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Post by Nickybojelais on Feb 9, 2017 21:01:59 GMT -5
We often hear the statement that "for every good Russo idea there were hundreds of horrible ideas that got shot down".
The only example I've heard is from Jim Cornette (surprise surprise!) saying that Russo wanted Kane to chokeslam Undertaker through a table 5 months before their first match at Wrestlemania 14, whereas Cornette advocated a slow build where they don't touch each other for months.
Although the above is certainly rushing an angle, I don't think it is a particularly horrible idea. So does anybody have examples of some of those horrible Russo ideas that we often hear alluded to that got rejected and didn't make it to our tv screens?
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Post by BorneAgain on Feb 9, 2017 21:05:34 GMT -5
One may consider most of his TNA run as Russo without the filter.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Feb 9, 2017 21:13:16 GMT -5
Tank Abbott wcw champion.
When he returned to the wwe in 2002 he pitched another wcw invasion that got him fired in 4 days.
In a shoot, Kevin Sullivan mentioned that Russo pitched to him about playing an IRA extremist...
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Reflecto
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Post by Reflecto on Feb 9, 2017 21:18:41 GMT -5
Didn't Russo once actually want to burn an arena full of people down, or was that something said to mock Russo's insanity?
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Post by Hit Girl on Feb 9, 2017 21:24:25 GMT -5
The Rock = Gay
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Post by Nickybojelais on Feb 9, 2017 22:00:20 GMT -5
Tank Abbott wcw champion. When he returned to the wwe in 2002 he pitched another wcw invasion that got him fired in 4 days. In a shoot, Kevin Sullivan mentioned that Russo pitched to him about playing an IRA extremist... Wow, quite an achievement to suggest an Invasion storyline and be so bad that you get fired by the "brains" behind the original awful Invasion storyline. I shudder to think what he could have suggested. And we all know that a Russo IRA extremist storyline would end up playing out exactly like 'The Crying Game'.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Feb 9, 2017 22:59:48 GMT -5
Tank Abbott wcw champion. When he returned to the wwe in 2002 he pitched another wcw invasion that got him fired in 4 days. In a shoot, Kevin Sullivan mentioned that Russo pitched to him about playing an IRA extremist... Wow, quite an achievement to suggest an Invasion storyline and be so bad that you get fired by the "brains" behind the original awful Invasion storyline. I shudder to think what he could have suggested. And we all know that a Russo IRA extremist storyline would end up playing out exactly like 'The Crying Game'. Russo apparently pitched to have Scott Steiner and Goldberg get signed to the company so they could join the invasion...keep in mind that they were still under contract to Turner, and the wwe didn't want to buy them out because they couldn't match it. Russo apparently doesn't know how budgets work apparently, that's why he always wrote in stupid props and vehicles. Regarding the IRA storyline, Sullivan rejected it because he was fearful of his life.
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Post by tigermaskxxxvii on Feb 9, 2017 23:10:22 GMT -5
Tank Abbott wcw champion. When he returned to the wwe in 2002 he pitched another wcw invasion that got him fired in 4 days. In a shoot, Kevin Sullivan mentioned that Russo pitched to him about playing an IRA extremist... Funny to think of Kevin Sullivan playing an IRA extremist with that thick Boston accent of his. Unless part of the angle is he's one of those guys in Southie trying really hard to connect to his ancestral homeland in order to give himself some panache.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Feb 9, 2017 23:21:50 GMT -5
Tank Abbott wcw champion. When he returned to the wwe in 2002 he pitched another wcw invasion that got him fired in 4 days. In a shoot, Kevin Sullivan mentioned that Russo pitched to him about playing an IRA extremist... Wow, quite an achievement to suggest an Invasion storyline and be so bad that you get fired by the "brains" behind the original awful Invasion storyline. I shudder to think what he could have suggested. And we all know that a Russo IRA extremist storyline would end up playing out exactly like 'The Crying Game'. When WWE was done with the Invasion, they were REALLY done with the Invasion. Austin turned face again with literally no explanation I am aware of, Kurt was heel again, and the angle was almost completely forgotten after the fallout was settled. (WCW guys they decided to keep getting rehired in one way or another, Ric Flair buying Shane and Steph's shares). More Invasion stuff probably was as welcome to Vince as the unfrozen Nazi/goosestepping gimmick that made Vince leave the room in disgust. I think Foley said Russo wrote 2 weeks worth of TV before leaving in 1999, with Vince opting to use none of it. Among other ideas, it supposedly involved Mankind proposing marriage to the Rock.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Feb 9, 2017 23:42:47 GMT -5
Wow, quite an achievement to suggest an Invasion storyline and be so bad that you get fired by the "brains" behind the original awful Invasion storyline. I shudder to think what he could have suggested. And we all know that a Russo IRA extremist storyline would end up playing out exactly like 'The Crying Game'. When WWE was done with the Invasion, they were REALLY done with the Invasion. Austin turned face again with literally no explanation I am aware of, Kurt was heel again, and the angle was almost completely forgotten after the fallout was settled. (WCW guys they decided to keep getting rehired in one way or another, Ric Flair buying Shane and Steph's shares). More Invasion stuff probably was as welcome to Vince as the unfrozen Nazi/goosestepping gimmick that made Vince leave the room in disgust. I think Foley said Russo wrote 2 weeks worth of TV before leaving in 1999, with Vince opting to use none of it. Among other ideas, it supposedly involved Mankind proposing marriage to the Rock. To quote Vince McMahon from the Monday night war series in the network regarding what he thought about Russo, "It's not that he had good ideas, most of them were bad, his legacy is that he was lucky to work with the best group of performers of all time." That's what Vince Russo is, lucky, right place right time, and with the best promoter in Wrestling's history, being his filter. Take Russo away from the wwe editing his work and he's the killer of companies.
