During this week’s episode of Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard: Vince Russo In The WWE, Conrad Thompson referenced Russo’s 2005 autobiography, Forgiven, throughout. The following excerpts came when the topic turned to Russo’s impact on Triple H’s career as well as the infamous Curtain Call:
As was claimed in the book, did Vince Russo come up with the look, name, catchphrase and “The Game” for Triple H?
“He definitely did not come up with the look. I don’t know if he came up with ‘The Game’ or not, that might’ve been something that Russo wrote in promos at some point for Hunter, so that may be true. I do remember Corny (Jim Cornette) and Vince McMahon saying that Triple H would be a mid-card guy at best early on in his career. And Russo was a huge proponent of Triple H and I dare say that without Russo at the helm at the time, Hunter probably would not have gotten the breaks that he got at that time.”
Was Russo the biggest advocate for Hunter at the time?
“Yeah, and then Vince McMahon. But Hunter was one of those guys that was always around and always asking questions and wanting to be a part of whatever he could do and wanting to learn. I liked Hunter because I always liked his attitude – just willing to do whatever it took to learn the business. But Russo was definitely pushing Hunter and had an awful lot of ideas for him.”
According to his book, Russo didn’t see what the big deal was about the Curtain Call. He thought everyone (Cornette and Bruce in particular) were overreacting. He says Hunter stayed in the dog house for six months or so before he started booking.
“It was simply a feeling of what they did being disrespectful to Vince, being disrespectful to the memory of Vince’s dad and to do it in the Garden, in our home. It was something that hadn’t been done before and everybody was upset about. Not just me, not just Cornette, but Vince McMahon and every one of the boys that wasn’t involved in the Curtain Call.”
Transcription by PWPodcasts Specialist Jeff Rush
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