Vince Russo

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox professional wrestler Vincent James Russo (born January 24, 1961) is an American professional wrestling writer, booker, and pundit. He is notable for his tenures in creative roles with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).<ref name="aboutbiography">Template:Cite web</ref> He also occasionally made appearances as an on-screen authority figure, and professional wrestler, in WCW and TNA.

Russo's writing style often blurs the line between reality and fiction, while also favoring elements such as shock twists, grand moments, and larger-than-life characters over in-ring action, which made him a controversial figure among some wrestling fans. Russo was part of the WWF's creative department during the widely acclaimed Attitude Era, during which the company achieved record high television ratings.

During a self-booked in-ring career in WCW, Russo became a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Professional wrestling sidebar

Early life

Vincent James Russo is of Italian descent, grew up in Farmingville, New York, and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana (then known as Indiana State University Evansville) in 1983 with a degree in journalism. He worked for the school newspaper The Shield as an assistant sports editor and later editor-in-chief.<ref name="alumtrades">Template:Cite web</ref>

Russo got his start in professional wrestling when he began training with Johnny Rodz at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He owned two video stores on Long Island.<ref name="russoforgiven">Template:Cite web</ref> Russo also hosted his own local radio show from 1992 to 1993 called Vicious Vincent's World of Wrestling, which aired Sunday nights on WGBB in Freeport. The program ran for exactly one year, the final show being the one-year anniversary.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Federation (1992–1999)

In 1992, Russo was hired as a freelance writer for WWF Magazine after writing Linda McMahon a letter, and he became an editor<ref name="russoforgiven"/> in 1994 under the pseudonym Vic Venom. He was promoted to the WWF Creative Team in 1996.<ref name="alumtrades"/> That year, Monday Night Raw hit a ratings low of 1.8, as Monday Nitro (RawTemplate:'s chief competition), was in the midst of an 83-week winning streak against Raw head-to-head (see Monday Night War). With World Championship Wrestling (WCW) eclipsing the WWF, WWF chairman Vince McMahon asked Russo to make changes to the televised product. Russo contributed edgy, controversial storylines involving sexual content, profanity, swerves or unexpected heel turns, and worked shoots, as well as short matches, backstage vignettes, and shocking angles and levels of depicted violence. Russo's style of writing came to be known as "Crash TV" and was heavily inspired by The Jerry Springer Show.<ref name="prowrestling.com">Template:Cite web</ref> "Crash TV" centered on Russo's philosophy that every character on WWF television should be involved in a storyline (feud). This contrasted conventional wrestling booking, which typically saw a number of matches between wrestlers who were not necessarily in feuds. Russo believed that if storyline material were constantly on screen, the audience would be more reluctant to change the channel for fear of missing something.

In 1997, Russo became head writer for the WWF<ref name="aboutbiography"/> and wrote its flagship show Raw Is War as well as its monthly pay-per-views. With the angles he created, Russo had a big part in putting WWF ahead of WCW in the Monday night rating war during the Attitude Era.<ref name="prowrestling.com"/> In a 2015 interview with Jeff Lane, Russo said the first thing he wrote as WWF head writer was the episode of Raw that aired on December 15, 1997.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1998, Ed Ferrara joined the WWF creative team and was paired with Russo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some of the more controversial characters during this time, often cited by Russo's critics, include Sable, Val Venis, and The Godfather. Russo devised the Brawl for All tournament<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite episode</ref> and contributed to the formation of D-Generation X (DX), The Undertaker vs. Kane feud, the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon feud, the rise of The Rock, and Mick Foley's three-face pushes.<ref name=autogenerated1>Template:Cite book</ref>

In the two years after Russo's promotion to head writer, Raw surpassed WCW's Nitro in head-to-head ratings.<ref name="prowrestling.com"/>

In October 1999, Russo was replaced by Chris Kreski as WWF head writer, after Russo departed the company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

World Championship Wrestling (1999–2000)

