auph10imitated
Dennis Stamp
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Post by auph10imitated on Dec 29, 2015 8:09:48 GMT -5
Ok this is the period where I stopped watching full time but I really cant believe I never knew this. I was ransomly reading Russo's Wiki page and read he returned to the WWE in 2002? I had no idea at all. Thats pretty big so im suprised its escaped me. Interesting to think though.
In all honesty, now that i think about it - that is a pretty good way of saving the Invasion after The Alliance bust by using Eric Bischoff as an invader rather than a GM and have him build up a WCW stable and reboot it, it could have actually worked to be fair, would have also saved us from the shitty draft. I have to admit id like to have a go at Fantasy booking that scenario.
Return to WWE (2002)[edit] Russo later returned to WWE in mid-2002, but quickly left after saying that there was "no way in the world that this thing would work out".[6] The major storyline idea he proposed was an entire restart of the WCW Invasion, featuring previously unsigned talent such as Bill Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Eric Bischoff and Bret Hart,[7][8] but his idea was so poorly received that Russo was immediately demoted from the position of 'Head Creative Director' to that of a "consultant". As a result, Russo then left of his own accord (turning down a $125,000 per year stay-at-home 'advisory' role with WWE in favor of a $100,000 per year full-time position with TNA).[9]
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auph10imitated
Dennis Stamp
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Post by auph10imitated on Dec 29, 2015 8:13:43 GMT -5
Did some more digging:
Russo brought back to WWE, role undefined At first assigned creative director role, but then scaled back after his ideas were rejected by staff
Cover Story from Torch Newsletter #711 Cover-Dated: June 29, 2002 By Wade Keller, Torch editor
Vince Russo was rehired by Vince McMahon last week to oversee the creative direction of both Raw and Smackdown. Within a day or two, Russo's position had already been scaled back to a role as a mere "consultant."
Russo was McMahon's writing partner during the years when the WWF went from a distant second to WCW in the Monday Night Wars to the dominant leader. He was instrumental in the storylines that made mega-stars out of Steve Austin, DX, The Rock, Mick Foley, Triple H, and a heel Vince McMahon. He spoke out against the "yes-men" McMahon had surrounded himself with and pushed for major changes in attitude and edgy content that eventually led to unprecedented success for the WWF.
He is also the person who left the WWF for WCW, not giving Vince McMahon an opportunity to make a counter-offer to retain his services. He shocked McMahon by calling him one day and telling him he had just accepted a job with WCW and he was starting with them the following week. Russo had asked for a raise from $350,000 to $1 million once Smackdown was added to his duties. McMahon hadn't gotten back to him for weeks, so Russo shopped his services elsewhere.
Russo's tenure in WCW was largely disastrous, although whose fault it was has been the subject of spirited debates. Some argue that Russo was handcuffed by Time Warner's stringent content policies and didn't have the infrastructure that the WWF provided or the stars to allow him to work his magic. Others argue that Russo, without McMahon's editing and input, was lost.
The rehiring of Russo indicates that Vince McMahon is in dire search of a solution to the continued diminishing interest in his product. Raw and Smackdown ratings continue to drop, attendance is dismal, and buyrates are at multi-year lows. The trade media and mainstream media are picking up on the situation, as a wire story originating in Variety this week documenting the drop in TV ratings was published in several major publications.
Rehiring Russo may have been partly a p.r. move - giving WWE a chance to tell investors that they had just rehired the writer who helped take them to the promised land. That approach, though, would be uncharacteristic of McMahon. When Russo was co-writing Raw with McMahon, and delivering record cable ratings with his shows, McMahon never gave Russo credit in public. It was "his" (McMahon's) show, and anyone who contributed was just "an interchangeable cog" in the well-oiled machine he created. That lack of recognition is one of the main reasons Russo left the WWF in the first place and didn't bother to give McMahon a chance to make a counter-offer to keep him.
