Vince Russo has given us twenty years of solid entertainment in the form of Jim Cornette’s rage.

All the money that David Arquette made on that movie was donated to the families of recently deceased wrestlers, Owen being one of them. That usually doesn't get reported and I believe it's commendable.

Jim Cornette's hatred of Vince Russo is a documentary by itself.

No one hates Vince Russo more than Jim Cornette.

No one hated David Arquette for becoming champion. They hated the angle, but not the man. veryone understood that Vince Russo was basically holding Arquette's movie hostage. It also helped that Arquette donated his WCW earnings to the families of Owen Hart, Brian Pillman, Bobby Duncum, Jr, and Darren Drozdov.

It's surprising that Russo couldn't just pretend that he didn't miss all of those important life events with his family, the way he pretended to be involved in every successful attitude era moment

"I don't want to sound like a biggot or a racist" does just that 😂

I will go to my grave believing Vince Russo was sent by Vince McMahon to destroy WCW Under the table

I don't know about you guys, but when I go to the movies I love it when the performers have a brief aside to discuss their real world working relationship in the middle of a scene. It completely immerses me in the work and doesn't ruin the narrative *at all*.

The difference between Bischoff and Russo was that Bischoff actually loved wrestling. He made a lot of mistakes, but he was trained in AWA. Russo was never a wrestling guy. He was sports entertainment through and through. Granted, unlike Eric, he saw the benefit in a Bret Hart. Eric didn’t. Russo had seen Bret draw money and knew he could do it again.

I remember the first time I saw Mike Awesome in ECW. He was incredible. They should have billed him as a monster who could take down Goldberg etc. So many things they could have done with him.

A lot of this I agree with but I think you're leaving out Bischoff's role and Nash and Hogan's role in killing WCW. WCW was on it's way down by the time Russo got in, Russo just put it out of it's misery lol. And I loved Ready to Rumble lol!

I don't think Russo killed the WCW I think Hogan and his creative control and the oversaturation of NWO killed WCW that faction should have died with the red vs black storyline

Absolutely criminal what Russo did to Mike Awesome..... a diamond in the rough that even Vince failed to see a wrestling megastar

When Vince Russo went to WCW the writing was already on the wall that its days were numbered. Like buying a 1st class ticket on the titanic

Vince Russo may not have solely killed WCW but he certainly was the catalyst in its demise.

I used to not be interested in wrestling. Then I found out the real battles happen behind the scenes and suddenly it’s like Game of Thrones but with huge, sweaty men.

It’s funny he mentioned Russo being sent by Vince to destroy WCW because Rick Steiner said the same thing on an interview

for what it's worth, I got my hands on a wrestlemania script through an older friend. wayyy back in the late 90's. watching her read it word for word, with what was being said on screen was wild at the time.

If nothing else, Vince "Bro" Russo has served as the butt of Jim Cornette's savage jokes for many years. I never cared for Bischoff, but he did try and do things right, mistakes or not. Russo didn't care about wrestling, only the paychecks, and he ruined many wrestlers and screwed with the story lines so badly, it's no wonder WCW went downhill. And NOTHING was ever his fault. He took zero responsibility. And while he can't be blamed for everything, he can be blamed for a lot, IMO.

I do hate this narrative which Russo pushes about his reason for leaving WWF. He always says that he was already working like crazy when McMahon decided to launch Smackdown. So he left because it was too much work…erm WCW had Nitro and Thunder. “Oh I’m leaving somewhere because they want me to write two shows per week. Im going to go to work for this other company and write two shows per week”. No. The reason he left was because he’d have full creative control and he didn’t want to listen to Vince shit on 9 ideas and only accept 1. And in WCW, we got to see all 10 ideas and 9 of them were shit.

Time Warner had more than anything to do with the downfall of Dubya C Dubya. After they ousted Ted Turner they shackled the writing staff of WCW and reigned in the adult themes. Doing this at a time when WWE was riding the attitude area sank the ship.

The biggest problem with Vince Russo (besides being arrogant, petty, and just a nasty piece of work altogether) wasn't just that he looked at titles as props, he also looked at the WRESTLERS as props.

Also apparently David arquette was under contract with the WCW as a promotional deal and was forced to wrestle for the championship and he didn't want to

1 thing he was right about is the internet thing.. people laughed and shrugged it off then but it's not funny now.. it's frustrating how wrestling is easily spoiled these days.

Sick of this narrative that Rusoo killed WCW. He barely had anything to do with it. Even Bitchoff admitted he knew WCW was in the shitter by the beginning of 1999.

If you haven’t read “Nitro” by Guy Evans and you’re a fan of pro-wrestling, do yourself a favor and get it! Turner got Russo with blinders on…that guy may not have tanked WCW by himself, but he did significant damage to it.

