Backstage logic behind Vince McMahon's WWE Royal Rumble win (Exclusive)
Former WWE writer Vince Russo has explained the storyline logic behind Vince McMahon winning the 1999 Royal Rumble.
At the time, Vince McMahon was the top heel in WWE. He was involved in a long-term rivalry with the company’s main babyface, Steve Austin, despite the fact that he was not an in-ring competitor.
Russo, who wrote for WWE around the time of the 1999 Royal Rumble, spoke to Dr. Chris Featherstone on SK Wrestling’s Off the SKript. From his perspective, he felt that Vince McMahon’s Royal Rumble victory allowed writers to create more compelling television before and after the event.
“People don’t understand this because they don’t write television every week. When you’re writing television every week, Chris, you need to create these scenarios to keep it going. That’s why when you have the idea of, ‘Okay, Vince is gonna win the Royal Rumble,’ then part of that becomes the positioning. I think the cliffhanger the week before had something to do with the [people who entered at] one and two, and now it opens it up.”
Watch the video above to hear Russo’s thoughts on Vince McMahon’s Rumble win, as well as his opinion on WWE’s current storytelling.
Why did Vince McMahon not headline WrestleMania XV?
The winner of the Royal Rumble usually goes on to headline WrestleMania in a WWE World Championship match. However, Vince McMahon did not do that. Instead, he lost his WrestleMania spot at the following month’s pay-per-view, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, in a steel cage match against Steve Austin.
Austin went on to defeat The Rock for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XV, while Vince McMahon did not compete on the show.
Please credit SK Wrestling's Off the SKript and embed the video interview if you use quotes from this article.