Why Huckster won't fire Russo
Smart Ape - Go For It
http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/TNA/article1009562.shtml
Hulk Hogan was asked during an AOL Fanhouse interview about his relationship
with TNA creative team member Vince Russo. "Well, I'm involved from writing
the shows, to saying goodbye at the end of the night, to planning the
merchandise and the licensing and if we should keep doing house shows if
they're not a return on the investment. And Vince Russo's an issue.
"He works for me now, and if it was the old Hulk Hogan or if it was the old
school wrestling mentality -- like a lot of the fans say, 'Just fire his
ass -- get rid of him, Hogan' -- that could have happened because when he
came to WCW, the first statement he made before he ever met me, was, 'The
first thing I'm going to do is get rid of Hulk Hogan,' and that was in a
booking committee with Kevin Sullivan and a bunch of other wrestlers, and
that's the first thing he said.
"He had never met me. So he fired me, because he was in that position at the
time, and I had two years left in my contract and I was making million
dollars a month at the time. That's a lot of money, just to pull out of
somebody's pocket and fire somebody when you've never met them. So that
whole mentality is not there for me, because I have gone through so much in
the last couple of years and in my life, I'm -- you know, this is the real
me now -- I totally understand that everybody, you know, I can forgive, but
I can't forget.
"A leopard doesn't change their spots. So I've got to really be aware, but
I'm not walking in there to fire Vince Russo the first day; I'm not walking
in there to fire Terry Taylor the first day. I'm walking in there going, OK,
guys, it's a new day, and I hope everybody here has something to contribute
because I learn from everybody. I listen to everybody. I mean, even my next
door neighbor said something about wrestling last night, and it was one of
the best ideas I've ever heard, so I listen to everybody, and it goes with
Vince Russo.
"With Russo I come in peace, but history is not going to repeat itself here,
and if you try to undermine me, or if you try to underwrite my story lines
or you try to do anything to hurt me or sabotage me, I've got my eye on you.
But instead of me just knocking you out, or me just firing you, I have an
open mind in how good of a writer are you.
"What do you really know about this business? What can you really contribute
to this business other than just blocking out a two-hour show and doing the
transitions and the inserts and the pre-tapes and keeping flow good enough
to hopefully keep people interested? I mean how good are you really? So I
mean, there's an issue there with him, which has to be addressed." To read
the full interview, visit Backporch.Fanhouse.
Powell's POV: It's interesting that Hogan also mentioned TNA director of
talent relations Terry Taylor. It's no secret that Eric Bischoff isn't a big
fan of Taylor. Russo was at Hogan's party in Orlando earlier tonight. I sure
hope the big angle tomorrow night isn't Hogan firing Russo. After all, that
type of angle would only appeal to internet fans, and those same fans would
be the first to find out if it were nothing more than an angle.
--
--- "Damn, dirty fleas."