to click to their show during commercials week-in and week-out put a better show than WWE on a consistent basis, over a period of time, they’ll win some of those fans over.

Host brings up Bash At The Beach 2000. Thoughts on working with Hogan and after hearing Hogan was coming to TNA. Russo says there was no contact between them outside of depositions for 10 years. Russo watched Hogan on TV, “Hogan Knows Best”, caught a lot of interviews, but there was no contact – so he was going into a situation with a lot of unknown. Russo says over those 10 years, he has changed a lot, his perspective and goals on life has changed. He says knowing what Hulk had gone through in his personal life, Hogan would have changed as well. Russo was open-hearted, not expecting bad things to happen, and wanted to start things over new.

In his first meeting with Hogan at TNA, they talked about Bash At The Beach and Russo heard Hogan’s perspective and vice versa. Hogan said it was a misunderstanding and miscommunication. Russo says it means a lot to him to put Hogan at this stage in his life on this pedastal and to be able to work with Hulk/Eric in a positive situation. He said there was nothing positive about his WCW experience. Thus far, he says things have been great for him.

Host mentions “Rope Opera” was fantastic and notes details on Jeremy Borash, Disco Inferno, and Standards & Practices in WCW. Host asks if TNA is more looser: giving Russo more room to work with. Russo says that when Ed Ferrara and him went to WCW, they knew about Standards & Practices. It was when they got there, the things that Standards & Practices were raising red flags for – he thought they were ridiculous. He said he never thought in a million years that those issues would be brought up. He said they did some of that stuff on Spike TV and nobody thought twice about. He says he doesn’t know of one incident that Spike said “No” to, but Russo/Ferrara were responsible. They were responsible in WCW as well but the stuff Standards & Practices were coming back with was ridiculous. He mentions Roseanne at 3pm would be cussing at John Goodman. Russo said he wanted Hall/Nash to show up at a taping drunk; Standards & Practices said they couldn’t get drunk but Hall could drink Nyquil and get a buzz off of that.

Host asks if TNA needs to push the boundaries a bit to compete with WWE. Russo said he doesn’t; he says he thinks WWE’s show is “terrible”. He said when WCW was beating them back in the day, WWF had to push the boundaries because the nWo was on fire. Bischoff/Hogan/Hall/Nash were doing stuff that hadn’t been done before in wrestling which put them and the WWF in a position that had to push things as far as they could to get noticed.

Russo says as a wrestling fan, he can’t watch the WWE because it’d be a huge waste of 2 hours to him on a busy week. Segments he does catch when he’s in a hotel room on a Monday night – he says WWE is so boring. He says as a writer, WWE’s writers aren’t doing it, they’re going through the motions, and they did it on January 4 when they were going head-to-head with them. Russo said he kept looking at their show and thinking, “What is Vince McMahon thinking?” He said there was no effort being put into the WWE’s show.

Russo said he’d rather throw a hundred things at the wall and have 90 things not work than go through the motions week after week putting on the same show because they are doing a 3.4 and are happy with that, and as long as they are doing 3.4 they’re okay. Russo says that’s why they don’t have to go nuts, push the envelope, or challenge Standards & Practices. They just have to put on a better show on a consistent basis. Russo says he thinks TNA is a better show right now.

Host says he doesn’t think Bret Hart came across that well. Russo says after working with Bret (and he’s working with Hogan right now), if he had the privilege of working with Bret again because Bret was one of the true heroes of wrestling, he’d treat Bret as if he was the ultimate star. He’d treat Bret as if Babe Ruth came back tomorrow.

He says he can say that because he’s helping to write for Hogan – he’s writing in a respectful manner, put Hogan on a pedestal and treated with honour, dignity and class. He said from what he saw with Bret/McMahon, all that is coming across to him is how egotistical McMahon is – and it’s a travesty for Bret to come back and be treated the way he’s treated. Russo says there’s a way to do an angle and do it with class and a respectful manner to not do some of things to Bret. Russo says that just reeks the ego of Vince McMahon and that’s one of the reasons he left the company.