The decision to rehire Russo was seen as a vote of "no confidence" in the current writing team. Just a couple of weeks ago Brian Gewirtz was put in charge of writing Raw and Paul Heyman was put in charge of writing Smackdown. Stephanie McMahon was in charge of overseeing the writing of both shows. Vince McMahon, as always, set the course for the writers as far as the top storylines went and checked off on the final scripts, making any changes he believed would improve the shows.
Russo was rehired to be head creative director, in a new position somewhere above Heyman and Gewirtz, but answering to Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon.
Late last week Russo met with the creative team and members of management, revealed his ideas for how to turn around WWE (apparently ideas he would not explain in detail until he had been hired, lest they not be stolen from him without being hired as a way to get back at him for the way he abruptly ended his previous stint). Sources say the ideas were so poorly received that within hours, Russo's role had been changed from a hands-on creative director to a hands-off creative consultant. Triple H was said to be especially upset with the ideas expressed by Russo, and Stephanie McMahon was said to be instrumental in convincing her father to give the current writing team more time.
There have been mixed signals regarding Russo's reaction to the sudden apparent demotion. Some say that he basically quit, but other indications are that he will remain around as a shadow booker of sorts, waiting in the wings for a call when and if the current writing staff fails. In other words, the current writing staff has a certain amount of time to fix things, and if they don't, Russo will replace them.
The hiring of Russo was not a decision made solely in reaction to Steve Austin's departure. Russo and McMahon had been in talks for several weeks. Informed sources tell the TORCH that Russo had sent feelers to McMahon through a friend of his at WWE headquarters, Jimmy Monsees. Monsees told Shane McMahon of Russo's interest in speaking with his father. Shane then arranged for a conversation.
Russo, since his departure from WCW, remained in Atlanta where his wife and two children had settled during his WCW tenure. Having run a video business before getting involved in wrestling, he used that experience to open a "CD Warehouse" franchise in Atlanta. He was turning a profit just one year into the operating the business, but nothing near what he made in his stints in the WWF and WCW. He earned $350,000 a year during his last year with the WWF, and a similar salary in WCW. Although he found some semblance of peace working at "CD Warehouse," he was making closer to one-tenth his previous salaries. Friends say he wanted financial security.
In addition to financial motivations, with WWE business struggling, and a desire to prove that his first stint wasn't a fluke and that his WCW experience wasn't his fault, it stood to reason he would be interested in returning to wrestling. Also, his children were miserable in Atlanta and wanted to move back to Long Island, N.Y. Even though his parents lived in Florida, he wanted to move back to the Northeast, also. He never liked Atlanta, either.
During his time away from wrestling, he had written a draft of a book called "Welcome to Bizzaroland: Screw Pine Valley, this ‘Rope Opera' is for Men!" The 210 page manuscript, detailing his experience working with Vince McMahon, had been shopped around to various publishers over the past month or two. Sources familiar with the book's content say there is nothing in the book that would cause McMahon to hire Russo "just to shut him up" or stop the book from being published.
The book marches through Russo's early years working as a radio show host and dreaming of working for Vince McMahon some day. It details the path he took through being a writer for WWF Magazine to eventually being invited into a booking meeting by Bill Watts to eventually telling Vince McMahon "it's him or it's me" regarding his creative team rival Jim Cornette and Vince choosing him, to writing Raws with McMahon during Raw's hottest run to date, to Russo's eventual burn out and disappointment in McMahon's callous attitude toward his expressed desire to have more time to spend with his wife and two children, to his decision to jump to WCW.
Although the book is said to be by no means a puff piece on his time in WWE, there is apparently nothing in it that Vince McMahon would "fear." Russo doesn't drop any bombshells regarding illegal or immoral conduct on the part of Vince McMahon or his kids. It defends McMahon when it comes to the circumstances surrounding Owen Hart's death. It even backs up the story that Vince McMahon went into Bret's dressing room after the Survivor Series '97 finish with the intent to "let Bret hit him."
