10 Things That Would Have Happened If Vince Russo Booked Every WWE Era
2. NXT Would Still Be NXT
As in, the pseudo game show in which the best and brightest WWE developmental prospects were told to get over by indulging in games of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.
It's a miracle Russo didn't have a hand in the programme that replaced what was essentially a productive, informal development league and rapidly devolved into a formalised, insanely counterproductive developmental league. It was algorithmically designed to arouse him. Talents were buried for being small. Women were sneered at for being women. Performers did essentially everything except perform in memorable wrestling matches.
NXT-as-glorified-indy wouldn't have happened because Russo hates independent wrestling and the current WWE stars who made their names from it. He thinks Finn Bálor is too small. He thinks Kevin Owens is too fat. He thinks neither man is capable of becoming a household name because the hardcore fandom isn't a reliable barometer of potential mainstream success...even though when he was at the helm of a mainstream wrestling organisation, he routinely pandered to the hardcore fandom by nudging and winking in their direction.
At WCW New Blood Rising, Russo booked Goldberg to refuse to follow the script. He walked out on his match with Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner in a bizarre worked shoot. He took the one guy demonstrably capable of challenging the WWF's dominance and presented him in a scenario that only made sense in the eyes of a fraction of his disappearing audience.
Makes sense.