Russo Speaks On TNA vs. WWE On Monday’s, Hogan/Bischoff

With the increase in TNA’s ratings since Hogan’s arrival, everyone is talking about iMPACT moving to Monday nights permanently and reports have even surfaced about TNA’s flagship program going head-to-head with the WWE beginning on March 1st & every week thereafter. With all the new talent arriving & with everything moving so smoothly as it has been since January 4th, is TNA ready for the jump to compete with the WWE’s Monday Night RAW, which has been rumored to move RAW to three hours if TNA goes three? "This is the first I’m hearing of the three hours, and I don’t think TNA has any claims on going to three hours. I think either show going three hours would be a mistake. Three hours a week…that is a lot of programming, and I know how difficult it is to come up with two hours, so I don’t think three hours would be a good idea. As far as being ready (referring to the Internet), I don’t know if it’s a obligation to create controversy & to dwell on negativity; all I know is for me to have the opportunity to go head-to-head against a former boss who I’m not very fond of and work with minds like Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair, & Jeff Jarrett; to have that opportunity, I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity than that."

In the new book, Russo mentions that he was considering a return to World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002 and even met with their Creative Team, but it never came to fruition. He also mentioned that putting Stephanie McMahon in charge of WWE’s Creative Team was the worst idea Vince McMahon ever made. Russo was asked to expound on that point of the book. "When Ed (Ferrera) & I were writing for Vince, Stephanie just started sitting in on creative, and my thought was that Vince just wanted Stephanie to learn every aspect of the company. I never thought in a million years that Vince envisioned Stephanie as head of creative, and the reason I say that is Stephanie is a great girl, but the meetings she sat in on…I never saw anything creative in her. She never threw out suggestions or ideas, I just never viewed her as creative. She was smart & intelligent, but smart & creative are two different things. So when I left, and Stephanie became head of creative, I was shocked, and I knew right off the bat that Vince had made a huge mistake, because I knew if this girl fails in that role, he cannot replace her. Good or bad, she was going to stay in that spot, and that is exactly what happened over the years. I think Stephanie was the wrong person for the job, and in the long run, that might have hurt Vince’s company."

Vince Russo has been one of the most criticized individuals in professional wrestling history over the years, and some of the industry’s biggest names have been calling him out publicly, including TNA employee Jim Cornette. Russo wished to respond to his critics on The Mayhem airwaves, and if he’s at the point where he still gets upset with them, or just takes them for it what is. "I will always be that guy…It doesn’t matter if TNA can do a 7.0, an 8.0, or an 10.0…it wouldn’t matter. I would always get criticized way more than anyone else, and here’s the bottom line: I don’t take what I do as passionately as some people who watch the product, or even some of the people who is involved in the business. To me, what I do has always been my job. My job is to be a television writer and to achieve the highest rating that I can,…it’s that simple. That’s my job, and that’s what I try to do week in & week out from the first day I ever started in this business. The Jim Cornette’s & the critics are going to get hung up on whatever they’re gonna’ get hung up on, I go to work everyday to do my job, and I do the best job I possibly can, and that’s all I can do."

Continued on page three …

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