Hiring and arrival

On October 3, 1999, Russo and Ed Ferrara signed with WCW;<ref name="aboutbiography"/> Russo contends that his reason for leaving the WWF was a dispute with Vince McMahon over the increased workload caused by the introduction of the new SmackDown! broadcast and McMahon's disregard of Russo's family.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Russo and Ferrara attempted to use the same "Crash TV" style on Monday Nitro, which was similar to Raw Is War but at an accelerated pace, including soapier storylines, lengthier non-wrestling segments, constant heel/face turns, more female representation, fake retirements, more backstage vignettes, expanded storyline depth, constant title changes, and using midcard talent more effectively. Russo and Ferrara often poked fun at the WWF.<ref name="prowrestling.com"/>

Russo's writing style created a large turnover in title changes, reflecting his "crash TV" philosophy. His booking of Jushin Thunder Liger losing and regaining the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on Nitro in late 1999 was not recognized by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the title lineage until 2007;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Liger lost the title to Juventud Guerrera, a luchador, after being hit on the head with a tequila bottle. Swerves and scenarios treated as "shoots" were heavily emphasized, as wrestlers supposedly gave unscripted interviews using "insider" terms recognized only by the Internet smarks; chaotic broadcasts became the norm.

Walkout and return

In January 2000, Russo received two phone calls, one from Bret Hart (then WCW World Heavyweight Champion) and one from Jeff Jarrett (then WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion), both saying they were injured, could not wrestle, and had to vacate their championships. This required Russo to alter his plans for Hart and the New World Order. Russo and his booking committee sat down to determine what would now happen at Souled Out. One of the ideas included putting the now-vacated WCW Title on the shoot fighter Tank Abbott, a former UFC fighter. In an attempt to do something believable, the idea was originally to have a "rumble match" in which Sid Vicious would be an early entrant in the match and would last all the way to the end, when Abbott would come into the match and eliminate him with one punch. Russo said that Abbott might not have held the belt for more than 24 hours if this title change had actually occurred. But the day after he and his committee came up with the idea, he was asked to work in a committee and no longer be head writer. Russo declined the offer and left the company, with his immediate replacement being Kevin Sullivan, who along with other bookers chose Chris Benoit to win the title from Vicious in a singles bout with Arn Anderson as referee.

Sullivan was relieved of his duties in March 2000 and Russo returned as lead writer, alongside the returning Eric Bischoff. The idea was that Russo and Bischoff would reboot WCW into a more modern, streamlined company that would allow younger talent to work with established stars. On the April 10, 2000, WCW Monday Nitro episode, Russo was introduced as an on-screen antagonist authority figure. Notable storyline points for his character include "The New Blood vs. The Millionaire's Club"; his feud with Ric Flair, in which he and David Flair shaved Ric's hair and Reid Flair's hair; his feud with Goldberg; and his short reign as world champion. On May 8, 2000, Russo booked Miss Elizabeth in her first official wrestling match against Daffney. Elizabeth left the company shortly thereafter.

Bash at the Beach 2000 incident

At Bash at the Beach 2000, Russo was involved in an incident with Hulk Hogan where Hogan was booked to lose a match against reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett. Hogan refused to lose the match (invoking his contract's "creative control" clause to override Russo), due to Russo's apparent lack of direction for Hogan's character following the planned loss. In the end, Russo booked Jarrett to literally lie down for Hogan, which resulted in Hogan doing a worked shoot on Russo saying, "That's why this company is in the damn shape it's in; because of bullshit like this" and scoring the pinfall victory by placing his foot on Jarrett's chest. Russo came out later in the broadcast to nullify the match's result, as he publicly fired Hogan. This action restored the title to Jarrett, which set up a new title match between Jarrett and Booker T, with Booker T winning the match and the title.<ref name=autogenerated2>Template:Cite book</ref> As Russo promised, Hogan never resurfaced in WCW and even sued Russo for defamation. The suit was dismissed in 2003 as "groundless".<ref name="wcwlawsuit">Template:Cite web </ref> Hogan claims In his autobiography, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Hogan wrote that Russo turned the angle into a shoot, and that he was double-crossed by Turner executive Brad Siegel, who did not want to use him anymore due to his costs per appearance. Bischoff wrote in his autobiography, Controversy Creates Ca$h, that Hogan winning and leaving with the title was a work that would result in his return several months later and that the plan was to crown a new champion at Halloween Havoc, where Hogan would come out at the end of the show and win a champion vs. champion match—but that Russo coming out to fire him was in fact a shoot which led to Hogan's lawsuit. Bischoff says he and Hogan celebrated after the event over the angle, but were distraught to hear of Russo's in-ring shoot after Hogan left the arena. Mike Awesome, cousin to Hogan's nephew Horace Hogan (who also left WCW after the incident) also alleged in a shoot interview published by Highspots that the disputes and the incident affected his WCW run, as Russo allegedly took out his problems with Hulk Hogan on Awesome, saying he was "too close of kin" to Hogan, by portraying several poorly received gimmicks.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

