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Brian Gewirtz has given his thoughts on Vince Russo’s stint as WWE’s head writer in the late 1990s.
Russo wrote for the company when RAW regularly drew the highest television ratings in the show’s history. He and fellow writer Ed Ferrara joined WCW in October 1999, a month before Gewirtz began his 15-year writing career with WWE.
In an interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Riju Dasgupta, Gewirtz reflected on Ferrara and Russo’s success during WWE’s popular Attitude Era. He also gave them credit for working on high-profile storylines at the time, including Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon:
“I was just like everyone else watching the Attitude Era, loving what was going on during that time, the whole Austin-McMahon [rivalry], the rise of that, the stuff with Rock, obviously, and Mick [Foley],” said Gewirtz. “I was glued to my set like everyone else watching them go back and forth.” [2:20-2:43]
As a former WWE head writer himself, Gewirtz can relate to some of the challenges Vince Russo faced behind the scenes:
“Writing WWE is one of those kind of thankless jobs where you often don’t get credit when something goes well even if you have something to do with it, and you often get a lot of blame if something doesn’t go well even if you really didn’t have anything to do with it. Not being there, I don’t know specifically what [Russo] contributed, but he was the guy, he was writing it, and you can pretty much put any of that stuff under the umbrella of him and Ed.” [2:46-3:09]
Watch the video above to hear one aspect of Russo’s writing that Gewirtz disagreed with. He also told an amusing story about Vince McMahon’s reaction to a Hulk Hogan segment in WCW.
Vince Russo interviewed Brian Gewirtz in WWE
Although they never worked full-time together on WWE’s writing team, Brian Gewirtz and Vince Russo briefly crossed paths in the summer of 1999.
Gewirtz was interviewed by Russo several months before starting his job with WWE. However, the one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion does not remember their interaction.
“I had a full day where I did interview with them and I know he doesn’t remember, and that’s a hundred percent justified,” Gewirtz continued. “I did not make a good impression in that interview, I know that, and I put that on myself. There’s plenty of times, by the way, over the years where I’ll encounter someone either via Twitter or at WWE who’s like, ‘Oh, you know I interviewed?’ and I don’t remember the interview either.” [1:43-2:09]
Gewirtz added that life moves “very fast” in WWE, which makes it difficult for interviewers to remember everyone they speak to.
What is your favorite Attitude Era memory? Let us know in the comments section.
Brian Gewirtz’s new book, “There's Just One Problem...: True Tales from the Former, One-Time, 7th Most Powerful Person in WWE,” is available to buy on Amazon.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
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