Vince Russo says leaving JCW wasn’t just about creative differences anymore—it had started affecting his health. While he’s already talked at length about why he walked away from the promotion, Russo has now revealed that the stress became so intense that he was dealing with heart palpitations and realized it simply wasn’t worth it.
Speaking on the All Axxess Podcast, Russo said Violent J knew he’d been unhappy for quite some time and kept trying to convince him to stay. According to Russo, he appreciated that, but nothing about the situation was changing, and eventually Violent J admitted it wasn’t fair to keep asking him to stick around.
“He knew I was unhappy. He was sensing that I was unhappy, but he kept trying to keep me there. And it’s like, bro, if nothing’s going to change, I’m going to continue to be unhappy. So, you know, he dreaded me leaving because he knew the impact I had. So, I was unhappy. I voiced being unhappy, but he would do everything to try to keep me there.”
Vince Russo said the conversation finally ended with Violent J acknowledging what had become obvious to both of them.
“And then finally… I just got a call from him and he finally said, ‘Listen, man, I know you’ve been unhappy here for a while, and it’s not fair to you for me to try to keep you here.’”
Russo admitted he couldn’t disagree because it was true. He stressed that he still loves Violent J and the JCW locker room, saying they were never the problem. The real issue was that the pressure had gotten to the point where it was affecting him physically.
“He finally said that and I didn’t argue, bro, because yes, man, I have been unhappy for a while. That is the truth. And a lot of pressure was being put on me to stay because I love the guy. I really love the guy. I love the locker room. Like, none of that was any of the issue.
It was just, you know, Joe, I got to a point where I was, like, really having bad palpitations, and I was like, ‘Bro, I don’t—I’m not going to die over wrestling, man.’ And when health started to kick in, that’s when I was like, ‘Bro, this is not good.’”
Russo also said the way JCW operated just wasn’t a fit for him anymore. At 65, he says he needs structure and planning in his day-to-day work, but JCW’s much more spontaneous approach eventually became too much to handle.
“I’m 65, Joe. I can’t work in a chaotic state anymore. I can’t. Everything with me, especially my age, is, you know, it’s planned. It’s formatted. The flying by the seat of my pants, I can’t—I just can’t function like that anymore. If that’s how Violent J runs his company, that’s up to Violent J… But it was like after a year, I was just like, bro, I just can’t live in this world anymore, man.”
From everything Russo has said since leaving JCW, it doesn’t sound like there was one big blow-up that ended his run. Instead, it was months of stress that eventually became a health issue, and once that happened, he decided no wrestling job was worth putting himself through it.
Do you think Russo made the right call by walking away when his health started being affected, or would you have liked to see him stick around in JCW? 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.