World Heavyweight Champion, injury, and departure

In mid-2000, Russo entered into an angle with Ric Flair. The angle notably included Russo sending cops to the ring to arrest Flair during the wedding of Stacy Keibler and Flair's son David.<ref name=autogenerated3>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2000 at New Blood Rising, Russo entered into a feud with Goldberg after confronting Goldberg when the wrestler left a match and "refused to follow the script." The next PPV, Fall Brawl, saw Russo interfere in Goldberg's match against Scott Steiner, costing Goldberg the match.

On the September 18, 2000, episode of Nitro, Russo was in a tag match alongside Sting and Booker T versus Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett, with the wrestler getting the pin receiving a shot at Booker T's WCW World Heavyweight Championship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Russo won after Booker T dragged an unconscious Russo onto Steiner for the three count. The following week, Russo faced Booker T in a steel cage match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The match did not appear to have a clear winner as Russo was speared by Goldberg through the side of the cage at the same time Booker T exited the cage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Two days later on Thunder, Russo was announced as the winner and new champion.<reF> Thunder - Wednesday, September 27, 2000Template:Dead link </reF> However, the reign was short lived as Russo announced he was vacating the title immediately after, as he was not a wrestler.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Russo suffered a severe concussion from the spear spot, and took time off because of post-concussion syndrome.<reF> Template:Cite web </reF>

Russo's run as head writer and fledgling in-ring career came to a halt after the concussion and other injuries. AOL Time Warner bought out Russo's contract shortly after the WCW buyout in May 2001.<ref name="EXIT">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=autogenerated3 />

Return to WWE (2002)

Russo later returned to WWE in June 2002 as a consultant to oversee creative direction of both Raw and SmackDown!, but quickly left after two weeks, after stating that there was "no way in the world that this thing would work out".<ref name="wwe2002">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The major storyline idea he proposed was an entire restart of the WCW Invasion, featuring previously unsigned talent such as Bill Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Eric Bischoff and Bret Hart.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After feeling disrespected during a phone call with Stephanie McMahon, Russo then left of his own accord (turning down a $125,000 per year stay-at-home 'advisory' role with WWE in favor of a $100,000 per year full-time position with TNA).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2014)

Writing and on-screen character

File:Vince Russo.jpg

Russo at a TNA event

In July 2002, Russo joined Jeff and Jerry Jarrett's NWA-TNA promotion as a creative writer and would assist in the writing and production of the shows. Russo claims that the name "Total Nonstop Action" came from him and that the original concept was, as they were exclusive to pay-per-view, to be an edgier product than WWE; the initials of the company "TNA" being a play on "T&A," short for "Tits and Ass."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Throughout the first few years, there were numerous reports of a creative power struggle over the direction of the programming.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During the time when these rumors circulated, Russo eventually debuted as an on-screen character when the mysterious masked wrestler "Mr. Wrestling III" helped Jeff Jarrett win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and was eventually unveiled as him.<ref name="aboutbiography"/> In the on-screen story, Jarrett did not want Russo's help which led to the two become involved in a feud. Russo created his own faction of wrestlers he dubbed Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.),<ref name="aboutbiography"/> recruiting the likes of Glenn Gilbertti, Sonny Siaki, B.G. James, Raven, Trinity, and others. S.E.X. faced the more traditional TNA wrestlers led by Jeff Jarrett. Eventually, Russo would leave his on-screen role and Gilbertti would become the leader of S.E.X. instead.

