Booker T was not the biggest fan of Vince Russo’s time in WCW.
Ruso still remains one of the more polarising figures in wrestling history. While Russo has been credited for creating multiple Attitude Era factions and The Rock’s Corporate Champion era, many feel that these are very much cancelled out by ideas such as Judy Bagwell on a Forklift, the Kennel from Hell match and the Brawl For All tournament.
While most of the terrible Russo ideas were performed behind the scenes, it got much worse when he was in a prominent onscreen role in WCW. Along with the infamous Bash at the Beach 2000 pay-per-view, Russo would go on to book himself to be the World Champion in September 2000, holding the title for a week before vacating it.
During his time in WCW Booker T took issue with this as he believes that writers should not be a part of the show. Speaking on the Hall of Fame podcast, the 6-time World Champion did credit Russo for booking him as a World Champion but didn’t understand why he made creative decisions that involved him being heavily featured onscreen:
“When he came to WCW, he did something that’s — he broke the cardinal rule,” Booker T said. “And that is, [he] came in as a writer, and the next thing you know, he put himself on the show as a talent. Not just put himself on the show as a talent, but he wins the [WCW] World Heavyweight Championship … Everything that Vince Russo talks about, it’s kind of hypocritical. It’s kind of hypocritical … He’s gotten so much from this business as far as him still being able to make money off it, and then when he was in it, he implemented himself right into the main stories of the business. I just don’t get someone like that.”
Despite being regarded as one of the worst World Champions in the history of WCW, Vince Russo still justifies his controversial title reign.
There has been a long-standing rumour in wrestling that Vince McMahon sent Russo to WCW to purposely destroy the competition from the inside. Back in July 2023, Vince Russo dismissed this conspiracy theory as false.
Booker T Wants To Keep Rising Star On NXT
In 2023, the Hall of Famer is seen each Tuesday night as an announcer on NXT. With the brand being developmental, it is common knowledge that Superstar’s time on the roster is limited as they are scouted for future opportunities on Raw and SmackDown. On a previous episode of the podcast, Booker T stated that he wants a popular NXT star to stay on the brand for another year.
H/t to Wrestling Inc.