One thing I miss about Russo...

[Guest webmasterofwrestlegame]

I know this (well, Russo) can be a heated subject to touch on, but watching WWE for the past year has really made me miss one part of the Russo-led Creative team.

 

Now I know WWE revolves around the main events, and that this is what draws money, and that this is what Vince focuses on. But I am bored stiff with what they do with mid-carders and lower-carders right now. They give wrestlers storylines etc. now, but it seems to me that they are designed to be filler and they never really go anywhere for the wrestlers. When Russo booked, it seemed to me that the storylines were always designed in the most part (and remember I am looking at anybody not main event here) to either elevate the wrestler or lead to something else for the wrestler. This is in contrast right now with wrestlers drifting from feud to feud over silly things that don't really require much thinking i.e. they walk past each other backstage.

 

Take Rey Misterio for example - you could name several wrestlers he has feuded with, but the storylines were mediocre at best and they never really connected. So I quickly got bored of his in-ring work and Rey Misterio in general. I just get the feeling Russo would never let that happen (even if he does go over the top).

 

What are everybody's thoughts?

[Zack Malibu 0]

I'm with you on this. I don't deny Russo has done more than his fair share of shit in this business, but one thing I always commended the guy for was his desire to make everyone a part of the show. Guys like Jindrak, Cade, etc. can especially benefit from that style of booking, because even if they were just fodder/lower card talent, they had a distinguished look/gimmick that would possibly help them in the future, and made everyone different, rather than blend in.

[2GOLD 0]

I'll agree with that. Russo led creative made EVERYONE appear to be a superstar which meant you could see anyone in a world title match, not that you thought they would win but you could still see them in the match.

 

The guy had many flaws but creating storylines for midcarders and making them seem like superstars he seemed to do quite well.

[J. Hungerford Smith 0]

you could see anyone in a world title match

That immediately reminds me of HHH vs. TAKA. That was a hell of a match.

[ISportsFan 0]

you could see anyone in a world title match

That immediately reminds me of HHH vs. TAKA. That was a hell of a match.

That match was in 2000, when Russo was in WCW (or was gone from WCW before he came back, can't remember which).

 

But I do agree that Russo's midcarders were at least given direction, which is pretty much the only good thing I'll ever say about him.

 

Jason

[1234-5678 0]

Russo definitely had a knack for keeping everyone involved. Good results included, D-Lo Brown, Val Venis, the elevation of The Rock and HHH, etc.

 

Bad results included, Mark Henry, Godfather, Mark Henry and Mark Henry.

[DerangedHermit 0]

Russo definitely had a knack for keeping everyone involved. Good results included, D-Lo Brown, Val Venis, the elevation of The Rock and HHH, etc.

 

Bad results included, Mark Henry, Godfather, Mark Henry and Mark Henry.

But Russo gave Mark Henry a decent gimmick (decent except for the Mae or Sammy storylines)

[Zack Malibu 0]

I was just talking to a friend about this the other day, and how everyone that gets called up is immediately placed on the roster with no standout qualities. Matt Morgan and Nathan Jones are put amongst Brock, Big Show and A-Train, with nothing making them important other than they're big. Jones, for as much as he sucks, would be best suited under someone like Russo. Instead of making him out to be an ass who didn't know how to wrestle (making the company look like idiots by hiring an untrained professional, then again Stephanie hired Mr. America...), they should have booked him as a killer in short matches, and put over his lack of workrate as "raw power" and due to his past of prison fights, etc. THAT would have made him a monster. Not tossing Shannon Moore around every week.

 

That's just one example. I could cite so many others. Even those getting the big pushes like Batista, etc. They took away the guys whole look (Leviathan) and made him into Generic OVW Hoss #28. WWE for whatever reason will not let most of their workers carve out their own niche, and this is just one of the reasons why fans are turning against the product. There is absolutely no one you can relate to if everyone is the same anyways.

[Guest webmasterofwrestlegame]

Plus, you have Austin seeing this straight away and telling all the OVW hosses on RAW they have to go above and beyond what Creative say and make sure they get noticed.

[Guest NCJ]

Russo used to know how to build talent. Pre/Early Attiutde Russo took a roster of no names other than Bret Hart, HBK, and UT, and built them into huge stars. By the times Austin's push went full swing the only name he had left was UT and he was kept away from the title totally until SS. It is a testament to Russo that 3 of the top ten American wrestlers all time as far as name recognition began under his direction. And none of them were names before him.

[Zack Malibu 0]

Russo used to know how to build talent. Pre/Early Attiutde Russo took a roster of no names other than Bret Hart, HBK, and UT, and built them into huge stars. By the times Austin's push went full swing the only name he had left was UT and he was kept away from the title totally until SS. It is a testament to Russo that 3 of the top ten American wrestlers all time as far as name recognition began under his direction. And none of them were names before him.