Host says there are young fans that won’t know who Bret is as the Montreal Screwjob happened over 12 years ago; so they try and re-educate the fans by playing the clips over and over. Host says he doesn’t believe that it’s coming off of the crowd. Host says Russo in Rope Opera wrote that a lot of wrestlers think they can write TV but many can’t do it. Host asks if Foley can do it; Russo says yes.

Russo says he tried to wrestle; when WCW asked him for ratings, he said due to all the pressure, he went out, became an on-screen character and wrestled. He said he was badly injured because he’s not a wrestler. He’s glad he did it because it gave him the perspective what wrestlers do. Russo said wrestlers are wrestlers; not writers. Do they contribute ideas and are they creative? Yes. But to sit down, write a show, spending all week to tweak the show, hearing from the boys and getting feedback – a wrestler cannot do that. Russo said writing a wrestling show is a full time job, there’s a science to it, and you really need to know how to do it. You also need years and years of experience. Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, etc – they are always a part of creative – but to do it A to Z, that’s not what wrestlers do.

Host says the writer has everyone’s interests in mind while the wrestler says they have their own interests in mind and Russo agreed with that. Russo says he get blamed for every single thing that people don’t like. He says many of the wrestling websites who supposedly knows how all of this works – because of the fact that Russo gets blamed for every little thing, he says there’s no understanding on their part. He doesn’t respect any of the wrestling websites for that reason. It’s a collaborative process and wrestlers are included every step of the way: not just what they do in the ring and the finish, but they get involved on a creative level. Then, you have the agents laying out of the match – they’ll throw their two cents on a creative level. He says at the end of the day, there are so many people involved in every segment of that show because he as a writer would be an absolute moron not to listen to a Mick Foley, Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle or a Jeff Jarrett. He includes their expertise.

What you see at the end of the day is an effort that everyone is involved in. He says as head writer, Russo is ultimately responsible for everything you see. But when Russo gets criticized for spots in matches, he says that these people have no idea how this process works. Russo says when the criticism comes, those writing about it just don’t have a clue how it really works behind the scenes.

Host says when they get the book, “Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo”, people will really know the process of how a wrestling show is produced. Host promotes March 8: TNA’s first of their Monday night show.

The interview can be seen on http://feelthepain.net

Thanks to Vince Russo’s Facebook for the Recap! http://www.facebook.com/vinnyru?ref=search&sid=685562768.341769736..1

Vince Russo Interview

Vince Russo Interview - 2/18/2010
Wrestling Elite
Detroit Sports Talk - 1130AM WDFN
Recap by Marty Hotts

Russo talked about Rope Opera and said the perfect time to end "Rope Opera", his new book that is out, at the point where Hogan and Bischoff came to TNA because there's no doubt that the Russo/Bischoff/Hogan era is a new one. Russo says he sees a 3rd book coming out and that he likes writing as things happen due to there always being things happening in wrestling.

Russo talks about David Arquette winning the belt again and the host mentions that Arquette/Bash At The Beach incidents are brought up to him frequently.

When asked about taking audience from Raw when TNA goes Mondays, Russo says it's not going to happen "anytime soon" or overnight
. Russo said it took 2-3 years for WWE to beat WCW. He said anyone that expects "instant gratification" - it's not going to happen. Russo said it takes weeks and weeks and weeks of good programming that is better than the competition to get word of mouth, getting people to talk about TNA. In time, Russo says they will "start to bite in the audience", but it's nothing they expect to happen overnight.

Host says that TNA is a much more interesting show and asks if Russo watches WWE. Russo says WWE is going through the motions and are on "cruise control". Russo says they have been doing a 3.5 rating for at least the last five years. He says that's a very good rating, but it has been cruise control.

Russo says he doesn't watch their show from start to finish because he can't. He says from what he has seen, he has seen it before. There is nothing good to him. He says he'd rather be criticized for trying new things that don't work than not try anything at all. He says he will continue to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks and what doesn't rather than stay complacent and put on the same old show week in and week out. He says that is not going to happen as long as he's writing.

