Wrestling INC: It seemed like you had a lot of bad luck during your time in WCW with injuries. You had a top storyline in motion with Bret Hart reforming the NWO and then there was Bill Goldberg. They both got injured and that was the end of it. You were really the first person to push Bret Hart as the top guy since he joined the company. Are you surprised he has hard feelings today considering the push you gave him?
Vince Russo: Deep down inside, I don't know if he does. When I went to WCW, I wanted Bret Hart in a position he longed to be in. I approached him my first day there and we sat down for an hour and discussed the Owen [Hart] incident. We talked about it man-to-man and I thought everything was behind us. Six months before I left TNA, I had a phone conversation with Bret about bringing him to TNA. He was very excited about that idea and I spoke to him personally on the phone for an hour. Face-to-face or on the phone, there has never been an issue between me and Bret.
I find it hard to believe Bret feels that way because he had the opportunity on more occasions than one to tell me especially when I tried to bring him into TNA. There's the perfect opportunity for Bret to say 'Vince I'm not working for a scumbag.' That's not how the conversation went; it was a very positive one. I find it hard to believe at his core that he feels that way, but I also know bashing and burying Vince Russo to the internet wrestling community is the cool hip thing to do. Some people think that's what gets them over. Just throw a Vince Russo barb in the wrestling community and you're over. All these people that have these issues with me and do interviews, never have I been confronted to my face. That's unfortunate. I worked as hard as I could in the business, was very respectful, and am a family man. To consistently have to deal with all the negative comments, it gets old after a while.
Wrestling INC: It seemed like Paul Heyman was close to signing with TNA while you were there. What's your take?
Russo: I don't know if he was close. I called Paul to bring him into TNA and we had a couple of conversations that were hours long. I was under the impression Paul wanted to come in and have things 100% his way, but that's not how TNA works. I turned it over to Dixie [Carter] and was out of the loop. I didn't care how I was going to be working with Paul or who had what title. I thought Paul Heyman could make TNA a better product and that's why I made the original contact.
If Bret had come what would his role have been? Authority figure or managing perhaps? How would you have felt about that?