12 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: TNA (Parts 1 & 2)
8. Vince Russo Wanted It To Be “Adult GLOW”
Vince Russo would tell you that Jerry Jarrett never liked him from the start, and that was partly because Russo had a vastly different take on how televised wrestling should look. He was drafted in to help out fairly early on. TNA had only been doing weekly PPVs for around 6 weeks when Jeff called Vince and said he needed him to write TV for them.
Internally, that caused a stir with Jerry, because he didn’t think it was the right move and wanted to write episodes himself. Russo said yes anyway, and he went to work on turning TNA into “an adult version of GLOW”. Jeff liked that, 'cause it was different to WWE, but his dad was mortified.
On VICE, Vince explained his outlook. He wanted “crazy characters, whatever we wanted to do - nothing like the WWF”. Russo had wrestlers masturbating in trash cans, whilst Jerry wanted to “write 1970s USWA”. There was a proper disconnect between both men, and poor Jeff was caught right in the middle between his dad and a good friend he'd trusted since their time together in the WWF years prior.
The "adult GLOW" comment will resonate with those looking to summarise Russo's booking style. He liked variety, and favoured madcap skits/storylines over actual wrestling. In TNA, Vince didn't have that "editor" that so many people say he's always needed. He was free to go nuts and throw everything at the wall to see what might stick.
Jerry Jarrett hated every bit of it, but the salty veteran still stuck around a few years longer regardless.