WWE veteran recalls huge "yelling match" with Vince McMahon over Stone Cold Steve Austin's booking (Exclusive)

Former WWE head writer Vince Russo recently spoke about one of his past arguments with Vince McMahon. He used to work closely with Mr. McMahon during the Attitude Era.

During the peak of the Monday Night Wars, Russo started writing shows for WWE. The creative team included several top minds of the wrestling business back then, such as Pat Patterson, Bruce Prichard, Jim Ross, Vince Russo, and even Jim Cornette, all working under the leadership of Mr. McMahon.

During this week's episode of Legion of RAW, Russo recalled arguing with Vince McMahon in his car. Ahead of the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker main event at SummerSlam 1998, the veteran writer believed that the bout would not get over if both stars were babyfaces. However, since the two megastars were great friends, they wanted to proceed with the match, and Vince McMahon agreed. Russo stated that fans didn't enjoy the encounter, and he pointed out that the babyface vs. babyface dynamic didn't work.

"Bro, I remember, I got into a big fight with Vince McMahon in his car; a yelling match almost. I'll tell you why. Because Taker and Steve were such good friends, they wanted to have a babyface match at SummerSlam. I knew the match was at The Garden in New York, and I knew the fans did not want to see a babyface match between these two,'' he said.

The WWE veteran continued:

''Talent like that and talent at that level, Vince is gonna do what they want to do, and I don't blame him at all. So they went out and had a babyface match, and it didn't get over, and they couldn't understand why. That was the reason. They didn't want to see a babyface match between those two guys." [From 2:00 onwards]

Russo’s revelation highlights how even the best minds can misread fan expectations, a problem the veteran writer believes has plagued WWE's current product.

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About the author

Prityush is a WWE news writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling who started watching wrestling in the later part of The Attitude Era. Although he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Prityush was a creative writer for his college, and his flair for creativity and love of pro wrestling eventually led him to the journalism field. After an initial stint in 2016-2017, he has been writing regularly for Sportskeeda since 2021.

As someone who loves and respects the business, he prides himself on factual, clean, and ethical reporting, free of plagiarism and AI usage. One of the ways he ensures this is by transcribing videos that he reports on.

Prityush had the privilege of interviewing superstar Matt Hardy in his career so far. Although, his favorite wrestler is CM Punk, as he relates to his Straight Edge philosophy.

When he is not reporting news, he loves reading and collecting WWE action figures. He currently owns over 500 wrestling figures and merchandise.

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Edited by Prityush Haldar