Russo's Big Idea

[Guest Kingpk]

Credit: 411wrestling

 

According to sources, Vince Russo’s major idea to book in WWE was to have an invasion of Raw by Eric Bischoff, Goldberg, Bret Hart, Mick Foley, and possibly Scott Steiner. Shawn Michaels would also have been involved had he not joined nWo.

 

Russo could then have taken over Raw, and renamed in WCW Nitro to completely split the brands. Russo would book Raw, and the older writers would book Smackdown.

 

He did not reveal this plan until after he was hired, for fear that the idea would be stolen from him and pawned off as someone else’s idea without him getting hired or any credit.

 

When Russo proposed this and his other booking ideas, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and others pushed for Russo to be demoted.

 

Credit: Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter

[Guest Fook_Hing_Ho]

I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to try to steal that idea from him.

[Guest Nezbyte]

that's not TOO bad, atleast he had a developed idea coming in. i dont think it've worked at all, hoever.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I'm not so sure what's exactly so stupid about that idea...

 

It's like the first inVasion was World War I, and we all know that War sucked in storyline terms of the world, but this inVasion could be like World War II in that the heels (Germany, Japan, and Italy, or in this case WCW) AND the faces (USA, Russia, England, or in this case WWeeeeee) could both get over and make an impact in history.

 

besides Bret Hart coming back to steal RAW away from Vinnie Mac? SMELL THE RATINGS~!

 

or at least the smarkiness.

[Guest BoboBrazil]

Maybe it is just me, but this idea sounds awesome. This is the way the split should have happened the first time.

[Guest godthedog]

actually, this idea looked pretty good to me on paper. it definitely had 'whatthefuck' value (like seeing shane on nitro), and would've gotten people talking about it again. but the company probably would've just ended up dropping the ball with this one, like they did with wcw and the new world older.

 

and it's a pretty cumbersome idea, fattening the payroll even more and crowding up the roster. ultimately a good thing the writers decided not to go the "epic storyline with guys you haven't seen in a while" route.

[Guest art_vandelay]

Are you guys crazy? What better way to kill your product than naming your very successful, top rated show to WCW Nitro, led by a bunch of old, retired has-beens and one writer who was an integral part of a multi-milllion dollar company's demise.

 

That's a huge waste of talent all at once. If they are going to bring in Bischoff and Hart, they should concentrate on each one by one, not jumble them all together at once like they did with the nWo.

[Guest Human Fly]

Like most Russo ideas this one needed some refining. With the proper refining it could've been very good.

 

Any possible scenario with Bret Hart in it would go over very well. Especially if they were in Canada. Can you imagine if Bret Hart walked out with Bischoff in Calgary on a Raw beat up Vince and took over the show? The pop would be tremendous. The only problem would be what would Bret do after that? He can't wrestle, and Bischoff would be the owner. Maybe they could be co-owners or something of that sort.

 

Goldberg should not be included. He might pop ratings at first, but who knows when he is going to get "injured", or injure someone else. He doesn't seem like he wants it very much.

 

Mick Foley should not be involved in something like this, unless he is the owner. His ring days are behind him so for him to do something like this he would need to be the owner.

 

The WWF should never sign Scott Steiner. Why sign Steiner when you have all of his physical problems when you have a young guy like Batista whose build is similar to Steiners' yet all the advantages of being healthy. He's not over like Steiner would be when he came in, but short term booking isn't the answer here.

 

One thing this would've done that would've been a great plus was two destinct and different brands. Monday Nitro might not have been the way to go, but the general idea is good. The WWF needs a new owner for Raw or Smackdown. Even if Flair comes back on Monday and beats Vince for Raw something needs to be done. Get Vince off both shows!

[Guest justcoz]

It doesn't suprise me that Russo had an idea similar to what me and my friends have talked about when it comes to 'fixing things'. This isn't a bad idea at all.

 

The split should have involved WCW. The WWE owns that name and trademark and should have went along with the plan to run it as a seperate promotion. They freaked out and dropped the Invasion too early. Had they waited they would have had Ric Flair, the NWO, etc.

 

Have Shane McMahon return and announce to the world that he had one thing in mind when he purchased WCW. To run Vince and the WWE out of business. He however made the mistake of aligning himself with the wrong people in Stephanie, Paul Heyman and ECW. He then introduces Eric Bischoff.

