Vincent James Russo, born on January 24, 1961, is an American professional wrestling writer, booker, and pundit. He is notable for his tenures in creative roles with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Russo also occasionally made appearances as an on-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.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Vincent James Russo is of Italian descent, grew up in Farmingville, New York, and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana (then known as Indiana State University Evansville) in 1983 with a degree in journalism. Russo got his start in professional wrestling when he began training with Johnny Rodz at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn. He owned two video stores on Long Island. He closed up shop once Blockbuster started to become popular.
Russo also hosted his own local radio show from 1992 to 1993 called Vicious Vincent's World of Wrestling, which aired Sunday nights on WGBB in Freeport. The show accepted phone calls from listeners to chat or answer questions. If Vicious didn't like the question or comment, the caller would be "flushed" with a sound clip of a toilet flushing.
In 1992, Russo was hired as a freelance writer for WWF Magazine after writing Linda McMahon a letter, and he became an editor in 1994 under the pseudonym Vic Venom. He was promoted to the WWF Creative Team in 1996.
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WWF: The Attitude Era
In 1996, Monday Night Raw hit a ratings low of 1.8, as Monday Nitro (Raw's chief competition), was in the midst of an 83-week winning streak against Raw head-to-head (see Monday Night War). With World Championship Wrestling (WCW) eclipsing the WWF, WWF chairman Vince McMahon asked Russo to make changes to the televised product.
Russo contributed edgy, controversial storylines involving sexual content, profanity, swerves or unexpected heel turns, and worked shoots, 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 by The Jerry Springer Show. "Crash TV" centered on Russo's philosophy that every character on WWF television should be involved in a storyline (feud).
In 1997, Russo became head writer for the WWF and wrote its flagship show Raw Is War as well as its monthly pay-per-views. With the angles he created, Russo had a big part in putting WWF ahead of WCW in the Monday night rating war during the Attitude Era. In a 2015 interview with Jeff Lane, Russo said the first thing he wrote as WWF head writer was the episode of Raw that aired on December 15, 1997.
At the King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1998, Ed Ferrara joined the WWF creative team and was paired with Russo. Some of the more controversial characters during this time, often cited by Russo's critics, include Sable, Val Venis, and The Godfather. Russo devised the Brawl for All tournament and contributed to the formation of D-Generation X (DX), The Undertaker vs. Kane feud, the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon feud.
WWE credits Russo with many of the Attitude Era's storylines.
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The Lies & Demise Of Vince Russo
WCW: "Crash TV" and Controversy
On October 3, 1999, Russo and Ed Ferrara signed with WCW. 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 new SmackDown! broadcast and McMahon's disregard of Russo's family.
Russo and Ferrara attempted to use the same "Crash TV" style on Monday Nitro, which was similar to Raw 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's writing style created a large turnover in title changes, reflecting his "crash TV" philosophy.
Russo booked actor David Arquette to win the WCW World Title, and at one point toward the end of his WCW stay even booked himself to be champion. Russo's decision to have David 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.
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 with Ric Flair, in which he and David Flair shaved Ric's hair and Reid Flair's hair; his feud with Goldberg; and his short reign as world champion. On May 8, 2000, Russo booked Miss Elizabeth in her first official wrestling match against Daffney.
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| Title | Reign | Days |
|---|---|---|
| WCW World Heavyweight Championship | 1 | 0 |
At Bash at the Beach 2000, Russo was involved in an incident with Hulk 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 a worked 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 and Booker T, with Booker T winning the match and the title. As Russo promised, Hogan never resurfaced in WCW and even sued Russo for defamation. The suit was dismissed in 2003 as "groundless".
On the September 18, 2000, episode of Nitro, 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's WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Russo won after Booker T dragged an unconscious Russo onto Steiner for the three count. The following week, Russo faced Booker T in a steel cage match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
WWE's Rise and Fall of WCW documentary also largely blamed Russo for the decline of WCW, prompting DVD Talk critic Nick Hartel to write that "while Russo deserves a lot of blame, he was not the only one in charge."
TNA: Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.)
In July 2002, Russo joined Jeff and Jerry Jarrett's NWA-TNA promotion as a creative writer and would assist in the writing and production of the shows. During the time when these rumors circulated, Russo eventually debuted as an on-screen character when the mysterious masked wrestler "Mr. Wrestling III" helped Jeff Jarrett win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and was eventually unveiled as him.
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 own faction of wrestlers he dubbed Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.), recruiting the likes of Glenn Gilbertti, Sonny Siaki, B.G. James, Raven, Trinity, and others. S.E.X. faced the more traditional TNA wrestlers led by Jeff Jarrett.
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. On the October 15, 2003 pay-per-view, Russo made his final appearance of that year in a street-fight with Jarrett.
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 a face, 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 when Dusty Rhodes was "voted" the new D.O.A.
Personal Life and Controversies
Russo is an American of Italian descent. His maternal grandfather was Sicilian. He has been married to his wife Amy since 1983. In October 2003, Russo became a Born Again Christian. In 2004, he formed a short-lived online Christian ministry titled Forgiven.
Russo worked with Jim 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." In 2017, Russo filed a restraining order against Cornette after repeated verbal threats of physical harm to him and his family.
Russo is among the most controversial figures in wrestling. 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..."