The book is also kind to the top WWE stars, including Triple H, Rock, Mick Foley, and Steve Austin. If anything, if McMahon had read the manuscript of the book, source say it might have done more to open the door to a Russo return than close the door.
Russo was part of one of the most prosperous eras of WWF/WWE history. McMahon, going through tough times now, may long for the days of 7-plus quarter hour peak ratings and lavish praise from the mainstream media for being a "creative and business genius." Since then, McMahon has blemished his reputation with the XFL, the WCW buyout, and shaky start to the "brand extension." With Rock off making movies most of the time and Steve Austin gone, McMahon may be reminiscing about Russo's ability to help him create stars out of talents McMahon frankly wasn't particularly high on at first.
Hulk Hogan is suing AOL Time Warner and Russo personally for defamation of character for unscripted comments Russo made against Hogan. AOL Time Warner gave Russo their blessing to work for WWE even though the lawsuit is stil oustanding and Hogan works for WWE.
Politically, Russo's reentrance into WWE wasn't greeted with enthusiasm. Many wrestlers who worked with him in before are sour on him (while others like him). Jim Ross, one of McMahon's current top lieutenants, was one of Russo's main adversaries. He has been one of the main people who downplayed Russo's contributions to the WWF after Russo left. With Ross's main ally (Austin) departed and Russo back, rumors immediately began that Ross would be scaling back his duties.
Sources say Russo's "big idea" was do an "invasion" type angle with Eric Bischoff, Goldberg, Bret Hart, and Mick Foley (his original plan also included Shawn Michaels as part of the mix). The angle would be presented in shoot fashion, as if the new force was taking over one of the two programs. If Austin and WWE were to mend fences, or if the Austin departure has been part of an elaboroate work (which some believe is possible), he could also be part of such an angle.
As it now stands, no one is quite clear where Russo stands. The writing team appears to be the same as it was two weeks ago, and Russo was not present at this week's King of the Ring or Raw. His future with WWE remains undetermined.
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Post by 111111 on Dec 29, 2015 9:07:37 GMT -5
Russo, since his departure from WCW, remained in Atlanta where his wife and two children had settled during his WCW tenure. Having run a video business before getting involved in wrestling, he used that experience to open a "CD Warehouse" franchise in Atlanta. Wait, Vince Russo opened a shop that sold CD's in 2001? Did he buy Atari stock in 1982 as well?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2015 13:02:29 GMT -5
Russo, since his departure from WCW, remained in Atlanta where his wife and two children had settled during his WCW tenure. Having run a video business before getting involved in wrestling, he used that experience to open a "CD Warehouse" franchise in Atlanta. Wait, Vince Russo opened a shop that sold CD's in 2001? Did he buy Atari stock in 1982 as well? I was gonna say that iTunes wasn't out yet but it was...THAT VERY YEAR lol. It would be like buying a Blockbuster franchise after hearing about Netflix.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Dec 29, 2015 13:03:13 GMT -5
Lol poor Russo, he got demoted from Head of Creative to consultant in a day losing more than half of his salary, that invasion idea probably was the worst pitch of all time.
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Post by BlackJackRobby on Dec 29, 2015 13:14:17 GMT -5
Wouldn't Atari stock in 82' be a good thing? Maybe a bit expensive, but they better make what they can and sell early 83' or they'll be living in a dirt whole by 85'.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Dec 29, 2015 14:14:17 GMT -5
Say what you will about Russo, had he retained the position we wouldn't have gotten the Reign of Terror or Stephanie McMahon: head of creative despite having no background in creative writing. His ideas would have been bad, but not as soulcrushing as what they actually put on television.