When Russo first went to WCW, I kind of panicked as a fan. I thought "OMG, WWF lost their head writer!" but then things like Judy Bagwell On A Pole Match put my mind at ease.

C'moooooon, I liked Ready to Rumble!! I was 12 and this movie is the reason I watch Pro Wrestling today.

"I'm going to tell you something right now that you will absolutely not agree with: but I've been a wrestling fan my whole life." You got that right. NO ONE agrees with that.

Ready to Rumble was due to Bischoff. When Russo came in October of 99 he was missing half of the top guys as they were away filming the movie.

I will give him credit for the things he has done, however his bad decisions out weight his good ones. Plus he takes credit for others success. They always say there are three sides to a story, his version, the other persons version and the truth. I find it hard to believe he is a victim of people just going at him when most people thru out the professional wrestling world have had similar stories about him.

As much of a joke as the Arquette run was, David actually kept with it and still wrestles today and he's not bad

50 years from now another KZfaq (Or whatever platform) will gift us another "Vince Russo" video and we'll still be watching them.

I will not deny Russo was a crucial force in propelling WWE into the Attitude Era, but while certainly not the primary suspect, Russo's actions were a part of why WCW went defunct. Honestly, when you look at Russo's time in WWE, there were already red flags that indicate Russo needs to be kept on a leash. The most infamous instance is the Brawl for All, which was pitched by Russo just to give JBL (then known as Bradshaw) the middle finger. Russo got what he wanted, but the aftermath of the whole thing was nuclear. Because it was billed as a shoot (meaning wrestlers were told to actually hurt each other), and cause most of the wrestlers who took part in the damn thing were not trained to actually fight, WWE's injury list began to pile up, not to mention drumming up hostility in the locker room, a definite no-no in a business where you need both participants to be in sync with each other. Dr Death Steve Williams (RIP) and Bart Gunn had their careers torpedoed, and the ratings barely registered a blip cause fans and viewers wanted to see WRESTLING in a WRESTLING SHOW! It's quite telling how much damage Russo caused just cause he wanted to bring Bradshaw down a peg, which he COULD have gotten by simply booking someone like Dan Severn, Dr Death, or Ken Shamrock to squash him. I think that really sums up the hate towards Russo. Even if your goals align, the insane amount of collateral damage this man will inevitably cause is enough to make you change your mind.

I have to correct you he didn't get promoted to creative until 1997 after the February raw from Germany and Vince McMahon got mad at everybody in Creative about it because it was a terrible show Jim cornette talks about it on his podcast

Russo's main reason for leaving WWE he says is because they started smackdown but he went to WCW that had a 3-hour nitro compared to a 2-hour raw and they already had thunder so he went to WCW where he had more work to do right off the bat

I 100% believe that Russo was sent into destroy WCW from within because there was a secret meeting nobody knows between who but they know it did involve the higher-ups after the Turner merger. Now it's no secret that those executives hated wrestling and wanted it gone

I was always confused about who he was. It took me this long to care to find out. Good video, thanks!

I don't think a belt swapping hands devalues it, look at modern WWE. Their belts are getting debavalued because the same guy has held the belt for almost 3 years and all of his matches are a meme where wins through interference. Having one person hold the belt for too long also devalues it. But I don't think how many times the belt swaps hands is what devalues it, but HOW the belt is won. Finger poke of doom? yeah, Lesnar 10second win? yeah. But the attitude era is a prime example of how a belt swapping multiple hands can be very entertaining and not feel like it's been devalued.

No matter what you think of his work you've got to respect the fact that he put his family first. Dude walked away from a pretty big career so that he could continue making them a priority.

Ironic the minute you bring up the theory that Vince sent Russo to destroy WCW, it's the clip of him saying "I enjoy destroying lives" 😂

Ready to Rumble was a good movie. So many quotable moments in that film. One of Oliver Platts best performances. 👍👍

Vince loves to use ratings for storyline purposes and his on screen character loves to reference ratings and it never works because the fans don't care. Mixing real life feuds and issues can work in wrestling (example Roman Reigns cutting a promo about Lesnar not really being one of the boys/only showing up for certain big events) if fans give a crap about those things and it's not to out there but Russo would take it to far to say the least.

"It's wrestling. It means nothing" - Vince Russo - Dark Side Side of the Ring (Season 2 Episode 4) Well, I guess you really can't expect someone who stole ideas from Jim Herd to have any respect for the business.

The problem with wrestling back then and now are stories. It’s not complicated. Have a few backstories, cut some promo’s, fight. That simple.

