FLIK Posted May 13, 2012 Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 WCW (and TNA) kept doing it because apparently protecting Sting's gimmick is more important than showing sensitivity to one of the most infamous tragedies in wrestling history. Eh, don't really believe in that kind of stuff myself. Repelling from the cieling is a very dangerous high risk activity so from that point of view it's not the smartest idea but it has been done safely by countless ppl countless times in & out of wrestling so just because 1 person accidently dies by doing it that in & of itself doesn't mean it shouldn't be done anymore ever again or that it's insensitve or disrespectful to do so. Misawa died in the ring taking a back drop suplex, is every wrestler who does that type of suplex from now on being insensitive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted May 14, 2012 Report Share Posted May 14, 2012 WCW (and TNA) kept doing it because apparently protecting Sting's gimmick is more important than showing sensitivity to one of the most infamous tragedies in wrestling history. Bret said they approached him before they had Sting do it again. He did not have a problem with it. Misawa died in the ring taking a back drop suplex, is every wrestler who does that type of suplex from now on being insensitive? If they are still doing head drop type suplexes, they are stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted May 14, 2012 Report Share Posted May 14, 2012 My memory is that Harry Smith did a vicious head drop suplex on Christian (I think?) the day after Misawa died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Morris Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 The one thing to always remember about what happened with Owen is this: The issue was that WWF wanted him to use a harness with a "quick release" instead of the version of the harness Sting always used, in which he had to unfasten both the main line and the backup line. Had Owen's harness been the same as Sting's, chances are he would still be alive. In other words, the WWF's foolishness was using equipment the company should never have been using for such a stunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 The one thing to always remember about what happened with Owen is this: The issue was that WWF wanted him to use a harness with a "quick release" instead of the version of the harness Sting always used, in which he had to unfasten both the main line and the backup line.Wasn't that kind of harnessed picked because they wanted to do a comedy pratfall? IIRC, the intended spot was that the Blue Blazer would be lowered down to ringside, but then stop and get caught hanging just a few feet above the mat. Owen would hit the quick release, and splat down onto the canvas for a cheap laugh. I also remember reading somewhere that the harness wasn't even the proper kind of rappelling harness, that it was something designed for work on sailboats or some damn thing like that. Anyone else remember that, know if it's true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 I heard the first part of that a few times. It wouldn't have surprised me, as it would have fit bringing back the Blue Blazer character as a goof on 80's babyfaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted June 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 So, did anyone watch the live YouShoot iPPV? Thoughts?I'll do a running list of shit he says while watching that might be relevant: Thought Nigel McGuiness was a great talent which surprised him on the mic but it was circumstances beyond TNA's control which led to him not being used. Said he's never seen a single show from Ring of Honor. New Jack asked if Vince Russo created Steve Austin's "Stone Cold" character based off of The Sandman from ECW. Russo took several minutes to avoid the question but basically said Austin came up with it. Then New Jack didn't shut up for like ten minutes just rambling about nonsense. "If you could start a promotion tomorrow, with five superstars past or present, who would your five guys be?" - 1st: Big Cat Ernie Ladd, my world champion. Tag Team champs: Handsome Jimmy, Luscious Johnny Valentine. Shout out to Bruno. The Rock & Steve Austin. "Any animosity toward Jim Cornette?" - "Not an ounce." Alright, I've lost interest. Not watching this anymore. Just seems like Russo trying to get some quick cash to me and repeating all his BS lines from the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 4, 2012 Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 Russo came off as bad as ever. He still doesn't understand why David Arquette was a retarded idea. He still thinks every retarded angle he wrote were great and funny. And he still thinks a wrestling show that goes toward more reality based stuff can't have "blatant fake wrestling matches" on it. The most annoying thing was the bunch of Russo marks in the room who clapped for every stupid claim he made. Of course Russo is a "christian" so he can't call any woman a ho, and he loves to work with the women (as showed by his great track record I guess, he sure never booked misogynic shit with "pregnant bitch" Terri Runnels and PMS for instance...). I don't think Sean Oliver is a big Russo fan and he had some pretty funny tongue-in-cheek lines during the thing. Anyway, Russo still sounded completely full of shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted June 4, 2012 Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 The most annoying thing was the bunch of Russo marks in the room who clapped for every stupid claim he made. That reminds me of the last time I saw Ann Coulter on Bill Maher's show. With every ridiculous thing she said, it was clear there was a segment of the audience that was her plants that rooted respectably to wildly, which was quite odd to watch. If he didn't, Sean should have grilled him on his "blatant fake wrestling matches" quip. For example, asking if he felt there was a way to just get rid of matches altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliott Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Bumping a 4 year old thread after reading an 8 year old comment! Woo! I was reading the "Greatest things ever written on wrestling message boards" thread and saw this post http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/8273-the-greatest-things-ever-written-on-wrestling-message-boards/?p=5436167 I have no recollection of Russo coming back to WWE & getting fired after two days but it sounds hilarious. What happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 IIRC, apparently he didn't really want to be there or didn't feel like they were taking him seriously, so he started pitching bad ideas on purpose. And when Russo is TRYING to suck... I mean, goddamn, the mind reels at such a possibility. Apparently the final straw that got him fired was pitching a gay gimmick for The Rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliott Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Oh I vaguely remember that actually! Anything else from those 2 days you, or anyone can remember? