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Former WCW and WWE writer Vince Russo is not interested in anything Lance Storm has to say about him.
In a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Russo claimed modern-day wrestling is "all about the fake match and nothing to do with the characters." Storm responded on Twitter by jokingly questioning whether Russo "hated the fake fights in the Rocky movies."
Russo addressed Storm's tweet on the latest episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws show with Dr. Chris Featherstone and EC3. The 62-year-old made it clear he does not care about the former WCW wrestler's opinion:
"I don't even know what he said about my comments because I don't give a s**t about Lance Storm," Russo said. "Pardon my French. I couldn't care less. Chris, here's the problem. You could say whatever you want about me. You could have your opinion of me. You could have your opinion of my booking. But the bottom line is, bro, the numbers are not going to go away. Period, end of story." [3:05 – 3:31]
As Vince Russo referenced, WCW and WWE registered high ratings when he wrote television for both companies. The former WCW World Heavyweight Champion thinks the likes of Storm fail to recognize his ratings successes when they criticize him:
"If I was burying today's wrestling products and their numbers were through the roof, I'd be the idiot because I'm standing here telling you how much this stuff stinks and s*cks and is horrible, and the ratings are through the roof," Russo continued. "That's what Lance Storm has said about my career, 'Everything Vince Russo said s*cked, was horrible, he didn't know what he was doing,' this, that, and the other thing. Yeah, right, Lance, and the ratings were through the roof." [3:36 – 4:12]
Storm wrestled for WCW when Russo worked for the company as a writer in 2000. On VICE's Dark Side of the Ring, he mocked Russo for wanting him to be Eric Bischoff's illegitimate son as part of an elaborate storyline.
EC3 defends Vince Russo's approach to wrestling
While some fans and critics prefer the in-ring aspect of the wrestling business, Vince Russo strongly believes that television shows should revolve around compelling storylines. As a writer, he focused on creating "crash TV," with an emphasis on short matches, unexpected backstage fights, and vignettes that left viewers wanting more.
Former WWE Superstar EC3 has had many conversations with Russo about the wrestling industry. He believes the veteran writer sometimes receives unfair criticism:
"I don't get why people think Vince hates wrestling and good wrestling, and I can vouch for him that he loves good wrestling, he loves great wrestling, he loves a 20-minute match," EC3 said. "All he's asking for and all he wants is that the characters have motivations and reasons and to be developed and entertaining and engaging to a mass audience. He ain't the devil, and he paid me 20 bucks to say that!" [5:10 – 5:39]
Russo featured heavily on the recent Dark Side of the Ring Bash at the Beach 2000 episode. He joined Bill Apter and Dr. Chris Featherstone on Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted to react to comments that were made on the show.
What do you make of Lance Storm's criticism of Vince Russo? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
