Vince McMahon didn't understand AEW star's popularity in WWE, ex-writer says (Exclusive)
Vince McMahon oversaw WWE's creative direction for 40 years before being replaced by his son-in-law Triple H in 2022. Vince Russo, WWE's head writer in the late 1990s, recently gave his thoughts on why Rusev did not receive more opportunities under McMahon's leadership.
Rusev, aka Miro, reportedly requested his release from AEW recently. In late 2017 and early 2018, the 38-year-old became one of WWE's top fan favorites after proclaiming that every day was "Rusev Day." The storyline development led fans to chant "Rusev Day" at WWE shows even if he was not on the card.
Many believe McMahon held Rusev back and failed to take advantage of his overwhelming popularity during that time. On Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws, Russo said the former WWE Chairman struggled to grasp why one of his main bad guys had suddenly become so beloved:
"Vince did not understand Rusev Day. He didn't get it, bro. He didn't get it. He didn't know and understand why it was over. He didn't get it. Bro, when Vince didn't understand something, he didn't want to do it." [5:23 – 5:42]
Watch the video above to hear host Dr. Chris Featherstone and former WWE star EC3 give their takes on Rusev's future in the wrestling business.
Vince Russo names other wrestlers Vince McMahon did not understand
Several WWE stars were perceived to be underutilized by Vince McMahon over the years, most notably Bray Wyatt.
Vince Russo believes Matt Hardy's Broken character should have been booked better by McMahon. He also thinks the Blonde B***h Project, an Attitude Era parody of the Blair Witch Project movie, was unfairly nixed by his former boss:
"Bray Wyatt, I'm telling you, he didn't understand Bray Wyatt," Russo continued. "He didn't understand the Blonde B***h Project. He didn't understand that. There are so many things. I don't think he understood when The Hardys came back over. All the stuff they were doing in TNA, remember? I don't think he understood that. When Vince doesn't understand something, to him it'll never get over. 'If I don't get it, it's never gonna get over.' So this Rusev Day was happening and I don't think Vince got it." [5:43 – 6:16]
Russo recently watched the Vince McMahon docuseries. Reviewing the Netflix special on his YouTube channel, he claimed only an "absolute idiot" would believe a narrative that was told throughout the six episodes.
Do you think Vince McMahon failed to take advantage of the Rusev Day phenomenon? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
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