WWE veteran gives one main reason why post-WrestleMania feuds are underwhelming (Exclusive)
WWE's first premium live event since WrestleMania XL, Backlash France, will take place in Lyon on May 4. According to Vince Russo, storylines after WrestleMania usually go downhill due to a lack of creativity.
Backlash France will be headlined by Cody Rhodes' Undisputed WWE Championship defense against AJ Styles. The American Nightmare enters the match as the overwhelming favorite following his long-awaited title victory over Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL.
Russo, WWE's head writer in the late 1990s, discussed Backlash France with host Dr. Chris Featherstone on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo. He speculated that the creative team might not put in as much effort if WrestleMania is a financial success.
"I do believe when they look at WrestleMania weekend, when they look at those two days, I believe there is a nut," Russo said. "I believe that is a huge chunk of their revenue for the entire year. I believe, bro, they know, 'Okay, bro, we're putting X amount of dollars into this, and this is what we need to take out of it.' And I guarantee you, bro, it is a huge chunk of their revenue for the entire year." [12:02 – 12:40]
Watch the video above to hear Russo's thoughts on WWE's booking of Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles and Damian Priest vs. Jey Uso.
Vince Russo criticizes WWE's creativity after WrestleMania
Several storylines conclude at WrestleMania every year. Following WrestleMania XL, main-event stars Roman Reigns and The Rock took a break to pursue projects outside wrestling. The roster has also been hit with injuries, most notably to Rhea Ripley and Seth Rollins.
Vince Russo elaborated on how he thinks the creative team handles storylines once WrestleMania is over and that there is a marked drop in the creative energy of the people involved.
"I'm almost thinking, Chris, if they reach that goal and if they walk away from WrestleMania in those two days making a big chunk of their yearly income, I wonder if once they do that [WWE's mindset becomes], 'The hard work is done, we've made the money for the year, now it's just gonna go back to business as usual,'" he said.[12:40 – 13:05]
Russo added that his creative energy did not drop during his time as a writer in the Attitude Era. The one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion said he treated every month with the same importance, regardless of when WrestleMania took place.
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