 Russo in 2007 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Vincent James Russo (1961-01-24)January 24, 1961 (age 64) Long Island,New York, U.S. |
Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | russosbrand |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Vic Venom Vicious Vincent Vince Russo Mr. Wrestling III The Powers That Be |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 220 lb (100 kg)[1] |
Vincent James Russo (born January 24, 1961) is an Americanprofessional wrestling writer, booker, andpundit. He is notable for his tenures in creative roles with theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE),World Championship Wrestling (WCW), andTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).[2] He also occasionally made appearances as anon-screen authority figure, and professional wrestler, in WCW and TNA.
Russo's writing style often blurs the line between reality and fiction, while also favoring elements such as shock twists, grand moments, and larger-than-life characters over in-ring action, which made him a controversial figure among some wrestling fans. Russo was part of the WWF's creative department during the widely acclaimedAttitude Era, during which the company achieved record high television ratings.
During a self-booked in-ring career in WCW, Russo became aone-timeWCW World Heavyweight Champion.[3]
Vincent James Russo is ofItalian descent, grew up inFarmingville,New York, and graduated from theUniversity of Southern Indiana (then known as Indiana State University Evansville) in 1983 with a degree injournalism. He worked for the school newspaperThe Shield as an assistant sports editor and later editor-in-chief.[4]
Russo got his start inprofessional wrestling when he began training withJohnny Rodz atGleason's Gym inBrooklyn.[5] He owned two video stores onLong Island.[6] Russo also hosted his own local radio show from 1992 to 1993 calledVicious Vincent's World of Wrestling, which aired Sunday nights onWGBB inFreeport. The program ran for exactly one year, the final show being the one-year anniversary.
In 1992, Russo was hired as a freelance writer forWWF Magazine after writingLinda McMahon a letter, and he became an editor[6] in 1994 under the pseudonym Vic Venom. He was promoted to the WWF Creative Team in 1996.[4] That year,Monday Night Raw hit aratings low of 1.8, asMonday Nitro (Raw's chief competition), was in the midst of an 83-week winning streak againstRaw head-to-head (seeMonday Night War). WithWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) eclipsing the WWF, WWF chairmanVince McMahon asked Russo to make changes to the televised product. Russo contributed edgy, controversial storylines involving sexual content,profanity,swerves or unexpectedheelturns, andworkedshoots, as well as short matches, backstage vignettes, and shocking angles and levels of depicted violence. Russo's style of writing came to be known as "Crash TV" and was heavily inspired byThe Jerry Springer Show.[7] "Crash TV" centered on Russo's philosophy that every character on WWF television should be involved in a storyline (feud). This contrasted conventional wrestling booking, which typically saw a number of matches between wrestlers who were not necessarily in feuds. Russo believed that if storyline material were constantly on screen, the audience would be more reluctant to change the channel for fear of missing something.
