Vince Russo held a series of conversations with WWE President Nick Khan this summer about returning to the company’s creative team, according to Conrad Thompson. It would have been Russo’s first WWE creative role in 27 years.
Thompson reported it in the debut of his new weekly Uncrowned column on Yahoo Sports. He said these were the whispers that shocked him most all summer. They didn’t lead anywhere: when Thompson followed up a few weeks ago, he was told the idea “died on the vine.”
Russo became WWE’s head writer in 1997, and his crash TV booking helped Raw overtake WCW in the Monday Night Wars. He quit on short notice in late 1999 to run creative for WCW. That run produced some of the most criticized booking in wrestling history, including putting the WCW World Championship on actor David Arquette. He later had several stints with TNA before landing in Juggalo Championship Wrestling.
Why Russo Won’t Get The Chance
Thompson doesn’t think talent is the issue. He thinks the name is. By his account, two generations of wrestlers and WWE staffers hold strong negative views of Russo, some without ever meeting him. Any idea Russo pitched in today’s creative room would meet more resistance than the same idea from the person sitting next to him.
As evidence, Thompson pointed to a scene on “WWE Unreal.” Road Dogg argued that WWE had something in Chelsea Green, and Triple H dismissed it. Thompson’s middle ground is that WWE could do worse than using Russo as a work-from-home creative consultant.
The timing makes it awkward. The same summer Khan was reportedly talking with Russo, Russo went on Talk Is Jericho and called Triple H’s run the worst creative in WWE history. He even predicted how that relationship would go: “Is Triple H ever going to have a conversation with ME? Absolutely not.”
The JCW Exit Wasn’t A WWE Deal
Because he knew about the talks, Thompson assumed a WWE deal was done when Russo stepped away from JCW in September. He says he was told that absolutely wasn’t the case.
Russo explained the exit on X, saying he’d been unhappy for a while and had agreed with Violent J to part ways amicably. He also said that at 65, he’s “not the same guy I was 30 years ago.” Days later, he compared JCW’s spending habits to what he called Tony Khan syndrome.
Thompson still sees the talks as a good sign, even with Russo out of the picture. He wrote that WWE TV has become formulaic and that he’s glad the company is at least thinking about shaking up its shows.
