Jim Ross reveals how Vince McMahon reacted to two sudden WWE exits
Vince McMahon had the final say on WWE matches and results during the popular Attitude Era in the late 1990s. Jim Ross recently recalled how McMahon reacted when his top two writers at that time, Ed Ferrara and Vince Russo, abruptly left.
In October 1999, Ferrara and Russo joined rival promotion WCW in an unexpected move. Although McMahon was ultimately responsible for booking WWE's biggest matches, the writers were in charge of weekly storyline developments.
Ross, a WWE commentator and talent relations executive in those days, said on his Grilling JR podcast that McMahon was unhappy when Ferrara and Russo departed:
"I think he was surprised and not in a pleasant way." [6:28 – 6:32]
Ferrara and Russo wrote television for WWE when RAW drew the highest ratings in the show's history. For that reason, Ross thinks both men deserve credit for their work in WWE:
"They did a nice job. The results speak for themselves, but they just were burned out and they tagged out too late. They got to the end of their rope, unfortunately, and a lot of the talents were concerned because they had built relationships with Russo and Ferrara. They had a source for creative." [6:43 – 7:08]
Ferrara and Russo went on to become on-screen characters in WCW. Ferrara performed as the Jim Ross parody wrestler Oklahoma, while Russo was an on-screen authority figure.
Jim Ross on the aftermath of Ed Ferrara and Vince Russo's WWE exits
Before leaving, Vince Russo wanted Chris Jericho to record a statement-making victory over The Rock on the October 4, 1999, episode of RAW. However, following Ferrara and Russo's departures, the script changed and The Rock was booked to win the match instead.
Jim Ross added that higher-ups were left in a difficult position due to Ferrara and Russo's importance behind the scenes:
"It was surprising that they left. I didn't see them on the way out. I just know that it was a surprise and not a pleasant one because they were two main players that we had to replace in key roles and didn't have any time to regroup because we had another show to do." [7:12 – 7:39]
Chris Kreski was hired as Ferrara and Russo's replacement before Stephanie McMahon became head writer in October 2000.
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Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.