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
WCW politics: “The day I walked in the building, I knew like, this is bad. The first thing I noticed, bro, was you had a clear cut split in the locker room. You had all the main event money guys stayed here and everybody else stayed there. It was almost like a two class system, bro. You noticed that and saw that without a shadow of a doubt. And I was getting kind of cross looks from the veteran side of it because I guess I had a reputation of helping the younger guys and the underneath guys. Bro, I can remember Hulk [Hogan] just kind of gazing at me like just glaring a hole. I can remember that. But it wasn’t so much with the [Scott] Halls and the [Kevin] Nashs because they worked with me a little bit, especially Kevin. Kevin knew me, but I’m talking about, bro, working with Hogan for the first time and working with [Ric] Flair for the first time. I knew, bro, these guys did not trust me, no matter what I did or what I said.”
Working with executive Brad Siegel: “Not a wrestling fan, bro. He was a TV network executive guy. Not a wrestling fan at all. We leave and it’s a 3.5 every week. The rating is going back down to a 2.5. Okay? In three months, we went from a 2.5 to a 3.5. Three months without me there. They went back from a 3.5 to a 2.5. So that’s when Brad called, because, bro, all I cared about. I swear to you, bro, I did not want to go back. All I cared about was I got a check every two weeks. That’s all I cared about. I did not want to go back to work. I did not want to be in that environment. I was just every two weeks. But I am not shitting you. I was at that mailbox making sure that they were paying me. So, no, brother was not constant talk. It was after the three months. It was a call from Siegel that said, ‘I want you to meet somebody at this restaurant.’ I knew who he was talking about. There was no question in my, my mind, bro, listen, you can’t force people to just work together and think it’s going to work.”
Working with Eric Bischoff: “From day one, bro, Eric Bischoff and myself are two completely different animals. The first time I sat down with him, it was at a restaurant in Atlanta that’s no longer there called Hops. You got to understand something, bro, he’s sitting across the guy that ultimately was partially responsible for him losing his job at WCW, because I was writing for the WWE when we turned the tide and then he got fired. And then on top of that, creatively, I was the guy hired to replace him. So Eric, off the bat has every reason in the world not to like me. Every reason in the world, bro because he wants his old job back without a shadow of a doubt. Me, on the other hand, bro, the guy came across to me as arrogant, cocky, conceited. Things that were important to Eric, money, power, they were not important to me. The thing that was always important to me, bro, was writing and producing the best show I possibly could. I didn’t care about money. I didn’t care about being the boss. I didn’t care about people being afraid of me. I get in the trenches and I work. So from day one, bro, you had two personalities here that were never going to get along.”
The New Blood vs Millionaires Club: “That was both of us, bro. We met beforehand, [Bischoff] and I, and we basically came up with that storyline and all that stuff together. Bro, he wanted his job back. And I was in the way of that. It wasn’t going to work, bro. It just wasn’t going to work. And the thing that really set me off, bro, here’s what really set me off. I was doing all the work, and Eric was sitting in the high office. Eric would be like the Tuesday morning quarterback. Whereas going into the show, he would like everything. And then all of a sudden, Tuesday, I don’t know if it was based on Internet or what, but all of a sudden on Tuesday, he didn’t like this, he didn’t like that, and he didn’t like the other thing, okay? So my whole thing is, brother, get in the trenches and freaking work, because to me, you’re not mightier than thou.”
Other topics include how to write a show, comparing a writer vs a booker, using titles as props, working off of bullet points vs working off of a script, why execution is so important in writing for wrestling, and more.
Russo: All I cared about was I got a check every two weeks. That’s all I cared about.
-The very next section-
Russo: “I didn’t care about money.”