After leaving for a brief period, Russo returned as an on-screen character on the May 28, 2003 pay-per-view where he would hit Raven with a baseball bat helping Gilbertti become the number one contender for the world championship.<ref name="5282003tna">Template:Cite web</ref> The next week on June 4, 2003, when Gilbertti fought Jarrett for the world championship, Russo would hit Gilbertti with a baseball bat which in turn helped Jarrett retain his belt.<ref name="642003tna">Template:Cite web</ref> On the following week's pay-per-view (June 11, 2003), when A.J. Styles and Raven fought Jarrett for the world title in a triple threat match, Russo teased hitting Styles with Jarrett's trademark guitar, but eventually hit Jarrett leading Styles to win the world championship belt.<ref name="6112003tna">Template:Cite web</ref>

Russo would then manage NWA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles for the remainder of his 2003 run and S.E.X. was quietly written out of the storylines. On October 1, 2003, Russo suffered the first loss of his in-ring career in a tag team match against Dusty Rhodes and Jeff Jarrett, although his partner, Styles, yielded the pin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On the October 15, 2003 pay-per-view, Russo made his final appearance of that year in a street-fight with Jarrett.<ref name="10152003tna">Template:Cite web</ref> It was reported that Russo was written out of the company as a result of Hulk Hogan's signing and because Hogan reportedly said that he would not work for TNA as long as Russo was involved with the company.<ref name="hoganrusso2003">Template:Cite web</ref> In February 2004, shortly after Hogan was not able to commit with TNA, Russo would eventually return but strictly as an on-air character, becoming the "Director of Authority" in the storylines. This time, he was a face, claiming to have changed his ways (which was likely inspired by Russo's real-life conversion to Christianity). However, he would disappear again in late 2004 when Dusty Rhodes was "voted" the new D.O.A. over himself at the three-hour November 2004 pay-per-view Victory Road in an interactive "election" on TNA's website.<ref name="aboutbiography"/> Russo left the company after the 2004 Victory Road pay-per-view. In a November 2005 interview, Russo states that he never wrote a single show on his own during this period at TNA and described his time there as a "total nightmare."<ref>Template:Cite web Template:Dead link</ref>

Return as a creative writer

On September 21, 2006, TNA president Dixie Carter re-signed Russo as a writer on the TNA creative team.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Russo was paired with Dutch Mantell and Jeff Jarrett on the TNA creative team.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During the March 2007 TNA pay-per-view Destination X on the "Last Rites" match with Abyss and Sting, "Fire Russo!" chants erupted from the crowd in the arena at Orlando indicating the fans' frustration with the incidents that occurred during the match.<ref name="firerusso">Template:Cite web</ref>

File:TNA Six Sides of Steel.jpg

TNA's "electrified" steel cage match, as seen at Lockdown in 2007

Another time the "Fire Russo!" chants were heard was at the following month's pay-per-view Lockdown that was held in St. Louis on April 15, 2007.<ref name="firerusso2">Template:Cite web</ref> The chants were heard during the electrified steel cage match with Team 3D and The LAX where the lights would flicker on-and-off whenever a wrestler touched the cage giving the impression of electrocution.<ref name="firerusso2"/> Dixie Carter has since noted that gimmick was created by writer Dutch Mantell. However, in a 2011 interview, Mantell denied this and the two proceeded to argue over Twitter for several months after this.

Russo became head of creative for TNA sometime during July 2009.<ref name="painclinicrusso"/> On addressing the "Fire Russo!" chants, Russo said he was not head of creative during that time, and when the idea of the electrified steel cage was presented to him, he said that there was no way that the concept could have been done in a believable manner and that he was often blamed for ideas that he never even came up with.<ref name="painclinicrusso"/> At the September 2009 No Surrender pay-per-view, Ed Ferrara joined TNA and began working on the creative team with Vince Russo and junior contributor Matt Conway.<ref name="nosurrendered">Template:Cite web</ref>

On October 27, 2009, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff signed with TNA and were paired with Russo, whom they had conflicted with in WCW and had not worked with since they departed the company after Bash at the Beach 2000.<ref name="painclinicrusso">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2010, when asked about his relationship with Russo at TNA, Hogan said he came to TNA in peace, that the writing staff of Russo, Ed Ferrara, Matt Conway, and Jeremy Borash have really "stepped it up", and that Hogan loved Russo "from a distance".<ref name="fanhousehogan">Template:Cite web</ref> According to Russo, the three met together and worked out their differences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While working with Russo, Bischoff also stated in a February 2010 interview that it was a "very positive experience" and that their collaborations were productive.<ref name="bischtorch">Template:Cite web</ref>

