Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Jeff Lane.
Lane mentions that Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer spoke out this past week, criticizing WWE fans who’ve attended recent shows for being quiet and “dead”. Russo says it’s hard to blame the crowd when they’re just going to see a good show, and it’s not their fault if WWE isn’t providing them that.
Alvarez went on to say that Ric Flair had a great career, but Okada has broke the “Observer scale” with 5 and 6-star ratings several times this past year. He says that we’re living through history right now, and there’s no denying that Okada is “the best”. Russo has no idea what history Alvarez is talking about, and he thinks it’s a joke that Alvarez compared Okada to Ric Flair. Russo adds that he wouldn’t be able to pick Okada out in a lineup.
Lastly, Alvarez spoke about Samoa Joe’s promo work, saying Joe is a much better promo than The Miz. Meltzer then agreed, saying Joe constantly cuts great promos and he delivers the goods whether the material is good or bad. Russo disagrees, saying Joe has no range and he cuts the same one-dimensional promo over and over again. Russo worked with Joe in TNA and can speak first hand about this.
Ryan Satin from Pro Wrestling Sheet tweeted out this past week that WWE didn’t wish Enzo Amore all the best with his future endeavours after releasing him. Russo says that’s because this was a serious situation, and WWE wanted to release a short statement and rid themselves of the controversy.
During one of his audio shows this past week, Wade Keller from PWTorch spoke about the Mixed Match Challenge. He was dissapointed and angry about people interacting on Facebook while the match was going on, as he felt people should be more focused on watching the match.
Russo points out that the Mixed Match Challenge is a great idea that’s clearly marketed towards kids. WWE wants to promote fan interaction during these matches, and he thinks it’s hilarious that Keller is angry about a 12-year-old fan commenting that they love Sasha Banks while she’s competing in a match.
Keller was also very critical of Jinder Mahal’s work, specifically his work in the United States Title tournament match against Xavier Woods. Russo points out that Keller has no experiencing wrestling, and has no grounds to critique a former WWE Champion’s work. If Mahal is seriously that bad, Russo wonders how he made it through WWE’s training and developmental territory years ago, going on to have a lengthy, successful career.
At another point last week, Meltzer spoke about Booker T’s commentary on RAW, saying that it”sucks”. He went on to say that we all know why Booker T’s in that role, implying that WWE employs Booker T because he’s black. Meltzer said that this is the same game WWE played with David Otunga before, but he was boring so he had to be replaced. According to Meltzer, this was also their motivation for hiring Percy Watson to work commentary in NXT.
Russo thinks Booker T’s employment probably has more to do with him being a legend in the business with plenty of wrestling knowledge. Booker T is also entertaining and adds a unique tone to the commentary table. Russo says that Meltzer probably thinks Booker T sucks because he’s actually being funny and entertaining instead of worrying 100% about calling every move that’s going on in the ring.
During one of his audio shows this past week, Ryan Satin spoke about the recent steroid controversy surrounding Roman Reigns, saying that “of course” The Rock and Triple H are on steroids. Russo says that these are serious allegations, because Satin is basically claiming that these men are taking illegal drugs. Russo points out that he had his suspicions in terms of who was taking steroids when he worked in the business, but unless he actually saw someone take steroids he’d never accuse them of that.
He also points out that with a lot of hard work and effort, people can look great without steroids. He doesn’t think it’s fair to just blatantly accuse people of stuff like this. On the other hand, if they are doing steroids Russo couldn’t care less because it’s not his business, and it’s not Satin’s either.
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!
