calling-spots-issue-8-digital

O h S h i t I t s V i n c e R u s s ob y K e v i n M a h o nVince Russo. Vinny Ru. Vic Venom. Cornette’s kryptonite. Captain Swerve. Tank Abott’sadvocate. These are but some of the names (made up or otherwise) for the most polarisingand controversial figure in wrestling since the mid 90s. Who’d have thought all thoseyears ago, that the guy who was giving us the inside skinny in Raw magazine and“shooting” on Dok Hendrix on Livewire would become ingrained in every smart fansmind for years to come? I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with the man, and unlike many fans,I wouldn’t say I hate him either. He’s done two books, countless lengthy shoot interviews,a timeline with Kayfabe Commentaries and even a live Q&A that was broadcast oniPPV. And yet still in my mind, the man is a mystery. It takes a certain combination ofpersonality, success and failure to be so overly exposed in the world of wrestling likeVince Russo is and still be viewed as “polarising”. Surely by now we’ve enough evidenceto say whether he is indeed a genius, Satan himself ( - Jim Cornette quote, probably) orsomewhere in between? I’m going to attempt to answer that now.Like many fans who grew up during the AttitudeEra and lived in my house (so me and mybrother basically), access to “insider info” waslimited. The closest thing I got to dirt-sheets wasstories of my older sibling accessing WWF.comin his school’s computer lab. I thought 200x200pixel photos of the Big Bossman standing infront of a blue background was about as muchdirt an average fan could hope to muster together.But then in late 1999, a truly significantmoment came, as Mick Foley released “Have aNice Day!”. For me, this was my first exposureto a vast majority of terms, history and personalities.At the ripe age of 11, I finally knew what aface was, what a heel was, what a Bill Watts wasand most importantly, what a Vince Russo was.The revelation that wrestling was scripted wasthe revelation that wrestling currently had writerswas something that actually warranted the use ofthe term revelation. I was soon enthralled by thisVince Russo character. Initially I thought it was amisspelling, and that Mick surely had meant towrite “Vince McMahon”? Surely no-one else inthe WWF would have the balls to also have thename as the chairman? For many more internetlessyears, Vinny Ru would remain a mysteriousfigure. 'Beyond the Mat' finally gave me aglimpse of the man. Rumblings from my brothersinternet savvy friends in early 2000 about hisrole in making WCW “woefully shite” made medoubt the man’s credibility. I thought he “wrote”the shows I loved? My friends and I all mutuallyagreed that he wrote the show. Therefore hewrote the promos, the matches, the spots, thenothing new, and therefore not a revelation, butVisit CallingSpots.com 24 Twitter @CallingSpots