"There is no character, there is nothing" - Vince Russo thinks 33-year-old star will not succeed in WWE (Exclusive)
Vince Russo has been a part of the wrestling business for a long time. On the latest edition of Sportskeeda's Legion of RAW, the former WWE writer had some negative comments about JD McDonagh.
Jordan Devlin, as McDonagh was previously known, moved to RAW as part of the WWE Draft 2023 after spending many years in NXT, where he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion. He was a part of the Battle Royal on the red brand this week to determine the number-one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. However, he couldn't win.
Vince Russo was far from thrilled with the 33-year-old star's presentation, claiming he would never get over in WWE.
"This guy is a wrestler with an Irish accent. There is no character, there is nothing. He could be Sheamus, he could be a Drew McIntyre. He is a wrestler with an Irish accent calling himself 'The Irish Ace.' So, there is zero character at all. This is a wrestler from Ireland."
Then he proceeded to talk about a similar situation with Apollo Crews' gimmick:
"Then we go to Apollo Crews, and I’m like, 'Okay, Apollo Crews is getting up in the morning and running now. So that’s Apollo’s character, he’s running right now.' He’s getting up, and he’s running on top of buildings... We complain that there’s no vignettes, so they give us vignettes and tell us, 'yeah, these guys are pretty much wrestlers,'" Vince Russo said. (38:00 – 41:04)
Vince Russo compared JD McDonagh to a former WWE star
Aleister Black was among the most hyped NXT stars in recent years, and fans were confident he would be a great addition to the main roster. However, WWE decided to release him in 2021
Vince Russo stated that if the company couldn't get Black over, they wouldn't be able to do it with JD McDonagh:
"You had Aleister Black and you couldn’t get that dude over and you’re gonna get this dude over? Who, from what I’ve seen so far, has a tenth of the personality of an Aleister Black, you couldn’t get him over. It’s going to be another dude to come in and out... I still say it to this day, the best match I ever saw on any RAW without a shadow of doubt was Buddy Murphy and Aleister Black because it looked real and where are both of those guys right now?" Vince Russo said. (41:08 - 42;24)
Buddy Murphy and Aleister Black are hella talented and will fare well in AEW or Japan
McDonagh is undoubtedly a talented wrestler. If he joins the Judgment Day, his career could receive a major boost for the foreseeable future.
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