In 1997, Russo became head writer for the WWF[2] and wrote its flagship showRaw Is War as well as its monthlypay-per-views. With theangles he created, Russo had a big part in putting WWF ahead of WCW in the Monday night rating war during theAttitude Era.[7] In a 2015 interview with Jeff Lane, Russo said the first thing he wrote as WWF head writer was the episode ofRaw that aired on December 15, 1997.[8] At theKing of the Ring pay-per-view in 1998,Ed Ferrara joined the WWF creative team and was paired with Russo.[9] Some of the more controversial characters during this time, often cited by Russo's critics, includeSable,Val Venis, andThe Godfather. Russo devised theBrawl for All tournament[10][11] and contributed to the formation ofD-Generation X (DX),The Undertaker vs.Kane feud, theStone Cold Steve Austin vs.Mr. McMahon feud, the rise ofThe Rock, andMick Foley's three-face pushes.[12]
In the two years after Russo's promotion to head writer,Raw surpassed WCW'sNitro in head-to-head ratings.[7]
In October 1999, Russo was replaced byChris Kreski as WWF head writer, after Russo departed the company.[13]
On October 3, 1999, Russo andEd Ferrara signed with WCW;[2] Russo contends that his reason for leaving the WWF was a dispute with Vince McMahon over the increased workload caused by the introduction of the newSmackDown! broadcast and McMahon's disregard of Russo's family.[14] Russo and Ferrara attempted to use the same "Crash TV" style onMonday Nitro, which was similar toRaw Is War but at an accelerated pace, including soapier storylines, lengthier non-wrestling segments, constant heel/face turns, more female representation, fake retirements, more backstage vignettes, expanded storyline depth, constant title changes, and using midcard talent more effectively. Russo and Ferrara often poked fun at the WWF.[7]
Russo's writing style created a large turnover in title changes, reflecting his "crash TV" philosophy. His booking ofJushin Thunder Liger losing and regaining theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship onNitro in late 1999 was not recognized byNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the title lineage until 2007;[15] Liger lost the title toJuventud Guerrera, aluchador, after being hit on the head with a tequila bottle. Swerves and scenarios treated as "shoots" were heavily emphasized, as wrestlers supposedly gave unscripted interviews using "insider" terms recognized only by the Internetsmarks; chaotic broadcasts became the norm.
In January 2000, Russo received two phone calls, one fromBret Hart (then WCW World Heavyweight Champion) and one fromJeff Jarrett (then WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion), both saying they were injured, could not wrestle, and had to vacate their championships. This required Russo to alter his plans for Hart and theNew World Order. Russo and his booking committee sat down to determine what would now happen atSouled Out. One of the ideas included putting the now-vacated WCW Title on the shoot fighterTank Abbott, a formerUFC fighter. In an attempt to do something believable, the idea was originally to have a "rumble match" in whichSid Vicious would be an early entrant in the match and would last all the way to the end, when Abbott would come into the match and eliminate him with one punch. Russo said that Abbott might not have held the belt for more than 24 hours if this title change had actually occurred. But the day after he and his committee came up with the idea, he was asked to work in a committee and no longer be head writer. Russo declined the offer and left the company, with his immediate replacement beingKevin Sullivan, who along with other bookers choseChris Benoit to win the title from Vicious in a singles bout withArn Anderson as referee.
Sullivan was relieved of his duties in March 2000 and Russo returned as lead writer, alongside the returning Eric Bischoff. The idea was that Russo and Bischoff wouldreboot WCW into a more modern, streamlined company that would allow younger talent to work with established stars. On the April 10, 2000,WCW Monday Nitro episode, Russo was introduced as an on-screen antagonist authority figure. Notable storyline points for his character include "The New Blood vs.The Millionaire's Club"; his feud withRic Flair, in which he andDavid Flair shaved Ric's hair andReid Flair's hair; his feud withGoldberg; and his short reign as world champion. On May 8, 2000, Russo bookedMiss Elizabeth in her first official wrestling match againstDaffney. Elizabeth left the company shortly thereafter.
