If you ever read WWE Magazine in the 1990s you might remember the name of "Vic Venom." That was Russo's name in the magazine. He was a magazine editor before McMahon brought him into the creative room. A lot of the things he would write would be about how WWE needed to be more aggressive about things. I can remember an issue of Raw magazine after The Undertaker placed Steve Austin on a cross to "sacrifice" him (this was late 1998), he wrote an article about how much he believed in what WWE was doing. More importantly, he emphasized that what they were doing was entertainment and telling stories with their characters. It was his way of saying "this is what we are and if you don't like it that's too damn bad." It's that kind of brashness and attitude that Russo really brought in the WWE product. The mid 1990s WWE had a stale product. It's not like McMahon was going to suddenly change his ways. Russo is the one that joined the writing team, made a push for a dose of attitude and quickly rose to the top where he was the right hand man of McMahon. It's not fair or right to give Russo all the credit. McMahon deserves more of it because he had final say on everything. However, Russo played a key role in the product that helped WWE become the profitable company that it was after some rough years in the mid-1990s. It may seem crazy to say it, but without Russo maybe WWE wouldn't have won the Monday Night Wars.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
