Vince Russo says he walked away from JCW because months of frustration, creative differences and an environment that no longer fit him finally pushed him to leave. Jim Cornette heard that explanation, and he spent a good chunk of his latest podcast explaining why he thinks it doesn’t add up.
On his YouTube channel, Cornette immediately took issue with Russo saying he’d been unhappy “for a while,” pointing out that Russo’s run with JCW wasn’t exactly a long one. Russo had also said he’s not the same person he was 30 years ago and that life has changed, which only prompted another sarcastic jab from Cornette.
“I’ve been unhappy for a while? He was there three months. And he, what the f**k is this? Yeah, I think.”
Russo also described his stint with JCW as a “wild ride,” but Cornette wasn’t feeling sentimental about any of it. Instead, he joked that the only disappointing part about Russo leaving was that he’d been hoping Russo would eventually do something ridiculous enough to give his podcast even more material.
“It was a wild ride for these shows we did once a month. Or for whatever. What the f***. You know, I hate to see him go, you know, because I just knew that one of these days he was going to do something that gave us some more material.”
Cornette didn’t stop there. He argued that whatever hype Russo’s arrival created disappeared almost immediately and mocked the entire project by comparing it to “actual clowns” running a clown show.
“Since the initial flurry of, ‘Look at what this f***** f*** is doing now,’ when he went to work for the actual clowns to do the actual clowns’ clown show, nobody said shit. They’re still not going to want to watch it.”
The biggest contradiction for Cornette was Russo saying he wasn’t happy with the direction of the promotion. As far as Cornette was concerned, that argument falls apart because Russo was the guy writing the shows in the first place.
“And now it’s like he’s not happy with the direction ’cause, like, the whole thing doesn’t make sense ’cause he’s older? He’s changed, so he doesn’t like his own booking? Write something else.”
Cornette then made it clear he was only throwing out his own theory, not reporting anything. He wondered if Russo simply realized he didn’t want to spend his time around that environment anymore, while also suggesting Russo probably sold JCW on the idea that people would tune in just to watch what he booked.
“Well, I think he probably has figured out that he doesn’t want to be around these f**king weirdos ’cause he’s a 60-something-year-old man, whether the weirdos in the ring, in the office, or in the crowd, if there is any crowd. It’s also probably some of what you described, that was part of his sales pitch, I’m sure. ‘Oh, you know, people will, they’ll want to see me, bro. They’ll want to see my… what I’m going to do…'”
That led Cornette into poking fun at what he imagined Russo’s pitch looked like when he joined the promotion, joking that Russo would’ve promised to do just about anything if it meant getting the job.
“That was part of his sales pitch, you know, and, ‘I’ll be on camera, bro. I’ll be a performer, bro. I’ll do this, bro.’ He might have offered to clean the toilets out, I don’t know. ‘I’ll book all this. I’m a genius. I’ll bring my friend Big Vito, who’s 65 years old and still dreaming.'”
Cornette also floated another explanation for why the partnership ended. Again stressing that it was only his opinion, he suggested JCW may have simply decided Russo wasn’t worth paying anymore. He also argued that if the run had truly been a success, there would’ve been no reason for either side to walk away.
“And then it just is what it is, and they don’t want to pay him no more. Don’t want to pay you no more. You go away. “They weren’t going to just f****** broadcast, ‘Hey, we’re not f****** re-signing Vince Russo.’ If it was a raging success and anybody was either making a lot of money or having a ton of fun, it would be continuing. So, it appears that none of those things were happening. So, this is his way of going, ‘Well, it’s been great and I’ve done wonders, but I got to bow out for now, bro.'”
Even after making all those points, Cornette kept circling back to the same criticism. He simply couldn’t get over Russo blaming the direction of a product that Russo himself was responsible for booking.
“But he was booking it. It’s not like he was just there and, like, a performer on TV. He was the booker. So, it’s a weird…”
Cornette wrapped things up by looking ahead instead of back. He said he doesn’t see Russo landing another job with a major wrestling company, arguing that promotions simply have no reason to bring him in at this stage of his career. He even joked that maybe Russo expected WWE or AEW to come calling after his JCW run, but that phone never rang.
“Nobody major is going to hire him because not only is he 65 years old, but also he’s Vince f**king Russo. Nobody wants that f**king… Neither company that would hire him and pay him any amount of money doesn’t fking need him. Maybe he thought once he got on this show and proved his brilliance with the clowns that they’d be clamoring to take him away, and the clamor did not… did not clamor.”
Russo says he left because he wasn’t happy anymore. Cornette thinks the explanation falls apart the moment you remember Russo was the one booking the shows. Considering the history between these two, this probably won’t be the last time they take shots at each other.
Whose side of the story do you agree with? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