 

Bischoff announces that he is Shane's financial backer and the two of them are bringing back WCW. Not only are they bringing back WCW but prior to to the match where Vince McMahon won ownership of Raw from Ric Flair, Flair, knowing that the future of the Raw brand was in jeopardy due to Stone Cold's walk out, signed over the show to Bischoff and Shane.

 

Flair's music hits and he takes the mic. "I have no love for Eric Bischoff, the whole world knows this, but Vince McMahon is determined to have a monopoly of this business and that's bullshit. I've watched this man since the 80's bury company after company for his own benefit. I wanted to be the man to put an end to that with the Raw brand but McMahon's politics entered the picture again and he weasled his way back into what he thought was control."

 

Bischoff is then handed the mic and announces that the Monday night wrestling wars have officially ended tonight and guess what, Raw is Done, it's finished and tonight WCW Monday Nitro returns!!!

 

When the show returns, we see a crew in WCW Nitro t-shirts replacing the Raw banner with a Nitro banner. The Nitro Girls are dancing in the ring. Bischoff, Shane and Flair demand that JR and The King exit their broadcast position as Scott Hudson and DDP stand prepared to take their seats.

[Guest Cataclysm911]

I like the idea, and wish that it would've happened.

[Guest Tony149]

That wasn't a bad idea at all. If all the writers decided to bust their ass doing that storyline instead of having HHH vs. UT, HHH vs. Rock, UT/Rock, UT/Hogan, all over again, that could of worked.

[Guest Shaved Bear]

needs refining but workable

I mean think about it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

think about it

[Guest razazteca]

well at least the Russo invasion could not be any worse than the nWo showing up for the 1st in WWF. Foley and Steiner could of done all of the talking while Goldberg would just look mean and breath smoke during the entrance.

[Guest Shadow]

I have to agree, this angle actually sounded interesting, and if nothing else would be more entertaining than the crap we have right now.

[Guest C-Bacon]

The split should have involved WCW. The WWE owns that name and trademark and should have went along with the plan to run it as a seperate promotion. They freaked out and dropped the Invasion too early. Had they waited they would have had Ric Flair, the NWO, etc.

 

Have Shane McMahon return and announce to the world that he had one thing in mind when he purchased WCW. To run Vince and the WWE out of business. He however made the mistake of aligning himself with the wrong people in Stephanie, Paul Heyman and ECW. He then introduces Eric Bischoff.

 

Bischoff announces that he is Shane's financial backer and the two of them are bringing back WCW. Not only are they bringing back WCW but prior to to the match where Vince McMahon won ownership of Raw from Ric Flair, Flair, knowing that the future of the Raw brand was in jeopardy due to Stone Cold's walk out, signed over the show to Bischoff and Shane.

 

Flair's music hits and he takes the mic. "I have no love for Eric Bischoff, the whole world knows this, but Vince McMahon is determined to have a monopoly of this business and that's bullshit. I've watched this man since the 80's bury company after company for his own benefit. I wanted to be the man to put an end to that with the Raw brand but McMahon's politics entered the picture again and he weasled his way back into what he thought was control."

 

Bischoff is then handed the mic and announces that the Monday night wrestling wars have officially ended tonight and guess what, Raw is Done, it's finished and tonight WCW Monday Nitro returns!!!

 

When the show returns, we see a crew in WCW Nitro t-shirts replacing the Raw banner with a Nitro banner. The Nitro Girls are dancing in the ring. Bischoff, Shane and Flair demand that JR and The King exit their broadcast position as Scott Hudson and DDP stand prepared to take their seats.

my god, YOU should be on the WWE booking committe. My faith in wrestling would be restored. It's like some magcal dream...

[Guest alfdogg]

POINTLESS OBSERVATION WARNING:

 

This was the 3000th topic in this folder.

 

That is all.

[Guest J*ingus]

Come on, we've seen two and a half "invasion" angles flop and fail miserably over the past year. The fans would leave even faster if they tried another one.

[Guest justcoz]

Well, thanks. However, could I write the rest of the show interesting? Let's see...