Host says one criticism TNA receives is the gimmick matches (Ultimate X, Feast or Fired, King of the Mountain) TNA relies on and whether Russo believes it's a fair criticism. Russo says he doesn't think it's a fair criticism. He says more-or-less, he has been head of creative of TNA in July 2009. He says July to now, they've done away with a lot of that. He says people can criticize Russo about anything all they want about anything that happened before July - he says he wasn't in charge of creative during that time. He says a lot of those calls weren't his doing. From July to this point, he says they've done away with a lot of that.

Russo says he doesn't look at gimmick matches as gimmick matches. He looks at it as a "spectacle". He says if he's not a wrestling fan and flips a channel, he says is he going to stop on a channel with two guys wrestling or a better chance stopping on a channel if there's two guys in a wrestling ring wrestling with a ladder involved. He looks at it as a spectacle and what's a better way to draw that casual fan that may not be a wrestling fan. Russo and the host then talk about baseball and sports.

Russo talks about keeping a low profile when it comes to any websites or social interaction websites as critics have been known to take what he says and twist it completely upside down. He says it has not been worth it but if people would like to know what he's thinking and what is on his mind, they should check out "Rope Opera".

This interview can be seen on Vince Russo's Facebook Fanpage http://Facebook.com/vinnyru and http://www.wdfn.com/pages/wrestling.html.

Vince Russo Says That Pure Wrestling Lacks Appeal

TNA writer Vince Russo appeared on the "Right After Wrestling" radio show on Sirius last night and here are a few highlights from the interview:

"The key is try to write the type of show that the masses are going to watch. By the masses, I mean men, women, children of all age groups," Russo said. "The key is to have a little something for everybody that has comedy, drama, romance, or action. If you can have a part of your show that everybody likes, then that is the key."

Russo also tried to present an argument that a straight "wrestling show" does not appeal to the masses compared to his philosophy of a variety show.

"Starting about 2000, 2001, it went back to 'wrestling' and there's nothing wrong with 'wrestling,' but the problem with that is that if you're going to write strictly a wrestling show, then your audience is a lot smaller because the fanbase for a traditional wrestling show is a lot smaller than a mass audience," Russo said. "So, to me, I don't think anything has changed. I think the key is to get as many eyeballs to watch your show."

Vince Russo Interview

The Miami Herald has posted an interview with Vince Russo. He talks in-depth about how he doesn't have any favorites and tries to get every person on the roster over:

"That's why at the end of the day you can't be friends with them outside of work. It's no different than managing a baseball team. Basically, I'm handed a roster, and I have 50 names of guys and gals on that roster, and my job is to get every single one of those pieces of talent over. That's my job. Put them in storylines. Enhance their characters. Put them on television. In that world, there are no favorites. You have to treat everybody the same, and I really feel -- if I've done anything good in this business -- I've been able to maintain that over the past 14 years or so.'' He added: "What you're dealing with in the wrestling business -- and this is really where the problem occurs -- the biggest issue I'm dealing with when it comes to talent is paranoia. The wrestling business was really built as these guys are independent contractors. So basically the way the business was set up 50 years ago was every man for himself. As independent contractors, each one was working for a spot. You still have that today, and that's the mentality you have today. There's no team environment, no matter what anyone tells you. Everybody's trying to get their spot. So with that comes the paranoia -- the looking over my shoulder, the how is this guy going to screw me, how is the writer going to screw me. That's the biggest hurdle in working with talent."

News on the Reputations of Vince Russo & Bubba The Love Sponge

- Bubba the Love Sponge is said to be the least popular person in the TNA locker room. Those who look past his shock jock personality say he gives off a vibe that he's above everyone else due to his friendship with Hulk Hogan.

- One former Russo defender laughed over some of the "absurd" things the TNA creative director has written in his online blogs, saying, "He's really showing how smart he isn't."

