Vince Russo's 10 Worst WWE Ideas

The story of Vince Russo is wrestling lore nowadays. Once just a video store owner and radio host, Russo managed to land a job at WWE Magazine, where he rose through the ranks. With WCW whipping WWE in the ratings, Vince McMahon decided to listen to the young writer's unconventional ideas, and he was soon promoted to head of creative for the company.

Throughout the first half of the Attitude Era, Vince Russo's unorthodox style of writing, which emphasized a patented "crash TV" style, pushed the limits of what could constitute a professional wrestling program. However, thanks to the talent WWE had, it was successful, as RAW set record ratings and soared past WCW in the Monday Night Wars.

However, once gone from Vince McMahon's guidance, Vince Russo was exposed as... well, not good. His television helped WCW die faster, and squandered the promise of TNA in the 2000s.

But hey, why harp on the negative, you might ask. Sure, Russo fumbled outside of WWE, but at least the early Attitude Era was sunshine and rainbows, right?

No. Sure, WWE has success, but there was a lot of sheen over the manure on TV. For all the success that Vince Russo would like to take credit for in the early Attitude Era, there's a lot of garbage he needs to take blame for.

I know it might seem mean to say this was a bad idea, since, hey, this segment is technically iconic. However, all the appreciation for this moment is when it's stripped totally out of context. People love this the 'Higher Power' reveal because of Vince McMahon's facial expression, the way he says "It's me, Austin," and Jim Ross' exclamation of "Aw, sonofab*ch."

But the storyline which culminated with scene? Crap. And it's indicative of the "write week-to-week" crash TV style that Russo is famous for.

In mid-1999, Undertaker was leading the largest faction in the company: The Ministry of Darkness. Soon, it joined forces with Shane McMahon and The Corporation, and the merged forces were wreaking havoc on WWE - particularly Vince. They went as far as kidnapping a young Stephanie and holding her for ransom. Vince was driven to the point of begging his arch nemesis Steve Austin for help.

Promising start! However, 'Taker soon revealed that he was under the guidance of a higher power. Eventually, that was revealed as... Vince McMahon.

According to Bruce Prichard, Russo's original plan was to debut a then-unknown Christopher Daniels in the role. When Vince nixed that idea, Russo's backup plan: nonsensically contradict months of storytelling.

Look, there's being backed into a corner, and then there's having an idea you know won't make it past pitch, and having no suitable contingency plan.