Thanks to Donald Wood for sending in the following:
My name is Donald Wood from Ring Rust Radio. We had Former WWE, WCW and TNA writer VINCE RUSSO on the show this week, and it was a great episode with plenty of exclusive content.
YouTube interview: https://youtu.be/TU50KJzXfo4
Blog Talk Radio Episode: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ringrustradio/2015/07/07/ring-rust-radio–july-7-w-vince-russo-and-wwe-battleground-raw-chatter
Interview highlights:
Donald Wood: Recently you closed your Pyro and Ballyhoo website and started The Brand on The Relm Network, and you also write for several other websites. While you have been keeping busy, TNA did not bring you back when you offered your services for free and there were rumors—that you denied—that Lucha Underground was not interested in bringing you in. Do you still feel you have something to add to the wrestling business or are you content being on the outside looking in now?
Vince Russo: That’s a really good question and it’s really like a double edged sword. I am content doing my thing on the Realm network, there is no doubt about that. Vince Russo not having any chains, rules, and nobody telling me what to do is beyond a freeing experience, it’s incredible. However, what I do for a living at vincerussobrand.com depends on wrestling therefore, I make a living off of professional wrestling. When I watch WWE and TNA on a weekly basis, I see how subpar the television shows have become. I see the drastic decrease in ratings and that concerns me. Without wrestling, there may not be a Vince Russo. I would love to help those companies, I know I can help them, I know what they are doing wrong, but when you offer your services free of charge and they say thanks but no thanks, there isn’t too much you can do. The answer to that question is for my own longevity, the wrestling business needs to prosper, and I am willing to help it. If they aren’t interested that’s up to them, but I more concerned about my own future.
Mike Chiari: From a fan’s perspective it feels like TNA is in shambles. Lucha Underground, ROH and NXT are all hotter brands, seemingly half the roster’s contracts are up, the live events are few and far between. Firstly, why do you feel like you’re capable of reversing the downward spiral, and also, what are some of fundamental changes you would make that you think would make TNA a successful promotion again?
Vince Russo: In my opinion, I watch TNA, it’s just wrestling 101. They are in the wrestling bubble, week in and week out they are telling wrestling stories, and a perfect example of that is the feud of Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter. You have a thirteen year feud between Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter, an ongoing story, and they way they introduce that story back to TV is through a King of the Mountain wrestling match? You don’t have to be Vince Russo to see that that is ridiculous. That’s bad fake wrestling; they came up with no creative whatsoever. If that story presented in the correct fashion and the right way, almost as a shoot with the history and reality of it, trust me it would have been a lot more compelling than Jeff showing up on a show and saying I am going to be in a wrestling match.
Brandon Galvin: It’s been mentioned in interviews that WWE has a team of more than 20 writers, but in the past you’ve mentioned how it was mostly you and Ed Ferrera working with Vince McMahon during the Attitude Era, which is praised for its storytelling. We joke how it seems odd that more than 20 writers can’t seem to come up with compelling storylines or storylines with continuity. Do you think that’s too many people working on creative? What do you think the perfect balance would be considering the team has to write for at least six or seven hours of television per week?
Vince Russo: You are absolutely right. They have a week to write a television show. When there are twenty people involved in the writing of that show, you are going to spend a lot of time running into each other. While you are running into each other for a good majority of the week, you suddenly get to crunch time. All of a sudden its Saturday or Sunday and you don’t have a complete show yet, so we will just finish it when we get to TV and that is what you are seeing today. I’ll just go back to the old Russo and Ferrara way of two guys wrote the show, brought it and pitched it to Vince, and that’s it. It’s a proven ingredient and formula that worked. Now I’m not saying Russo and Ferrara should go back to WWE, what I am saying is replace Russo and Ferrara with two other guys, make it simple, same vision, and you will have a much better product. There is no way that could be a compelling and intriguing show with all those writers involved in it.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