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I think that's Russo trying to save face. It would presume he knows the difference between good and bad ideas. Maybe he started pitching overtly bad idea after he had got demoted so he could go to NWA TNA, but it doesn't make sense that he did from the beginning. The Torch coverage at the time was that he was brought back to be WWE's creative director (basically Stephanie McMahon's job until she became their Chief Brand Officer). That would have placed him above Bryan Gewirtz and Paul Heyman in the pecking order (the Raw and Smackdown head writers of the time). Shane McMahon was instrumental in setting up Russo's return. It's not difficult to poke holes in Russo's booking, especially when he likely hadn't followed WWE storylines all that closely for over two years. Steph/Hunter buried Russo to Vince McMahon as soon as he revealed his big idea, a rehash of the Invasion angle with Bischoff, Goldberg, Bret, Foley and Shawn, and got him demoted to a consultancy position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 There was a theory at the time that Russo had a no-compete with WCW that he was still sitting out, so in order to get out of that so he could help start TNA, he got WWE to hire him and then purposely pitched the worst ideas possible so they wouldn't want to keep him around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I think we'd kill for that sort of an angle right now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 There was a theory at the time that Russo had a no-compete with WCW that he was still sitting out, so in order to get out of that so he could help start TNA, he got WWE to hire him and then purposely pitched the worst ideas possible so they wouldn't want to keep him around.I think that's true. I know for a fact that Russo was frequently hanging out at the original TNA office in Hendersonville, Tennessee long before he officially worked there as an employee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Hard to imagine the Jarretts could afford to pay Russo as much as the McMahons, unless Jeff was willing to pay over the odds to bring him in. Plus, a job with WWE was a much safer long-term bet than TNA in 2002, given the amount of startups that crash and burn quickly. I don't completely dismiss the theory out of hand, but if WWE had rolled out the red carpet for Russo and gave him carte blanche to book as he pleased, I can't see him intentionally sabotaging himself to get a job with a much smaller company. More likely, Russo pitched his ideas, Hunter/Steph buried him to Vince McMahon because it was Shane's idea to bring him in, and Russo then started being a headache because his ego couldn't handle anything but being top dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 IIRC, apparently he didn't really want to be there or didn't feel like they were taking him seriously, so he started pitching bad ideas on purpose. And when Russo is TRYING to suck... I mean, goddamn, the mind reels at such a possibility. Apparently the final straw that got him fired was pitching a gay gimmick for The Rock. pretty sure the deal here was Mankind would ask Rock to marry him and would pester him about it show after show. Rock initially would act annoyed by it and treat Foley horribly but would eventually reveal after awhile that he was gay. Of course Russo was out of touch with the product here because Foley and WWE had a major falling out during this time and Foley did not appear again on WWE TV till Spring/Summer 2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 From my understanding, not so much a falling out as Foley finding the Creative really uninspiring overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 I can remember that they pitched an idea of him facing Regal at I believe Survivor Series 2001 and he turned it down because he didn't think Regal was a big enough name. Then they shot that vignette in air McMahon where Vince fired him. Think Foley got a lot of his chest in that scene with his frustrations with the company. Then he wasn't used again till he reffed the cell match between Hunter and Nash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War is Raw Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Regardless of what he did as a writer, The Russo Brand is interesting. It's the only podcast/video network which calls out wrestling and its fans for taking it too seriously. And if you listen to his Christian sermons, he says all the other shows he does are for entertainment purposes to get a reaction. Russo is like the court jester or a comedian- someone who tells us what we don't want to hear, but there are truths wrapped in his jokes/rants. If the truth hurts, it's on you. If you want to label him and believe he ruined your precious "sport", it's on you. Truth is, Vince McMahon mainstreamed WWF and made it a cartoon way before Russo turned it into Crash TV. He calls out Keller, Johnson, and Meltzer for their BS, smarks for their obsessiveness, how workrate is less valuable than character work and looks for TV ratings, etc. He deconstructs what modern wrestling is and I find it refreshing. Doesn't mean he's right about everything (it is grating when he calls it "pretend fighting"- but isn't it?), but no one is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 Look pal, Let's not go do crazy things like bump a three and a half year old Russo thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 The Russo Brand? LOL. Is this a paid shill? or is Vince Russo trolling message boards now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted August 15, 2019 Report Share Posted August 15, 2019 Russo's producer takes clips out of context from Wrestling journalists and then Russo implies they and fans are gay for liking Pro Wrestling. Rinse repeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted August 15, 2019 Report Share Posted August 15, 2019 On 4/18/2012 at 4:37 AM, El-P said: I can't think of any big name cinematographic equivalent to Russo to be honest Michael Bay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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