Vince Russo on working with Mike Tyson and the direction of his WWE run, being caught in the middle of tension between Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels, the start of the Steve Austin Era, when The Rock grabbed his attention

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast with Vince Russo
Host: JP John Poz
Twitter: @TwoManPowerTrip
Website: www.tmptempire.com
Interview available at Tmptow.podomatic.com

Vince Russo on Mike Tyson: “The thing that blew me away, though, is bro, he, like, had this entourage of a sea of people. Like, whenever, like, literally, bro, you would see, like, 20 people coming, and you knew Tyson was right in the middle of that. So he had an entourage of people. But no, bro, very not stand-offish, no chip on his shoulder, really a down to Earth, nice guy, very easy to work with… Vince [McMahon] comes to creative, me and Ed [Ferrara], you know, Mike Tyson. Well, bro, they were all assuming that Mike Tyson was going to be a babyface in Austin’s corner. And I was like, no, bro. That’s what everybody thinks. Let Tyson side with DX. You know, let him rip off the shirt. We see, because everybody’s going to assume he’s going to buddy up with Austin. Bro, go the other way, set the stage that people are ready to pop and explode because Tyson’s with Austin and then pull the rug out from under them, have them rip off the shirt, and that’s what we wound up doing.”

Shawn Michaels being difficult: “Shawn and Vince were at absolute odds, absolute odds to the point of not speaking to one another. I was the guy, Bro, relaying messages from Shawn to Vince. Okay, Vince. From Vince back to Shawn. I was right smack in the middle of it. As soon as Vince had his shiny new toy in Austin and Vince could see the writing on the wall, bro, he kicked Shawn Michaels to the curb like Shawn Michaels was an opening match wrestler. And I remember, bro, it got to the point where it got so hot that he basically said to me, I mean, literally weeks before WrestleMania, ‘You tell Vince McMahon, if he wants his effing belt, then to bring his ass to my effing house in San Antonio and get it off my effing mantle himself.’ And, Bro, I had to go relay that message to Vince. And I relayed it in those exact words.”

The start of the Steve Austin Era: “Bro, I knew rockstar when he said Austin 3:16, and that was his. I wish I wrote that line. He was in such a groove, bro. He wasn’t going to be denied. Like, nothing was going to stop him. Nothing, bro. Like, I don’t know. I honestly believe, bro, even if I would have written shit TV, I don’t think that would have stopped somehow, some way he would have gotten it over.”

The Rock being can’t miss: “When they decided to put him in the Nation [of Domination], they put them in the Nation because they didn’t know what to do with them. So now, bro, when that Nation is in the ring cutting the promos, exactly what you’re saying is what caught my attention. What caught my attention, bro, is bro, he’s stealing the scene and not saying a word, but you know everything that he’s thinking. And bro, as I saw that, that’s what’s got our attention.”

Other topics include Vince McMahon, The Undertaker, Kane, Mike Tyson, HBK, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jim Ross, Sunny, Sable, The Rock, Marc Mero, Goldust, and more.