Those three guys were definitely names before Russo.

[Ultra Violence 0]

Russo used to know how to build talent. Pre/Early Attiutde Russo took a roster of no names other than Bret Hart, HBK, and UT, and built them into huge stars.  By the times Austin's push went full swing the only name he had left was UT and he was kept away from the title totally until SS.  It is a testament to Russo that 3 of the top ten American wrestlers all time as far as name recognition began under his direction.  And none of them were names  before him.

Those three guys were definitely names before Russo.

Shawn is best known for his DX stuff isn't he?

[Zack Malibu 0]

Russo used to know how to build talent. Pre/Early Attiutde Russo took a roster of no names other than Bret Hart, HBK, and UT, and built them into huge stars.  By the times Austin's push went full swing the only name he had left was UT and he was kept away from the title totally until SS.  It is a testament to Russo that 3 of the top ten American wrestlers all time as far as name recognition began under his direction.  And none of them were names  before him.

Those three guys were definitely names before Russo.

Shawn is best known for his DX stuff isn't he?

I'm going to hope that was sarcasm.

 

If not, 4 words for you: Wrestlemania Ten Ladder Match.

 

THAT is what "made" Shawn. He was well on his way up, and that put him over the top.

[AndrewTS 0]

Are we seriously getting so upset with the WWE product now we'd have Russo back?

 

Not me. No sir. Back then, you had a rather competent overall writing crew that would filter out most of Russo's crappiest ideas.

 

Today, you have a writing team that thought (or said they thought) that necrophilia was a good idea.

 

Russo would just make things worse.

[NYU 0]

Russo used to know how to build talent. Pre/Early Attiutde Russo took a roster of no names other than Bret Hart, HBK, and UT, and built them into huge stars.  By the times Austin's push went full swing the only name he had left was UT and he was kept away from the title totally until SS.  It is a testament to Russo that 3 of the top ten American wrestlers all time as far as name recognition began under his direction.  And none of them were names  before him.

Those three guys were definitely names before Russo.

The way I read it was "Nobody was a star except for Hart, HBK, and the Undertaker." Then, Russo took a whole bunch of relatively unknown wrestlers, or not too over in WWE, and made them into huge stars - Austin, Rock, HHH, Foley, etc.

 

I also miss Russo because, with him writing Raw, every episode was a MUST-SEE. Something new or surprising would happen and, if you missed it, you might have trouble catching up the next week. Now, it's like.....yeah, you can miss it this week. It will be the same exact thing next Monday. Raw with Russo had a MUST SEE element to it, which has been missing for the last couple of years.

[Zack Malibu 0]

Are we seriously getting so upset with the WWE product now we'd have Russo back?

 

Not me. No sir. Back then, you had a rather competent overall writing crew that would filter out most of Russo's crappiest ideas.

 

Today, you have a writing team that thought (or said they thought) that necrophilia was a good idea.

 

Russo would just make things worse.

If he was actually giving ideas to young talent and trying to market them somehow, I honestly don't see how it could be worse. Even the filler shows like HEAT carried over actual feuds during the start of it's run, and that was due to Russo creating enough characters for people to love and hate. The writing team now has given the fans nothing to distinctly cheer or boo for, thereby leaving them in apathy.

[The Tino Standard 0]

Sure, every week was a must-see, but as a company, they were trying a hell of a lot harder because they had actual competition.

[Guest NCJ]

OlympicHeroRVD Posted on Dec 5 2003, 04:46 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

QUOTE (Zack Malibu @ Dec 5 2003, 04:25 PM)

QUOTE (NCJ @ Dec 5 2003, 04:22 PM)

Russo used to know how to build talent. Pre/Early Attiutde Russo took a roster of no names other than Bret Hart, HBK, and UT, and built them into huge stars.  By the times Austin's push went full swing the only name he had left was UT and he was kept away from the title totally until SS.  It is a testament to Russo that 3 of the top ten American wrestlers all time as far as name recognition began under his direction.  And none of them were names  before him. 

 

Those three guys were definitely names before Russo. 

 

The way I read it was "Nobody was a star except for Hart, HBK, and the Undertaker." Then, Russo took a whole bunch of relatively unknown wrestlers, or not too over in WWE, and made them into huge stars - Austin, Rock, HHH, Foley, etc.

 

I also miss Russo because, with him writing Raw, every episode was a MUST-SEE. Something new or surprising would happen and, if you missed it, you might have trouble catching up the next week. Now, it's like.....yeah, you can miss it this week. It will be the same exact thing next Monday. Raw with Russo had a MUST SEE element to it, which has been missing for the last couple of years. 

 

Thank you OlympicHeroRVD. I was talking about HHH, Rock, and Austin. I didn't think it was that hard to read. Honestly alot of times I forget about Foley because I thought of him as a star from his WCW days, but I forget many people didn't see that. Honestly the one thing Russo was good at when given creative control was building new stars and making them belivable. D-Lo, Hardcore Holly were both hugely over before Russo left, and it really hurt them that they were Russo's friends. However when dealing with established stars and egos he dosen't do so well.