By October 6, 2011, Russo had stepped down to the role of a contributing writer, with Bruce Prichard taking over the head writer's role.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On February 14, 2012, TNA president Dixie Carter explained that TNA and Russo had mutually parted ways during the week.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Secret return

In April 2014, the PWInsider website claimed that Russo was working as a consultant for TNA Wrestling.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Russo denied the reports, but on July 15, PWInsider reported that Russo had accidentally sent an email to them with instructions on how TNA's commentators work. As a result, and after trying to state that he was not involved with TNA, Russo admitted on his website that he was already working as a consultant for TNA Wrestling to work with TNA's commentators and that one of TNA's conditions was that Russo was to keep his involvement confidential.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In less than two days, Russo's statement was removed from his website.<ref>Template:Cite web Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

On July 30, 2014, Russo claimed that he was "officially done" with TNA.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Not long after, Russo revealed that he had been working for TNA since October 24, 2013,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> claiming that he had been involved in creative meetings and also critiqued the weekly episodes of Impact Wrestling.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Russo stated that he was getting paid about $3,000 a month, averaging to $36,000 a year, to be a consultant with TNA.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Aro Lucha (2017–2018)

On December 8, 2017, Russo signed with the Nashville, Tennessee-based Aro Lucha promotion as a script consultant.<ref name="AroLucha">Template:Cite web</ref> On April 5, 2018, Aro Lucha's CEO, Jason Brown, explained via a question and answer session on WeFunder (a crowd-funding website), that Russo had been hired as an independent contractor, not as an employee. As of April 2018, Russo is no longer with the promotion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Juggalo Championship Wrestling (2025–present)

On October 26, 2025, it was announced that Russo was an investor for Juggalo Championship Wrestling, an independent wrestling promotion owned by the Michigan-based hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other media

Online work

In 2014, Russo wrote a series of pro wrestling columns for What Culture, a UK-based website.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He wrote a weekly column for Chris Jericho's website Web Is Jericho until 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Since 2015, Russo has hosted numerous daily podcasts for his podcast network Vince Russo's The Brand, formerly The RELM Network.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also briefly hosted a podcast on the website Fightful Wrestling in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Russo now discusses professional wrestling, entertainment, and more on his podcasting network "Channel Attitude", which features wrestling personalities including the "Disco Inferno" Glenn Gilbertti, Justin Credible, EC3, Stevie Richards, Al Snow, and Stevie Ray.<ref name="brand1">Template:Cite web</ref> He also does podcasts reviewing Raw and discussing wrestling news on Sportskeeda.

Books

Russo has written two autobiographies, including Forgiven: One Man's Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification (2005). Documenting his early life, his WWF run, and becoming a born-again Christian, the book was perceived by some as critical of the wrestling business.<ref name="forgivenbook">Template:Cite book</ref> It was originally titled Welcome To Bizarroland, but the title and content were revised to reflect Russo's newfound faith.<ref name="slam1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Russo's second book, Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo (2010), chronicles his tenure with WCW and TNA Wrestling. The title stems from the title of a TV series idea Russo pitched to networks during his WWF tenure.<ref name="forgivenam">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="forgivenropeopera">Template:Cite book</ref>

Personal life

Russo is an American of Italian descent. His maternal grandfather was Sicilian.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> He has been married to his wife Amy since 1983. They have three children.

In October 2003, Russo became a Born Again Christian.<ref name="aboutbiography"/> In 2004, he formed a short-lived online Christian ministry titled Forgiven. In late 2005, he produced two shows for his Christian Ring of Glory independent promotion.<ref name="rog">Template:Cite web</ref>

