Vince Russo says WWE needs to get rid of 43-year-old RAW star: "You cut bait and move on" (Exclusive)
WWE is blessed with a deep roster that continues to get updated thanks to its robust developmental system. During the latest Legion of RAW, Vince Russo urged WWE to give up on Shayna Baszler and focus on building other stars.
Baszler picked up a singles win over Chelsea Green on RAW, and she looks set to enter the women's tag team title picture with Zoey Stark as her partner. Shayna has been in WWE since 2017 and, barring a great run in NXT, has not established herself as a top superstar on the main roster.
Vince Russo said that it might be time to move on from Shayna Baszler as she has been afforded a long time to get over with the audience. The former WWE writer used real sports examples and noted how athletes in baseball and other disciplines don't get many chances to succeed in the big leagues before they are replaced.
Vince Russo said there was no need to put Shayna Baszler in the "starting lineup" every week, as he explained below:
"Bro, you cut bait and move on. You're not going to put them in the starting lineup. That's the equivalent of putting Shayna Baszler in the starting lineup every week on RAW. Bro, if you don't know by now she is not going to get over, why are you wasting your time? Why are you wasting my time? Go on to the next person." [26:00 - 27:00]
Vince pointed out that if Shayna Baszler was destined to be a big name, she would have already cemented her position higher up the card. It's been a few years since Baszler moved up to the main roster, and Russo believed she just might not be cut out for professional wrestling.
The wrestling veteran acknowledged Shayna's MMA background while adding:
"If Shayna Baszler was supposed to get over and be a megastar in the WWE, that's what would have happened. If she was, if that wasn't the plan, bro, then it was never going to happen, and that's okay, bro. I'm sure Shayna Baszler has an amazing skill set; whether she opens her own dojo or trains MMA, whatever that she does, I'm sure she has got an amazing skill set. Maybe this just wasn't supposed to happen." [27:01 - 28:00]
Vince Russo on Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark's newfound alliance in WWE
Shayna Baszler is riding on some momentum after she seemingly sent Ronda Rousey packing from WWE by beating the former UFC Champion at SummerSlam.
Baszler beat Zoey Stark in singles competition on last week's RAW and had an interesting post-match exchange, hinting at a partnership. That was confirmed on the latest edition as Zoey came out to save Shayna from Piper Niven and Chelsea Green's attack.
Vince Russo felt that WWE putting Stark and Baszler together was their way of telling fans that the company just doesn't care about the two superstars.
"That means that they no longer care about these two individuals. We're just going to throw them together. But somehow, somewhere, Chris, the people watching at home are supposed to care." [24:30 - 25:00]
Vince Russo also called out Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez for a repeated mistake, and you can read more here.
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