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J. Hova
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Post by J. Hova on Feb 10, 2017 0:00:50 GMT -5
It would probably be easier to name his good ideas than list all of his bad ones So just off the top of my head....Oklahoma, Invasion redux, Tank Abbott WCW Champion, David Arquette WCW Champion, giving any kind of serious consideration to Disco Inferno's booking ideas, booking himself as WCW Champion, the whole Bash at the Beach worked shoot with Hogan, calling TNA TNA because he is apparently a 10th grade boy, and the Blue Blazer being pushed onto Owen Hart.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Feb 10, 2017 0:07:18 GMT -5
When WWE was done with the Invasion, they were REALLY done with the Invasion. Austin turned face again with literally no explanation I am aware of, Kurt was heel again, and the angle was almost completely forgotten after the fallout was settled. (WCW guys they decided to keep getting rehired in one way or another, Ric Flair buying Shane and Steph's shares). More Invasion stuff probably was as welcome to Vince as the unfrozen Nazi/goosestepping gimmick that made Vince leave the room in disgust. I think Foley said Russo wrote 2 weeks worth of TV before leaving in 1999, with Vince opting to use none of it. Among other ideas, it supposedly involved Mankind proposing marriage to the Rock. To quote Vince McMahon from the Monday night war series in the network regarding what he thought about Russo, "It's not that he had good ideas, most of them were bad, his legacy is that he was lucky to work with the best group of performers of all time." That's what Vince Russo is, lucky, right place right time, and with the best promoter in Wrestling's history, being his filter. Take Russo away from the wwe editing his work and he's the killer of companies. I guess whether or not Vince is the best promoter comes down to opinion, but certainly the biggest promoter, but yeah, he couldn't recreate it in WCW with many tools available to him. WCW had a lot of confines, given contracts, no one clear boss, etc, but still, he should have been able to do a f***ton better than that if he was any good.
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chazraps
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Post by chazraps on Feb 10, 2017 2:23:20 GMT -5
The original blowoff to David Flair-Stacy Keibler was David was supposed to get Stacy pregnant and then propose to her culminating with a big wedding on Nitro... ...only for Ric Flair to object and reveal himself as Stacy's biological father.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2017 2:27:42 GMT -5
When WWE was done with the Invasion, they were REALLY done with the Invasion. Austin turned face again with literally no explanation I am aware of, Kurt was heel again, and the angle was almost completely forgotten after the fallout was settled. (WCW guys they decided to keep getting rehired in one way or another, Ric Flair buying Shane and Steph's shares). More Invasion stuff probably was as welcome to Vince as the unfrozen Nazi/goosestepping gimmick that made Vince leave the room in disgust. I think Foley said Russo wrote 2 weeks worth of TV before leaving in 1999, with Vince opting to use none of it. Among other ideas, it supposedly involved Mankind proposing marriage to the Rock. To quote Vince McMahon from the Monday night war series in the network regarding what he thought about Russo, "It's not that he had good ideas, most of them were bad, his legacy is that he was lucky to work with the best group of performers of all time." That's what Vince Russo is, lucky, right place right time, and with the best promoter in Wrestling's history, being his filter. Take Russo away from the wwe editing his work and he's the killer of companies. You could say the same for McMahon as a booker, too. If Vince had been booking all in his own ideas and didn't have Patterson etc. Around him then WWE wouldn't have lasted long at all.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Feb 10, 2017 2:42:13 GMT -5
To quote Vince McMahon from the Monday night war series in the network regarding what he thought about Russo, "It's not that he had good ideas, most of them were bad, his legacy is that he was lucky to work with the best group of performers of all time." That's what Vince Russo is, lucky, right place right time, and with the best promoter in Wrestling's history, being his filter. Take Russo away from the wwe editing his work and he's the killer of companies. You could say the same for McMahon as a booker, too. If Vince had been booking all in his own ideas and didn't have Patterson etc. Around him then WWE wouldn't have lasted long at all. I can't compare Russo with McMahon. While it's true that Pat contributed immensely, it was Vince's final say and vision. We often blame him for the garbage that airs, but keep in mind that he had to vetoed some real shit, like the nazi Heidenreich gimmick, and Vince Russo worst ideas. At the end of the day, McMahon accepts criticism, and if he f***s up with his ideas, like the new generation era, he apologizes to the talent. According to Mick Foley, Vince held a meeting and told the guys that his ideas were not drawing money anymore and things needed to change. He even appeared on tv before the attitude era and admitted that the show sucked and needed to improve. Bruce Prichard said also that he wasn't above changing the storyline if his comitee said that the idea sucked. Originally instead of Sgt Slaughter vs Hogan, it was gonna be Tugboag who turned heel and became the iraquí sympathizer. Now there's Russo who has never apologized for his mistakes, who always plays the victim, who always blames everyone but himself.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Feb 10, 2017 2:43:37 GMT -5
The original blowoff to David Flair-Stacy Keibler was David was supposed to get Stacy pregnant and then propose to her culminating with a big wedding on Nitro... ...only for Ric Flair to object and reveal himself as Stacy's biological father. I hope Flair cursed him out for even suggesting it. That storyline would've killed his career.
