Vince Russo is calling out WWE’s latest RAW build, and his issue is simple: too much talking, not enough happening.
While speaking on The Coach and Bro Show, Russo criticized WWE’s promo segments involving Paul Heyman and Oba Femi, as well as Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu. He argued that WWE’s creative has become too comfortable with main-event segments that do not actually move anything forward. Russo first said he was willing to give WWE some credit, but only to a point. In his view, even if WWE creative is batting .500, that still means the product is sitting in the middle.
“Listen, in giving the benefit of the doubt to the WWE, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt that they’re a 500 team. Let’s give that the benefit of Creative. Creative is 500. Okay. Now, Coach, that’s mediocrity. And I’m sorry, if my team is 500, my positive spin isn’t going to be, ‘Well, they won as many as they lost.’ That’s not going to be my spin.”
Russo then pointed directly to the Paul Heyman and Oba Femi segment on the May 25 edition of RAW. He said he was watching it from a writer’s perspective and could not understand how anyone would spin it positively when, in his opinion, nothing actually happened.
“I just want to point out a couple of things to you. Again, I always put my writer’s hat on. Okay. Again, and I want people to tell both Coach and I, how do we be positive with these things? Tell me how to put a positive spin on this. You’ve got an in-ring with Paul Heyman and Oba Femi. Okay. Another segment where nothing happens. Absolutely nothing happens.”
Russo compared that approach to the Attitude Era, saying the rule back then was that every in-ring segment had to end with some kind of action or physical development.
“Back in our day, guys, you go back and look at the Attitude Era. Rule number one in every in-ring segment. Rule number one, it always has to end in some kind of action. Always has to end.”
His criticism then shifted to Oba Femi’s line about wanting to “kill” Brock Lesnar at Clash in Italy. Russo said that kind of line takes him out of the story because everyone knows the threat is not literal.
“So we got Heyman in there and Oba. Not only does nothing happen. Then Oba Femi recites a line that we used to never say. And I’m telling you why. So Oba Femi claims he’s not there to beat Brock Lesnar. He’s not there to retire Brock Lesnar. He’s there to kill him. Okay. Like, so now I’m watching as a casual fan and, okay, Oba, so we’re going to see a murder on the show? Like, seriously, bro? That is so freaking ridiculous.”
Russo said someone backstage should have stopped that wording because it makes the promo feel unrealistic instead of intense.
“And nobody there is telling him, ‘Bro, you’re not really going to kill the guy. Everybody knows you’re not going to kill the guy, so don’t say it.’ Then we fast forward to Raw, and what do we have? The end of the show. Another in-ring with Roman Reigns and Fatu where nothing happened.”
He stated that major Monday Night RAW segments failed the same test. For Russo, a segment should either create action, advance the story, or leave viewers with a clear reason to care more than before.
“If somebody wants to tell me, ‘Vince, this is how you can put a positive spin on that,’ then I need you to tell me that because I don’t know how to do it, Coach. Because I know every in-ring that I write, something happens. Something moves the story forward. You had two examples here of two of their main event matches where nothing happened in either segment.”
The criticism comes after the May 25 episode of WWE RAW from the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. Paul Heyman opened the show and played a video of Brock Lesnar addressing Oba Femi before their Clash in Italy match. Lesnar said WrestleMania humbled him and made him think he was done, but he still promised to conquer Oba at Clash in Italy.
“You’re gonna get your ass kicked by a humbled, retired beast. Brock Lesnar will conquer Oba Femi. I am gonna rule over Oba Femi.”
Oba Femi then came out and promised that he would aim to kill Brock Lesnar at Clash in Italy, which is the exact line Russo criticized. The segment was designed to add intensity to their May 31 match at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy, but Russo felt it lacked a real payoff.
WWE is clearly trying to make Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi feel like a massive fight, but Russo believes the presentation is missing the kind of action that makes those segments matter. To him, talk without a physical or story payoff is not enough, especially when it involves names at the top of the card.
Do you agree with Vince Russo that WWE’s main-event promo segments need more action, or do you think the talking is enough to build Clash in Italy? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
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