Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – NWO’s Impact on the Business, Daniel Bryan Returns to the Ring, David Arquette Returning to Wrestling? More!

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

Gilbertti comments on the recent drama between Ryan Satin, Russo and Lane. Gilbertti feels that Lane shouldn’t have went back and forth with Satin and his followers on Twitter. He thinks Lane should have invited them on one of Russo’s shows to discuss the drama, and left it at that. He points out that you’d think these people who openly criticize others would love the opportunity to discuss it in person. Russo informs that he asked Satin to come on the show, but he declined.

Gilbertti then urges all of his followers to just ignore Satin. He points out that a few people have threatened to meet Satin at upcoming indie shows, and he urges people to stop that stuff. Russo and Lane agree, with Lane pointing out that those types of words are uncalled for.

Gilbertti, Russo and Lane discuss Daniel Bryan’s return to the ring. Gilbertti points out that it’s easy to see why Bryan is so popular when he steps in the ring. He’s a ball of fire and a “tough little S.O.B.” Gilbertti adds that Bryan looked like he hadn’t missed a beat in the ring, and he just hopes that Bryan can adjust his in-ring style to protect himself moving forward.

Russo asks Gilbertti if he thinks Bryan did he do too much for first time back in the ring in years. Gilbertti says he doesn’t even know anymore. He points out that we’re in a different time in terms of professional wrestling style, but some people tend to forget that we’re in a different time in terms of professional wrestling culture as well.

Some people are quick to point out that times have changed and that’s why wrestlers work the way they do today, but those same people often criticize wrestlers’ actions from years gone by, failing to realize that societal norms have changed as well. Some of the things that were done in the business years ago certainly weren’t politically correct, but it was a different time.

Lane points out that WWE is reportedly talking to Hulk Hogan about a return to the company, noting that perhaps Hogan can help other people after learning from his mistakes. Gilbertti says “good luck with that”, pointing out that some people will cry out in criticism if WWE brings Hogan back.

Next, Lane mentions that Michael Cole seemed to bury the Ultimate Deletion before it aired on RAW last week. Russo thinks WWE wanted this to fail before it even aired. Lane points out that it never even aired on the Hulu version of RAW. Gilbertti thinks there’s a bigger story here, and he’s interested to know what McMahon thought about it.

Lane also notes that people in the arena weren’t even shown this match live. Gilbertti finds that hard to believe, and points out that McMahon must have thought it sucked so bad that he didn’t even want to show it to the people in the arena.

Lane mentions that Booker T made some recent comments about the NWO. Booker T recalled a match he had with Kevin Nash in Canada, where fans still remembered and loved Nash as Diesel. They cheered Nash and booed Booker T that night. It was in that moment that Booker T realized that NWO didn’t want any heat, they just wanted adulation from fans.

Gilbertti says that might be true because it was at a time when it became cool to cheer the bad guys. However, you also can’t argue with the merchandise that the NWO were selling at that time. Russo says he doesn’t think those guys wanted the fans’ adulation, they simply wanted to be perceived as cool. He points out that Nash was all about the money, not fans’ adulation.

Lane mentions that Vampiro spoke out recently, mentioning that when he arrived in WCW in 1998 he went up to Sting and Lex Luger in the locker room to shake hands and they turned their backs to him. Gilbertti informs that Luger was always working his gimmick backstage, and he’d often rib guys in character by acting obnoxiously or ignoring them. Russo doesn’t think Sting would ever do something like that.

Next, Lane mentions that David Arquette did an interview recently where he mentioned that he’s going to have to do something to earn fans’ respect after years of them criticizing his WCW Title run back in the day. He then went on to talk about Billy Corgan and the NWA, perhaps teasing that he might be doing some work for that company at some point. Russo can definitely see Corgan thinking along those lines.

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!