Funny Shit Facts: Vince Russo

Subject: Funny Shit Facts: Vince Russo Fri 13 Nov 2009, 6:38 pm

this is something that makes fun of certain ppl, wrestlers etc...here we go

Vince Russo is one of the most controversial figures in Professional Wrestling history (and one of the few non-wrestlers in the business who generates such controversy).

Russo's biggest success was when he (along with Vince McMahon) was able to turn the WWF around during the Monday Night Wars with its "Attitude" branding, resulting in the company's biggest period of success since the Hulk Hogan era, and a resurgence in popularity for the industry as a whole.

He would try to emulate this success when he, along with writing partner Ed Ferrara, jumped ship to WCW in 1999. However, without McMahon's editing and input, his storylines were...variable in their quality. And that's putting it kindly. Not only that, he failed to realise that the WCW audience had different expectations than the WWF audience: instead of catering to them, he attempted to transform WCW into a poor man's WWF, which alienated the existing fanbase and put off any new viewers (who just switched over to WWF). Russo's booking during 1999 and 2000 is widely considered one of the main reasons that WCW is nothing more than a video library in WWE's vaults right now.

Having been a Professional Wrestling fan for so long that he proclaims to have "seen it all", Vince
Russo's booking ethos is to try to shock and surprise the fans with something new. Unfortunately this usually amounts to something that doesn't make sense rather than something that is original, or something that the fans want to see. There is a reason why he is the Trope Namer for Shocking Swerve. Another issue is that he constantly tries to fool the Smark fans: the problem here is that the Smarks- being Smarks- don't buy it, and regular fans are just confused by things like wrestlers "breaking character" or references to backstage incidents that only hardcore fans would know.

His infamy is such that when it was announced that he had been re-hired by the WWE in 2002, the rest of the writing staff threatened a walk-out. His tenure at WWE ended a few days later, after a "big idea" he proposed bombed horribly (rumour has it that it would have been a restart of the abysmal WCW "Invasion" led by Eric Bischoff; as a point of interest, Bischoff was hired by the WWE a month after Russo's dismissal) and he was demoted to an advisory role, one that he quit soon after.

After this, Russo came on board to TNA, and has been a regular booker (for the most part) since the company started business. Currently, Russo is a member of TNA's booking committee, alongside Dutch Mantell and company founder Jeff Jarrett. His reputation is such that, in response to a series of (very real) backstage incidents between Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle over the latter's ex-wife, many observers first believed that it was all an angle devised by Russo and refused to believe it was real.

Subject: Re: Funny Shit Facts: Vince Russo Fri 13 Nov 2009, 6:38 pm

Tropes and Signature Styles associated with Vince Russo:

Author Appeal: For some unknown reason, Russo loves pole matches.
- Not only pole matches, but pole matches for the strangest things. A pet rat, a pinata, Viagra, Judy Bagwell (no, really; though this was on a forklift), and the keys to Mick Foley's office are just a few of the things that have been at stake in those matches.
Author Avatar: Especially throughout his run in WCW, and his 2002-2004 run in TNA.
Creator Backlash: After he became a Born-Again Christian, Russo hated that angle in which Stone Cold was crucified on the Undertaker's symbol in 1999.
Executive Meddling: The reason why Russo's angles worked in the WWF is because of Vince McMahon's editing.
Follow The Leader: What Russo tried to do in WCW is to copy the WWF product into the company, but he failed.
Fun With Acronyms: Does the WWF's Terri Invitational Tournament, WCW's Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title, or TNA's Sports Entertainment Xtreme and Voodoo Kin Mafia ring a bell to anyone?
- He's also credited with creating the name for TNA; he chose the acronym to help differentiate the company from WWE as a more adult-oriented product, since the company originally broadcast shows strictly on pay-per-view.
Gimmick Matches: He uses these at a damn-near obsessive regularity, especially "[X] on a Pole" matches, as stated above.
- Sometimes he'll even make a match with two separate gimmick matches stacked on top of one another, and usually with ridiculous stipulations attached.
  - For instance, the Knockouts Battle Royal at TNA Sacrifice 2008. Ten women started in the ring, and the last two not tossed over the top rope Battle Royal-style would compete in a ladder match for a ~~Women's~~ Knockouts Championship shot; the loser of this ladder match would have her head shaved. Gail Kim had won immunity from having her head shaved on the Impact episode prior to Sacrifice, so since she was one of the two women competing for the title shot, the last woman eliminated during the Battle Royal portion of the match (Angelina Love) would have her head shaved if Gail lost the ladder match portion of the match.
Mis Blamed: TNA fans chant "Fire Russo!" at poorly-received matches or skits, whether Russo is involved with it or not.
- The first time this chant was invoked (a Sting/Abyss match that had a really awful gimmick involving a rising casket of some sort), Russo wasn't to blame at all. Dutch Mantell (later pegged by Internet dirtsheets as the real guilty party) was probably laughing during it.
- People also forget that Vince Russo is usually not the only person involved in writing or booking. In an interview regarding his disastrous decision to put the WCW World Heavyweight Title on an actor, Russo recalls that he proposed the idea (originally from an off-hand comment by Tony Schiavone) at a booking meeting filled with industry veterans and staff workers alike. They all enthusiastically agreed that it was a great idea.
Post Modernism: Frequently attempts this by blurring the line between Kayfabe and reality, but rarely succeeds because Professional Wrestling is built on a foundation of Suspension Of Disbelief.
Protection From Editors: Subverted in his time in WWE, as many have noted that Vince McMahon served as shitfilters for Russo's more outlandish ideas. Played pretty much straight in WCW and TNA, though.
Scapegoat Creator: See the Mis Blamed entry above.
Shocking Swerve: The Trope Namer.
Smarks Are Geniuses: Russo's belief when he was booking WCW.
Take That: After Russo left WWE, he's apparently been obsessed with bashing them every chance he gets, both in WCW and TNA.
- And before that, he was doing the same thing to WCW when he was working for the WWF in 1997-1999.
Worked Shoot: Especially during his time in WCW.
- His public firing of Hulk Hogan at the 2000 edition of WCW's Bash at the Beach event is his Crowning Moment of Awesome, though it resulted in Hogan suing WCW. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed in 2002.
  - According to Eric Bischoff's book, Russo firing Hogan was a shoot.
  - According to the Wrestle Crap book, it was a worked shoot turned real shoot. The whole thing was planned to get the belt on Booker T, but Russo's promo against Hogan was so much more vicious than they had agreed on that Hogan filed a defamation of character lawsuit against Russo for it.

Subject: Re: Funny Shit Facts: Vince Russo Sat 14 Nov 2009, 2:42 am

real nice analysis, Dead....i think you bring light in on the good and bad on the complex vince russo...as a writer, the man is a genius but that genius often went out of control when not checked

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