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Kayfabe! – Breaking Kayfabe with Vince Russo

January 23, 2018 | Posted by Mike Campbell
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Kayfabe! – Breaking Kayfabe with Vince Russo  

Kayfabe!
Breaking Kayfabe with Vince Russo

I don’t think it’s exactly breaking news that I’m a huge fan of Jim Cornette, and that I am also not very fond of Mr. Russo. I always keep an open mind going into any review, whether it’s a wrestling show or a Kayfabe Commentaries release, and I have been pleasantly surprised before when it comes to Russo. This winds up being one of those times. As always with Russo, you can play a drinking game with often he uses the phrases “Bro” and “You need to understand something.”

There are two very distinct portions of this interview. The non-wrestling talk, with Russo talking about his background, and his life outside of wrestling is very interesting. One thing that even a lot of Russo’s detractors will admit is that he’s a likeable guy, and this interview shows why. Now granted, Russo could be as full of shit on this topic as he is on the wrestling topic (stay tuned), but it’s still entertaining, and that counts for something. Sean certainly helps out too, both in having such great rapport with Russo and his comedic timing. When Russo talks about going to college as a virgin, Sean comments “You didn’t even have any practice with priests?” Which got a huge laugh out of me. Watching Sean and Vince go back and fourth about their favorite Howard Stern guests and their favorite book from a KISS member is also fun to watch, and that’s coming from someone who knows nothing about either subject. Sean and Russo reminisce about their first time working together, with Sean having to pick up Russo on the New Jersey turnpike, after some issues with the ride he’d arranged, and including Sean doing a dead-on Russo impression.

Sean probably could have with a little more editing, the world really didn’t need to learn that Vince Russo doesn’t wear underwear, even if it did lead to another funny quip when Sean asked if he owned anything that he would be embarrassed to admit and suggests “weird underwear?” Russo talking about his background and his fandom of things like WWWF Wrestling, KISS, Howard Stern, and the Honeymooners, really does explain his mentality as TV writer. All those things may not be considered highbrow, but it’s hard to deny that they’re entertaining. It seems little far fetched to think that everyone at Indiana University was so impressed with him because he was from New York, considering the school has a Division I basketball program. But, his story about being a runner up for Homecoming King in his freshman year, only losing out to a senior, makes a nice ‘rags to riches’ sort of tale.

With anything, you have to take the good with the bad, and the wrestling portion of this just kills it for me. I do appreciate that Russo tries to explain his thought process a bit, rather than just shrug off the same things that he’s heard and read for almost twenty years. But, his logic is so off-base that it seems like he’s desperately grasping at straws to make his argument. He tries to write off Dave Meltzer as a mark, and that Dave’s actually embarrassed that he’s the same age as Russo and that he knows so many details about Japanese wrestling. He tries to make a comparison to him being a mark for Rihanna, but not knowing all sorts of details about her career. He forgets that Dave is a journalist (ironic considering Russo has a degree in journalism), so if he’s writing a Hall of Fame bio on Yoshiaki Fujiwara or recapping a major event like Wrestle Kingdom 12, those sorts of details are important. By his logic, I’m a mark for the band Tool. If I’m writing an article about their 2017 concert tour, it’s useful to know things like dates, venues, setlists, etc. He also tries to brush off the whole David Arquette thing by saying that seventeen years later, people remember it, but nobody remembers what happened on RAW last week. If something that monumentally stupid happened on RAW, people would remember it.

One thing that nobody can accuse Sean of is throwing softballs. He calls Russo out on a lot of common accusations, and doesn’t let up until he gets an answer. He asks if Russo is really a misogynist and Russo responds “Does that means I like to give people massages?” But, Sean keeps pressing, and Russo finally answers him about his feelings about men and women and the roles he thinks they should have in life and society. Sean asks about being a racist and it’s the same thing, Russo tries to deflect it by saying that the quote is out of context, and Sean pushes back and asks for the correct context. Which causes Russo to tapdance a bit, and finally spit out that they don’t speak the language, and someone like Kalisto has a mask, so you can’t see his facials and that’s why nobody cares about him. Also, he made Juventud Guerrera a color commentator, so he’s obviously not racist.

To his credit, Russo does make a couple good arguments. He says that the problem with today’s product is that the writing sucks. His detractors like to point out that while he was writing for the WWF, he had Austin and Rock in their primes. But, he had to write up to their level. If he gave them something substandard they would go to Vince McMahon, and Vince McMahon would always side with the talent. Nowadays, someone like Bray Wyatt should be a top guy, but he’s performing down to the writer’s level, rather than them writing up to his. Russo also makes an interesting (and I think totally spot-on) argument that the wrestlers today are doing way too much, and it’s causing un necessary injuries and shortening careers. Russo claims that it’s because they “don’t know how to work” and are worried about popping crowds and getting high ratings from Metlzer, which I’ll refrain from commenting on, since I have no knowledge of what’s actually in any wrestler’s head. He also mans up and admits that he was wrong about the Young Bucks not understanding the business, and that he respects them for calling him out on it directly, rather than on twitter or through a blog.

Of course, Breaking Kayfabe with Vince Russo wouldn’t be complete without talking about the person most closely linked with Vince Russo, due to how much he despises him. Honestly, it’s interesting to get Russo’s take on why he thinks Cornette hates him so much. But, most of it completely contradicts what Cornette has been saying for years about his reasons for hating Russo. The one story that I do think Russo’s version of is more credible is the story of Cornette getting let go from TNA. Cornette assumes that Russo engineered it, after the whole issue with the Hernandez/Sting match and the Eric Young run-in. But, Russo’s story is that after Dixie sent Jeff Jarrett home, her next move was to get rid of Jeff’s guys, which included Cornette. That theory does ignore the email Russo sent to Dixie in late 2006 burying Cornette, and also the fact that Cornette’s release was said to be because he wasn’t “100% behind creative” – but, it is a credible theory, and I doubt anyone would be shocked to hear that Dixie told some untruths.

Sean and Vince get talking about last year and things boiling over to the point of Vince getting the restraining order. As someone who followed this story when it came out, and has heard the podcasts in question that led up to it, I can tell you that Vince Russo is so full of shit that his eyes are brown! He claims that Cornette threatened his wife and children, not true. He claims that Cornette threatened to send people to his house, not true. He also tries to vilify Cornette for selling copies of that restraining order and giving the proceeds to a charity. Russo comments that he could have told the judge and the judge would have gone apeshit. I would guess that before he started selling them, Jim checked into the legalities of it. I’m also sure that the charity in question is more than happy to be getting that cut of the proceeds. Russo also conveniently ignores the fact that he wasn’t blameless himself that he was “poking the bear” so to speak, even when Sean tries bringing it up.

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
This is easily one of the Sean's best conducted interviews, between his comedic timing and the way that he continually presses Russo for answers and details. If not for the restraining order stuff, specifically Russo's complete disconnection from reality and the truth, then I'd probably recommend it, just for the novelty value of Russo's background and his side of his side of the Russo/Cornette feud.
legend

article topics :

Vince Russo, Mike Campbell