Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Jeff Lane, and Glenn Gilbertti (Disco Inferno).

Russo opens today’s show speaking about the rumours that The Undertaker will be returning to the ring at WrestleMania 34 to face John Cena. Russo hopes these rumours are untrue, and he hopes that The Undertaker remains retired, especially after the huge retirement display that we saw at the end of WrestleMania 33.

He adds that Undertaker needs to think about his legacy in the business at this point, because his worst mistake would be returning for more matches when he’s clearly not the same competitor that fans remember from the prime of his career. Russo goes out on a limb and predicts that Undertaker will not be returning to face John Cena at WrestleMania this year.

Gilbertti doesn’t have any issue with Undertaker returning for one more match at all. He thinks Undertaker carried himself pretty well during his last couple of matches, and he still has the best entrance in the business. As long as Undertaker can sell tickets for WWE and cash a big WrestleMania paycheque, Gilbertti has no issue with him returning to the ring.

Lane mentions that Austin Aries returned to Impact Wrestling at their recent television tapings and he won the Impact Championship right away. Impact also returned to a 4-sided ring for these tapings. Russo and Gilbertti both say that they can’t really comment on a show they don’t watch.

Lane asks Russo if he has any issue with an incoming talent winning a Title on their first night in a promotion without any storyline or angle built prior to the Title change. Russo says he has no issue with that at all, as long as the follow up storyline is good.

On a recent podcast appearance, Mae Young Classic competitor, Jazzy Gabert mentioned that she had a tryout with Impact at one point but her tryout match didn’t go well. She spoke to Bully Ray in the back after the match and asked him for his honest criticism. Bully Ray was brutally honest, saying that Gabert couldn’t compete with all the other Knockouts based on her looks. Gabert went home, cried, and shaved her head in an attempt to standout.

Gilbertti has no issue with what Bully Ray said in this case, because Gabert wanted an honest answer and that’s exactly what she got. He doesn’t believe it would have done her any good if Bully Ray would have lied to her, and he also doesn’t think it’s anyone’s job to cuddle these women by telling them inaccurate things to make them feel better.

On the other hand, Russo doesn’t agree with Bully Ray’s comments in this case, pointing out that every wrestling roster needs a variety of talent on it. There’s no denying that you need the attractive girls, but you also need women like Awesome Kong and Jazzy Gabert in order to fill out your roster.

A report came out this past week, pointing out that there’s significant pay inequality in WWE. Nikki Bella is the highest paid woman under contract, making $400,000 a year while the top male star makes $12 Million annually. Gilbertti says this is to be expected when you’re in the entertainment business, because in the entertainment business you’re only worth as much as people are willing to pay to see you perform.

Russo agrees and points out that nobody can argue that Nikki Bella draws more money than John Cena. He also believes that women like Sable and Lita made more than $400,000/year during the prime of their careers because they were actually drawing a significant amount of money for the business.

Gilbertti doesn’t see the purpose of rating professional wrestling matches with a star system. He points out that wrestling is a soap opera, where storylines lead to eventual matches. Watching singular matches and rating them based on a star system just doesn’t make any sense to him.

A report surfaced this week, mentioning that Dave Meltzer had written about the potential of FOX purchasing WWE’s television rights, and perhaps purchasing WWE as a whole. Gilbertti thinks this acquisition would be huge for WWE, as it would put them in front of a huge audience on FOX television, and it would also result in RAW returning to two-hours in length.

Russo thinks this is nonsense. He points out that WWE is in the television business so they’re constantly talking to all sorts of different stations, looking for the best deal. Just because Triple H met with Fox executives, that doesn’t mean that any type of acquisition is written in stone.

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!