"80% misses and 20% hits" - Former WWE personality shares honest thoughts on Vince McMahon (Exclusive)
WWE veteran Vince Russo believes there were only a handful of original characters that Vince McMahon was responsible for creating.
WWE is not merely a wrestling company but a sports entertainment juggernaut. Its larger-than-life characters and presentation have captured the attention of fans for decades now. Performers like The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, and more aren't just athletes but cult figures. However, there have also been instances when many characters have failed to strike a chord with fans.
Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo, Vince Russo explained hardly 20% of the characters that Vince McMahon created connected with viewers.
He believes The Undertaker is one of the successes, as his Mean Mark Calaway persona in WCW didn't pass muster. On the other, Russo added there was also the character of Diesel, which paled in comparison to Kevin Nash's character in WCW.
"Bro, I guarantee you, if you went down the line with people that he brought in where he changed their gimmicks, I guarantee you, it'll have 80% misses and 20% hits. Listen, The Undertaker. Mean Mark Calaway was nothing. He became a Superstar. But then you look at Kevin Nash from Diesel. That persona did nothing for Kevin," said Vince Russo.
Though Russo also mentioned how Razor Ramon was born under Vince McMahon's leadership, the latter was unaware of Tony Montana, the character from Scarface after whom Ramon was modeled on.
"Okay, give him a victory with Razor Ramon. But then you hear the stories; Vince didn't even know what Scarface was. It's no different than what George Steinbrenner did. He had the money to sign all these free agents, next thing you know, the Yankees win a bunch of world championships," added Vince Russo. [8:07 - 9:05]
Check out the full video below:
WWE stars are "frustrated" after Vince McMahon's return
In the aftermath of WrestleMania 39, fans were greeted with two massive developments. One was WWE being acquired by Endeavor Group, and the second, and more concerning one, was about Vince McMahon's return to power.
The 77-year-old was in charge of this week's RAW, which generated poor reviews across the board. The show underwent several last-minute rewrites, which frustrated the talent. A recent report suggested that McMahon's decision to cancel two three-way women's matches wasn't well received backstage.
According to PWInsider, Vince McMahon was personally & heavily involved with tonight’s RAW.
15-20 minutes before Raw went live on air, a number of late rewrites were ordered, it continued as the show was was on the air, these changes were requested directly by Vince McMahon.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/1F4BDoKETM
If the recent developments are any indication, it's safe to say the more things change in WWE, the more they stay the same.
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