 

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Jeff Hardy- Bischoff steps in the ring, "He knows Rey Mysterio very well and knows that all Rey has ever wanted in this industry was the opportunity to be innovative and be noticed and while he doesn't know Jeff Hardy, he always hears Hardy talking about being extreme and knows that Jeff would give his life to making his mark on this business." So he has a proposition for each of them. A Nitro Girl hands a black sack to Bischoff which is revealed to be a championship belt. "Tonight, you guys can use ladders, you can use chairs, you can dive off balconies in the stands, all for this... the WCW Extreme Division Championship."

 

Jeff Hardy defeats Rey Mysterio with a swanton from the top of the ladder to become the first Extreme Division Champion.

 

Following the match, as Hardy celebrates in front of the Titan Tron, Matt Hardy attacks Jeff with Raven standing near him encouraging him. Matt throws Jeff from the stage through a table.

 

Shane McMahon knocks on RVD's door. Shane tries to talk to RVD in his hip hop shtick and Rob tells him to take the trying to be cool down a notch and just be himself. Shane tells RVD that he is a star. He tells RVD that he is the most over talent on the roster and that won't be wasted on Nitro like it was on RAW. While Shane is kissing RVD's ass, Eric Bischoff comes in. Bischoff tells RVD that he should be aware of his martial arts background and how he's always been a fan of RVD's style. RVD asks Eric who he trained with. Eric responds with Ernest Miller. RVD laughs and says, "that James Brown wannabe dude with the red shoes and white hair?" Eric says that he was a world reknowed martial arts champion and a respected figure in the martial arts genre. RVD says that's all cool and tells Bischoff to relax, mocking like he's going to karate kick him and causing Bischoff to hit the floor. RVD smirks and says that's some teacher you had there Eric. Rob thanks Bischoff and Shane for introducing themselves to the new superstar of WCW Nitro- (insert chant) RVD - Shane then says, "The Whole F'n Show!"... RVD looks at him, smiles and responds with, "It's about f'n time a McMahon realized that."

 

The NWO are shown standing outside the arena. A limo pulls up and out comes Vince McMahon. Kevin Nash asks Vince if he has any idea what is going on. Vince has no clue. Shawn then asks Vince to follow him and he'll explain.

 

Paul Heyman is standing center ring with Brock Lesnar. Heyman says that he will have no part of working for a revived WCW and the Next Big Thing will not be reduced to working for WCW either. Heyman demands to know what Eric Bischoff knows about "Extreme Wrestling", that's a concept created by him, Bischoff makes his way down the ramp and he and Heyman exchange somewhat shootish words. Bischoff tells Heyman that if he and Brock want out of WCW then Brock has to win his match tonight. Heyman says that's a no brainer, who can beat Brock Lesnar.

 

Cut to the back, and be still my beating heart, here comes Goldberg's entrance. Goldberg stands atop the rampway and he and Brock have a stairdown.

 

Booker T runs into Eddie Guerrerro in the men's room. Eddie is standing at the urinal next to Booker and laughs saying, "Essay, they are right man, all that talk about you guys being so big, it's all a myth!" Booker, "Tell me You just Didn't Say That". Eddie, "Oh I said it homes, what the hell you gonna do about it, can't you take a joke homes?" Out from the stall comes Goldust who attacks Eddie as Booker stands there looking confused. Goldust tells Booker not to pay any attention to Eddie- he definitely didn't get a good look. A disgusted Booker tells Goldust that he's got five second to get the hell out his face.

 

Booker T and Goldust vs. Eddie Guerrerro and Chris Benoit: Eddie and Chris get the win when Ric Flair and Arn Anderson interfere leading to the announcer's speculating if this is the beginning of a Horsemen reunion.

 

Raven is in a dark corridor of the arena cutting a promo. He speaks of how Matt Hardy since he was a small child has lived in the shadow of his brother Jeff. In the darkness, you can see no shadow. There is no shadow to absorb Matt and suck the life out his character. Raven then speaks about the stuck up people in high school. The jocks who looked down upon people like Raven. People who read Poe. People who preferred being alone. There is a person like this in the locker room and his name is Rob Van Dam. Tonight, RVD will feel Raven's frustration towards each and every one of the snobs who thought that their sh*t didn't stink. Quote the Raven Nevermore...

 

RVD defeats Raven...

