Best Vince Russo Storyline.

[chunkylover53]

As we all know, Vince Russo's taste in storylines can be rather questionable. However, unlike alot of the WWE storyline writers, he IS a wrestling fan, so he has knowledge of the business.

Known for his work in WWF, WCW, and currently TNA, he has produced many storylines. His best work has to be in the "F" since most of his storylines there were well-received.

His finest hour was the Survivor Series tournament. You had 14 men dish it out for the vacant World championship. The three favorites were The Rock, Mankind, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Even the hyped to the tournament made me want to buy this memorable PPV.

It appeared that Vince McMahon did not want The Rock or Stone Cold to win the tournament and favored Mankind throughout the tourney. Foley's first round opponent was Duane Gill, and he beat him with ease, thus, giving him a free pass. The Rock's first round opponent was Big Bossman who he beat in 4 seconds.

As the tournament went by, it looked as though many attempts to keep The Rock from winning and ensuring Foley a victory was apparent. Shane McMahon, who appeared to have befriended "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, turned his back on him when he refused to count the 3 and got his stooges(Patterson, Brisco, and Slaughter) to eliminate The Texas Rattlesnake, thus, advancing Foley into the finals.

In the finals we had The Rock vs. Mankind and both men were hungry for the gold. Neither man would give up what they long strived for. When The Rock put Mankind in the sharpshooter, Vince called for the bell and awarded The People's Champ the title, confusing everybody. It was apparent that Mankind was used as a pawn to make everybody think he was going to win, when it was The Rock who Vince really favored.

That was pretty good booking on Russo's part as we had two swerves in the tournament. So I use this as proof that when Russo wants to, he can write great storylines. Anybody else can think of a GOOD Russo storyline?

[hollywood]

chunkylover53 said:

Anybody else can think of a GOOD Russo storyline?

No. And does Russo really deserve all the credit for that tournament?

[Mr. Mediocre]

Russo was usually good (but could be hit or miss) in the WWF, and I've always assumed it's because he had an editor trimming the crap and keeping him on task.

And since rumor has it the entire Austin v. McMahon feud was his idea, I'll credit him for that.

[Lenny: Smooth like Keith Stone]

In the finals we had The Rock vs. Mankind and both men were hungry for the gold. Neither man would give up what they long strived for. When The Rock put Mankind in the sharpshooter, Vince called for the bell and awarded The People's Champ the title, confusing everybody. It was apparent that Mankind was used as a pawn to make everybody think he was going to win, when it was The Rock who Vince really favored.

I actually didn't care for this storyline or the tournament swerves. The way I saw it was that if Vince was going to just call for the bell when Rock had the sharpshooter on, why did Rock have to be facing Mankind to do that? Technically they could have just had a normal tournament without all the "McMahons screwing everyone" motif, and then the Rock would end up in the main event against anyone at all... and that is when Vince would call for the bell in the Sharpshooter.

In other words, I always thought this tournament was just a series of swerves, just for the sake of having swerves.

But this is an interesting thread, as I know that Vince Russo did do several succesful storylines and I'm sure I probably liked some of them. The problem is that I don't know which ones he did. Was Russo the one who decided to put Edge, Christian, and Gangrel together in the Brood? If so, that might have been my favorite one.

[comahan]

Assuming it was his idea for the whole Taker/Kane thing, Ill go with that.

[thestinger]

I only ever really liked one Russo storyline -- the formation of the silver and black nWo 2000.

It took three months, it was legitamately something you didn't see coming BUT after the formation was complete you could look back and see where Hall, Nash and Jarrett's actions were benefitting Bret Hart.

Bret Hart and Goldberg were over as faces and even the tag champs briefly. Then BAM, the band is back together, they held every title and they promised that this time there would be no jobbers on the team.

The were going to keep the faction at five, Hall, Nash, Bret, Jarrett and Scott Steiner all of whom were over. To me THIS angle and not the New Blood/Millionaires Club feud was the one that could have saved WCW.

Then Bret and Jeff got injured right before a ppv (they were the World and U.S. champions) and Russo and Ferrarra were kicked out.

Everything Russo did when they brought him back sucked. But for a few months -- he was ok.

[BRAINFADE]

The HBK/Undertaker feud in '97 was one of my favourite storylines of all time, and i think that Russo has to be credited with a lot of the original DX stuff. Man, 1997 was just an awesome, AWESOME year to be a wrestling fan.

