WWE probably would blame him if he were still with the company.
Now that I think about it, even though he wasn't on the show, WWE might blame Paul London for the bad rating.
It seems like every time I read about the ECWA Super 8 tournaments, they just sound worse every year. Didn't Christopher Daniels win one of them a year or two ago when he really didn't need the win due to already being an established name in the indies?
Well, TNA did lose a primetime special show a while back and their Thursday show has been bumped up to 11:00 PM instead of the earlier time they were wanting, so you'd think TNA would quit blowing opportunities like they've done many times before. I guess TNA hasn't learned yet.
I think Russo's last episode of Raw was probably the one before Unforgiven 1999. Jarrett and Russo both left after that night due to having problems with JR and Stone Cold, if I remember the story correctly.
I'm not really sure when Russo's first episode of Raw was, but I think 1997 was his debut year as the head writer.
Ha! His finisher is a neckbreaker!
Edit: Well, after noticing The Mizard of Oz/Swinging Reverse DDT, that actually may be his finisher, instead.
Still, it's really sad.
I like what little of Danielson's work I've seen (even though he wouldn't do as well in short matches), but I think he should go back to wearing a mask, too, like when he started out.