Nothing in professional wrestling lasts forever, and on this day in wrestling history, Vince Russo left the WWE and joined WCW to turn around their fortunes.
We’ve all heard the story about Vince Russo being one of, if not the mastermind behind the WWE turnaround in the Monday Night Wars.
In fact, one of the claims he allegedly made to get hired at WCW was that he was solely responsible. Whether he did or not depends on if the WWE was out to bury him, and if true, it’s something that was quickly proven incorrect.
For the family
That’s been discussed a thousand times and Russo’s arguably the most hated man in pro wrestling. What’s often skipped or forgotten is why Russo left the WWE.
It’s been reported how he worked nearly tirelessly with Ed Ferrera and Vince McMahon considered him a kindred spirit. But even kindred spirits have a breaking point.
In an interview with wrestlinginc.com, Russo talked about why he left.
“It was a couple of things. I was burnt out and didn’t appreciate Vince adding SmackDown without a heads-up or help. Number two, Vince was adding a show that would bring in millions of dollars in revenue and our salary did not go up one cent. I went into Vince’s office at that point and I was starting to breakdown because he was milking me dry. Part of what I was telling Vince is that I’m away from home, my kids are young, I wasn’t seeing my kids at all, and I was neglecting my wife. I’ll never forget Vince looked me in the eyes and said ‘I don’t know what the problem is. I pay you enough money to hire a nanny to take care of your kids.’ When he said that to me as a man, father, and husband, that was the end of the line. I was slapped across the face with how little he cared about me as a human and how little he cared about my family to even come up with the idea of hiring a nanny for my kids. At that point in time, there was no turning back for me. I was done and because of that I would never take back or rethink anything I’ve done or have any regrets. That was the lowest thing Vince could have said and it was the end.”
The rest, as they say, is history as he soon after signed with WCW and told McMahon he signed with them.
There was a dustup as McMahon allegedly threatened to sue Russo and WCW, and Russo told him they never had a contract so what was he going to sue him for?
According to Russo, they parted amicably and he went on to continue making a name for himself in the wrestling world for better or ill.
There’s no denying the effect Vince Russo had on professional wrestling, and this day in wrestling history proved to be a crossroads for everyone involved.
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