 

Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Shawn O'Haire w/ Mike Sanders ends in a DQ against O'Haire when Mike Awesome shows up and powerbombs Bubba through a table set up by Sanders.

 

The NWO music hits. The guys make their way to the ring. Kevin Nash says that he worked in WCW before and it sucked! He prides himself for driving WCW out of business! The company was a joke. Eric Bischoff was a joke! He wasn't the leader of the NWO, he was a jock sniffer who wanted to hang out with the cool guys. There is one man in this business who he's respected and that's Vincent K. McMahon.

 

Shawn Michaels takes the mic and says that he's only worked for the Vin Man, what has transpired here tonight is totally ridiculous and the NWO drove WCW out of business once already, they are prepared to do it again.

 

No Chance In Hell hits and here comes Vince. Vince said that he brought the NWO in to benefit him and be a poison to the WWF. Now they would be used to be a poison to WCW. He calls Shane, Bischoff and Flair to the ring. Vince says that this isn't done. He always speaks of ruthless aggression and tonight there was some underhanded unbusiness like aggression which he fell victim to. He and Linda and their attorneys would look into this. This isn't over.

 

McMahon gets in Bischoff's face. Let me remind you something. This time Eric you aren't playing with Billionaire Ted's money. You play the game like you did the last time and you end up in red tape, it's your ass, not AOL Time Warner's. Bischoff laughs and slaps McMahon in the face. Kevin Nash grabs Bischoff and Flair and Shane run out of the ring and up the ramp.

 

Nash sets Bischoff up for a jacknife but out of nowhere Triple H comes and attacks Vince. Nash lets go of Bischoff and the NWO stand watching Triple H's assault on Vince looking slightly confused. HHH then takes off his Game T-Shirt to reveal a NWO t-shirt. The NWO pummel McMahon to a bloody pulp as Shane, Eric and Flair cheer them on.

 

Paul Heyman enters the ring and says that it's in his client's best interest not to participate in this evening's main event because it was designed to catch him off guard embarass the two of them. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman will not be caught off guard. Heyman says that he has arranged for a very suitable replacement for Brock Lesnar in tonight's match with Goldberg. Spike Dudley's music hits.

 

Goldberg vs. Spike Dudley ends with Goldberg spearing Spike for the win only to be jumped by Brock. The two brawl to end the show...

 

Do I stay on the creative team or get demoted to a consultant?

[Guest RickyChosyu]

First of all, why bring in Steiner? He's got a bad back, and he's a locker room hazard if there ever was one. With HHH around, I think the market for roided-out has-beens who are always INTENSE is all but filled.

 

Bret/Vince is tired. I have several doubts as to how much of the current fan base would even be educated enough to know why the feud existed, and those who do remember probably just want to forget. Honestly, let us move on.

 

What does Shawn Michaels have to do with WCW? Why would Mick Foley stand up for them? None of it makes any sense.

 

The only possitive about this angle is that it's better than what he had planned for the Stacey/David Flair baby saga. Nothing is worse than insest angles. Nope.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Its a god thing that Russo didn't suggest that pushing the very over RVD instead of the very unover Brock Lesnar as his idea.

 

He would have been fired.

[Guest dreamer420]

i'd throw heyman and flair in too. make it a group of people he has screwed in the past to steal his baby away and change the title

[Guest creativename]

It just figures that the WWE would demote a guy for an idea that would have made them millions. Granted, it would have been very expensive to pull off (especially if they brought in Goldberg), but certainly adjustements to exactly who would be brought on could be made (you don't need both Goldberg and Steiner IMO; Steiner would be the poor man's Goldberg, I think, if they thought Goldberg would be too expensive). And like others have said, Mick Foley hasn't had much to do with WCW since he lost his ear. But Bischoff, Goldberg, nWo, Flair, Benoit, etc. would cause most fans to completely mark the f*ck out. Most importantly, fans that haven't watch WWE in months, and also perhaps old-school WCW fans would mark out too.

 

Numerous smarks have come up with a number of "Invasion 2.0" angles very similar to this one. And let's face it, even though it might seem like overbooking to the cynic, this is exactly was the WWE needs right now. This would boost public interest big-time, living up the hyperbole that Vince loves to gibber on about--tsunamis and "ruthless agression."

