Vince Russo thinks today’s wrestlers are chasing the wrong prize. According to the former WWE head writer, too many wrestlers are more interested in earning five-star match ratings than making cash—and he says that’s exactly what’s gone wrong with professional wrestling.
Russo didn’t blame one company; he blamed the entire mindset. Speaking to Chuong Nguyen, Russo said wrestling has become obsessed with putting together matches that critics will love instead of creating a television show that millions of people actually want to watch. In his eyes, that’s the biggest difference between today’s product and the Attitude Era.
“Because it was for everybody, man. It was for everybody. Everybody took something away from it. Whereas today, you know, it’s all about the fake wrestling match and it’s all about the moves and it’s all about how many stars do you give to a match? And that’s a very, very, very, very niche audience. The Attitude Era, man, was a wrestling show that was for everybody.”
But Russo says the obsession with star ratings doesn’t stop with the fans. He thinks the wrestlers have bought into it too. According to Russo, there was a time when conversations backstage weren’t about match quality or online praise. They were about one thing: Money. Kevin Nash was the first name that came to Russo’s mind.
“Bro, when I was in the business and like I was working with these guys, like take Kevin Nash for instance. Bro, it was all business. It was all about the money. It was all about how much money they were making. That’s what it was about.”
Russo says that’s no longer the mentality. Instead of asking whether they’re drawing money, he believes too many wrestlers are asking how many stars they’ll get and how much praise they’ll receive online. That’s why he says the business has lost its way.
“And somehow that turned into like, ‘Oh, I had a dream of becoming a wrestler when I was 5 years old.’ And this, that, and the other thing. That’s what it’s turned into. And a lot of times, man, now you got these wrestlers in the ring, and they’re the marks, man. You know, and you see them online, and you see them on social media. And they’re the biggest marks more than the marks. It’s not a business anymore, bro. It’s all about, yeah, how many moves can I do, and how many stars am I going to get, and oh my God, it’s gotten so far away from the business of professional wrestling.”
Russo has criticized modern wrestling for years, but this time he boiled the problem down to one thing: the industry’s fixation on five-star matches. In his view, wrestling stopped trying to win over everybody and started trying to impress a niche audience—and both the product and the wrestlers have changed because of it.
Do you agree with Vince Russo that wrestling has become too focused on five-star matches, or are great matches exactly what the business should be chasing? Let us know in the comments below.
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