Vince Russo doesn’t believe anything registers in professional wrestling today due to the spot fests that we see on television every week.
Former wrestling writer Vince Russo was the latest guest on GAW TV with Mickie James, Lisa Marie Varon, and So Cal Val to discuss a wide variety of subjects. During the interview, Russo admitted that he doesn’t consider himself to be a wrestling fan anymore, and he only watches it if he’s getting paid to do so. The former head of WWE creative placed the blame on his fear of watching wrestlers get hurt due to today’s in-ring style.
“I think there’s also this, and I’m just being like totally honest with you. I’ve been watching wrestling since 1970. I don’t consider myself a fan anymore,” Vince Russo said. “I would not watch any wrestling match unless I get paid. But here’s the deal guys, as a casual wrestling fan. I don’t want to watch a wrestling show where I am constantly fearful of people getting hurt.
“That’s what I feel like I’m watching today. I want to be entertained. I don’t want to worry that you’re going to land on your head and be paralyzed. And that’s what I feel like — I’m always looking away. I’m always cringing. I’m always — why did you do that? The moves they’re doing on the apron. You guys know what an apron feels like. And bro, we’ve lost casual fans by the millions. Casual fans want to be entertained. They don’t want to worry about guys and gals getting hurt every week.”
The discussion shifted to the attention span of today’s fans; Russo believes that the wrestling matches you see today don’t appeal to the casual wrestling fan.
“I think what happens because I myself feel this when you’ve got a long spot fest. Okay. Stuff is happening so quickly that as I’m watching this, nothing registers,” Vince Russo said. “So if nothing registers, then nothing means anything. It doesn’t mean anything. And I think that’s what a lot of the casual fans have gone through. You don’t let a spot register. It’s one right after the next in every match. And none of it means anything, and like Mickie said, you are catering to an audience you already have.
“If wrestling is in the marquee, they’re watching. That’s what they do. That’s who they are. That’s why the Attitude Era was more successful because me and Ed Ferrara were okay. We’ve got these people; how do we get the rest of the world, and what got the rest of the world was there was something for everybody. There was drama; there was romance; there was thrills; there was comedy. There was something for everybody. If you give me a straight two-hour wrestling show, who are you drawing? You’re drawing the audience you already have. This is not rocket science. It’s not rocket science, man. I don’t know. I don’t understand.”
What do you make of Vince Russo’s comments? Do you understand where he’s coming from? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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