On his podcast, Vince Russo unleashed a lengthy rant about WWE’s formula of relying on surprise appearances from Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, arguing the company brings them back constantly with no explanation – and he cannot understand why fans still cheer for it.
Russo said WWE has used Roman and Brock returns “at least ten times each,” and the company is simply recycling the same trick for crowd pops. “Here comes freaking Brock Lesnar and here comes Roman Reigns,” Russo said. “How many effing times are we going to play these cards?”
He said the live crowd’s reaction doesn’t mean the product is good – it means audiences are conditioned to react. “People at the Garden, they go bananas,” Russo said. “So now people at home think this is a big deal because the crowd there is going bananas. But guys – you’ve done this a million freaking times.”
Russo asked how WWE keeps getting away with it when there’s no actual story for these comebacks. “Where’s the story that kept Roman Reigns away?” he asked. “Why did AJ Lee leave? Why is she back? Nobody even explains in a promo why they’re back.”
He said WWE TV events have become house shows pretending to be television, where nothing matters and nothing is explained. “It’s not a TV show,” he said. “It’s a house show.”
He criticized WWE for filling the show with top stars in the opening segment to guarantee big reactions, rather than advancing any storyline. “They kick off slot one with a sh*tty six-man with all the top guys in the business. They’re going to get the biggest pop. But that match is made on the fly.”
Stevie Richards agreed, saying Roman and Brock returning now feels like Disney On Ice cameos rather than storytelling. “Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar will come back every night on Disney On Ice,” Richards said. “These are cameos every week.”
Russo’s frustration boiled down to a single point: WWE is using the same trick repeatedly – and fans cheering for Roman doesn’t mean the product is good. It means WWE has trained audiences to react to familiar music.
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