Vince Russo says "there was a lack of trust" between him and legendary former WWE Champion (Exclusive)
Former WWE head writer Vince Russo recently spoke about his stint in WCW. The writer highlighted his relationship with WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair during his time with the company.
Russo walked out of the WWE in 1999 after a disagreement with Vince McMahon over his work schedule. His next stop was WCW where he, along with Eric Bischoff, tried to bring the Ted Turner-owned company back on track after the show's ratings started declining rapidly. However, Russo's addition did little to help the promotion and the company closed its doors in 2001, selling to McMahon.
On a recent episode of BroDown hosted by Mac Davis, Russo pointed out that he worked with Ric Flair in WCW but there was a lot of distrust. The ex-WWE writer felt it was the same with many veterans who claimed the writers were trying to bury their careers. Vince mentioned that Flair may still believe that Russo tried to ruin his career with the controversial Filthy Animals promo but that was untrue.
"[Ric Flair] wasn't difficult to work with, but there was a lack of trust. You know Mac, the old guys, no matter what you told them, and I shouldn't say old guys, I should say veterans, no matter what you told them, they always thought you were trying to put them out to pasture. I never ever was. I had conversations with Ric many times. And to this day, I had him buried in the desert by the Filthy Animals to bury his career when that couldn't be further from the truth." [From 34:05 to 34:44]
Flair and Russo didn't talk for weeks after this segment aired on TV. The 16-time World Champion always believed that it was a power move by Vince to literally bury him.
Over the years, the former WWE head writer has always maintained that it was nothing personal and the angle was done to get heel heat for The Filthy Animal comprising of legends Eddie Guerrero, Billy Kidman, Rey Mysterio, and Konnan.
If you use the quotes from this article, please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcript.
Watch BroDown, Wrestlevotes Radio, and other exclusive content on only on Backstage Pass.