10 Things That Would Have Happened If Vince Russo Booked Every WWE Era
Brotally brutal.
It's important to consider Vince Russo's remit and qualifications when critiquing his controversial involvement in professional wrestling.
Russo first rose to prominence in the WWF by criticising a poorly-received and rated 1997 edition of Monday Night RAW after it had taken place. He bent Vince McMahon's ear on near enough an "I told you so" basis. When the former WWF RAW magazine editor grew in prominence, the WWF product changed drastically. Lowbrow inanity and insanity ruled over boring old build. It worked. He only needed to get to the next week. You cannot deny him that.
Russo did some important and damn entertaining stuff, but context is crucial. He was a creature of his time, and in that time, ratings were the be all and end all, insofar as public perception was concerned. He delivered and delivered big - so big that WCW came calling in 1999. Russo was gone. As cliched as the "Russo only worked with a filter" line is, it's rooted in truth. The WWF went on to reach greater commercial and creative heights in the year 2000. Meanwhile, over in WCW, Russo booked Buff Bagwell and Kanyon in a Judy Bagwell On A Forklift match.
What follows is an alternative timeline of events that would have occurred, if Russo was a more powerful and longer-lasting figure of influence in WWE. For those incredulous at the credibility of these suggestions, please consider the following resource.
10. Hulk Hogan Swerve Turn!
The Mega Powers Explode! angle was the Golden Era of the WWF at its absolute peak.
It spanned years. It allowed the WWF to get two major acts over - the tandem itself and Randy Savage's resulting Macho King heel character - while at the same time reinforcing Hogan and creating scope for the Savage/Elizabeth reunion at WrestleMania VII. To this day, that remains one of if not the most emotional and heartwarming moments in wrestling history. With one tag team, the WWF drew monster ratings on major network television and popped the biggest buy rate of the pre-Attitude Era.
The thing is, bro, what it is - everybody saw it coming. It doesn't matter that the best wrestling angles are predictable because the idea is to condition fans into literally buying the telegraphed outcome. Everybody saw it coming! Everybody wanted it to happen, but that was never the point for Russo. Where was the excitement? Where was the unpredictability? Where was the swerve? In Russo's hands, Hogan and Elizabeth would have turned heel in this alternate timeline.
As for the emotional climax to Randy Savage's 'Mania VII retirement? Women, to Russo's mind, are incapable of neither loyalty nor unconditional love. Elizabeth would have low-blowed him and entered into a lesbian angle with Sensational Sherri.