NGL, Ready To Rumble was one of my favourite movies as a kid and is still a guilty pleasure to this day.

****** Real reason WCW died****** WCW ended because the network wanted the programme gone. The popularity and diverse demographic made it a double edge sword to investors. - Bigger audience - Prime time slot - Less target market A less popular show with a core demographic at a prime time slot was more attractive to investors. The network wanted the show gone but not to be competition with their other shows. So they only sold it to the WWF with the condition it doesn't run side by side that Vince McMahon wanted. Evidence: Guy Evans book "the incredible rise and fall of WCW"

15:00 Oh man that irony and hypocrisy coming from Bishoff is palpable

Scott Hall is one of the best wrestlers never to win a World Heavyweight Championship in either WWF/WWE or WCW and same goes for Roddy Piper but yet Vince Russo and David Arquette both have won the WCW title once. Says a lot

I sorta liked Ready to Rumble. It's not The Wrestler or anything but fun in a stupid humor kinda way. That's just me though. Cool video you guys!

Wcw under russo was so crazy. The wrestlers, while on TV, were saying everything was a work, but their next match would be a fight. That's how Russo wrote shit.

If I ever needed more of a reason to hate Vince Russo, his comments on Japanese and Mexican wrestlers did it for me

I was somewhat of a WCW fanboy. Even when Raw began to beat Nitro, I mostly kept at it with Nitro. IMO, WCW had a full head of steam until they botched the Sting storyline, with the Sting vs Hogan Starcade match and stripping Sting of the title. Towards the end in late '98 and '99.... WCW was also changing the World title like a hot pair of underwear.... whereas the title made a good buildup piece for the Luger, Sting, and Goldberg angles. A Goldberg vs Hogan angle was also a missed opportunity for the WCW.... instead the WCW went with a quick match for Nitro ratings win. Unfortunately, I changed jobs back in mid 1999 and I had to miss the Monday night wrestling broadcasts From what I've seen in clips on KZfaq, Russo turned the WCW into an unwatchable trainwerck. The worst thing I've ever seen was the WCW reset, where all the titles were stripped on Monday Nitro. The whole 'Powers that Be' thing

great vid Stunned By Wrestling,,

I agree with everything, except one thing: Ready to Rumble is a cinematic masterpiece.

I don’t know looked like Nash an the guys actually killed wcw a year before he got there too of 99 they start doing a lot of ish that made us as 10 years old kids turn the channel back to raw I mean the finger poke of doom then you squash goldberg dude was hotter than Austin an the rock at one point smh rip wcw I wish it was still around 👌

Dave Meltzer is this you?

I loved Ready To Rumble, when I was a kid. Oliver Platt as Jimmy King made that movie.

8:10 fast forward years later you got memorable in ring names such as Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Tajiri, Asuka, Shinsuke Nakamura.

Russo head writer career: WWF 97-99 - highest ever ratings WCW 6mons - Ratings increased 50% TNA- Golden era

Everyone in the entire world could hate vince russo, all of that combined still doesn't compare to Jims hatred of him.

Subbed. Didn’t want to, but the content is so good it twisted my arm.

They need a documentary/dark side of the ring episode just based on the saga of Russo Vs Cornette

vince russo - a world champion that never lost the title, bro 😎

Thinking about that quote "japanese and mexican wrestlers won't get over" is kinda right the two biggest "Mexican" wrestlers are Rey and Eddie who are both Americans. So I guess he wasn't too far off. Ngl what I thought he ment was they have to speak english.

Why Vince had some success in WWF was credited to him being part of a team. Vince would have a wild idea, and it would be filtered and altered by the rest of creative.... WCW really did have the talent calling the shots, and politics reigned supreme.

You can never go wrong with Canada's greatest athlete

i agree with the trojan horse theory

Your language and grammar is flawless. Great vocabulary and speaking skills altogether.

Remember, Jim cornette was also on the writing team at this time so russos stupid ideas got filtered out back in the wwe, so without that checks and balances Russo is sh*t.

Can we please see Russo and cornette in the ring

Wcw always had international talent

Bit harsh on Ready 2 Rumble; I loved that film when I was younger; might have to watch it again now lol

Vince Russo WCW theme song was a classic epic

I loved what Russo did with WCW. Booker T's championship run was amazing, specially his epic match with Lance Storm, where Booker T, the American champion, held the one single belt that Storm, the evil Canadian heel, had not acquired. That was one of the greatest TV wrestling matches of all-time. And under Russo, Storm actually got a push on the level that he deserved, instead of being called boring as he was in WWF. That said, this video does detail a lot of stupid crap Russo said and did.

Russo's ideas towards cruiserwieghts and international wrestlers is so closed minded. He's such a clown and always will be.

