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He joined WCW at the end of the 20th century and sent it on its path to oblivion. He never changed with the business – as McMahon had –and he wrote the same storylines as he had years before. (Many will say Vince is currently guilty of the same thinking) He also wrote scripts that confused many of the fans, having wrestlers break kayfabe – the carny term meaning never to let the public in on the real secrets of the wrestling game. While the public pretty much had figured out that the results of a match were predetermined, you were never supposed to admit it if you were part of the locker room. But Russo blew that all to hell, and many times the fans couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't. And they shouldn't have ever been put in that position, because one the things that makes pro wrestling work is the suspension-of-belief factor. Even if you know the outcome is scripted, you put that aside and enjoy the entertainment. Much like going to see an action movie or a horror movie. But with Russo it became commonplace to mix reality and fantasy, and the public had too much to think about instead of just enjoying the product. And the company was swallowed up faster than (thanks to Larry the Cable Guy for this) a bottle of Vicodin in Courtney Love's house. Russo then disappeared from the wrestling scene, eventually proclaiming he had turned his life over to God. He became a Christian and wanted little or nothing to do with wrestling. He vowed that if he ever became involved again, he'd never again script the titillating scenarios that had become part of wrestling. He was a changed man. Even wrote a book about it. And then along came an offer from TNA wrestling. About four years prior, longtime promoter Jerry Jarrett and his son Jeff, an in-ring performer with WWF and WCW, started the Total Nonstop Action promotion with once-a-week pay-per-view telecasts. For less than ten bucks a week, a wrestling fan could see eight hours of great wrestling a month instead of paying about $40 a month for 3 hours of a WWE pay-per-view. Well, the weekly pay shows didn't really catch on, but they eventually did a deal with Fox Sports cable outlet to have TNA programming carried nationally on a weekly basis. That allowed them to do monthly PPVs – just like the WWF – and the company began to grow slowly but surely. Spike TV then did a deal with TNA, and some major stars began to show up on the TNA roster. The legendary Sting came out of a five-year retirement to join TNA, and Christian Cage became the first high profile WWE performer to jump promotions. They also had signed some of the brightest young stars in the world – AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe. And when Olympic Gold Medalist and WWE mainstay Kurt Angle got fed up with WWE (or got fired, depending whether you believe Angle or McMahon) and went to TNA, they were on the road to becoming real competition for WWE. Something not seen since WCW in the late 90s. But then Dixie Carter, who owns the company, let Jeff Jarrett talk her into hiring his friends Russo. And it looks like the beginning of the end for TNA. Since Russo took over as head writer, morale in the locker room is at an all-time low. He's writing television in 2007, yet using the same tired 1990s formulas. He's also gone back on his word, writing sexual-based stories making women look like nothing but objects. There's no real wrestling on the weekly shows anymore, and if a match goes five minutes it's a major accomplishment. In Russo's world, it's more important to cram as many people into a one-hour show than it is to come up with great storylines and give the wrestlers a chance to actually wrestle. One of the most appealing things about pro wrestling is the ring psychology, the ability to tell a story during the bout. Two guys entertaining the audience by drawing them into the match. Once more, though, his plots are convoluted and the audience isn't growing. The ratings are pretty much staying the same. And you can bet if Russo is with TNA in a year, the ratings will be going downward and the PPV buys will suffer the same fate. TNA has some of the best performers in professional wrestling and is on the verge of getting another primetime Thursday night hour from Spike TV. And many WWE performers upset with their roles are looking at TNA as a legitimate option. One of the most prolific performers in the WWE, Ron Van Dam, is reportedly going to be the next big name to jump once his WWE contract expires in the summer. So, everything seems to be in place for TNA to make its mark on the business. But as someone once said, if you don't learn from past mistakes, you're doomed to fail again. As a wrestling fan who loves the business, I'm pleading with Dixie Carter to learn from WCW's mistake and not let Vince Russo become a serial promotion killer. Competition for the WWE is needed, and on some level, I'm sure even Vince McMahon would agree with that, but never publicly admit it. A successful TNA would push WWE to be better, because of the weekly competition and the potential of losing wrestlers to another promotion. But if Russo continues to destroy TNA, the best and perhaps last opportunity to challenge McMahon will have been lost. And what a shame that would be, because any true wrestling fan would love to see another rendition of the Monday Night Wars. Joe McDonnell is an award-winning radio talk show host and investigative reporter.
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