Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Jeff Lane, and Glenn Gilbertti (Disco Inferno).
Lane opens today’s show by speaking about Ronda Rousey’s performance in her debut match at WrestleMania. He thought Rousey looked great in the match, but he thought Stephanie McMahon was booked too strong. Stephanie fought out of multiple arm bars from Rousey and he thought that was ridiculous.
Gilbertti says there’s a clear suspension of disbelief whenever a McMahon enters the ring. Vince has done it before and so has Shane. Stephanie has done it in the past as well and continues to do it now, and as a fan we’re conditioned to believe that she can compete with all the other female wrestlers. He adds that the training montages of Stephanie made her look strong and this assisted the audience’s suspension of disbelief, allowing fans to believe that Stephanie could legitimately defeat Rousey.
Gilbertti also points out that Stephanie has been booked incredibly strong for the past 15 years. She constantly goes over talents on the mic and is rarely placed in vulnerable positions on television. He does admit that WWE should have had Rousey break Stephanie’s arm because he thinks that would have been a much better angle coming out of WrestleMania.
Lane mentions that at the end of the Lesnar/Reigns main event, Lesnar reportedly got into a backstage altercation with Vince McMahon. Gilbertti doesn’t really consider this newsworthy at all, pointing out that back in the day guys would fight and argue backstage all the time. There seems to be plenty of dirt sheet stooges backstage within WWE now, and every time someone raises their voice at someone else it becomes a headline.
Lane points out that Rousey did an interview last week where she spoke about how much much fun she’s having as a WWE Superstar. She actually said that she’s happy she suffered those two UFC losses because that led to her getting to live her dream of working as a professional wrestler. Gilbertti mentions that Rousey was probably a bigger wrestling fan than a MMA fan, and now she’s getting to live her dream.
He also points out that there’s nothing better than working as a professional wrestler if you’re a fan of the business. The same can’t be said for MMA fans, because most MMA fans wouldn’t want to get in the octagon and get punched in the face.
Lane mentions that WWE Home Video have announced that they’ll be working with Impact Wrestling in order to get the footage for an upcoming Hardy Boyz DVD. Gilbertti doesn’t think this is odd at all because today’s niche wrestling fans already watch all the different promotions, so there’s no need for WWE to avoid acknowledging TNA. He also points out that you can’t really tell the story of the Hardy Boyz without footage from Impact.
Russo doubts that WWE will pay much money for this footage, and it would actually benefit Impact to basically give WWE the footage if that’s what it came down to, just so they could establish a working relationship with WWE. Gilbertti adds that WWE and Impact have worked together in the past, when Christian was inducted into the Impact Hall of Fame while he was working for WWE.
Lane informs that that Lucha Underground’s Killshot did an interview recently, mentioning that veterans ridiculing younger talents for the way they work is a generational thing. Gilbertti doesn’t agree with that, adding that his generation just did it better than today’s performers. He points out that nobody wants to watch two “artists” simulating a fight. Professional wrestling is supposed to be two tough guys fighting each other and making it look real.
Alternatively, Impact’s Eli Drake spoke out about character development recently, mentioning that character development and creating special moments has taken a back seat to in-ring moves. Gilbertti agrees entirely, adding that he’s been saying that for a while.
Russo points out that Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan created a special moment at WrestleMania 3, and when he became a writer he learned from the prior generation and spun that into 1997’s pop culture. On the other hand, today’s performers are completely ignoring prior generations and are taking it upon themselves to change the business entirely which he doesn’t agree with at all.
Lane mentions that Bruce Prichard and Conrad Morgan are taking their extremely popular podcast, “Something to Wrestle With” to the WWE Network. Russo thinks this is a great thing for Prichard, because he knows that Prichard is a WWE guy through and through. However, Russo doesn’t think Prichard is going to be as unfiltered on this show as he claims he’ll be.
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!
