WWE veteran denies Hulk Hogan's claim about him (Exclusive)
Former WCW writer Vince Russo recently addressed suggestions that he had a problem with Hulk Hogan's creative control.
Hogan, WCW's marquee attraction between 1994 and 2000, was allowed to have the final say on storyline developments involving his character. In a resurfaced interview from 2000, The Hulkster told Bubba the Love Sponge that Russo was "irate" about his creative freedom.
On Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws show, Russo clarified that he did not have any issues with the megastar's backstage influence:
"Bro, I never one time got upset with Hogan for playing his creative control card. Bro, WCW gave it to him! Why would I get hot at the guy for playing it? Bro, I had no heat whatsoever for Hulk pulling that card. The heat was with WCW. If you guys are stupid enough to give a talent creative control, you better believe he's gonna play the creative control card." [1:50 – 2:25]
Russo is unsure whether Hogan was being genuine in the interview. He thinks the former WCW star might have purposely made incorrect statements to stay in character.
Watch the video above to hear more from Russo and former WWE Superstar EC3 about Hulk Hogan's power behind the scenes in WCW.
Vince Russo disliked Hulk Hogan's Bash at the Beach 2000 decision
Bash at the Beach 2000 was one of WCW's most talked-about events, but not for all the right reasons. In a controversial storyline development, Jeff Jarrett laid down to let Hulk Hogan defeat him in a 79-second match for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Russo, a WCW on-screen authority figure at the time, reversed the title change, meaning Jarrett remained the champion. Later in the night, Booker T defeated Double J to win the title in the main event.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett and Booker T,right before their Title bout at Bash At The Beach 2000 and right after all the fallout of the Hulk Hogan/Vince Russo stuff that also involved Jarrett and the WCW Title before this match https://t.co/gNOmmcuUrB
Russo originally wanted Hulk Hogan to look strong by beating up Jarrett and Scott Steiner. He thought The Hulkster was okay with the creative plans until the day of the show:
"I never had a problem with Hulk pulling creative control," Russo continued. "The only thing that was unsettling to me was before we got to Bash at the Beach, I was told by John Laurinaitis that Hogan agreed to the script. We checked everything out with him first because we knew he had creative control. So I'm walking into that building thinking we're all fine, he signed off on it, he gave it his approval, and then literally two hours before the show I'm getting out of nowhere, 'This doesn't work for me, brother.'" [2:26 – 3:09]
Russo added that the Bash at the Beach script was finalized on Friday, two days before the show. He believes Hogan behaved in an unprofessional manner by overruling creative decisions at short notice.
What do you think about wrestlers having creative control? Let us know in the comments section below.
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