Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Jeff Lane, and former WWE Superstars, Stevie Richards and Bin Hamin.
Russo opens today’s show by talking about the Women’s Revolution. He points out that Stephanie McMahon is contradicting herself by spouting off about the Women’s Revolution, when she has the biggest boob job of any female on the roster. He points out that two other new females on WWE’s roster recently took time off from the road in order to get boob jobs, so it’s impossible for them to say with a straight face that they’re more concerned with providing quality in-ring action.
Hamin goes on to speak about Nia Jax’s weight. Russo points out that he doesn’t get offended when someone tells him he needs to lose weight because he knows that’s true. Hamin adds that Jax’s ring gear doesn’t do her any favours given her body type, and he also mentions that if Jax was presented like a true killer nobody would be worried about her weight. He points out that nobody made fun of Vader’s weight back in the day because he was a killer.
Speaking about the Gauntlet Match on RAW, Richards jokes that no single match should be longer than his daily cardio session. He credits Rollins for his “PPV level” performance, but wonders why Rollins couldn’t have saved that performance for the PPV this coming Sunday. He thought WWE gave away several big-time match-ups in this Gauntlet match, and they also prostituted several finishers in a meaningless match on RAW.
Lane thought RAW was a very poor show this week, and points out that the only thing worth watching on this show was the interaction between John Cena and Seth Rollins during the Gauntlet Match. This was the only thing that held his attention on the show, and everything else was a complete waste of time in his opinion.
Russo thought Asuka’s promo was the absolute “shi*s”. He didn’t understand a single word she was saying, and if that makes him a racist according to some people then he’ll simply have to deal with those criticisms. Richards agrees and points out that WWE is not protecting her and Nakamura. Russo notes that MLB teams often protect their Japanese talents who arrive in North America without an understanding of the English language. He wonders why WWE fails to protect their Superstars in this manner.
Russo can’t believe that WWE actually thinks Ronda Rousey can save their “sh*t” product. Hamin agrees, but points out that WWE are definitely marks for Rousey at this point, and they feel that Rousey is going to make a big difference when they sign their new television rights deal. Hamin thinks WWE is kidding themselves, and he fears that WWE wasted a lot of money with this Rousey signing. Richards agrees and thinks that WWE is putting a lot of pressure on Rousey, who typically has folded under pressure in the past.
Russo thought there were more dangerous spots in the various women’s matches this week. He warns them to start working safer, because WWE is not going to take care of them when they’re 35 and can no longer work. He also points out that as soon as these women leave WWE, the company is going to take their name and they’ll have to start all over.
Russo points out that WWE really appears to be falling in love with the “Top 10” list on Smackdown. He thought the segment with Jinder Mahal, Randy Orton and Bobby Roode was absolutely terrible, in spite of the talents’ best efforts to make the scripts work. He adds that RAW and Smackdown have basically turned into live house shows, and there’s no need to employ writers for these shows at all anymore.
Hamin points out that the basics of wrestling and storytelling are being ignored by WWE right now. He mentions that Elias had his ribs taped from his beatdown at the hands of Braun Strowman the week prior, and yet nobody targeted his ribs in the Gauntlet match this week. That’s just poor storytelling in his opinion.
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 later this week for another recap!
