Steve Carrier on October 23, 2017
Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host Jeff Lane, Glenn Gilbertti and Big Vito.
Speaking about Neville’s release from WWE, Gilbertti says that he doesn’t doubt that these guys can make more money on the indies than they’re making in WWE right now. He points out that some promoters are marks and are willing to overpay just to get these guys on their shows. He has also heard that WWE house shows are drawing so poorly lately that the main event talents are only making $500 per show. Gilbertti says he makes more than that when he does indie appearances.
Big Vito understands the financial side of things, but he also says that there are only so many top spots in WWE and Neville just spent several months in one of those spots. He thinks it’s unfortunate that Neville asked for his release after being asked to do a job for Enzo Amore, after he spent several months on top as Champion because eventually everyone has to do a job for someone.
He suggests that these talents shouldn’t forget what it took to get to the big leagues in the first place, because the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Triple H’s personal trainer spoke out this week about the use of HGH in WWE. Gilbertti feels that if you’re tested and have low levels of testosterone, you should be able to go and get a prescription for HGH. It seems hypocritical to criticize WWE performers for utilizing HGH when actors can utilize it while they prepare for film roles without any criticism.
He says it should also be perfectly fine for older performers to take HGH in order to keep up their appearance as they get older, as that allows them to continue to perform and provide for their families. He doesn’t think fans care whether Triple H or Brock Lesnar are taking HGH; why would they?
Russo mostly agrees with Gilbertti, but he also wonders why the talents would lie about it if they feel so confidently that it should be legal. He doesn’t understand why those talents won’t just admit that they have a prescription for it and take it regularly.
Lane mentions that there are rumours circulating that Impact Wrestling might be permanently moving to Canada. Gilbertti says if that’s the case the company is going to require some serious rebranding yet again. Vito says they should have blown up that company several years ago and started from scratch.
Bret Hart was quoted last week saying that he spoke to Vince McMahon and WWE about potentially working for the company about 4 years ago, but scheduling ultimately got in the way. Gilbertti doesn’t think that Hart would have lasted long in a Producer-type role anyways because Hart is brutally honest, and WWE doesn’t like to have those kind of people around.
Gilbertti adds that WWE doesn’t want varying opinions there, they want people to tell them everything’s okay at all times. Russo says Hart mightn’t have been a good television writer, but he could be just as good an agent as Pat Patterson because that’s who Hart learned from.
Lane mentions that Reby Hardy (Matt Hardy’s wife) got into a Twitter dispute this past week with a WWE employee who tweeted defamatory things about Matt. The employee implied that she’d like to see Matt dead, and Reby obviously didn’t take kindly to that. Gilbertti says that WWE is a publicly traded company, and it’s incredible to him that this woman hasn’t been reprimanded by the company yet.
Lane points out that ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham had some very negative things to say about Shane McMahon after Shane’s leap from the top of the cell at last month’s PPV. Gilbertti says Shane got paid $2 Million last year to be a living, breathing stunt man; that’s what he gets paid for. Russo wonders if mainstream fans want to see performers take those kind of risks, and Vito says it’s the marks who write the show that are to blame for those types of stunts.
Lane mentions that Nia Jax was granted a leave of absence from WWE, reportedly just to get some rest and recovery and to get away from WWE’s tough schedule for a while. Gilbertti says that there has been so many issues in the women’s division as of late and he wishes these women would just stop complaining and do their jobs.
That sums up today’s episode of Vince Russo’s The Brand. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya tomorrow for another recap!
October 23, 2017 9:28 pm
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