10 Things We Learned From WWE Untold: WCW's Big Bang
9. Vince Russo Gets Hit Hard
As usual, ol' Vinnie Russo takes it in the neck from all comers in a WWE-directed history piece. Were you expecting anything else? It's easy to look back on WCW's latter-day misfortunes and claim that Russo was a jumped-up shock TV moron who ran the company into the ground.
Except long time fans know that's not the full story despite his own failings.
This only makes it weirder when Booker T says shows dipped drastically after Russo took the helm. Hmm, not so fast. WCW's televised output had been shocking for a long time before Russo was poached from Stamford. That's why they wanted him in the first place. He was brought in to turn the ship around once an exhausted Bischoff was spent creatively.
Before Russo's (admittedly crap) product tanked things further, WCW was on the slide. 1999 was a ghastly year all round, and that was true before Russo joined the promotion in September.