[ICBM]

Lets sidebar this one and just use TNA and WCW angles. That said I'll have to go with the Oklahoma gimick

[ICBM]

Ok seriously I didn't mean that. If he had anything to do with any of the DX stunts I will give praise. Wizzing on DOA's bikes, the DX split, the whole HHH is gonna show his wiener to the crowd then oh it was a super soaker under a trench coat, going to CNN center, going thru NYC and just talking to people. All of it was TV gold

[pixiesfan]

This thread is beyond ridiculous. How do you even what exactly were his storylines. I mean, he sure is one of the worst bookers I have ever heard from (at least the news that get posted and some obvious angles that get rehashed in TNA) but this thread is just fridgin retarded.

[hutter]

"Best Russo storyline" brings to mind "Best venereal disease". Some are worse than others, but none of them are any good.

[Johnny]

I CHOPPY CHOPPY YOUR PEE PEE!

[bobolebowski]

comahan said:

Assuming it was his idea for the whole Taker/Kane thing, Ill go with that.

I will admit that was an awesome angle....but as it went on longer and longer it got more confusing....like who was related to who and who wasnt. it got really clustered towards the end of the angle.

[Michael Coello]

For TNA, XXX vs AMW was great.

[HMARK Center]

sinister1 said:

For TNA, XXX vs AMW was great.

Indeed. Long lasting, many great matches. Only problem I had with it was the inevitable "reluctant partners" chapter of the story, but it lead to the final cage match between the two teams.

[Cry Me a Wiggle]

nWo Black and Silver. People like to crap on it, but it was perfectly executed. It was three solid months worth of booking to get to one destination, dispelling the myth that Russo can only do nonsensical swerves. The seduction of Bret Hart by "the Powers That Be" and their goons was a slow, beautiful burn that had me slapping my forehead and asking why I didn't see it coming.

Then, the month between the reformation and Russo getting sent home was some excellent TV. I don't care what the haters say or how much the man irritates the purists, but those were the best episodes of Nitro in a long, long time. From Steiner joining the group a week later (after a retirement fake-out that was flawless, considering Scott Steiner is no master thespian), to Terry Funk becoming commissioner to combat them and then bringing in the legends (including a great moment where Snuka passed the torch to Benoit by doing a double cage dive)... it was riveting. You needed to keep tuning in to see what the hell would happen next.

Had Hart not been concussed a day before the angle began leading to the chain of events that led to his ouster, I truly believe Russo would be highly regarded today. I can't fathom how people can endlessly trash Russo but ignore the two tenures surrounding that initial WCW stint: Nash's Summer of Suck and Sullivan's reign of mediocrity.

[hobo]

If putting David Flair, Daffney, and Crowbar together was Russo's work, then that's my choice.

Russo is really interesting. He really reminds me of John K., creator of Ren and Stimpy. Like Russo, he was a very talented and creative guy, but his stuff was way, WAY out there, and he needed a good editor. For years his fans claimed that Nickelodeon ruined his show by censoring his work. Looking back, that was a blessing in disguise because Nickelodeon was able to reign him in and veto a lot of the really creepy and disgusting stuff. Then Spike renewed the show, pretty much gave him a free reign, and look at what a train wreck it was (pretty much like WCW).

Then again in fairness to John K., "Ren Seeks Help" was an awesome episode, and there's just no way that Nickelodeon would ever have aired it.

[bubbles]

3 Count and Jung Dragons, dunno if they were Russo's doing or not but they ruled.

[Jason Todd Grisham]

I have to agree with NWO 2000. It was great television, the only issue I have with it is bringing back the NWO name. By that point the NWO needed a rest. But I think that once that idea was thrown into the toilet, by the time Russo came back he was just bitter. If Bischoff's book is to be trusted he did mention that Russo had some very dark storylines.

I also love the concept of "The Powers That Be." It's just a shame he never had a chance to complete it. Though I have a feeling it would be a bunch of crap too.

[The OP]

pixiesfan said:

This thread is beyond ridiculous. How do you even what exactly were his storylines. I mean, he sure is one of the worst bookers I have ever heard from (at least the news that get posted and some obvious angles that get rehashed in TNA) but this thread is just fridgin retarded.

I wouldn't have phrased it so rudely, but I basically agree. Notice how most of the responses consist of things like "If ___ was Russo, then that one".