Vince Russo has seen WWE put its top championship on Sami Zayn, and he thinks the company is making a serious mistake. Russo doesn’t have a personal problem with Zayn, but he believes making him WWE Champion is exactly the kind of decision that keeps casual fans away from wrestling.
While speaking on the Coach and Bro Show, Russo argued that WWE and AEW have spent years booking primarily for the audience they already have. In his view, putting the WWE Championship on Zayn isn’t going to bring anyone new through the door.
“Pro wrestling the way it is now, with the two biggest companies in the world, if they continue doing business like they are right now—it’s been this way this year and for the last 10 years—they are never, ever, ever, ever going to grow their audience.
A casual wrestling fan is never, in a million years, going to watch a product with Sami Zayn as the champion. Nothing against Sami. Great father, great guy, great husband, etc. I am talking about the casual fan. I speak for the casual fan.”
Russo then took the argument back to the Attitude Era. He compared Zayn’s position to D’Lo Brown, someone Russo said was extremely well-liked backstage but would never have been considered the person Steve Austin should lose the WWE Championship to.
“CM Punk likes Sami Zayn, but CM Punk has no problem doing this. Guys, guess who was well liked in the locker room in the Attitude Era? D’Lo Brown. Very well liked by everybody. You guys think Steve Austin is dropping the belt to D’Lo Brown? Do you think in a million years that would even be a thought in D’Lo’s head? Because he knows what his role is on the card.
From a management standpoint, you think anyone in my position or running the show will approach Steve Austin and say, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re dropping the belt to D’Lo Brown tonight’?”
That’s where Russo’s problem with the title change really sits. He believes being respected or liked backstage shouldn’t automatically translate into becoming the company’s top champion, and he sees Punk losing the title to Zayn as an example of wrestling losing sight of that distinction. Russo didn’t soften his opinion when he got to the larger effect he believes the decision could have on WWE.
“How it’s gotten to this point, bro… Everyone loves Sami in the back, and Sami’s the WWE Champion! Guys, it’s ridiculous. It is absolutely ridiculous. And bro, if this is me being negative, then you can say this is me being negative. This is me telling you that you’re killing your business, bro. You got millions of casuals over here, and you are pushing them further away from your product. That is a fact.”
Zayn defeated Punk for the WWE Championship on the September 11 episode of SmackDown, but it wasn’t exactly a clean night at the office. Candice LeRae prevented the referee from seeing Zayn tap to the Anaconda Vice before Johnny Gargano and Kevin Owens became involved. Owens accidentally struck Punk with the championship, and Zayn eventually hit the Helluva Kick to leave with the title.
There were people backstage who also opposed WWE making the switch. Dave Meltzer previously reported that WWE went ahead with it because there is a larger storyline in place that is expected to make more sense once everything plays out.
Russo isn’t waiting around for the explanation. Whatever WWE has planned for Zayn’s championship reign, he already believes putting the belt on him is pushing the casual audience in the wrong direction.
Do you agree with Vince Russo’s argument about Sami Zayn as WWE Champion, or do you think Zayn can prove him wrong during this title reign? Let us know in the comments.
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.
