Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – WWE Failing to Learn From Mistakes, Owens & Zayn Kill Ratings, WWE’s Women Need to Embrace Looks, More!

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

Russo and Gilbertti discuss the recent “heat” between Corey Graves and Booker T. Russo is confused that both men admitted that this was a work because there’s no payoff to this angle. It’s not like these two men can have a match on RAW to payoff their feud. Russo also believes there was some legitimate heat between the two men but they were told by WWE to squash the beef, and that’s why they came out this week saying it was a work.

Gilbertti says he spoke to Booker T on another podcast recently and Booker guaranteed him that this was all a work. Booker added that he cut the promo on Graves on his podcast because he had some time to fill on the show and had nothing else to talk about.

Gilbertti informs that for the first time in months he watched all three hours of RAW live this past week. After watching the show he was convinced that WWE’s writers are either told to write the show for children, or they’re so uncreative that they write like children by accident. Gilbertti feels that the writing on these shows is so bad that it’s actually hurting the Superstars.

He adds that the childish tone of the show makes it nearly impossible for anyone other than a child to enjoy. The only thing that held his attention at all during this three-hour show was the Strowman/Elias angle,and there were multiple segments on the show meant absolutely nothing.

Russo points out that WWE is clearly unable to learn from their mistakes. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have been the top stars on Smackdown Live for several weeks now, and during this time Smackdown’s ratings have continued to nose dive. He has no issue with WWE trying new things, but after seeing that something isn’t working they should be quicker to learn from their mistakes and move on to something different.

Gilbertti is particularly critical of the backstage segment on RAW between Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil. He thought this was a very poor segment with terrible dialogue, adding that whoever wrote this segment should be fired. Russo doesn’t understand how RAW’s Producers could have watched that segment and given it their approval to air live on RAW.

Lane points out that WWE plans to switch back to dual branded PPVs after WrestleMania, and this doesn’t come as a surprise to Gilbertti or Russo. Gilbertti mentions that Smackdown’s PPV numbers were probably poor, forcing WWE officials to bring the two brands back together for monthly PPVs. Russo is angered at the thought of 5-hour PPVs, adding that there’s no way he’ll be watching those shows if they’re indeed 5 hours long.

Lane informs that Billy Gunn was on Steve Austin’s podcast this past week, and he mentioned that he wasn’t paid by WWE when he was injured in 1995. Austin then informed that he wasn’t paid when he broke his neck either, and he was actually forced to get a ride home from the hospital that night with fans who followed his ambulance to the hospital.

Russo thinks that’s outrageous, but he’s sure that WWE pays their injured talents now because times have changed. He also loves Austin for speaking his mind and telling the truth, even if it’s something that might anger WWE. He points out that WWE needs Austin, so even if they’re angered by some of the things he says there’s nothing they can do about it.

Lane mentions that a report surfaced this past week which stated that some women on WWE’s main roster only make $45,000 per year. Russo doesn’t really know what to make of that information, but he does recall a curious tweet from Sasha Banks from weeks ago.

The day after Banks almost seriously injured herself in match against Asuka with a suicide dive she tweeted, “If you only knew”. Banks was heavily criticized for performing that dangerous move and responded with that tweet. Russo wonders what Banks meant by that tweet, suspecting that WWE’s women may be told to take these unnecessary risks.

Gilbertti adds that the women’s revolution is having the opposite effect of what the company was hoping for. The women’s in-ring work is not as good as the men’s, and he feels that the women should be using their sexiness to become bigger stars which would make them more money. WWE’s female competitors have a competitive advantage over the men in the sense that most male viewers will be attracted to them, and Gilbertti feels that the women need to take advantage of this..

As of right now, Gilbertti feels the women’s revolution is bringing the women down to the men’s level – a level where in-ring work is the only thing that matters – and they’ll never be able to compete with the men in that area. He adds that the women can’t have it both ways; if they want to be sexy the should embrace it all the way, and if they do that, they can’t get mad when people talk about it.

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!