Russo

[Guest treble charged]

Picture this:

It is October 1999, Vince Russo is sitting at his house when the phone rings.  It is a Time Warner executive, asking him if he'd be interested in becoming the WCW head booker.  He thinks it over for a second, then says, "Thankz, but no thankz.  I'm loyal to Vince McMahon".

What does the professional wrestling landscape look like today?

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

WCW would be thriving.

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

wanna know what would have happened?

 

- Triple H would have lost, won, lost and won the gold at least 4 times in 2 months.

- Jericho would have been stuck with a Chris"The Lion"Jericho where he'd actually act like a lion, sort of JYD-ish.

- Undertaker would have come back as a professed satanist instead of a biker, complete with 666 tights and charles manson memorabilia.

- first ever SERIAL KILLER angle involving William Regal.

- No iron match at JD'00.

- benoit's finishing move: The Terrible Nostrils Of Doom.

- First ever RAPE angle.

- first ever GAY KILLER angle.

- Austin goes against booker t and utters the word *nigger*

- Steph's baby would have born... to be revealed Vince's child all along.

 

some more ideas?

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

Oh right, they would be thriving, because it was Russo who signed all those guys to enormous multimillion dollar guaranteed deals that built up all their losses, and that all happened after he got there, I forgot...Oh, and Russo had nothing to do with AOLTW deciding to cancel the show.

[Guest treble charged]

benoit's finishing move: The Terrible Nostrils Of Doom.

 

That doesn't hold water.  Benoit only jumped to the WWF after he was upset that Russo was let go as WCW booker.  If Russo never becomes WCW booker, Benoit doesn't leave WCW (in Jan. 2000, he might have left when his contract was up).

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

c'mon treble, I'm simple minded...

[Guest treble charged]

OK, I'll let that one slide

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

if rosso had never been booker at wcw than kevin sullivan could've become booker sooner and benoit still would have jumped ship.

[Guest razazteca]

WCW might be alive or Time Warner and AOL would of still cancelled show due to profit margins

 

WWF would continue the Gang Wars and find a way to make Barry Hortwitz into a Bin Ladin supporter.  Wrestlemania main event Hortwitz vs Jim Duggan

 

Lesbian Angle with Stephanie & Linda

 

GTV would televise the Lesbian and Mark Henry angles live on Raw

 

there would be a title change on every show

 

Russo would make JR do shoot/work interviews with Bill Watts, Verne Gagna, Tod Gordon

[Guest Tony149]

Jericho is probably booked better. He did some entertaining stuff with Shamrock & Finkel. Russo used the midcarders and gave them all storylines and gimmicks. So the midcard scene is probably doing well. The main event scene most likely gets new talent mixed up with the current main eventers. The Undertaker doesn't become a biker. I think the WCW invasion is handled better as well.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

wcw would be out of busniess because nothing was going to stop that collapse short of a miracle.

 

russo would pitch one too many dum ideas and vince would have fired his ass and made stephy the booker anyway.

 

wrestling would still be the same but maybe even worse

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

uh, russo was good for the midcarders as he gave them larger than life gimmicks, but the main eventers were vince's biz, so the invasion qould have been almost identical.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

hurricane would be feuding with austin

tank abbott would be undisputed world champ

 

 

i. can't. go. on.

[Guest X-Factor Corperation]

Hogan would still be in WCW as he wasn't screwed at Bash at the Beach. Jeff Jarret would be in WCW, byut he wouldn't have left with the Intercontenental Championship. Jeff Jarret would not be in WWA. WWA would not exist. ECW would be bankrupt. Jerry Lynn would have gotten more of a push.

[Guest treble charged]

I think for this that you have to assume that WCW is still in business, mostly because Russo is seen as the straw that broke the camel's back when it comes to the death of WCW.

[Guest]

"WCW would be thriving."

 

WCW would still be dead. It may have died with dignity though.

 

I liked the work that Russo did in the WWF. I think the shows would be better now.

[Guest Risk]

I think if Russo stayed in the WWF than the both the WWF and WCW would suffer.  This being from WCW trying to copy the WWF.  In the midst of this, ECW would become more popular and would not have gone bankrupt.  When WCW died ECW would have absorbed their talents and became bigger.

[Guest RickyB]

I think that WCW would probably still be around because Benoit, Malenko and Saturn wouldn't have left, they only left because someone backstage had the clever idea to hand out releases to anyone who wanted them after Russo left.  I doubt that would have happened if Russo never joined.  The beginning of the end for WCW was when Benoit left, his matches with Bret Hart and his ladder match with Jeff Jarret (Starrcade 99) were some of the best matches in WCW around that time.  Bret Hart would still be Wrestling today because under Sullivan and Bischoff Bret was nowhere near the World Title scene and wouldn't have ended up facing Goldberg at Starrcade (btw - the Hart-Goldberg feud was probably one of the best booked feuds in 99 - shame about the poor payoff at Starrcade with the "Montreal" ending).

[Guest RickyB]

I think if Russo stayed in the WWF than the both the WWF and WCW would suffer.  This being from WCW trying to copy the WWF.  In the midst of this, ECW would become more popular and would not have gone bankrupt.  When WCW died ECW would have absorbed their talents and became bigger.

WCW never tried to copy the WWF until Russo came in.  Before Russo came in WCW was running an old-school 80's style show.  Remember, before Russo joined WCW's top face was Hogan in the Red & Yellow.

[Guest buffybeast]

Groups like the APA would never have been born or at the very least as successful as they were.  Bradshaw has always said that Russo saw nothing in him and that if he'd stayed in the company, Bradshaw would have been fired.

[Guest Tony149]

WCW still folds or gets sold if Russo doesn't go there. Nobody was going to turn around WCW due to the politics and being owned by a company who could care less.

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

I don't know about you, but I'd really like to see Russo back in the wwf with a booker gimmick.

[Guest mastermind]

WCW would still be finished to be honest. In the beginning Russo just prolonged the inevitable by putting some faith back in the product because what he did in the wwf. Buffybeast is right. Edge even stated that Russo didn't want him to talk. We wouldn't have got the E and C in 2000. I think the talk about Russo creating a midcard is hogwash. The wwf had a very weak midcard during Russo's days and he gave us the crappy gangwarz which was a cheap imitation of the nWo initially before the wwf got something with DX. Don't forget it's argubale that Russo booked WM 13 which is arguably the worst Mania with the exception of number 9. Russo started to burn out when the wwf was getting a stronger midcard in 1999.

[Guest yomama]

Vince Russo never really left the WWF.  He went to WCW in 1999, but he was still writing for the WWF.  He went to WCW to weaken it.  Russo is still working for the WWF, he is at home now writing for them.  Obviously Russo is the one who came up with the angles of "kiss my ass club" and "dog poop" and the matches with objects on a pole.  A lot of people dislike Russo, such as Jim Ross, so they prefer him to work at home.

[Guest Maurizio C... Version 2]

you know what's scary yomama? ... the fact that I might even believe you!