Vince Russo

Vince Russo

Russo in 2007
Birth name Vincent James Russo
Born (1961-01-24) January 24, 1961
New York City, New York, United States
Residence Broomfield, Colorado, United States
Spouse(s) Amy Russo
Children 3
Website russosbrand.com
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Vicious Vincent
Vic Venom
Vince Russo
Mr. Wrestling III
The Powers That Be
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight 190 lb (86 kg)
Trained by Johnny Rodz
Debut 1996

Vincent James "Vince" Russo (born January 24, 1961) is an American professional wrestling writer, pundit and author. He is notable for his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in creative roles.[1] Russo occasionally made appearances as an on-screen authority figure, and professional wrestler, in WCW and TNA.

In WCW, Russo became a self-booked one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion,[2] and scored televised singles victories over future WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Booker T (the latter to win his world title). He also headlined multiple pay-per-view events in TNA.[3]

Early life

Russo 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. He worked for the school newspaper The Shield as an assistant sports editor and later as editor-in-chief.[4]

Russo got his start in the wrestling business when he began training under the tutelage of Johnny Rodz at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn. He owned two video stores on Long Island, New York,.[5] Russo also hosted his own local radio show from 1992 to 1993 called Vicious Vincent's World of Wrestling which aired on Sunday nights on WGBB in Freeport, New York. The program ran for exactly one year, the final show being the one-year anniversary.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Federation (1992–1999)

In 1992, Russo was hired as a freelance writer for WWF Magazine following a letter that he had written to Linda McMahon, and would later become an editor[5] in 1994 under the pseudonym of Vic Venom. He was eventually promoted to the WWF Creative Team in 1996.[1][4] In that same year, Monday Night Raw hit an all-time ratings low of 1.8, as Monday Nitro (Raw's chief competition), was in the midst of an 84-week winning-streak against Raw head-to-head (see Monday Night Wars). With World Championship Wrestling (WCW) eclipsing the WWF, McMahon called upon 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 in the storylines. Russo's style of writing came to be known as "Crash TV".

In early 1997, Russo became head writer for the WWF[1] and wrote their flagship show Raw Is War as well as their monthly pay-per-views. With the angles that he created, Russo held a role in putting WWF ahead of WCW in the Monday night rating wars during the Attitude Era. Notable story lines that occurred and characters portrayed during Russo's run as head writer include the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon feud, The Undertaker vs. Kane feud, D-Generation X, the rise of The Rock, and the Mick Foley saga. Some of the more controversial characters during this time, often cited by critics of Russo, include Sable, Val Venis and The Godfather. Russo devised the infamous Brawl for All tournament.[6][7]

Within two years of Russo becoming the WWF's head writer, it had passed Nitro to the biggest wrestling show on cable.

On October 5, 1999, Russo and Ed Ferrara signed with WCW;[1] Russo contends that his reason for leaving the WWF was the result of 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.

World Championship Wrestling

Russo and Ferrara attempted to make the same "Crash TV" style on Monday Nitro which was similar to Raw Is War, only at an accelerated pace, including edgier storylines, more lengthy non-wrestling segments, constant heel/face turns, an increased amount of sexuality on the show, fake retirements, more backstage vignettes, expanded storyline depth, title changes, and the utilization of midcard talent in a more effective manner. Russo and Ferrara often focused on poking fun at the WWF.

Russo's writing style created a large turnover in title changes, reflective of his "crash TV" writing philosophy. His booking of Jushin Thunder Liger losing and regaining the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on Nitro in late 1999 was not recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in the title lineage until 2007;[8] Liger lost the title to Juventud Guerrera, a luchador, after being hit over the head with a tequila bottle. Swerves and scenarios treated as "shoots" were heavily emphasized, as wrestlers supposedly gave unscripted interviews using "insider" terms that were only recognized by the Internet smarks; chaotic broadcasts became the norm.

Russo booked actor David Arquette to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and at one point toward the end of his WCW stay even booked himself to be champion. Russo justifies Arquette winning the title with the fact that Arquette didn't pin a wrestler (he pinned Eric Bischoff) and that it was a realistic event with the intent to gain publicity. Moreover, Russo claims that his own title win was a result of a fluke (Goldberg speared him through the cage during a cage match against Booker T, resulting in Russo unintentionally winning the match) and that he willingly forfeited the title on the next Nitro.

