Its important when talking about Vince Russo to recognise that for a time he was one of the most creatively vibrant and influential figures during The Attitude Era. He took the struggling WWF, revamped it for the upcoming millennium and took it to the point that Raw Is War was annihilating WCW Monday Nitro in the ratings. Russo would eventually jump to WCW, claiming to be overworked by an unsympathetic Vince McMahon. While he was never an on-air character in the WWF, he was acknowledged as the booker on WCW broadcasts and began feuding with wrestlers such as Goldberg and Ric Flair. Vince Russos most egregious act as an on-screen authority figure took place at Bash at the Beach 2000. After Hulk Hogan exercised his creative control clause and wouldnt lose to Jeff Jarrett, Russo instructed Jarrett on air to throw the match and later came out to publicly fire Hulk Hogan, who had left the building. There are conflicting reports of how much of this story is true and how much is a wrestling angle, but it ended up with Russo being legitimately sued by Hulk Hogan for defamation of character. He would go on to win the WCW World Heavyweight Champion and then lie about the severity an injury to sit out the final days of WCW.