Steve Carrier on November 20, 2017
Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host Jeff Lane and Glenn Gilbertti (Disco Inferno).
Russo says that with the current social-political atmosphere in the United States, he can’t believe that nobody from the professional wrestling business has been accused of sexual harassment as of yet. He predicts that in the coming weeks we’re going to get some accusations thrown at wrestlers because he witnessed some terrible things during his time in the business.
He recalls walking past the hotel bar after one WWE show years ago, and when he looked into the bar there was a tag team sitting with a drunk female from the roster. Each of the tag team members were holding one of the woman’s breasts and pretending they were puppets. Russo had to go into the bar to tell them to smarten up and stop what they were doing. This is just one example of the sexual harassment he witnessed during his time in the wrestling business.
Lane points out that this past week marked the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Screwjob, and he asks Russo if that whole thing was a work. Russo says it was absolutely not a work but he wishes it was, because that was a very turmoil time in WWE. He says that he’s sick of talking about it after all of these years.
Lane mentions that James Ellsworth was released by WWE last week, and Russo says his issue with James Ellsworth was never personal. He says that he had an issue with the fact that Ellsworth was initially written into the main event storyline. He points out that Ellsworth was this generation’s Gillberg, and Gillberg would have never been a part of the ‘A’ storyline during the attitude era.
Russo also doesn’t understand why performers take to social media after their firing to say how thankful they are to WWE. He doesn’t understand why these people aren’t more angry, because they’ve just been fired. He also points out that Ellsworth was made to look like a fool and was beaten up by every girl on Smackdown’s roster prior to his release, and that’s nothing to be thankful for.
Speaking about the fact that the War Games cage didn’t have a roof on it, Russo thinks this was a responsible decision by Triple H because it takes away the potential for NXT talents to do something stupid like jump off the top of the cage.
Russo and Gilbertti talk about the recent Twitter feud between Chris Jericho and journalist, Ryan Satin which started when Satin accused Jericho of using women’s bodies to sell his upcoming cruise. Russo points out that for a journalist, Satin sure enjoys starting drama with people. He’s been disrespectful like this in the past, telling performers they aren’t good workers when he hasn’t stepped in a ring in his life.
Lane mentions that Daniel Bryan spoke with Busted Open Radio last week, saying that he’s been cleared to return by various doctors, but WWE doctors still won’t clear him. He also said that 10-15 years ago WWE wouldn’t have any hesitation letting him return to the ring.
Russo says that those comments aren’t going to help WWE’s current concussion lawsuit. Gilbertti points out that WWE is adding fuel to that fire almost every week with certain things they say and decisions they make, and he’d be surprised if WWE wins that lawsuit at this point.
Lane points out that Dave Meltzer came out recently saying that he fears for some of the NJPW wrestlers now during their matches, because they’re working unsafely. Gilbertti says that if Melzter would just give their matches 3 stars these guys would stop working so stupidly. Instead, Meltzer gives them 6 stars and praises them, so it’s not surprise that they won’t change the way they work.
Speaking about Ric Flair’s claim that he slept with toughly 10,000 women over the course of his career, Russo thinks that number might have actually be factual. Over a 40-year career, it basically equals out to roughly 5 women a week, and that’s a very reasonable figure for someone who was on the road as much as Flair was.
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!
November 20, 2017 12:53 pm
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