Firing and rehiring

In 2000, Russo received two phone calls, one from Bret Hart (then WCW World Heavyweight Champion) and another from Jeff Jarrett (then WCW United States Heavyweight Champion), both saying that they were injured, thus couldn't wrestle and forced to vacate their respective championships. This required Russo to alter the plans he had in mind for Hart and the New World Order. Russo and his booking committee sat down to determine what would now happen at Souled Out. One of the ideas included putting the now vacated WCW Title on the shoot fighter Tank Abbott, a former UFC fighter. In an attempt to do something believable, the idea was originally to have a "rumble match" in which Sid 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 claims that Abbott may not have held the belt for more than 24 hours if this title change had actually occurred. However, the day after he and his committee came up with the idea, he was removed from the position of head writer and told to start working with something else. Russo declined the offer and left the company, with his immediate replacement being Kevin Sullivan, who along with other bookers, choose wrestler Chris Benoit to win the title from Vicious in a singles bout with Arn Anderson as the referee.

Three months after Russo's departure, Kevin Sullivan was ultimately relieved of his duties and Russo was reinstated as booker, alongside the returning Eric Bischoff. The idea was that Russo and Bischoff would reboot WCW into a more modern, streamlined company that would allow the younger talent to work with the established stars. On the April 10, 2000 edition of WCW Monday Nitro, Vince Russo was introduced as an on-screen antagonist authority figure. Notable storyline points his character was involved with include "The New Blood vs. The Millionaire's Club"; his feud with Ric Flair where he and David Flair were involved with shaving Ric Flair's hair as well as Reid Flair's hair; his feud with Goldberg; and his short reign as world champion.

Bash at the Beach 2000

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 world 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 "lay 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 would come out later in the broadcast to nullify the result of the match, 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 the latter winning the match and the title.

As Russo promised, Hogan never resurfaced in WCW and even filed a lawsuit against Russo for defamation of character (which was dismissed in 2003 stating that the charges filed against Russo were "groundless" and "were just part of a wrestling storyline"[9]). Hogan claims (in his autobiography, Hollywood Hulk Hogan) 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. Eric Bischoff states in his autobiography, Controversy Creates Ca$h, that Hogan winning and leaving with the title was a work which would result in his return several months later where the plan was to crown a new champion at Halloween Havoc, where Hogan would come out at the end of the show and ultimately win a champion vs. champion match – but Russo (who no longer had faith in Hogan or his drawing power and wanted him out of WCW completely) coming out to fire him was in fact a shoot which led to the lawsuit filed by Hogan. Bischoff claims that he and Hogan celebrated after the event over the angle, but were distraught to get a phone call hearing of Russo's in-ring shoot after Hogan left the arena. This event also marked Eric Bischoff's last on-screen appearance with WCW.

Later 2000

In September 2000, In an angle where Stacy Keibler and David Flair were getting married, Russo sent cops to the ring to (kayfabe) arrest Ric Flair because Russo took out a restraining order against Flair.

In October 2000, Russo's run as head writer came to a halt after a string of injuries primarily resulting from a match he was in with Goldberg where he was speared through a cage and where his head landed on the ringside barrier. Russo's contract was bought out by Time Warner shortly after the WCW buyout.

Return to WWE (2002)

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".[10] 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,[11][12] 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).[13]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Writing and power struggle (2002–2004)

Russo at a TNA event

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. 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".[14] Throughout the first few years, there were numerous reports of creative power struggle over the direction of the programming.[15] 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."[16]

On-screen character (2002–2004)

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 eventually unveiled as him.[1] In the on-screen story, Jarrett did not want Russo's help which led to the two becoming involved in a feud. Russo created his own faction of wrestlers he dubbed Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.),[1] 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. 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 hit Raven with a baseball bat helping Gilbertti become the number one contender for the world championship.[17] 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.[18] On the following week's pay-per-view (June 11, 2003), when A.J. Styles and Raven fought Jarrett for the world title in a triple threat match, Russo teased hitting Styles with Jarrett's trademark guitar, but eventually hit Jarrett leading Styles to win the world championship belt.[19]