AtBash at the Beach 2000, Russo was involved in an incident withHulk Hogan where Hogan was booked to lose a match against reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett. Hogan refused to lose the match (invoking his contract's "creative control" clause to override Russo), due to Russo's apparent lack of direction for Hogan's character following the planned loss. In the end, Russo booked Jarrett to literally lie down for Hogan, which resulted in Hogan doing aworked shoot on Russo saying, "That's why this company is in the damn shape it's in; because of bullshit like this" and scoring the pinfall victory by placing his foot on Jarrett's chest. Russo came out later in the broadcast to nullify the match's result, as he publicly fired Hogan. This action restored the title to Jarrett, which set up a new title match between Jarrett andBooker T, with Booker T winning the match and the title.[16] As Russo promised, Hogan never resurfaced in WCW and even sued Russo fordefamation. The suit was dismissed in 2003 as "groundless".[17] Hogan claims In his autobiography,Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Hogan wrote that Russo turned the angle into a shoot, and that he was double-crossed by Turner executive Brad Siegel, who did not want to use him anymore due to his costs per appearance. Bischoff wrote in his autobiography,Controversy Creates Ca$h, that Hogan winning and leaving with the title was a work that would result in his return several months later and that the plan was to crown a new champion atHalloween Havoc, where Hogan would come out at the end of the show and win a champion vs. champion match—but that Russo coming out to fire him was in fact a shoot which led to Hogan's lawsuit. Bischoff says he and Hogan celebrated after the event over the angle, but were distraught to hear of Russo's in-ring shoot after Hogan left the arena.Mike Awesome, cousin to Hogan's nephewHorace Hogan (who also left WCW after the incident) also alleged in a shoot interview published by Highspots that the disputes and the incident affected his WCW run, as Russo allegedly took out his problems with Hulk Hogan on Awesome, saying he was "too close of kin" to Hogan, by portraying several poorly received gimmicks.[18]
In mid-2000, Russo entered into an angle withRic Flair. The angle notably included Russo sending cops to the ring to arrest Flair during the wedding ofStacy Keibler and Flair's sonDavid.[19] In August 2000 atNew Blood Rising, Russo entered into a feud withGoldberg after confronting Goldberg when the wrestler left a match and "refused to follow the script." The next PPV,Fall Brawl, saw Russo interfere in Goldberg's match againstScott Steiner, costing Goldberg the match.
On the September 18, 2000, episode ofNitro, Russo was in a tag match alongside Sting and Booker T versus Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett, with the wrestler getting the pin receiving a shot at Booker T'sWCW World Heavyweight Championship.[20] Russo won after Booker T dragged an unconscious Russo onto Steiner for the three count. The following week, Russo faced Booker T in asteel cage match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The match did not appear to have a clear winner as Russo was speared by Goldberg through the side of the cage at the same time Booker T exited the cage.[21] Two days later onThunder, Russo was announced as the winner and new champion.[22] However, the reign was short lived as Russo announced he was vacating the title immediately after, as he was not a wrestler.[23] Russo suffered a severe concussion from the spear spot, and took time off because ofpost-concussion syndrome.[24]
Russo's run as head writer and fledgling in-ring career came to a halt after the concussion and other injuries.AOL Time Warner bought out Russo's contract shortly after the WCW buyout in May 2001.[25][19]
Russo later returned to WWE in June 2002 as a consultant to oversee creative direction of bothRaw andSmackDown!, but quickly left after two weeks, after stating that there was "no way in the world that this thing would work out".[26][27][28] The major storyline idea he proposed was an entire restart of theWCW Invasion, featuring previously unsigned talent such asBill Goldberg,Scott Steiner,Eric Bischoff andBret Hart.[29][30] After feeling disrespected during a phone call withStephanie McMahon, 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).[31]
In July 2002, Russo joinedJeff andJerry Jarrett'sNWA-TNA promotion as a creative writer and would assist in the writing and production of the shows. Russo claims that the name "Total Nonstop Action" came from him and that the original concept was, as they were exclusive to pay-per-view, to be an edgier product than WWE; the initials of the company "TNA" being a play on "T&A," short for "Tits and Ass."[32] Throughout the first few years, there were numerous reports of a creative power struggle over the direction of the programming.[33]
During the time when these rumors circulated, Russo eventually debuted as an on-screen character when the mysteriousmasked wrestler "Mr. Wrestling III" helped Jeff Jarrett win theNWA World Heavyweight Championship and was eventually unveiled as him.[2] In the on-screen story, Jarrett did not want Russo's help which led to the two become involved in a feud. Russo created his ownfaction of wrestlers he dubbedSports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.),[2] recruiting the likes ofGlenn Gilbertti,Sonny Siaki,B.G. James,Raven,Trinity, and others. S.E.X. faced the more traditional TNA wrestlers led by Jeff Jarrett. Eventually, Russo would leave his on-screen role and Gilbertti would become the leader of S.E.X. instead.