 

Fans have been dying for a *legitimate* invasion angle--one where the invaders are credible, famous, and actually win major battles in the war. Changing Raw's name to Nitro alone would increase the ratings by 2- or 3-tenths of a point at least for a month or so, and this temporary increase could be translated into a permanent one if the booking continued to be good.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Made Millions. That's a bit of a stretch.

 

Like people have said to people care about Brett Hart and Vince McMahon anymore.

 

The invasion failed. Another one isn't going to work.

 

The WWE is like a team rebuilding in baseball. They'll suck overall but in the long run they'll be succesful with new talent.

[Guest Prince Paul]

No one cares about Bret and Vince except for smarks...and even most of us no longer care anymore. I think one of the last things the WWE needs is Goldberg, Foley who can't wrestle, Bischoff who can't wrestle and Steiner who can probably stay healthy enough to be on the active roster for 2 months.

 

There is plenty of talent to push and elevate without signing people like that.

[Guest jimmy no nose]

Whether it would have worked or not, why did it lead to Russo being demoted? It was one idea. I'm sure other people have come up with worse(like say the first invasion).

[Guest Si82]

Well I kinda liked the idea. I don't see why Russo got demoted from this idea considering the crap that has gotten on to WWE TV recently. You know stuff like Tommy Dreamer eating weird shit and throwing up. And hell it's a better idea than the actual invasion angle which the managed to screw up!

[Guest Goodear]

According to sources, Vince Russo’s major idea to book in WWE was to have an invasion of Raw by Eric Bischoff, Goldberg, Bret Hart, Mick Foley, and possibly Scott Steiner. Shawn Michaels would also have been involved had he not joined nWo.

 

Russo could then have taken over Raw, and renamed in WCW Nitro to completely split the brands. Russo would book Raw, and the older writers would book Smackdown.

See that plan is insane.... INSANE. Bischoff *not a wrestler* Goldberg *frequently injured* Bret *retired * Mick *retired* Scott Steiner *injured* Shawn *retired* How exactly is this invasion supposed to work when not one of the invaders can get into the ring on a consistant basis? How do the personalities of Mick Foley, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels fit together at all in just the kayfabe sense? Basically, Russo just wanted to hire as many big names as he could think of... and that's not going to fix anything if there's no reasoning to it.

 

Its like taking over the writing for Friends... and hiring the cast of *M*A*S*H* to play their old characters to fix the show.

[Guest FeArHaVoC]

It would end up being just an other Hot-Shot Ratings angle, which could be interesting. But, after a week or two, it would go to Hell.

[Guest mach7]

According to sources, Vince Russo’s major idea to book in WWE was to have an invasion of Raw by Eric Bischoff, Goldberg, Bret Hart, Mick Foley, and possibly Scott Steiner. Shawn Michaels would also have been involved had he not joined nWo.

 

Russo could then have taken over Raw, and renamed in WCW Nitro to completely split the brands. Russo would book Raw, and the older writers would book Smackdown.

Well aside from the whole Vince Russo in charge of RAW thing, the idea isn't so bad. I mean, I could do without seeing Goldberg or Bret Hart EVER again, but the idea of having Bischoff come into lead a REAL WCW invasion of RAW is pretty interesting. Though, they should have did that over a year ago WHEN THIS SHIT MATTERED! =\

[Guest DrEvil]

It's funny, this is almost exactly the idea that Converge brought up about 2 weeks ago regarding the paperwork Dawn Marie was making Vince sign.

 

 

Gotta agree that this would be a horrible idea. You can't build an invasion on an owner, two retired wrestlers, and two injuries looking for a place to happen. Seeing those names come out would be a great moment and would boost ratings for a week or two, then we would realize that two or them aren't doing anything, and then when one or both wrestlers get injured, they have nothing.

 

The only way I see a new invasion angle working is if they continue with the split for many more months and with no trades, establishing both rosters as viable and strong. Then write in a new owner for one of the shows. The entire roster, except for a few wild cards who get beaten down, is loyal to this new owner. After a few months they begin the invasion where one show wants to take it all over and have both. It wouldn't be the WCW vs WWF card that's always been dreamed of, but it could be an interesting fight between two equally strong parties.