"She didn't need to have a 20 minute match" - Vince Russo explains how WWE creative protected former Women's Champion

Vince Russo had an effective way of making Sable work

During his time as a writer for WWE, Vince Russo was responsible for elevating a number of competitors to stardom, even those who might not have been great inside the ring.

Given the former Women's Champion Sable's transition from modeling to wrestling, she was not expected to have classics or to pass as a generational wrestling talent. Rather, she was utilized modestly in the ring to protect her character, as Russo highlighted in a recent interview.

Sable managed to draw a lot of eyes to the product and had charisma which led to her quickly rising through the ranks in WWE. At Survivor Series 1998, she defeated Jacqueline to win the WWE Women's Championship. She went on to hold the title for 175 days before dropping it to Debra on an episode of RAW.

Speaking with Andrew Donnelly of Wrestle Buddy, Vince Russo commented on Sable's time in WWE and the measures the creative team took to fully utilize her talent:

"You gotta protect the talent. She wasn't a wrestler but the good part about it was her husband was a wrestler. So Marc [Mero] was able to train her in a very very short time. Like I said, it's not like it was today. She didn't need to have a 20 minute match. She needed to have a five minute match. Back then she had some really good people to work with - Luna Vachon. All Sable needed was a five minute match with Luna. I think the key really was protecting her and not putting her out there longer than she needed to be." [1:13:40]

Check out the full interview in the video below:

Vince Russo went into detail on protecting talent

One of the jobs of a wrestling promoter is to uncover the star within a wrestler - to highlight their strengths while hiding their weaknesses. This can be done in a variety of ways, and Vince Russo has plenty of experience in the department.

Speaking with Wrestle Buddy, Russo explained that once a promoter realizes that someone is weak in one aspect, it is necessary to accentuate the positives and hide the negatives:

"When you've got a talent that's limited, bro, you gotta play to their strengths and take away their weaknesses and that's all about protecting the talent." [1:14:25 - 1:14:36]

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While the wrestling business has changed drastically over the last century, some aspects of it seem to be eternal. Ultimately, WWE Superstars are performers practicing their art in front of cameras and live fans, and promoters remain just as big a part behind the scenes as they always have been.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Wrestle Buddy and add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.