After leaving for a brief period, Russo returned as an on-screen character on the May 28, 2003 pay-per-view where he would hitRaven with a baseball bat helping Gilbertti become the number one contender for the world championship.[34] The next week on June 4, 2003, when Gilbertti fought Jarrett for the world championship, Russo would hit Gilbertti with a baseball bat which in turn helped Jarrett retain his belt.[35] On the following week's pay-per-view (June 11, 2003), whenA.J. Styles and Raven fought Jarrett for the world title in atriple threat match, Russo teased hitting Styles with Jarrett's trademark guitar, but eventually hit Jarrett leading Styles to win the world championship belt.[36]
Russo would then manage NWA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles for the remainder of his 2003 run and S.E.X. was quietly written out of the storylines. On October 1, 2003, Russo suffered the first loss of his in-ring career in a tag team match against Dusty Rhodes and Jeff Jarrett, although his partner, Styles, yielded the pin.[37] On the October 15, 2003 pay-per-view, Russo made his final appearance of that year in a street-fight with Jarrett.[38] It was reported that Russo was written out of the company as a result ofHulk Hogan's signing and because Hogan reportedly said that he would not work for TNA as long as Russo was involved with the company.[39] In February 2004, shortly after Hogan was not able to commit with TNA, Russo would eventually return but strictly as an on-air character, becoming the "Director of Authority" in the storylines. This time, he was aface, claiming to have changed his ways (which was likely inspired by Russo's real-life conversion to Christianity). However, he would disappear again in late 2004 whenDusty Rhodes was "voted" the new D.O.A. over himself at the three-hour November 2004 pay-per-viewVictory Road in an interactive "election" on TNA's website.[2] Russo left the company after the 2004 Victory Road pay-per-view. In a November 2005 interview, Russo states that he never wrote a single show on his own during this period at TNA and described his time there as a "total nightmare."[40]
On September 21, 2006, TNA presidentDixie Carter re-signed Russo as a writer on the TNA creative team.[41] Russo was paired withDutch Mantell andJeff Jarrett on the TNA creative team.[42]
During the March 2007 TNA pay-per-viewDestination X on the "Last Rites" match withAbyss andSting, "Fire Russo!" chants erupted from the crowd in the arena at Orlando indicating the fans' frustration with the incidents that occurred during the match.[43]
Another time the "Fire Russo!" chants were heard was at the following month's pay-per-viewLockdown that was held inSt. Louis on April 15, 2007.[44] The chants were heard during the electrifiedsteel cage match withTeam 3D andThe LAX where the lights would flicker on-and-off whenever a wrestler touched the cage giving the impression of electrocution.[44] Dixie Carter has since noted that gimmick was created by writerDutch Mantell. However, in a 2011 interview, Mantell denied this and the two proceeded to argue over Twitter for several months after this.
