Vito points out that in the wrestling business, you really need to ‘kiss ass’ in order to advance or even to keep your current position from time to time. Russo disagrees and says when he was the head of creative, he never expected that from people in under him and he never got that impression from Vince McMahon. Vito responds by saying that sometimes even conceding an argument to McMahon is kissing his ass. Russo disagrees entirely and says, “…that’s respect”.
Vito feels that if there is an issue backstage, the company needs to let the wrestler’s ‘code’ take care of it. If WWE has an issue with Baron Corbin, put him in a match with someone who can legitimately ‘tie him in knots’ in a shoot setting like Nakamura. He even suggests that a WWE official give Nakamura a message that they really want ‘Strong Style’ tonight, and Nakamura would understand that Corbin needed to be taught a lesson.
Russo asks Vito about his career in WWE, and asks him what led to him wrestling in a dress. Vito informs that he was initially a Manager when he debuted for WWE but he’d be in the ring training every day as if he was a main event performer. People started to notice his work ethic and was soon given a match with Matt Hardy. They had a great match and then he was flown overseas to work with Chris Benoit.