Russo would then manage NWA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles for the remainder of his 2003 run and S.E.X. were 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 Jarett, although his partner, Styles, yielded the pin.[20] On the October 15, 2003 pay-per-view, Russo made his final appearance of that year in a street-fight with Jarrett.[21] It was reported that Russo was written out of the company as a result of Hulk Hogan's signing and because Hogan reportedly said that he would not work for TNA as long as Russo was involved with the company.[22] 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 leave again in late 2004 when Dusty Rhodes was "voted" the new D.O.A. over himself at the three-hour November 2004 pay-per-view Victory Road in an interactive "election" on TNA's website.[1]

Rehired as creative writer (2006–2012)

On September 21, 2006, TNA president Dixie Carter re-signed Russo as a writer on the TNA creative team.

During the March 2007 TNA pay-per-view Destination X on the "Last Rites" match with Abyss and Sting, "Fire Russo!" chants erupted from the crowd in the arena at Orlando indicating the fans' frustration with the incidents that occurred during the match.[23]

TNA's "electrified" steel cage match, as seen at Lockdown in 2007

Another time the "Fire Russo!" chants were heard was at the following month's pay-per-view Lockdown that was held in St. Louis on April 15, 2007.[24] The chants were heard during the electrified steel cage match with Team 3D and The LAX where the lights would flicker on-and-off whenever a wrestler touched the cage giving the impression of electrocution.[24] Dixie Carter has since noted that gimmick was created by writer Dutch Mantell. However, in a 2011 interview, Mantell denied this.

Russo became head of creative for TNA some time during July 2009.[25] 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.[25] At the September No Surrender pay-per-view, Ed Ferrara joined TNA and began working on the creative team with Vince Russo and junior contributor Matt Conway.[26]

On October 27, 2009, it was announced that Hulk Hogan signed with TNA.[25] 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, and Jeremy Borash have really "stepped it up", and that Hogan loved Russo "from a distance".[27] While working with Russo, Bischoff stated in a February 2010 interview that it is a "very positive experience", that their collaborations are productive and said, "If I see red and [Russo] sees green, we've been able to come as close as possible to resolving it every time".[28]

On October 6, 2011, it was reported that Russo had stepped down to the role of a contributing writer, with Bruce Prichard taking over the role of the head writer.[29] On February 14, 2012, TNA president Dixie Carter announced that TNA and Russo had mutually parted ways during the week.[30]

Secret return (2013–2014)

In April 2014, the PWInsider website claimed that Russo was working as a consultant for TNA Wrestling.[31] 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 should announce a future episode of Impact. As a result, and after trying to state that he wasn't involved with TNA, Russo admitted through a statement on his website that he was already working as a consultant for TNA Wrestling to work with TNA's announcers, and that one of TNA's conditions was that Russo was to keep his involvement as confidential.[32][33][34] Within two days or less, Russo's statement on his website was apparently removed as it became a dead link.[35]

On July 30, 2014, Russo claimed that he was "officially done" with TNA.[36] Not long after, Russo revealed that he had been working for TNA since October 24, 2013,[37] claiming that he had been involved in creative meetings and also critiqued the weekly episodes of Impact Wrestling.[38][39] Russo stated that he was getting paid about $3,000 a month, averaging to $36,000 a year, to be a consultant with TNA.[40]

Independent circuit (2015)

In January 2015, Vince Russo announced he was signed to Australian promotion All Action Wrestling (AAW) to take on the role as head of creative.[41]

In early 2015, Russo joined UK promotion, International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK).[42]

Legacy

Vince Russo is one of the most controversial figures in professional wrestling history. Russo is often opinionated about his stance that the story, reality, and characters of the show are what draws the viewers.[10] He believes in emphasizing entertainment over the in-ring aspect of professional wrestling.[10] Newsday writes that "Despite scripting some of the most successful WWE 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". Russo believes one reason he is reviled is because of his take on the current WWE product; he believes there is too much actual wrestling and not enough storylines.[43]