Russo became head of creative for TNA sometime during July 2009.[45] On addressing the "Fire Russo!" chants, Russo said he was not head of creative during that time, and when the idea of the electrified steel cage was presented to him, he said that there was no way that the concept could have been done in a believable manner and that he was often blamed for ideas that he never even came up with.[45] At the September 2009No Surrender pay-per-view,Ed Ferrara joined TNA and began working on the creative team with Vince Russo and junior contributor Matt Conway.[46]
On October 27, 2009,Hulk Hogan andEric Bischoff signed with TNA and were paired with Russo, whom they had conflicted with in WCW and had not worked with since they departed the company afterBash at the Beach 2000.[45] In 2010, when asked about his relationship with Russo at TNA, Hogan said he came to TNA in peace, that the writing staff of Russo,Ed Ferrara, Matt Conway, andJeremy Borash have really "stepped it up", and that Hogan loved Russo "from a distance".[47] According to Russo, the three met together and worked out their differences.[48] While working with Russo, Bischoff also stated in a February 2010 interview that it was a "very positive experience" and that their collaborations were productive.[49]
By October 6, 2011, Russo had stepped down to the role of a contributing writer, withBruce Prichard taking over the head writer's role.[50] On February 14, 2012, TNA president Dixie Carter explained that TNA and Russo had mutually parted ways during the week.[51]
In April 2014, thePWInsider website claimed that Russo was working as a consultant for TNA Wrestling.[52] Russo denied the reports, but on July 15,PWInsider reported that Russo had accidentally sent an email to them with instructions on how TNA's commentators work. As a result, and after trying to state that he was not involved with TNA, Russo admitted on his website that he was already working as a consultant for TNA Wrestling to work with TNA's commentators and that one of TNA's conditions was that Russo was to keep his involvement confidential.[53][54][55] In less than two days, Russo's statement was removed from his website.[56]
On July 30, 2014, Russo claimed that he was "officially done" with TNA.[57] Not long after, Russo revealed that he had been working for TNA since October 24, 2013,[58] claiming that he had been involved in creative meetings and also critiqued the weekly episodes ofImpact Wrestling.[59][60] Russo stated that he was getting paid about $3,000 a month, averaging to $36,000 a year, to be a consultant with TNA.[61]
On December 8, 2017, Russo signed with theNashville, Tennessee-based Aro Lucha promotion as a script consultant.[62] On April 5, 2018, Aro Lucha's CEO, Jason Brown, explained via a question and answer session onWeFunder (a crowd-funding website), that Russo had been hired as an independent contractor, not as an employee. As of April 2018, Russo is no longer with the promotion.[63]
On October 26, 2025, it was announced that Russo was an investor forJuggalo Championship Wrestling, an independent wrestling promotion owned by the Michigan-based hip hop duoInsane Clown Posse.[64]
In 2014, Russo wrote a series of pro wrestling columns forWhat Culture, aUK-based website.[65] He wrote a weekly column forChris Jericho's websiteWeb Is Jericho until 2023.[66]
Since 2015, Russo has hosted numerous daily podcasts for his podcast networkVince Russo's The Brand, formerlyThe RELM Network.[67] He also briefly hosted a podcast on the websiteFightful Wrestling in 2016.[68]
Russo now discusses professional wrestling, entertainment, and more on his podcasting network "Channel Attitude", which features wrestling personalities including the"Disco Inferno" Glenn Gilbertti,Justin Credible,EC3,Stevie Richards,Al Snow, andStevie Ray.[69] He also does podcasts reviewingRaw and discussing wrestling news onSportskeeda.
Russo has written twoautobiographies, includingForgiven: One Man's Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification (2005). Documenting his early life, his WWF run, and becoming a born-again Christian, the book was perceived by some as critical of the wrestling business.[70] It was originally titledWelcome To Bizarroland, but the title and content were revised to reflect Russo's newfound faith.[71]
Russo's second book,Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo (2010), chronicles his tenure with WCW and TNA Wrestling. The title stems from the title of a TV series idea Russo pitched to networks during his WWF tenure.[72][73]
Russo is an American of Italian descent. His maternal grandfather was Sicilian.[74] He has been married to his wife Amy since 1983. They have three children.
