Was Russo better with, or without the "McMahon Filter"?

[Hazardous]

Well this should get fun.. To cover my ass I wanted to point out this is NOT a TNA hate thread, as I will be covering all 3 companies here. Idea's/stories that he did in all 3 as well.

Vince Russo. A name that many wrestling fans have come to despise over the years. Yet not many of the newer wrestling fans are aware of some of the impact Russo has had on the Sports Entertainment industry. I will give my case in the following of Russo working under the McMahon filter, and then working without it. Then leave it up to all of you to decide what works better for him. Due to working for each company multiple times, I'm just going to summarize it all into one section of each company. I am also aware I left out some parts, such as the whole "Bash at the Beach 2000" incident. I felt I covered the main points, anything else can just be looked up if this has not helped make your mind up for you.

Russo in WWF/E​

Russo (avoiding calling him Vince so I don't confuse people with Vinny Mac) was made head writer in WWF in 1997. He was a big part of why WWF over took WCW in the ratings for the first time in nearly 2 years through use of more "edgy" or "adult themed" storylines. Among these were a few of the most popular in wrestling history as a whole. Austin vs. McMahon, regarded by some as the greatest feud in wrestling, ever. The introduction of Kane, as well as the tie in to the Undertaker. D-Generation X. the creation of The Rock. As well as a few others. By use of these many aspects, Russo's creative control (with only McMahon having the ultimate say in yes, or no) was a huge driving force in the Monday Night Wars, pulling some viewers back to the WWF side, ultimately saving them from dying.

With everything else in life though, Where there's good, there's bound to be bad. Some of the other characters made by Russo were not as.. favored. The Ministry of Darkness, The Godfather, and The Oddities are an example of a few. Not to mention the marketing the Women of the WWF as sex symbols, more then usual. They became more sexy, wearing less clothing, having more of a skanky look/feel to them. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it was seen as "Too Mature" by some parents, who no longer let their children watch the program anymore. Russo left his position in '99, jumping ship to WCW. Returning for a short bit in '02, he never really did anything, and left as quick as he came. The rumor is that Russo came up with the idea of hiring Bishoff, but after trying to promote an "Invasion 2.0" style storyline, he was demoted to "consultant" and turned down the job in favor of TNA. Taking a $25,000 pay cut, where he could have earned it sitting at home

Russo in WCW​

Upon joining WCW, Russo wanted to take what worked in making WWF the #1 wrestling promotion, and use that in WCW. In turn we saw the same thing happen, more sex-themed segments, more bizarre stories/characters. The problem was, Russo and his team were trying to do it too fast, speeding things up to the point that if you missed 3 weeks, you would be totally lost as to what was going on now. While this did help the ratings a bit, the majority of wrestling fans were still hooked on what was going on in the WWF, so attendance was going up over there, as well as the PPV buy-rates.
This lead to more awe inspiring (and sometimes down right repulsive) angles. One of which "Oklahoma" a JR impression, was seen as very distasteful. WCW, and WWF fans alike both voiced their dislike of this character, as it was seen as very over the line. Booking David Arquette to win the WCW title was also seen by fans of both companies as one of the worst moments in wrestling history (as well as Russo himself winning the title at one point). Without the "Higher Power" to filter out the good ideas, from the bad, Russo has often been called "The Man who Killed WCW" (or as he sees it, WCW killed Russo.)

Russo in TNA​

Russo joined TNA in the early days of the company, back in '02. Claiming that he thought of the name, and intended it to be strictly adult-orientated themed PPV only show. Like WCW, he had a big on-screen role, whether it be the leader of a faction (S.E.X) or manager of a future TNA star (Styles).Due to creative differences, Russo left TNA for 2 years.

Returning in 2006 as Head Writer, Russo is the brains, and now the filter to his underlings, with every story that goes on in TNA these days. Like them, or hate them, Russo has a say in all of it. He is now, what Vince Mcmahon was to him all those many years ago. The final say. So when you see a story that you really like on TNA TV, or PPV.. That's Russo. The same can also be said about the opposite as well. If you hate the way things are done creatively, that's Russo. TNA fan's have been more vocal about their feelings towards him, often chanting "Fire Russo" at events.

So there is a brief summery. Now I ask, was the lack of a McMahon style filter what will ultimately be the deciding fate in how Russo will be remembered? If he had that one person above him to say yes/no to ideas in both WCW and TNA, could things have been different?

 

[Furyof5]

I would have to say with. In WCW he was one of the biggest reasons they fell like they did. Sure Hogan had creative control of his character and pushed NWO too far, but Russo booked himself as champion and was responsible for some God awful storylines.
In TNA its more or less the same.

Contrary to belief Vince knows what hes doing, and hes good with the business he helped create. So his filtering of Russo was the best thing that ever happened to Russo. And that way he was able to book some good matches and storylines.

