A new blog has been posted over at RussoBrand.com, in which former TNA head writer Vince Russo explains his relationship with TNA Wrestling towards the end, and his work as a consultant with the company and later with POP TV. Below is a blog excerpt, and you can read the entire piece at this link:
I got the idea to freelance for POPTV from a friend who did the same consulting work for USA Network for years. This individual would watch RAW on a weekly basis, send a report to USA with his thoughts, and USA would use that information any way they saw fit. I always thought this was very valuable to USA. Get a third-party with experience to look at RAW, so they could get another perspective different from that of Vince McMahon’s. That relationship seemed like a win-win for both USA and the consultant.
So, it was 18 months prior, that TNA informed me they “no longer wanted to use my consulting services”, because the lie they were perpetrating—and forcing me to tell–about me NOT consulting for them–found its way out of the bag as most lies usually do. At that point—my working relationship with TNA was OFFICIALLY OVER. Meaning, I was free and clear to take my consulting services elsewhere. An entire year and a half had passed before I was in contact with POPTV. And, keep in mind, I only contacted them because I thought my expertise could have been valuable to them—based on the ratings they were pulling in at the time (and still today).
So what happens? In a jokingly manner, upon hearing the news, Disco [Inferno] said–sarcastically, “So let me get this straight—you went BEHIND TNA’s back and went to POPTV in an effort to SABOTAGE TNA.” The entire time Glenn was laughing. Less than a handful of hours later—Glenn’s words of sarcasm were used as a SERIOUS HEADLINE on various IWC websites, who—by the way—hate my guts, much having to do with–“How the hell can Vince Russo still be relevant in the wrestling business for 25 years—while we never spent a day working for a legitimate wrestling company”. Honestly—at first I thought it was a joke. Think of the logic of all this. Think of the idea of me selling my services to be PAID by POPTV, with the “real”intention of “Sabotaging” TNA in order for POPTV to DROP THEM—which would mean that I NO LONGER have a job as a paid consultant. Do you see the total insanity in that? From a business standpoint—that notion is absolutely ludicrous.
Some were even going as far as to say—“Vince, you owe Dixie Carter an apology”. Let’s break that down–shall we. I owe an apology to a woman who asked me to lie, then severed our relationship when that lie was exposed, because ONE YEAR AND A HALF LATER I brought my consulting services to a TV Network that was now in the wrestling business? What am I apologizing for? I should have asked Dixie’s permission, to go and consult with POPTV 18 months after she no longer wanted to use me? That is freakin’ absurd. If I’m a consultant for a sports team, say the Mets, the Mets decide that they no longer want my consulting services, 18 months later I go to the Yankees and offer those same services—I have to let the Mets know first? That is absolutely asinine. Then people wonder why I have issues with the IWC.
