Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Jeff Lane.
Russo says he hates when people lie or spread rumours, especially when they have a platform like WWE does. WWE has spread incorrect rumours in the past, but one specific incorrect statement really angered Russo this past week.
Triple H spoke out this past week, mentioning that Russo had some good creative ideas during his time writing for WWE but he never knew how to end his storylines. Triple H went on to cite a certain example, when Russo and Ed Ferrara supposedly wrote a segment where British Bulldog threw a garbage can at Stephanie McMahon during the Rebellion PPV in 1998. This resulted in Stephanie’s character developing amnesia, therefore buying the creative team some time to figure out how to put an end to the Stephanie/Test storyline that had them stumped at the time.
Russo informs that this segment took place at a house show/PPV in the UK on October 2nd, 1998. He and Ferrara didn’t write those shows because they didn’t air in the United States. Russo informs that he and Ferrara knew where they were going with the Stephanie/Test storyline all along, and the original plan was for Test to stand Stephanie up at the altar, turning heel in the process.
On October 2nd, 1998, Russo and Ferrara were actually home in the United States, meeting with WCW officials. He and Ferrara had nothing to do with the creative of the Rebellion PPV or the Stephanie ‘amnesia’ angle, and he’s sick and tired of Triple H spouting lies about him.
Russo assumes that the trash can struck Stephanie by mistake at the show that night, and after McMahon and WWE officials realized that Russo and Ferrara were leaving for WCW, they used this amnesia angle in order to buy themselves some time to figure out how to end this storyline. Russo says he hadn’t even heard of the Rebellion PPV before, and he guarantees that he had nothing to do with it.
Russo adds that Triple H was never a part of creative meetings during the attitude era, and it’s not his place to comment on these types of things. Lane adds that WWE consistently produces documentaries where they interview former employees who can give their version of stories about days gone by, and these opinions are presented as truths. Russo and Ferrara are left out of all these conversations, so they never have a chance to present the facts about what happened during that time.
Russo knows full well that he made some mistakes during his time leading the creative teams in WWE, WCW and TNA. He specifically mentions that the “Dog Kennel from Hell” match in WWE was a terrible idea, and he takes full responsibility for that. He also admits that sometimes he, Ferrara and the other creative team members would be burnt out, and in order to book a show easily and quickly they’d book a tournament.
He points out that tournaments never draw on wrestling programming, mostly due to the fact that most matches in tournaments are “cold”. The cold matches consist of two random competitors wrestling in a match that has no previous storyline building up to it. For this reason, fans have no reason to care about who wins these matches.
Russo goes on to say that he doesn’t regret anything he did during his time in the wrestling business, and he owns all of the decisions he made during that time. However, he will not allow people to spread lies about him, and he will not take heat for things that he had nothing to do with. He says that Triple H needs to rescind these comments.
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!
