2. Vince Russo Talks About How He Became An On-Screen Character In WCW, Finishing Moves Not Meaning Anything Nowadays
During a recent appearance on the Bollin Alley podcast, Vince Russo revealed how he became an on-screen character in WCW, how finishing moves don’t mean anything nowadays & more. Below are the highlights:
On screen character origin and if he would have wanted to have debut the character earlier in WWE:
“Everybody on the roster during the attitude era was a movie star, every single one of them! There would have been no place for Vince Russo whatsoever. What happened when we went to WCW, I had no intention of being an on screen character, what happened was they put me in a position where; when they hired me, I made it clear to WCW that you have to understand one thing, you are not going to get ratings over night, it doesn’t happen that way. We have to rip down what you have, we have to build our own foundation and we have to start building on that foundation and it’s going to be a year before you see the numbers you want.
Well of course, 6 weeks in; they were all over me for ratings and numbers and why aren’t we doing 4’s? And I got so sick and tired of hearing them that I said “do you know what, if you want ratings so bad and you’re putting all of this pressure on me, i’ll go out there and do it myself!” That’s how it came about, that was my attitude and they basically told me my job was on the line if I didn’t go out there and deliver ratings tomorrow when I already told them before I signed the contract that I needed a year! So now while they’re putting the pressure on me, when you have to deliver, you can’t depend on anyone else.
We’ve all been in that position, when your lively hood is on the line, I’m not passing the buck. So they put me in a position where I said “Screw it, bro. If you want ratings, i’ll do it myself!” because I knew people would hate me as a brash and arrogant new yorker, I knew they would buy it hook line and sinker, I knew they would buy it; especially in the south! And that was the reason I became the TV character, I had no intention whatsoever of ever being on television once I went to WCW.”
Finishing moves killing the wrestling business:
“They still call them finishers and finishing moves yet everybody kicks out of everyone! You can’t call it a finishing move if you’re not finishing anyone with it so call it something else. You’ll watch these matches on Monday night, there will be 10-15 false finishes then the match will end with a roll up.”
