What do you think of Vince Russo?

[Circled Square]

Weird question but I was re-watching some great Cornette shoots and he annihilated the poor guy. So who's right? Is Vince a useless fuckwad or a twisted genius?

[The Legend]

I think Vince Russo has left an undeniable mark on the pro wrestling industry. It would be very different if he never entered the industry and a lot of exciting moments probably never happen without Vince Russo.

Now all that being said, I think a little Vince Russo goes a long way. If he gets too involved and has too much control over the whole product then things go really sideways and don't work out. But a couple of Russo-inspired segments or moments per week can be fun.

[SKS]

We can settle the debate with a Circled Square on a pole match.

[Str8Shooter]

I think he was the right guy at the right time for WWF in the late 90's entering the Attitude Era, because his views of television and pro wrestling at that time seemed to mesh and with some strong people acting as a filter for him it produced and worked out very well.

Unfortunately he went to WCW and his style didn't work nearly as well because he had free reign and could do anything he wanted without consequence. And ever since then the wrestling industry and the world has changed from that crash TV style and he still hasn't changed his view on what works. That's the main reason nothing he's done since has worked nearly to the degree it first did.

[Messiah]

Russo's strategy worked for the WWF at first because it was refreshing and new. It actually fit with what was popular in TV back then (which is what WWE struggles with). However, going back and watching some of those old Raws and PPVs is cringeworthy. Obviously it was probably great at the time and there are still a ton of fantastic segments, strengthened by some of the biggest stars, but it is something that worked because Russo was perfect for that time period.

WWF only got better after he left. 2000 WWF >>>>>

[Hanley!]

I think he sucks and I think he always sucked. His strategy has always been about bullshit gimmickry, a more is more mentality and pushing the envelope out so far that the law of diminishing returns kicks in almost immediately. Russo gained his popularity not through any deft writing or creative skill, but just by doing something new and different.

As soon as his techniques stopped being new and different, and people stopped being excited by them, everyone realised just how crappy they were. And yet there are scores of old booking techniques from the 60s, 70s and 80s that still work brilliantly on fans today. He only ever offered something new, he never offered anything good.

He contributed a lot to killing gimmick matches in wrestling, to killing hardcore wrestling in general, to killing the prestige of wrestling championships, and to killing storyline continuity.

The only positive legacy he has that I can think of is that he probably popularised the worked shoot. But then he was never actually any good at it. Though worked shoots have been done extremely well by the likes of Paul Heyman and CM Punk, and have given us some of our most memorable promos over the last decade, Russo's attempts universally sucked.