Vince Russo Says Nobody in WWE Expressed Concern to Him About Wrestlers Getting Injured In Brawl for All, Explains Who Got Over From It, Says He Failed Bart Gunn

On the latest edition of Busted Open Radio, Vince Russo discussed how not a single person in WWE expressed any concern to him about wrestlers getting injured in the Brawl for All (which was the subject of the latest episode of Dark Side of the Ring), explained who got over from Brawl for All (Jim Ross said on the episode that nobody got over from the Brawl for All), and took responsibility for failing Bart Gunn after he won the Brawl for All. Highlights are below.

On how not a single person in WWE expressed any concern to him about wrestlers getting injured in the Brawl for All: “The injuries, I am telling you, I don’t know conversations that took place that I was not privy to. I can tell you, the creative team of myself and Ed Ferrera, nobody, nobody prior to this, not one single person, brought up the risk of injuries. Not one, bro. Now there could have been conversations between Ross and Vince, and Vince and Prichard, I don’t know, I am just talking about my behalf, not one person said, ‘Hey Vince, have you ever thought that people could get hurt in this?’ Because Bubba if you wanna know the truth, I didn’t! I didn’t, bro. I wasn’t thinking in a three round content, that pro athletes, top notch blue chip athletes, would be getting hurt at the rate that they did. I was not thinking that. I’m admitting to that. But I’m also telling you, nobody said that to us. Not one person.”

On who got over from the Brawl for All: “Here’s the part again that I think is the big difference again between being a writer, which I am, and being a wrestler, which I’m not. Bro, when you say nobody got over, Bubba, I’m writing television, OK? That’s my job. I’m a TV writer. In my opinion, bro, the TV got over. It was compelling television. It was good television. You saw the business UFC did after that. Bro, non-wrestling fans were interested in real fights. And the Brawl for All, at the beginning, it was a fart in church because people thought it was a work, as guys started getting knocked out, people were like, wait a minute, this is a shoot, more and more people were getting into it, and the ratings were increasing week by week by week. So when a Jim Ross, who I respect more than anybody, says nobody got over, because he’s looking at wrestling and the wrestling aspect, Jim, TV got over. The WWE got over. The brand got over. That’s who got over. When you’re writing a 104 shows a year, and 12 PPVs, and then you present this concept, and maybe non-wrestling fans are tuning in because, man, this is a real fight, this is like boxing, bro, that’s what gets over.”

On how he takes full responsibility for failing Bart Gunn: “I failed Bart Gunn. Vince Russo, head writer, 1500%, I failed Bart Gunn. And I’ll tell you why I failed. Vince McMahon didn’t fail Bart Gunn. WWE didn’t fail Bart Gunn. Vince Russo did, and I’ll tell you why. You have to understand, before the Brawl for All, Bart Gunn was a character on the show, it’s 50% in-ring, it’s 50% out of ring, Bart Gunn did not have that 50% out of the ring. He wasn’t a promo guy, that wasn’t his strong suit. Hell of a worker, good worker, but what was stalling Bart was the promo, OK? So now, this guy wins this Brawl for All in a fashion that, if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it. It was so freaking impressive that, you know how this works in wrestling and I think this is the problem they have now, when I’m writing for a character, week to week to week to week to week, that trajectory has to go upwards, upwards. You gotta keep getting that character over to higher heights. You can’t bring them down, and that’s my job. When Austin’s hot, we gotta keep him hot, he’s gotta get hotter, he can’t start sliding down. So now as a writer, I am faced with this guy that knocked out some of the toughest men in professional sports. So now when I’m looking at the wrestling part, the wrestling aspect, it’s like, there are two things I’m dealing with. How do I book Bart that’s gonna keep him at that level opposed to watering him down, number one, and number two, if you put him now in the company of an Austin or the company of a Rock, if you put him up there, he’s the same guy that can’t cut a promo, so promo wise, he’s not gonna be able to go toe-to-toe with these guys and there’s gonna bury him in that aspect of the game, so I was stuck with, I don’t want to bring this guy down, he still has trouble with promos, what do we do with him? Bro, that’s my failure. That’s my failure as a writer and I take 5000% responsibility for that.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Busted Open Radio with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.