WWE credits Russo with being responsible for many of the Attitude Era's storylines.[44] Bob Kapur of Slam! Wrestling attributes Russo for WWE turning away from cartoonish style of the early 90s and bringing in more mature storylines and characters to the promotion.[45] WWE's 2004 DVD, The Monday Night War, featured comments from Gene Okerlund, who said that Russo's ideas were successful in WWE because Vince McMahon was able to control them, while Ric Flair said that he responded with laughter when Russo tried to convince the WCW staff that he was responsible for making WWE what it was.[46] Eric Bischoff has said that Russo was hired at WCW by overstating his influence in WWE, which Bischoff called "fraudulent".[47]

WWE's DVD documentary The Rise and Fall of WCW portrayed Russo in a negative light, which received some criticism by DVD Talk and Canoe.ca.[48][49] Ric Flair said that WCW under Russo's tenure "was the most disorganized and disabled wrestling company alive."[50] His decision to have David Arquette win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship remains controversial to this day; Russo still defends his decision, citing that mainstream American newspapers covered the story. 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".[51] On the other hand, WWE Network series The Monday Night War: WWE vs. WCW credited Russo with elevating younger talent in WCW.[52]

Wrestling promoter Jody Hamilton credits Russo with "[driving] WCW into the ground", and questioned why the Jarretts hired him in TNA in 2002.[53] TNA co-founder Jerry Jarrett expressed regret at the decision of bringing Russo in, saying that it was Jeff Jarrett's decision, adding "He obviously has qualities that I don’t recognize or understand ... How can a person who has a 15-year history of failure still keep a job?"[53] Promoter and manager Jim Cornette has been highly critical of Russo; in April 2010 a law firm contacted and accused him of making a "terroristic threat" after he wrote a letter saying he was concerned that TNA would go out of business because of Russo and that "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."[54] TNA President Dixie Carter praised Russo as "incredibly talented" in 2014, but admitted 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".[55]

Online work

In May 2014, Russo started a website called Pyro and Ballyhoo, where he gave his opinions and other content about the at-the-time ongoings in the professional wrestling industry as well as a variety of other topics in entertainment. He also offered a VIP section on the website where a subscription fee of $5.95 a month had to be paid to view certain content, with occasional discount codes being offered.

In July 2014, Russo started a weekly podcast entitled The Swerve. The theme song for the podcast, entitled 'Baddest Man on The Planet' wrote and sung by an English band called The Breakfast Club, alludes some of Russo's more famous storyline decisions, and also includes some additional exaggerated match stipulations for comic effect, such as a "Royal Rumble-on-a-pole match".

As of February 2015, Russo is no long affiliated in any way with Pyro and Ballyhoo due to "issues with the website".

Following his departure from Pyro and Ballyhoo, Russo began hosting Vince Russo's The Brand for The RELM Network on April 20, 2015.[56]

From October 2015 to March 2016, Russo hosted his weekly YouTube video series, named Nuclear Heat" on WrestlingInc.

In April 2016, Russo brought "The Brand" to PodcastOne where he releases podcasts five days a week with his co-host Jeff Lane. Russo also provides daily content on his site RussosBrand.com.

Author

Russo is also an author. He has written Forgiven: One Man's Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification, a 2005 autobiography documenting his early life, his WWF run, as well as his Christian faith. Highlights of the book include his involvement with the infamous Montreal Screwjob and the accidental tragic death of Owen Hart.[57] The book was written in 2000, originally titled Welcome To Bizarroland[58] and was a book that negatively portrayed people in the wrestling business.[58] After being a born again Christian, the title and content of the book was revised to correspond with his newly found faith.[58]

Russo's second book Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo was released in early 2010 and chronicles his tenure with WCW and TNA. The title Rope Opera stems from the title of a television series idea that he pitched to networks at the time of his WWF tenure.[59][60]

Personal life

Russo is an American of Italian origin. He has been married to his wife Amy since 1983. The couple have three children together. Two sons Vince Jr (born May 18, 1990) and Will (born in 1987), and a daughter named Annie (born June 14, 1995). They reside in Broomfield, Colorado as of 2008.[61] In October 2003, Russo became a Born Again Christian.[1] In 2004, he formed a short-lived online Christian ministry titled Forgiven. In late 2005, he produced two shows for his evangelical Ring of Glory independent promotion.[62]