[Highland 0]

Are we seriously getting so upset with the WWE product now we'd have Russo back?

 

Not me.  No sir.  Back then, you had a rather competent overall writing crew that would filter out most of Russo's crappiest ideas.

 

Today, you have a writing team that thought (or said they thought) that necrophilia was a good idea.

 

Russo would just make things worse.

If he was actually giving ideas to young talent and trying to market them somehow, I honestly don't see how it could be worse. Even the filler shows like HEAT carried over actual feuds during the start of it's run, and that was due to Russo creating enough characters for people to love and hate. The writing team now has given the fans nothing to distinctly cheer or boo for, thereby leaving them in apathy.

I think also that the writers believe that the fans do not want clearcut faces and heels, especially in the light of anti-heroes and tweeners like Austin, Rock, etc. Vince McMahon himself stated that he believes the fans find the straight up good guy to be dull and boring.

Oh, Russo did some good things, but he will always be remembered for the horrible decisions he made and it is his name that is most closely associated with the demise of WCW.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Shawn is best known for his DX stuff isn't he?

By no means. Michaels made his name from '93 to '96, during his string of great matches and shitty attitude thanks to the Clique. DX was just Shawn shifting into a different role on the way out.

 

Just for the record, the Michaels/Helmsley/Chyna/Rude lineup was much better than the Helmsley/X-Pac/James/Gunn/Chyna lineup. The second one is remembered the most and lasted longer and basically did more, but the first one was so much more cutting-edge, in retrospect.

[Guest NCJ]

What the fuck seperated them two months. Rude was barely there before his untimely death so I consider original DX lasting at most 6 to 8 months? The second version did alot more things in a slighlty shorter period of time.

[AndrewTS 0]

Are we seriously getting so upset with the WWE product now we'd have Russo back?

 

Not me.  No sir.  Back then, you had a rather competent overall writing crew that would filter out most of Russo's crappiest ideas.

 

Today, you have a writing team that thought (or said they thought) that necrophilia was a good idea.

 

Russo would just make things worse.

If he was actually giving ideas to young talent and trying to market them somehow, I honestly don't see how it could be worse. Even the filler shows like HEAT carried over actual feuds during the start of it's run, and that was due to Russo creating enough characters for people to love and hate. The writing team now has given the fans nothing to distinctly cheer or boo for, thereby leaving them in apathy.

Back then, there was time available to for those midcarders and such to get their characters over. Usually they got some mic time if possible.

 

Of course, today that would get cut for the GM and authority figure parade...of course, we can always cut match times down to 40 seconds, that'll give 'em plenty of time to fit it all in.

[geniusMoment 0]

I miss the way Russo used to configure the WWF magazine. This was back during the kiddie days but he revolutionized the outdated rag. Vic Venom, Scoop Sullivan and the Informer how could you go wrong. Everything flowed together in the magazine. He then developed Raw magazine for the more adult reader, again another Russo idea I liked. I stopped my subscription once Russo stopped being involved in the magazines as the quality dropped. Kevin Kelly sucked as an editor.

[Jack_Bauer 0]

I'd take a Russo show over what RAW USED to do. RAW has been good recently though.

[Toxxic 0]

WWE needs to do SOMETHING with midcarders. i mean, I catch Heat ever three or four weeks? And you know what the main event has been on all but one episode I've seen over the alst few months? Rico vs Val Venis. NO advancement. NO reason, except that apparently Venis wants Miss Jackie in a movie and Rico doesn't. Velocity at least has ongoing storylines of sorts with the FBI trying to avenge previous losses or embarrassments etc, and the main event actually changes, but there's jack-all going on with the characters of anyone below Main Event level.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Russo may have used midcarders more, but their shelf-life was very short and had limited growth potential.

[Ravenbomb 0]

how long was Rick Rude in DX?

[deancoles 0]

About 2 months.He wasn't under written contract so he showed up on a live nitro a week or 2 after Survivor Series 97.

[CanadianChris 0]

Thank God for the Wayback Machine...I just realized there are no reviews for RAW from 1996 to 1998 currently existing on the Web.

 

Anyway...Rude was in DX from August to November of 1997 (about 12 weeks) before circumventing the laws of time and space.

[J. Hungerford Smith 0]

you could see anyone in a world title match

That immediately reminds me of HHH vs. TAKA. That was a hell of a match.

That match was in 2000, when Russo was in WCW (or was gone from WCW before he came back, can't remember which).

 

But I do agree that Russo's midcarders were at least given direction, which is pretty much the only good thing I'll ever say about him.

 

Jason

Yeah...but I just read the "anyone in a title match" thing....nevermind.