Vince Russo Wants BJ Bethel to Explain Who Gave Him WWE-ESPN Information
Vince Russo wants to hear BJ Bethel’s side of the WWE-ESPN reporting mess, but he has one question he wants answered before anything else. Who actually gave Bethel the information that started this entire situation?
Speaking on The Coach and Bro Show, Jonathan Coachman and Russo discussed Bethel’s now-retracted report claiming ESPN had already decided it would not renew its WWE agreement once the current deal expires. ESPN publicly denied the central claim, SEScoops pulled the story, and Bethel was subsequently fired by the outlet.
Coachman revealed during the discussion that Bethel had actually reached out to their show and wanted an opportunity to tell his side of what happened. Coachman said they initially had no interest in getting involved because, based on his own experience working for both ESPN and WWE, he didn’t believe the story made sense.
“The bottom line is this, that there was no story. There’s no way that — and I probably shouldn’t say this — but the guy, I don’t know him at all, but he reached out to us about coming on to the show and telling his side of the story.”
Coachman explained why they initially wanted no part of it. Coachman then reconsidered and asked Russo whether he would actually be willing to have Bethel on the show. Russo said he would — but only because he wants Bethel to explain where the information came from in the first place.
“And that’s just not something that we really wanted to participate in because there’s no way, having been at ESPN and WWE, that somebody like that would know if either place in the first year of that deal is unhappy or not. Just wouldn’t happen.”
“I would. I actually would because he, you know, here’s the bottom line. Somebody, okay, to be the devil’s advocate here, okay, to give him the benefit of the doubt. Okay, then who gave you that information?”
Russo said that if Bethel is maintaining that a source gave him the information, he wants to know more about how that sourcing came together.
“Obviously, you’re saying somebody — my source — somebody gave me this information.”
That isn’t the only piece of Bethel’s reporting Russo wants explained. Russo also brought up an AEW viewership number and questioned how Bethel became the person reporting it.
“And then my next follow-up question would be the AEW number. Who, who, who gave you that? You’re the only one on the planet that seems to have it. Where did you get it?”
Russo then widened the discussion beyond Bethel and said wrestling fans should be careful about automatically accepting every piece of information that gets circulated as fact. For Russo, the biggest problem with the original ESPN claim was basic logic.
“Guys, I’m going to tell you, man, one thing to learn from me and Coach, because so much that comes out in wrestling is not true. Some of it is true, some of it is not true.”
“Coach, the thing I always look at, and you know this, is logic. Logic.”
Russo initially referred to the ESPN-WWE agreement as a four-year deal before Coachman corrected him and said it was five years. Russo’s larger point was that ESPN would still have years remaining in the relationship, making it difficult for him to believe the company had already made a final decision about what it would do when the agreement eventually expires.
“If ESPN is in a four-year deal with the WWE, you think before a year of that deal is over, they’re going to say, ‘We are unhappy’? First of all, you’ve got to work with your partner for another three years.”
After Coachman corrected him on the length of the agreement, Russo continued.
“Five years. You got to work for your partner another three years. And secondly, Coach, ESPN doesn’t know what the second, third, fourth and fifth year is going to look like. So they would never — it’s illogical that they would make a statement like that.”
Coachman strongly agreed and brought up Bethel’s explanation of his outreach to ESPN after SEScoops separated from him. Coachman spent a decade working at ESPN and said he simply could not imagine somebody there telling a wrestling reporter that the company was unhappy with WWE in the manner described.
“It’s illogical. And from his statement after the website separated from him, essentially fired him, was, ‘I called the PR number.’ I was at ESPN for a decade. If somebody would have picked up the phone — let’s say somebody would have picked up the phone — there’s no way they’re telling a reporter from a wrestling website, ‘Oh yes, we are unhappy.’”
Russo immediately agreed, saying, “That would never happen.” By that point, Coachman had changed his position on bringing Bethel onto the show. Rather than avoiding the controversy, he said he would contact Bethel and give him a chance to explain everything directly.
“So the logic of it is so — so I’ll reach out to him and see if he’ll come on the show and we’ll talk about it. I’m happy to do that.”
Russo made it clear that he would not want the interview to simply become a platform for Bethel to repeat his side without answering questions. Russo said he specifically wants to press him about the original source.
“Yeah. And because what? Hold his feet to the fire. Okay. If somebody gave you misinformation, then who was it?”
Coachman then added another wrinkle, saying Bethel apparently did not even reach an ESPN PR representative through his outreach.
“Well, apparently it wasn’t even a PR contact. Apparently, he just sent an email to, like, support. You know, like you’ll go on a website, they’ll say ‘for support.’ Like that’s all he did.”
That discussion quickly turned into a larger criticism of how mistakes are handled in professional wrestling. Coachman made it clear that he did not enjoy seeing Bethel lose his job, noting that being fired is something both he and Russo understand personally.
“I don’t like to see anybody ever get fired because it sucks. It sucks. It’s happened to all of us. It sucks.”
Coachman’s issue was what he sees as a broader lack of accountability whenever questionable information gets circulated in wrestling.
“But when in wrestling, I feel like more than any other sport, nobody’s held accountable.”
Russo immediately agreed, writing, “Nobody’s held accountable.” Coachman stressed that he wasn’t just talking about wrestling reporters either.
“Nobody. And we’re not only talking about journalists. We’re talking about people in the business.”
Russo took that criticism even further, writing, “Wrestling is the only entity. Nobody’s ever held accountable for anything.” Coachman responded:
“Exactly. Exactly. And I don’t know why.”
Russo said that lack of accountability is something he still can’t understand.
“I don’t either. It’s fascinating to me. That’s one thing that I do not understand, man.”
Bethel’s original report became a major controversy because it claimed ESPN had already decided against renewing its WWE agreement, a deal worth approximately $1.625 billion. ESPN directly denied the central claim, and SEScoops subsequently retracted the article in its entirety before announcing that it had parted ways with Bethel.
The situation became even messier when Bethel disputed SEScoops’ explanation of how the story made it through the editorial process. Bethel claimed owner and editor Mike Reichlin knew how and when he attempted to contact ESPN, while also stating that he did not have the ability to publish or edit articles himself when the story went live.
Now Bethel may have a chance to explain all of that directly. Coachman says he is willing to reach out and bring him onto the show, while Russo already knows the first question he wants answered: who gave Bethel information significant enough for him to believe ESPN had already made a decision about its future with WWE?
Bethel may never publicly identify a confidential source, but Russo clearly isn’t interested in letting the original claim disappear without scrutiny. If Bethel does appear on the show, Russo wants him in the hot seat explaining how the story started, why he trusted the information, and what happened before it turned into one of the biggest wrestling media controversies of the week.
Do you think BJ Bethel should appear on The Coach and Bro Show and answer Russo and Coachman’s questions about how the ESPN-WWE story came together? Let us know what you think 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.