Russo was close friends with Joanie Laurer, professionally known as Chyna before her death in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Russo worked with Jim Cornette in the WWF during the 1990s and in TNA Wrestling during the early 2000s. They regularly conflicted over their opposing views on the wrestling business. In 2010, a law firm accused Cornette of making a "terroristic threat" after writing a letter saying, "I want Vince Russo to die. If I could figure out a way to murder him without going to prison, I would consider it the greatest accomplishment of my life."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, Russo filed a restraining order against Cornette after repeated verbal threats of physical harm to him and his family. Cornette, in return, has sold copies of the order to raise money for charity.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Their real-life rivalry featured in two episodes of Vice TV's Dark Side of the Ring documentary series covering the Montreal Screwjob and the WWF Brawl for All, which aired in 2019 and 2020, including a promise by Cornette to urinate on Russo's gravestone.<ref name="brawlforall">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="SCREWJOBTHREE">Template:Cite web</ref>

Legacy in professional wrestling

Russo is among the most controversial figures in wrestling. He often says the show's story and character elements are what draw viewers,<ref name="wwe2002"/> and thus emphasizes entertainment over the in-ring aspect.<ref name="wwe2002"/> Newsday wrote, "Despite scripting some of the most successful WWF television programs in history, and later doing the same for WCW and TNA, Russo remains one of wrestling's most reviled personalities for his sometimes unconventional take on the wrestling business."<ref name="ND"/> According to Russo, one reason he is reviled is his take on the WWE product; he believes there is too much actual wrestling and not enough storylines.<ref name="ND">Template:Cite web</ref> In Rope Opera, he writes that he has been called both "the savior of the WWF" and "the man who destroyed WCW".<ref name=autogenerated2 />

WWE credits Russo with many of the Attitude Era's storylines.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Likewise, Bob Kapur of Slam! Wrestling gives Russo credit for the company turning away from the cartoonish style of the early-mid 1990s and bringing more mature storylines and characters to the promotion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> WWF's The Rock spoke fondly of working with Russo, praising his "crazy out of box ideas".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Gene Okerlund claimed in 2004 that Russo's ideas were successful in the WWF because Vince McMahon was able to control them, while Ric Flair doubted Russo's WWF influence during their time together in WCW,<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> later blaming Russo for the disorganization of WCW.<ref name="auto"/> Eric Bischoff has said that Russo was hired at WCW by overstating his influence in WWF, which Bischoff called "fraudulent."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wrestling promoters Tony Khan and Jody Hamilton have criticized Russo's role in the downfall of WCW,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="postncurrier">Template:Cite web</ref> and TNA co-founder Jerry Jarrett expressed regret at the decision of bringing Russo in.<ref name="postncurrier"/>

Russo's decision to have David Arquette win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was viewed as highly controversial, though Russo defended his decision, citing that mainstream American newspapers covered the story.<ref name="WrestleCrap"/> WrestleCrap named Arquette the worst wrestling champion of all time and called Russo's decision a "monumentally damaging blow to a company that was already at death's door."<ref name="WrestleCrap">Template:Cite book</ref> WWE's Rise and Fall of WCW documentary also largely blamed Russo for the decline of WCW, prompting DVD Talk critic Nick Hartel to write that "while Russo deserves a lot of blame, he was not the only one in charge."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> R. D. Reynolds was also critical of many of Russo's booking decisions but stated that Turner Broadcasting executive Jamie Kellner's decision to cancel WCW programs from Turner Networks was ultimately responsible for WCW's death.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Regarding his time in WCW, Russo personally said, "WCW and I were never on the same page; it was just that simple".<ref name="EXIT"/>

Booker T credits Russo for his rise to main event status, saying, "if it weren't for Vince Russo, perhaps I would have never been the world champion... at all, ever!"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Russo thanked Booker for the compliment and has since called Booker's coronation as WCW Champion at Bash at the Beach 2000 "the proudest moment of my career, and the greatest contribution I was able to make to the business."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Former TNA President Dixie Carter called Russo "incredibly talented" in 2014 but said his presence "proved to be too distracting to continue a working relationship"; when asked if Russo could return to the promotion she said "never say never".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Various wrestlers who worked with Russo in TNA have spoken fondly of him, including Hernandez,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kurt Angle,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and AJ Styles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Velvet Sky and Angelina Love credit Russo for being supportive of TNA's Knockouts division.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Championships and accomplishments

• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Worst Gimmick (1999) Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
  • Worst On Interviews (2000)
  • Worst Non-Wrestling Personality (2000)

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• WWE: Inside WWE > Title History > WCW World Championship > 20000925 - Vince Russo
• Template:Professional wrestling profiles