 

[The Holy One]

I would go with the filter. It's like you said his ideas in the Attitude Era was the reason the WWE beat WCW in the ratings. It was only with McMahon having the final say so that we didn't get the atrocities that was the New Blood, worked shoot filled shows, That 70s Guy, and Oklahoma. Sure he did some bad in the WWE too but the good tremendously outweighted it that hardly anybody noticed the gimmicks that were the artist formerly known as Goldust or the Kennel from Hell. Some of the bad ideas actually got over with the crowd. In WCW, the show was filled with nothing but bad Russo ideas and that was one of the main reason it went out of business. Russo was given free reign and booked the world title to shit and made mockeries out of wrestlers such as Mike Awesome, Goldberg's heel turn, etc. In TNA, he seems to have learned a little from his reign in WCW. Although, even now the main thing people seemed to say that is ruining TNA is the booking. Russo needs a filter so his horrible ideas will be overshadowed by his great ones.

 

[Hazardous]

See I agree with the both of you, I was just seeing if there maybe was someone who thought that his time in WCW or TNA was better then his time in WWF/E. Yes we had some of the darkest days in wrestling, when his power was unlimited in WCW, but he did do some good for them as well. Same with TNA. There's always the good to go along with the bad, but I agree with The Holy One, He does seem to be learning.. A bit. Someone in TNA should have realized what went on before. They say they give the fans what they want, and I don;t disagree at all. But if it's the fans who are sick of Russo's bad ideas, maybe they should have Dixie, or someone else as his "Filter" to have the final say in things. I mean really, the "electrified steel cage match"?? That's horrible. I know he claims it wasn't his idea, but it has Russo written all over it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Russo was definitely better with the filter. The WWF did do some really interesting and innovative things while Russo was on board. He does deserve credit for the good ideas that he had. It's important to emphasize, however, that nothing went up on the screen without Vince's approval. Sometimes, Vince did approve stuff that was downright awful. I know a lot of fans have very fond memories of the Attitude Era and I do too, but there was also a lot of tasteless and outright low quality crap that came during the AE as well. There were things that Russo probably liked that Vince didn't that might've come out really had they gone forward with them. There were also times that they both liked an idea and it went forward, but it turned out to be extremely bad. And, of course, there were times that Russo probably had some outright crappy ideas that Vince passed on. Nobody is perfect after all and good ideas and storylines aren't necessarily an exact science. You win some and you lose some, that's just how it is.

In WCW, however, Russo didn't have anyone to filter the ideas and we all saw the result. Not to say that there wasn't some good stuff, but the bad most definitely outweighed the good. Russo does get unfairly labeled as the man that killed WCW I believe. WCW was still pulling in pretty decent numbers when it was cancelled but the big wigs at Time Warner wanted it gone. However, I will say that the dramatic decrease in quality in virtually every aspect of WCW probably made the decision to get rid of WCW easier.

 

[Rayne]

That's like asking who the best guitarist of all time is. There's one obvious answer that everyone will give, and then a couple of other guys sticking up for their particular guy despite being completely wrong.

Professional wrestling is filled with people who struck lightning once and have been milking that short-lived success ever since. Vince Russo is one of those guys. His booking for the mid-90's WWF was brilliant. I wasn't in the creative room; I can't tell you if there was a "McMahon filter" (this is the guy who thought Katie Vick was funny, remember), but I can tell you that Russo is the guy given credit by most folks within the wrestling industry as being behind most of the writing of that era.

Nothing he has written since has done anything for me. I don't mean that in a "Fire Russo" sense, he just doesn't write exciting anymore. He understood shock booking in the Howard Stern era, when shock and surprise (we were all pretty jaded in the 1990's) was a good way to get viewers. Now, we're jaded from surprise; it's not enough to go "OMG, ISN'T THIS SHOCKING?!?!?!" (M. Night Shyamalan finally blew that wad for us when we got pissed over the ending to "The Village".) Russo doesn't have other tricks up his sleeve; or, rather, the other tricks he has aren't nearly as impressive as the one he ran into the ground.

WWF Vince Russo, no question about it.

 

[klunderbunker]

With, although I would question his abilities in general. In WWF look at the talent he had around him when the company was successful. As for WCW and TNA, he's been a failure. In WCW the ratings plummeted and people just gave up on in. In TNA he's barely improved anything at all. Without VInce there to calm him down and tell him what stuff he was writing was insane, his shows have driven people away with all of their twists and turns. Russo is a guy that did well with one of the greatest collections of talent ever to work with in the primes of their careers. Other than that he's had nothing. He was best with Vince's filter, but all things considered he's pretty overrated.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Better with the filter for one reason: EGO.

With no one to keep him from having absolute control, Russo couldn't resist the opportunity to feature himself, which never could have happened in WWE. When an egoist starts doing business that way, they invariably make mistakes in other aspects of their job because they begin to see themselves as stars.

This leads to the second malady suffered by an egoist; with no one to curtail him, he starts to think of himself as infalliable. As in: "Of course this new idea is perfect. After all, I thought of it and I am Vince Russo, so it has to work."

Some people are better in the #2 position.....and I think this applies to this guy.

 

[wushady]

I think he definitely needed that McMahon filter. Not everything he put out in the attitude era was great, but it was far better than the majority of what he has done in WCW and TNA. A lot of things contributed to the downfall of WCW, but his writing definitely destroyed their credibility beyond repair. Their ratings dropped to low ones by the end. He's had a few descent storylines in TNA, but most of them just seem like rehashed storylines from the past with slightly different twist.