Russo was very close friends with Joanie Laurer, professionally known as Chyna, who passed away on April 20, 2016.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cohen, Eric. "Vince Russo – Biography of Vince Russo the Former Head Writer of WWF Monday Night Raw & WCW Nitro.". About.com. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
  2. ↑ Scherer, Dave (February 2, 2015). "Finally, Vince Russo actually accepts an interview request from someone that won't throw him softballs". PWInsider. Retrieved February 1, 2016. [Russo] devaluing the title by putting it on himself.
  3. ↑ Vince Russo: Profile & Match Listing. The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Anthony Pate. "Alum trades S.E.X. for Glory". The Shield. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
  5. 1 2 Ryan Nation. "Review: Russo asks to be Forgiven". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
  6. ↑ Oliver, Sean (director) (2016). Timeline: History of WCW – 1998 – As told by Vince Russo (DVD). Kayfabe Commentaries. [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.
  7. ↑ "Jim Cornette". Who's Slamming Who. March 16, 2009.
  8. ↑ "新日本プロレスオフィシャルWEBサイト -選手名鑑" [Jushia Thuander Liger] (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  9. ↑ "Hulk Hogan Loses 2000 Defamation Suit Against Russo". 411Wrestling.com. August 11, 2003. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  10. 1 2 3 "Vince Russo Speaks on WWE, McMahon, NWA TNA, More – Get in the Ring Interview". 411Wrestling.com. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  11. ↑ Scott Keith (2004). Wrestling's One Ring Circus: The Death of the World Wrestling Federation. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2619-X.
  12. ↑ "Russo brought back to WWE, role undefined". Pro Wrestling Torch. June 29, 2002. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  13. ↑ Jerry W. Jarrett (June 2004). The Story of the Development of NWATNA: A New Concept in Pay-Per-View Programming. Trafford Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 1-4120-2878-7.
  14. ↑ "Vince Russo on The Interactive Interview – November 2005". Wrestling Epicentre. December 5, 2005. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  15. ↑ "Latest on Backstage Power Struggle Between Vince Russo And Jerry Jarrett". Pro Wrestling Torch. October 31, 2002. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  16. ↑ "Jimmy Van interviews Vince Russo Part 3 of 3 – November 2005". 1Wrestling.com. April 12, 2005. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
  17. ↑ "NWA Total Nonstop Action PPV May 28, 2003 – Nashville, Tennessee – Aired Live". Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  18. ↑ "NWA Total Nonstop Action PPV June 4, 2003 – Nashville, Tennessee – Aired Live". Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  19. ↑ "NWA Total Nonstop Action PPV June 11, 2003 – Nashville, Tennessee – Aired Live". Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  20. ↑ Keller, Wade (October 1, 2013). "Oct. 1 in history". PWTorch. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  21. ↑ "NWA Total Nonstop Action PPV October 15, 2003 – Nashville, Tennessee – Aired Live". Obsessed With Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  22. ↑ "A look at Hogan's signing with TNA from the Nov 3 2009 – Figure Four Weekly". Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Weekly Online. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  23. ↑ "TNA's Reaction To 'Fire Russo' Chants (May 28, 2007)". WrestleZone. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  24. 1 2 "Lockdown PPV Results – 4/15/07 St. Louis, Missouri (Lethal Lockdown)". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  25. 1 2 3 "Full Recap: New Vince Russo Interview on "The Pain Clinic" (February 20, 2010)". WrestleZone. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  26. ↑ "Backstage No Surrender News: Big Creative Changes". WrestlingInc. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  27. ↑ "Full Hulk Hogan 'Plugged In' With New Role at TNA Wrestling (February 17, 2010)". Fanhouse. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  28. ↑ "Eric Bischoff talks first six weeks in TNA, making one new star every month (February 18, 2010)". PWTorch. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  29. ↑ Caldwell, James (October 6, 2011). "TNA News: Creative team shake-up – Russo out as head writer, when will the change take effect?". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  30. ↑ Caldwell, James (February 14, 2012). "TNA News: Breaking – Vince Russo officially gone from TNA". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  31. ↑ "The definitive update on Vince Russo's status with TNA". PWInsider. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  32. ↑ Scherer, Dave (July 15, 2014). "The real final statement of Vince Russo's involvement with TNA, issued by Russo himself". PWInsider. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  33. ↑ "Vince Russo issues statement about involvement with TNA". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  34. ↑ Meltzer, Dave. "WED. UPDATE: Who is and isn't on WWE's NBC special, ROH big show, HHH talks Sting, Major awards show taped tonight, McGregor pub, Steiner, What high school has produced the most pro wrestling stars?, WWE star opens school, Destroyer raising money". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  35. ↑ Russo, Vince (July 15, 2014). "Statement Concerning My Involvement With TNA". pyroandballyhoo.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  36. ↑ Russo, Vince (July 30, 2014). "Officially DONE w/TNA. Today they "suggested" a break, I declined. Finality was better for me". pyroandballyhoo.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-30.
  37. ↑ Russo, Vince (August 1, 2014). "Official statement regarding my situation with TNA/Spike TV". pyroandballyhoo.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  38. ↑ Russo, Vince (July 31, 2014). "Unfortunately —"It's Wrestling"". pyroandballyhoo.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  39. ↑ Russo, Vince (July 31, 2014). "Unfortunately — "Tonight's VIP podcast will be my critique on Impact!"". pyroandballyhoo.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  40. ↑ Russo, Vince (May 1, 2015). "Lions, Tigers, Bears & Dirt: 05/01/15". pyroandballyhoo.com. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  41. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/officialvincerusso
  42. ↑ http://www.ipwuk.com/news/2014/12/19/vince-russo-to-join-ipw-uk-as-eip-from-jan-1st-2015
  43. ↑ Castillo, Alfonso A. (May 7, 2016). "Pro wrestling figure with Long Island roots is still polarizing". Newsday. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  44. ↑ Robinson, John (2015). WWE: The Attitude Era. Penguin Random House. p. 114. ISBN 978-1465431233.
  45. ↑ Kapur, Bob (November 26, 2007). "Vince Russo not so evil". Slam! Wrestling. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  46. ↑ Carapola, Stuart (May 4, 2011). "A Detailed Look At The WWE Monday Night War DVD, Part 3: WCW Drops A Bischoff and Gains a Russo, Foley Wins the World Title, The Fingerpoke of Doom, The Mass Exodus from WCW To the WWF Begins, and More". PWInsider.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  47. ↑ "Torch Talk Daily with Eric Bischoff: Bischoff calls "b.s." on how Vince Russo got hired in WCW". PWTorch.com. January 26, 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  48. ↑ "Rise & Fall of WCW DVD leaves viewers yearning for more". Slam! Wrestling. June 4, 2016.
  49. ↑ Castillo, Alfonso A. (October 2, 2009). "WWE: The Rise And Fall of WCW". DVD Talk. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  50. ↑ "Ric Flair Shoots on TNA, Vince Russo, Kevin Nash and Ed Ferrara". PWInsider.com. November 25, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  51. ↑ Reynolds, R.D. (2007). The Wrestlecrap Book of Lists!. ECW Press. p. 202. ISBN 1550227629.
  52. ↑ "The Monday Night War Review: Episode Nineteen – 'The Fall of WCW'". 411mania.com. January 7, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  53. 1 2 Mooneyham, Mike (August 21, 2011). "Mike Mooneyham: Hogan, TNA running out of steam?". The Post and Currier. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  54. ↑ Caldwell, James (April 14, 2010). "TNA News: Jim Cornette threatens physical harm against Vince Russo, TNA responds to "terroristic threat"". PWTorch.com. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  55. ↑ Hines, Martin (December 4, 2016). "Dixie Carter interview: TNA President talks British Bootcamp, CM Punk and Vince Russo". The Independent. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  56. ↑ http://www.relmnetwork.com/#!russo/c7yj
  57. ↑ Russo, Vince (November 2005). Forgiven: One Man's Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification. ECW Press. ISBN 1-55022-704-1.
  58. 1 2 3 "Review: Russo asks to be Forgiven – SLAM! Wrestling". SLAM Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  59. ↑ "Forgiven: One Man's Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification (Hardcover) – by Vince Russo". Amazon. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  60. ↑ Forgiven by Vince Russo – Chapter 48 – Riddle Me This – Page 324. ECW Press. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  61. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeFBBD8VbKc
  62. ↑ "Ring of Glory Wrestling: The Great Commission (2006)". Amazon. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
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