In October 2003, Russo became aBorn Again Christian.[2] In 2004, he formed a short-lived online Christianministry titledForgiven. In late 2005, he produced two shows for his ChristianRing of Gloryindependent promotion.[75]
Russo was close friends with Joanie Laurer, professionally known asChyna before her death in 2016.[76]
Russo worked withJim Cornette in the WWF during the 1990s and in TNA Wrestling during the early 2000s. They regularly conflicted over their opposing views on the wrestling business. In 2010, a law firm accused Cornette of making a "terroristic threat" after writing a letter saying, "I want Vince Russo to die. If I could figure out a way to murder him without going to prison, I would consider it the greatest accomplishment of my life."[77] In 2017, Russo filed a restraining order against Cornette after repeated verbal threats of physical harm to him and his family. Cornette, in return, has sold copies of the order to raise money for charity.[78][79] Their real-life rivalry featured in two episodes ofVice TV'sDark Side of the Ring documentary series covering theMontreal Screwjob and theWWF Brawl for All, which aired in 2019 and 2020, including a promise by Cornette to urinate on Russo's gravestone.[80][81]
Russo is among the most controversial figures in wrestling. He often says the show's story and character elements are what draw viewers,[26] and thus emphasizes entertainment over the in-ring aspect.[26]Newsday wrote, "Despite scripting some of the most successful WWF television programs in history, and later doing the same for WCW and TNA, Russo remains one of wrestling's most reviled personalities for his sometimes unconventional take on the wrestling business."[82] According to Russo, one reason he is reviled is his take on the WWE product; he believes there is too much actual wrestling and not enough storylines.[82] InRope Opera, he writes that he has been called both "the savior of the WWF" and "the man who destroyed WCW".[16]
WWE credits Russo with many of theAttitude Era's storylines.[12] Likewise, Bob Kapur ofSlam! Wrestling gives Russo credit for the company turning away from the cartoonish style of the early-mid 1990s and bringing more mature storylines and characters to the promotion.[83] WWF'sThe Rock spoke fondly of working with Russo, praising his "crazy out of box ideas".[84]
Gene Okerlund claimed in 2004 that Russo's ideas were successful in the WWF because Vince McMahon was able to control them, while Ric Flair doubted Russo's WWF influence during their time together in WCW,[85] later blaming Russo for the disorganization of WCW.[85]Eric Bischoff has said that Russo was hired at WCW by overstating his influence in WWF, which Bischoff called "fraudulent."[86] Wrestling promotersTony Khan andJody Hamilton have criticized Russo's role in the downfall of WCW,[87][88] and TNA co-founderJerry Jarrett expressed regret at the decision of bringing Russo in.[88]
Russo's decision to haveDavid Arquette win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was viewed as highly controversial, though Russo defended his decision, citing that mainstream American newspapers covered the story.[89]WrestleCrap named Arquette the worst wrestling champion of all time and called Russo's decision a "monumentally damaging blow to a company that was already at death's door."[89] WWE'sRise and Fall of WCW documentary also largely blamed Russo for the decline of WCW, promptingDVD Talk critic Nick Hartel to write that "while Russo deserves a lot of blame, he was not the only one in charge."[90]R. D. Reynolds was also critical of many of Russo's booking decisions but stated thatTurner Broadcasting executiveJamie Kellner's decision to cancel WCW programs from Turner Networks was ultimately responsible for WCW's death.[91][92] Regarding his time in WCW, Russo personally said, "WCW and I were never on the same page; it was just that simple".[25]
Booker T credits Russo for his rise to main event status, saying, "if it weren't for Vince Russo, perhaps I would have never been the world champion... at all, ever!"[93][94] Russo thanked Booker for the compliment and has since called Booker's coronation as WCW Champion atBash at the Beach 2000 "the proudest moment of my career, and the greatest contribution I was able to make to the business."[95][96]
Former TNA President Dixie Carter called Russo "incredibly talented" in 2014 but said his presence "proved to be too distracting to continue a working relationship"; when asked if Russo could return to the promotion she said "never say never".[97] Various wrestlers who worked with Russo in TNA have spoken fondly of him, includingHernandez,[98]Kurt Angle,[99] andAJ Styles.[100]Velvet Sky andAngelina Love credit Russo for being supportive of TNA'sKnockouts division.[101][102]
[Russo] devaluing the title by putting it on himself.
[John 'Bradshaw' Layfield] started carrying on that he could take anybody in the company, or in the locker room, in a real bar fight... I pitched the whole idea of the Brawl for All.
Bro, my proudest moment in wrestling - period - was being able or being in a position where I was... I had the ability to put the belt on Booker T
