Former WWE writer Vince Russo explains why Jim Cornette "hates" him (Exclusive)

Vince Russo has given his take on why legendary wrestling personality Jim Cornette seemingly dislikes him so much.

Cornette and Russo, both 61, worked on WWE’s creative team in the 1990s. It is no secret that the two men did not get along, partly due to their different wrestling philosophies. The animosity between the former writers reached an all-time low in 2017 when Russo accused Cornette of stalking and filed a restraining order against him.

On Sportskeeda Wrestling’s “Writing With Russo” show, Russo clarified to Dr. Chris Featherstone that he does not have a problem with Cornette:

“I do not have any heat with Jim Cornette. It is one hundred percent [one-sided]. I am too old, bro, to have heat with anybody.” [2:46-2:59]

Cornette refuses to acknowledge Vince Russo by name on his podcasts. Instead, he refers to the one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion as “s**tstain.”

Russo believes the Kentucky-born former wrestling manager has issues with him due to his birthplace and lack of experience in the industry:

“Off the bat, one of the biggest issues Jim Cornette had with me, bro, I’m just being honest with you, was where I’m from,” Russo explained. “I’m a New Yorker. He hates New Yorkers. I mean, absolutely hates them. So, off the bat, I represent something he despises. On top of that, I wasn’t in the business for 40 years before I became head writer. I took a different road, and he really, really despises that.” [4:36-5:15]

Watch the video above to hear more from Vince Russo about Cornette’s apparent problem with him.

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How Vince Russo views wrestling differently to Jim Cornette

While Jim Cornette is a fan of old-school wrestling, Vince Russo prefers reality-based storylines that revolve around entertainment.

Russo added that everyone’s wrestling preferences are based on what they saw as a child:

“On top of that, I’m more entertainment orientated. He really despises that. It’s all wrestling, bro, it’s all wrestling related. It’s very funny because here’s the difference I think between me and Jim Cornette, when you look at my wrestling background, when you look at your wrestling background, anybody’s wrestling background, what is it all based on? Where you grew up.” [5:16-5:45]

Vince Russo wrote television for IMPACT/TNA, WCW, and WWE during his three decades in the wrestling business. He has also worked as an advisor for RAW’s television broadcaster in America, the USA Network.

Throughout his writing career, Russo has collaborated with several high-profile names who possess different wrestling backgrounds:

“I grew up on the WWWF,” Russo continued. “That’s what I grew up on, so that’s what I saw. Jim Cornette grew up in Kentucky, Eric Bischoff was in Minnesota, Cowboy Bill Watts was in Texas, Jerry Jarrett was in Tennessee. That’s how I always looked at it. All those people I mentioned, I’ve been in a creative room with.” [5:46-6:15]

Vince Russo believes Cornette failed to understand people who had different takes on the wrestling business:

“When I would sit there with them and they would come up with stuff that I wouldn’t necessarily do my way, I knew it was because of where they were from and where they got their seasoning and where they got their upbringing. I totally understood that. Cornette could never understand… I was a New York guy who grew up on the WWWF. That was the style, bro. That’s what I grew up on. It’s that simple, man.” [6:17-6:50]

Russo reviews RAW every week on Sportskeeda Wrestling’s “Legion of RAW” show with Dr. Chris Featherstone. You can view last week’s episode here.

What wrestling did you grow up on? Let us know in the comments section.

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Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling’s “Writing With Russo” and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.