Russo opens today’s show by saying he’s ecstatic that Jeff Jarrett has checked into a rehab facility. He has known Jarrett for an awfully long time and for a good portion of that time they were very close friends. Russo even considered him a brother at one point and he became very close with Jarrett’s wife and children, but creative differences came between them in the last few years.
Nonetheless this isn’t about business, this is a personal matter and he’s so happy that his old friend is finally getting some help. He says that few people have a heart as big as Jarrett’s, and he hopes Jarrett has a speedy recovery.
Russo informs that he recently shot the first two instalments of ‘Vince Russo’s Attitude’ for KayFabe Commentaries. This show will centre around Russo sitting down with old stars from the Attitude Era and reminiscing about those times. The first two guests are Terri Runnels and Ken Shamrock, and those interviews will be released on DVD in the coming months.
He says that he could barely believe his eyes when Shamrock walked into the room. He’s 53 years old and he’s impeccable shape. Russo has no idea how a 53-year old man can look that good when ‘main eventers’ like Sami Zayn can’t even get in shape.
During the interview, Shamrock went on to tell Russo that everything took a turn for the worst for him at WWE after the Montreal Screwjob because he was on ‘Team Bret’. After that, WWE began pitching him strange ideas such as wanting him to wrestle Chyna and involving him in an ‘incest angle’ on WWE television with his sister. Russo can’t remember being involved in either of those angles creatively.
Russo can imagine a scenario where they’d book him against Chyna because he was involved in a program with DX and Chyna was very impressive physically, but there’s no way he suggested that incest angle. This got Russo thinking about the possibility of WWE employees going behind his back at the time to pitch outlandish ideas to Superstars in the hopes of giving the company an excuse to release them.
He says he wouldn’t put this past WWE because that’s the way the wrestling business works. Maybe that can explain some of the heat people have with him from years gone by.
Russo mentions that he saw a lot of familiar faces at the wrestling convention he attended in New Jersey last weekend. He loves seeing all of his old companions from years gone by when he attends these events, but he’s always somewhat concerned with who has heat with him on any given day. He heard recently that The Godfather has heat with him and Russo has no idea why.
He has said on multiple occasions that it was basically Vince McMahon who came up with ‘The Godfather’ character, so he doesn’t know why Godfather is mad at him. Either way, Russo says he doesn’t dislike any of these people, other than Eric Bischoff because he simply doesn’t like the way Bischoff treats people.
While attending the convention he met his old friend Bill Apter. He says that if you can’t get along with Bill Apter, you’re the problem in that scenario. He eventually saw former WWE Superstar, Henry Godwin, who still looks great according to Russo. He then met with Animal, one half of the iconic tag team, The Road Warriors.
While speaking with Animal, he confirmed to Russo that he threw his hat into the ring to become a trainer at WWE’s Performance Centre but they passed on his offer. Russo can’t believe that WWE weren’t interested in having one half of the greatest tag teams of all time teaching tag team wrestling at the Performance Centre.
He saw Rick Steiner at the convention, and he says Steiner could still be main eventing for WWE, even at 55 years of age. He says he’d definitely take 55-year old Steiner over Sami Zayn any day of the week. Scott Steiner was there as well and Russo says that Scott is a very intimidating figure, but once you get to know him it’s easy to see that he has a heart of gold and he’s a wonderful family man.
Russo says that Scott Steiner’s promos were some of his favourites. Russo urges fans to go on YouTube and check out Steiner’s mathematical promo about his odds of defeating Samoa Joe during him time working in TNA. Russo says that promo is the greatest piece of footage in the history of professional wrestling.
Next he saw Bubba Ray Dudley and Velvet Sky. Russo says there’s no denying that Bubba is a ‘huge pain in the ass’ but he absolutely loves him. He loves how straight forward Bubba is when he’s talking to him, and even though you mightn’t like some of the things he tells you, you know he’s always honest. He also says that Velvet Sky has a heart of gold, and he jokes that he can’t believe for a second that Sky is dating someone like Bubba Ray.
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 next week for another recap!