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Post by Tiger Millionaire on Dec 29, 2015 14:29:05 GMT -5
Say what you will about Russo, had he retained the position we wouldn't have gotten the Reign of Terror or Stephanie McMahon: head of creative despite having no background in creative writing. His ideas would have been bad, but not as soulcrushing as what they actually put on television. Did you watch WCW when he wrote it? If there was a definition of soul crushing, it was that.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Dec 29, 2015 14:59:45 GMT -5
Say what you will about Russo, had he retained the position we wouldn't have gotten the Reign of Terror or Stephanie McMahon: head of creative despite having no background in creative writing. His ideas would have been bad, but not as soulcrushing as what they actually put on television. Did you watch WCW when he wrote it? If there was a definition of soul crushing, it was that. I did, yes, but the difference between Russo in WCW and in the WWF is he wouldn't have the final say over everything and wouldn't be working with his dreadlocked mini-me, Ed Ferrara.
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auph10imitated
Dennis Stamp
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Post by auph10imitated on Dec 30, 2015 5:14:48 GMT -5
At least under McMahon, Russo was under control so it wouldnt have been as bad as WCW. But then again at the same time Paul Heyman was on the roster and he blows Russo away and The McMahons didnt ever agree with him so Russo probably would have left either way
As for the CD thing, well Napster was only a big deal in 2000, so I would say CDs were still a thing until at least mid 00's. Hell I only got broadband (from dial up) in 2005 and only got an iPhone for the first time in 2009, so I dont think technology was that advanced at all in 2001, I was still taping on VHS until 2004 lol
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Dec 30, 2015 5:30:12 GMT -5
Lol poor Russo, he got demoted from Head of Creative to consultant in a day losing more than half of his salary, that invasion idea probably was the worst pitch of all time. It's not quite unfrozen Nazi Heidenreich, but it might be close.
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Post by Feyrhausen on Dec 30, 2015 6:26:44 GMT -5
I read somewhere that Russo was still under contract to Time Warner and collecting checks. He wanted to work for TNA but the Jarretts could not afford to buy him out. So he had WWE buy him out and proposed the outrageous invasion angle to get fired. Then he could work for TNA.
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Post by evilone on Dec 30, 2015 18:18:58 GMT -5
His invasion idea was probably like tons better than what they did in the first place but since it was such a wreck they probably didn't have guts to go back there.
BTW Eric Bischoff going to WWE was Russo's idea which they used but not in a way Russo intended.
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Post by Toilet Paper Roll on Dec 30, 2015 23:08:49 GMT -5
I liked WWEs version of the Invasion better, having the WCW guys look foolish weas gangbusters
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Post by celtics543 on Dec 30, 2015 23:22:40 GMT -5
Am I the only one that would've rather seen the rehash of the invasion over what actually happened? Having Bischoff come back with Goldberg and the other main event guys and talk about how the WWE beat the WCW jv team would be great. A legit invasion with Bischoff, Flair, DDP, Goldberg, Steiner, Nash, Hall, Hogan, Booker, and Sting would have been great. Throw in Paul E with RVD, Dreamer, Raven, Rhyno, Lance Storm, and Taz/Sabu/Sandman and we're talking about a legit fun invasion angle.
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Post by ________ has left the building on Dec 31, 2015 10:16:10 GMT -5
Vince Russo's return was a case of immediate buyer's remorse. Like McMahon hired him, announced his return, and everyone from his right hand men to the janitor told him it was a bad idea. Russo was gone before he even had time to gloat about returning.
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DjZonk
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Post by DjZonk on Dec 31, 2015 12:12:36 GMT -5
Reports at the time I remember stating he suggested turning The Rock into a gay character.
I'm not making this up.
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BlackoutCreature
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Dec 31, 2015 12:12:42 GMT -5
I find it interesting that apparently Russo's only idea during this time was "let's create a new heel stable and have them 'invade'". He might as well have just said "here's TNA's booking plans for the next decade plus".
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Crappler El 0 M
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Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 31, 2015 12:22:50 GMT -5
For like a day. Supposedly he suggested bringing in Bischoff while he was there. They probably would have ended up doing that anyway.
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Post by MrElijah on Dec 31, 2015 16:10:27 GMT -5
Still I wonder the potential trainwreck. Could you imagine a meeting of Eric, Heyman, Russo, Vince and Steph in the same room?
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