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VINCE RUSSO
Vince Russo was born on
1/24/61 on Long Island, NY. Vince got his start
in the wrestling business by co-hosting two
wrestling radio shows in New York during the
early 90’s. In 1992, he became a free lance
writer for WWF Magazine. In 1994, he became
editor of the magazine.
The Business is
Changing:
By 1996, the business seemed to be passing the
WWF by. WCW was destroying them in the ratings
and ECW was capturing the essence of 90’s
culture. In response, the WWF creative was
giving their fans wrestlers that had day jobs
(ex: Plumbers, garbage men) and characters that
made no sense (ex: Mantaur and Who). Around this
time, Vince became editor of a new magazine RAW
and started to write promos for the wrestlers.
Rock Bottom:
On paper, a show featuring Bret Hart vs
Triple H, Sid vs Mankind, The Rock vs Vader, and
Owen Hart vs The British Bulldog looks like a
PPV. Instead, this show was presented so poorly
and the writing was so bad that the show
garnered a 1.9 rating. After this debacle, Vince
Russo was praised by Vince McMahon in front of
the creative department for having the only good
product in the company. Vince would become the
head writer of the company by year’s end.
The Attitude Era:
Under Vince’s writing, the show would be
drawing 8’s within the next 2 years. During this
era, stars like Steve Austin and The Rock became
pop culture icons. Most importantly, Vince made
sure to build up new stars and in a short time
men like Triple H and Mick Foley were soon in
the main event. The era is also known for some
very controversial programming but it was always
entertaining.
WCW:
Due in part to the success of the WWF, Eric
Bischoff was fired from WCW. In October 99,
Vince took over the writing of WCW. After a
string of injuries in his first few months on
the job, he was let go from this position in
January. After several months of boring TV, he
was rehired along with Eric Bischoff. Too much
damage had already been done to the company and
it was sold in 2001 as part of the AOL-Time
Warner fire sale after that very unsuccessful
merger.
TNA:
Vince became involved in TNA as a consultant
in 2002. He became an on screen character by the
end of the year when he helped Jeff Jarrett win
the title. He then formed a faction called S.E.X.
(Sports Extreme Entertainment) that was a focal
part of the shows. He left TNA in late 2004.
Ring of Glory:
Vince became a born again Christian in
October 2003. He had written a manuscript for a
book detailing his life from birth till the end
of his tenure with the WWF. With his newfound
faith, he could not publish the book in the form
it was in. In late 2005, he released the book,
Forgiven, which tells his story through the eyes
of a converted man looking at his old self. In
addition, he runs a promotion called Ring of
Glory, a wrestling promotion that promotes The
Gospel.
WCW Title History:
WCW Champion
9/24/00 Nitro – beat Booker T
Sources: Forgiven by
Vince Russo, PWI Almanac and Obsessed With
Wrestling.com
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