Eric Bischoff gets all the credit for WCW success, however Kevin Nash came up with great ideas for the team.

Vince was the final nail in the coffin for wcw

I dunno how Russo is the most hated man in wrestling, every wrestler interview I see, people in the industry say that they loved working with him.

While the hate for Russo is definitely well deserved the man brought a lot of things to wrestling that was just offensive and every kind of way he's also tried to take credit where it was unjust. But he also brought a lot to wrestling. But I think a guy like Scott Hall brought way more than Russo and I don't think Scott Hall gets the credit he deserved for help developing young stars and established Stars

Now that you mentioned it, I don't remember any of WCW after the Nitro Girls - oops I mean "Eric Biscoff left."

In 2011 WWE put on an absolute trash fire of a main-event match that, by all logic, should have been a singles match between Edge and Dolph Ziggler, but instead became a mixed tag-team match in which Edge and Ziggler were partnered with their two squeezes at the time: Kelly Kelly and Vickie Guerrero, respectively. Edge had recently been fired by Guerrero, and since Edge had been World Heavyweight Champion at the time, he was stripped of his title and it was awarded to Ziggler. Long story short, Kelly pinned Guerrero and Edge thus got his title back. It's bad enough that Kelly was a former bikini model who had undergone no wrestling training before she was hired by WWE, and that Guerrero had had no wrestling training AT ALL up to that point. What's really offensive is that, in story, Edge needed a girl to help him win back a title - no, not just help him, but outright get the title back for him with absolutely no effort on his part - that he never lost in the first place! (You'd think Edge would have taken this as an insult, but I've never heard him complain about it, so I guess he was cool with that angle.) But, as someone once pointed out to me, the situation could have been much worse. Namely, if Vince Russo had written that match - and that certainly would have been possible if WWE hadn't fired him nine years earlier - Kelly Kelly would technically have become World Heavyweight Champion, and in her house right now she would have a replica of the very same physical belt that Russo had awarded to both David Arquette and himself.

Russo as a onscreen character was entertaining

He solidified the death of WCW, he made TNA (the only alternative to WWE in the 2000s and early 2010s) a complete shitshow to every week, and all while taking all the credit for solely creating the Attitude Era, which in reality was a big team effort of Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, Bruce Prichard and other staff members to create that era while many of Russo’s ideas were rejected by McMahon because he always had the final say in booking and storylines.

Why is Vince Russo hated? Because Cornette said so.

“IT WASNT ME BRO” 😅

Russo's main problem was having too many ideas. In WWE, this was curtailed, by placing the right people with him, they could keep him on a leash and temper his ideas with common sense. WCW let Russo do what he wanted, indulged his ego and narcissism, and did so for far too long. Never forget, Vince Russo thought he had created a great thing in WWE in the Brawl For All, even after seeing how many stars were injured by the tournament. He is one figure who thoroughly deserves the disdain and blacklisting he has received. Jim Cornette was right about him from the beginning!

To this day Russo still acts like he was God's gift to wrestling.

Bloody good videos and channel.

I agree with everything you say EXCEPT Ready to Rumble. I really enjoyed it as a kid, and I still do now. A 12-y.o me saw it as a cool action flick studded with WCW superstars, but now I'm mature enough to look past the tacky humor & dumb antics and see a man's beautiful journey to change for the better. Also, John Cena is in the movie. You can't see him, as per the norm, but he's there. I promise.

We know it's your Cornette, you're not fooling anyone.

My personal favorite was the electrified cage match in TNA. When someone finally hit the cage and the arena lights flickered while cheesy electric sounds were pumped through the speakers, everyone began booing and chanting "FIRE RUSSO." Ah, those were the days.

Most people wouldn't even on the internet back then it was in its infancy steal the internet wasn't nothing back then

"foreign objects!"lmao that movie is still funny as hell lol

Surprisingly, people like Dutch and JR aren't as hostile to Russo, and are a bit more positive towards him. Dutch even likes Russo's quote "The worst ideas are the ones not pitched".

Ready To Rumble was hilarious, you're crazy!!!! I admit David Arquette winning the title was ridiculous and completely stupid, but the movie was funny.

Russo is from New York? Weird, I don't think I ever heard him mention that

Sorry but ready to rumble was awesome 👍😎 I'm the king and 'I'm gonna".................." what come on what" ......I'm gonna rrrrruuuuulllleeeeee you............ Lmao sorry but that was the shit lmao

The reason Russo did well in his first stint with WWF in the mid to late 90s is because he was part of a team. So only bits and pieces of his work ended up in the finished product. Which worked well. But he definitely wasn't built for a leadership position.