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Post by evilone on Feb 10, 2017 4:00:29 GMT -5
Tank Abbott wcw champion. When he returned to the wwe in 2002 he pitched another wcw invasion that got him fired in 4 days. In a shoot, Kevin Sullivan mentioned that Russo pitched to him about playing an IRA extremist... Wow, quite an achievement to suggest an Invasion storyline and be so bad that you get fired by the "brains" behind the original awful Invasion storyline. I shudder to think what he could have suggested. And we all know that a Russo IRA extremist storyline would end up playing out exactly like 'The Crying Game'. He pitched Eric Bischoff coming to WWE as part of the invasion. So Eric debuting in WWE was his idea.
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Magnus the Magnificent
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Post by Magnus the Magnificent on Feb 10, 2017 9:32:11 GMT -5
__on a pole.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Feb 10, 2017 14:14:41 GMT -5
You could say the same for McMahon as a booker, too. If Vince had been booking all in his own ideas and didn't have Patterson etc. Around him then WWE wouldn't have lasted long at all. I can't compare Russo with McMahon. While it's true that Pat contributed immensely, it was Vince's final say and vision. We often blame him for the garbage that airs, but keep in mind that he had to vetoed some real shit, like the nazi Heidenreich gimmick, and Vince Russo worst ideas. At the end of the day, McMahon accepts criticism, and if he f***s up with his ideas, like the new generation era, he apologizes to the talent. According to Mick Foley, Vince held a meeting and told the guys that his ideas were not drawing money anymore and things needed to change. He even appeared on tv before the attitude era and admitted that the show sucked and needed to improve. Bruce Prichard said also that he wasn't above changing the storyline if his comitee said that the idea sucked. Originally instead of Sgt Slaughter vs Hogan, it was gonna be Tugboag who turned heel and became the iraquí sympathizer. Now there's Russo who has never apologized for his mistakes, who always plays the victim, who always blames everyone but himself. Where was the McMahon who accepts criticism and aborts bad angles when he was making Trish get on all fours and bark like a dog? Where was he during Mae Young giving birth to a hand or the whole Mark Henry Gerontophilia angle? Where was he during the Katie Vick angle? I sincerely doubt that Vince was a filter for Russo given how things got worse after his departure with many of the things people consider low points for wrestling directly attributable to Vince himself, with only his kids able to veto them, which is the reason that the Vince/Steph then Paul Burchill/Katie Lea incest angle never made it to air.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Feb 10, 2017 14:29:19 GMT -5
I can't compare Russo with McMahon. While it's true that Pat contributed immensely, it was Vince's final say and vision. We often blame him for the garbage that airs, but keep in mind that he had to vetoed some real shit, like the nazi Heidenreich gimmick, and Vince Russo worst ideas. At the end of the day, McMahon accepts criticism, and if he f***s up with his ideas, like the new generation era, he apologizes to the talent. According to Mick Foley, Vince held a meeting and told the guys that his ideas were not drawing money anymore and things needed to change. He even appeared on tv before the attitude era and admitted that the show sucked and needed to improve. Bruce Prichard said also that he wasn't above changing the storyline if his comitee said that the idea sucked. Originally instead of Sgt Slaughter vs Hogan, it was gonna be Tugboag who turned heel and became the iraquí sympathizer. Now there's Russo who has never apologized for his mistakes, who always plays the victim, who always blames everyone but himself. Where was the McMahon who accepts criticism and aborts bad angles when he was making Trish get on all fours and bark like a dog? Where was he during Mae Young giving birth to a hand or the whole Mark Henry Gerontophilia angle? Where was he during the Katie Vick angle? I sincerely doubt that Vince was a filter for Russo given how things got worse after his departure with many of the things people consider low points for wrestling directly attributable to Vince himself, with only his kids able to veto them, which is the reason that the Vince/Steph then Paul Burchill/Katie Lea incest angle never made it to air. As far as im concerned, Russo was still around for the Mark Henry deal. I may be wrong, i cant defend those angles. He did apologize for when business was down, as far as I know, those angles didnt kill the territory unlike Russo's.
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