Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Jeff Lane.
To begin today’s show, Lane informs that Ryan Satin tweeted out this past week that a “prominent figure” in the wrestling business gave him props over his recent spat with Russo. Russo points out that since Satin said “prominent figure”, he’s sure that it wasn’t a wrestler and it was probably Dave Meltzer or another dirt sheet writer. Alternatively, he notes that Satin didn’t name this person because it probably didn’t happen and it’s all a lie.
Next, Lane plays a clip of PWTorch’s Wade Keller who spoke about WWE’s booking of Kurt Angle on one of his audio shows this past week. Keller pointed out that Angle should have told Triple H, “You can’t talk to me like that”, in response to Triple H’s insults. Russo laughs and thinks that’s ridiculous. In Russo’s opinion, the funniest thing about all of this is how much Keller enjoys jumping into these roles and cutting promos as WWE wrestlers. He adds that Keller’s in his mid-40s and “gets off on playing pro wrestler”.
One of Russo’s fans actually called into one of Keller’s audio shows this past week. At one point a couple of weeks ago Keller had a discussion regarding which Superstars pointed at the WrestleMania sign better, so this week’s caller made fun of Keller, asking him if Lesnar’s point was adequate compared to the others. Keller and his co-host actually attempted to answer the question, thinking that the caller was serious and Russo thinks that’s hilarious.
Lane points out that there was a picture of Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer online this past week, showing him acting giddy next to NJPW’s Tanahashi. Russo laughs at the picture and points out that he wouldn’t even get like that if he met Rhianna, who he considers to be the most beautiful woman on the planet.
Sticking with Tanahashi, Satin tweeted a picture of Tanahashi this week as well, mentioning that he missed Tanahashi’s glorious hair. He added that the hair is intoxicating in person. Russo doesn’t even know what to make of that tweet. He says “this is a very very weird dude”, adding that Satin is definitely missing something upstairs.
In a similar tweet, Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez mentioned that he received a bunch of interview questions for Tanahashi that involved his hair. Russo doesn’t understand the fascination with this guy’s hair, pointing out that it’s a “David Cassidy haircut”.
At another point this week Wade Keller and his crew were talking about who they’d choose to work with Daniel Bryan before John Cena. They mentioned that they’d rather see a bunch of 205 Live guys like Hideo Itami, Cedric Alexander or Mustafa Ali work with Bryan before Cena. Russo thinks that’s insane, noting that Cena is a major star in the business.
Alvarez and Meltzer discussed NJPW’s recent United States show on one of this past week’s audio shows. Meltzer pointed out that the crowd saw Okada as the biggest star, but they were hottest for the Iishi/Suzuki interaction. Alvarez pointed out that they’re two tough guys “beating the shit out of each other and trying not to sell”.
Russo has no idea what that even means. He suspects that Alvarez looks at this stuff as if it’s real, so that’s why he said that the performers were “trying not to sell” how hurt they are. He points out that this is a completely backwards take on the business.
Also this week, Keller wondered what would happen if Roman Reigns were to get hurt prior to WrestleMania. He wonders if WWE would put Daniel Bryan in Reigns’ spot so that when Reigns finally come back he could be a bitter heel. He added that Reigns must have a lot of legitimate pent up anger given how fans react to him every week compared to Bryan.
Russo points out that Reigns’ cheque is the same amount each week regardless of whether the fans cheer or boo him. He doesn’t think Reigns has any anger or resentment towards Bryan at all. Lane adds that he has no idea how WWE would make Lesnar/Bryan work believably in a lengthy WrestleMania main-event-calibre match.
Lastly, Lane points out that Meltzer and Alvarez sat next to each other at the recent NJPW show and this was the first time they’d sat together at a live event they were covering. They took a picture to commemorate the event and posted it to Twitter. Russo points out that they clearly enjoyed the embrace and they looked like two best friends from third grade. He added sarcastically, “It’s a beautiful thing”.
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!
