The legacy of Vince Russo is quite negative in wrestling due to the comments from talents that have worked with him. Every wrestler has a different working relationship with members of the creative team, but no one could have predicted Russo becoming so polarizing. The belief system of Russo is that shock writing will lead to ratings even if his style lacked logic.
There were some positives to Russo who thrived as a lead writer during the Attitude Era for WWE. The time in WCW and TNA led to the negatives coming out from talents working with him. Not everyone had bad experiences with the controversial figure though. Let's take a look at some of the wrestlers who loved and hated working with Russo.
10 Loved: The Rock
WWE loved using Vince Russo to tap into the personality of wrestlers during the early stages of the Attitude Era. Russo revealed that The Rock enjoyed working with him when becoming a member of the Nation of Domination faction.
Rock was able to finally showcase more of his charisma from the heel side with Russo helping him out. Russo didn’t take credit for Rock’s successes, but he did believe he helped him get opportunities after the failed face run almost killed his confidence.
9 Hated: Hulk Hogan
The distrust between Vince Russo and Hulk Hogan started from day one in WCW and grew worse over time. Russo made it clear he prioritized building new stars over names like Hogan using their power to remain on top.
The infamous shoot promo from Russo at Bash at the Beach 2000 caused Hogan to walk out and sue WCW. Dixie Carter convinced the two to work together in TNA again on the creative team, but Russo revealed Hogan never trusted him. Eric Bischoff was faulted by Russo, since his disdain never went away despite the fresh start.
8 Loved: Konnan
Not many WCW wrestlers speak out positively about Vince Russo, but the ones that do still love him today. Konnan and Russo have both become podcast personalities in their respective circles on the internet.
Russo is often praised by Konnan for being misunderstood as a person, even when he disagrees with his booking style. The two have appeared on each other’s shows and even discussed a working relationship for a new promotion before plans fizzled out.
7 Hated: Samoa Joe
TNA wrestlers typically spoke negatively about Vince Russo due to a disconnect he had with talent. Russo viewed the newer generation as not understanding wrestling and it led to them having differing feelings on their character.
Samoa Joe blamed Vince Russo by name when a controversial storyline ended without explanations. Mystery ninjas attacked and abducted Joe to set up a seemingly big angle. It ended with Joe coming back and no one explaining what exactly happened. Joe buried Russo when saying it was his fault for once again failing the talent.
6 Loved: Jeff Jarrett
The working relationship between Vince Russo and Jeff Jarrett led to them developing loyalty for each other throughout the years. Jarrett achieved the biggest success of his career in WWE and WCW each, with Russo running the creative.
Russo helped break out a new side of Jarrett with the edgier character which culminated with a WCW Championship run. Jarrett jumped ship to WCW and left WWE when Russo convinced him. There was even a wild scenario of Jeff having a falling out with his father Jerry, when the two disagreed about Jeff bringing in Russo at the start of TNA.
5 Hated: Roddy Piper
The old school mindset of Roddy Piper and the lack of respect for Vince Russo's line of thinking caused issues between the two men. WCW was the place where they worked most closely together when the ship was sinking.
Piper despised Russo’s writing style from what he saw in WWE and felt even more disrespected when Russo didn’t introduce himself in WCW. The two had another experience in TNA where Piper broke script by blaming Russo for Owen Hart’s death and got physical with him in a humiliating manner.
4 Loved: Booker T
Booker T praised Vince Russo in 2020 when looking back at arguably the biggest moment of his career. WWE Backstage featured Booker and Jeff Jarrett watching their WCW match back, when Booker won the WCW Championship for the first time.
Booker revealed that no one in management viewed him as having main event potential until Russo arrived. Despite the criticism towards his creative, Booker felt empowered by Russo giving him a shot in a position he never expected.
3 Hated: Triple H
Vince Russo felt he had a positive working relationship with Triple H since they found success together in the Attitude Era. Triple H thrived as a member of D-Generation X when Russo helped push the envelope for the edgier act.
However, the end of Russo’s time in WWE led to Triple H burying him during a future radio interview. Triple H blamed Russo for the wild scenario of him marrying Stephanie McMahon during her wedding with Test. The criticism from Triple H was that Russo often came up with insane ideas that had no logical ending.
2 Loved: Mick Foley
The rise of Mick Foley during the Attitude Era saw him working closely with Vince Russo to find his character depth. Foley utilized three drastically different gimmicks of Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack before just playing himself.
Russo was praised often by Foley in interviews who felt he got criticized a little too much for his flaws. Foley had many great matches, but the creative process, working with Russo was what put him over the top as an iconic figure in WWE.
1 Hated: Goldberg
WCW was in a tough spot when Vince Russo took over the creative team, but Goldberg was the one saving grace. The star power of Goldberg made him the biggest draw for WCW just two years into his debut with plenty left in the tank.
Goldberg despised the process of working with Russo from his first stint booking the Goldberg vs. Bret Hart feud, to an unwarranted heel turn in Vince’s second stint. Things got bad enough for Goldberg to accuse WWE of sending Russo to kill WCW in interviews after the company closed.