Former WWE writer's storyline idea to make Vince McMahon a babyface (Exclusive)
Vince Russo believes Vince McMahon should return to WWE television as a babyface who receives sympathy due to the company’s power struggle behind the scenes.
McMahon, 76, has owned WWE since buying the company from his father in 1982. Although he has the final say on storyline developments, the likes of Bruce Prichard (Executive Director) and Triple H (NXT founder) are also influential backstage.
Russo, WWE’s head writer in the late 1990s, spoke to Dr. Chris Featherstone on the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Writing With Russo. He said Vince McMahon should attempt to improve television ratings by turning WWE’s backstage “soap opera” into an on-screen storyline.
“The goings-on behind the scenes of the WWE is the soap opera,” Russo said. “You see every talent talking about it when they leave, they’re talking about it. Bro, if I had Vince one-on-one and there was nobody else, I guarantee you he would say, ‘Let’s try that.’ Because he’s at a point now again where he was with me 20 years ago. Bro, you’ve got nothing to lose. WCW’s kicking your backside [in the 1990s], there’s nothing in the tank, man. We’re at that same place [with AEW closing in on WWE].”
Watch the video above to hear Vince Russo talk about his recent interaction with Vince McMahon. The former WWE and WCW writer also gave his opinion on the current state of RAW.
Vince Russo on the benefit of Vince McMahon returning to WWE TV
This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite drew a 0.52 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. To put that number into context, more people aged 18-49 watched this week’s AEW Dynamite (681,000) than this week’s WWE RAW (678,000).
Vince Russo thinks ratings will increase if Vince McMahon returns to WWE television as a babyface version of his Mr. McMahon character.
“If I had this man alone, I would say, ‘Vince, this is the story. Be a part of this story. Let me tell this story for you. This will appeal to a huge, massive, casual audience. You will come across as the babyface. Now there will be some sympathy,’” Russo added.
While he used to appear as a regular character in WWE, Vince McMahon now only makes sporadic televised appearances. His most recent appearance came on the July 16 episode of WWE SmackDown when he welcomed fans back into arenas.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from this article.