Vince Russo Interview

Vince Russo appeared live on "Monday Night Mayhem" (http://www.mondaynightmayhem.com) at 8:53 pm EST/5:53 pm PST. Host says Russo's book is one of the most anticipated book of the year and credits Russo for helping to get TNA the highest rating they got on Thursday (1.4). Host says you can interact with Russo on http://www.facebook.com/vinnyru

Mosh hypes Rope Opera's book, TNA's "Against All Odds" pay-per-view. A TNA correspondent asks about the difference between "Forgiven" and "Rope Opera" and when Russo became a born-again Christian, there was a narrative written afterwards which may have taken away from the "Forgiven" book. He asks if "Rope Opera" would be written the same. Russo said "Forgiven" - he didn't talk about a lot because it hurt when he talked about it. When he wrote "Rope Opera", in 2002, when he was thinking about going back to work for Vince McMahon, that gave him the closure that he needed. Once he got that closure and a lot of the hurt that was done to him in the wrestling business was released, he had no problem and write about his WCW experience as they really happened. In this book, there is a lot more wrestling, there isn't any subject that he didn't talk about, he was open with everything. There will be much more insight in this book than "Forgiven" because when he wrote this, he was in a different place in his life than when he wrote "Forgiven".

Mosh says Russo is one of the most criticized personalities/characters in the history of professional wrestling. Host says Russo talks about his critics in his books. Mosh wants to get into some comments that came from Jim Cornette, although some may say that Jim has an ax to grind. Mosh reads a Cornette quote with Cornette saying that Russo can't honestly believe that he wrote a wrestling show in his life, among other things. Mosh asks if it is difficult to let the critics bother him, or will it just be that Russo will always be the most criticized guy in wrestling even if TNA drew 7.0 in the ratings. Russo says TNA could do a 7.0, 8.0, or 10.0, Russo would be criticized no matter what. Russo says he doesn't take what he does as passionate as maybe some of the people that watch the product, or involved in the business. Russo says what he does is his job, he gets paid to do what he does. His job is to be a television writer and to achieve the highest number rating that he can. It's that simple, Russo says, and that is his job description. It's what he tries to do week in and week out from the day he started.

Russo says many come and go in the wrestling business. When he looks back from the time he had his radio show, looking back now, 18 years ago, he has made a living in this business. The reality of it is, that's the bottom line. If he is able to support his family in the wrestling business for 18 years, then obviously he has done his job and continues to get paid to do his job. That is how he looks at it- Jim Cornette and the critics will get hung up on whatever they want to get hung up on. He does his job the best he can - he can do nothing more or nothing less.

Another host says when he was in college, he took a class from Tom Fontana (writer of Oz - the HBO series) who taught a writing class. He said all writers do is write - even in holidays, they'd wake up and just write. The host asks what is Russo's process exactly how his day goes. He said people don't really have an appreciation for that and what changes were made when Hogan/Bischoff came on board.

Russo said people don't understand it. He said when you talk about the critics - about the show, about finishes - everything he writes gets criticized on a weekly basis. Russo says unless you have done it, you can't imagine what it is like to write 52 weeks a year and make each finish, show, character different. Add the pay-per-views to it - as of 1996 more or less, he has been doing this straight through. He says you can tear apart the shows, but when you look at the content and look at what has been created, you have to respect it. He said unfortunately, people don't. The writing process: you're thinking something, you're writing something, you're calling one of the boys and bouncing things off each other - it never stops, as you have another show. When Eric and Hulk came on board, it's like a double-edged sword and great because you're getting a different perspective and different way to look at things. On the other hand, it's a little more difficult as you have to hear more input - and it eats up more time. Russo says being responsible for writing TNA Impact, he has to make sure they have to stay on schedule every single day. First draft is in, the boys have their copy. It's difficult now as there are more people with great ideas, but he has to really stick to the schedule, make it the best it can be and stay within the constraints of time.

Host asks where did the name "Rope Opera" come from. He mentions he knows Russo pitched the title of "Rope Opera" to television networks. Russo says it was "How WCW Killed Vince Russo" because it was humourous to him that he had read "Vince Russo killed WCW" so much so it was comical to him. He said he wrote 9 months in a 2 year contract. He said how in those 9 months he killed a company that has been around for decades - he has no idea. Russo said he was working in WCW and he can't even tell people who killed WCW. It had nothing to do with Russo, Nash, Bischoff, Hogan - the decision was made in a boardroom with the suits for financial reasons. He said he found it humourous. Then ECW Press wanted Russo to call it "Rope Opera" and if he can make it a combination of the two. Russo says that was fine.