Goldberg SHOOTS: “Vince Russo Was A Plant For WWE!”

[@InsideTheRopes]

Did Vince Russo help or hinder wrestling overall? Let us know in the comments below!

[@SteelSunday]

short term he helped WWF getting "attitude" but long term no, over booked and burnt out so many angles, constant babyface/heel turns to the point nobody had faith in their fav wrestlers and it became overkill and he lead to a lot more of the hollywood script writers getting into wrestling and writing people's promos. imo. Also NO he wasn't a plant by WWE he was just that bad at his job people got suspect.

[@kalb390]

@@SteelSunday Nothing you said makes any sense, Mark.

[@batmanmotherfucker]

Mark Twain.

[@darryalchristie9615]

I love russo.

[@bb-gc2tx]

he saved wrestling without him mcmahon would of listened to that living in the past social misfit carny weirdo cornette and the wwe would of gone out of business

[@userman44]

Goldberg / Hogan holds the all-time attendance record for a WCW show.

[@vampirascoffin870]

and their last

[@CeemPlay]

Between the money WCW lost in 2000 which he deserves alot of credit for. And the lawsuit his comments caused that saw Sonny Onoo & others get millions in settlements. Russo is one of the biggest money losers in wrestling history.

[@TheNextStep851]

He wasn't responsible for WCW losing that money in 2000. The reported losses in 2000 were annual losses. WCW lost that money as a result of Nitro's ratings and PPV buys tanking throughout 1999, and Nitro losing that 3rd hour which meant a loss in ad revenue. Then you had production costs, a bloated roster on high-paying contracts which they were supposedly paying to fly out and not use in some cases, and they even reportedly had people on their books they didn't use at all.

[@CeemPlay]

@@TheNextStep851 Russo was the final nail in the coffin. WCW could have still been saved when he first came in. But after his run there was no way. It was incompetence from the top down. But Russo needs to harbour alot of the blame by putting out the absolute worst wrestling television ever seen on such a level.

[@TheNextStep851]

@@CeemPlayI dunno about that to be honest. In my opinion Nitro was waaay worse before Russo got there. The WCW product through early-mid 1999 was absolutely horrible. That's when the company lost their viewers and money. Russo gets a bad rap for it. It really wasn't his fault. He was trying to elevate new stars which needed to be done and he just wasn't given the time to do it. In 2000, Bischoff supposedly had authority over Russo according to the man himself.

[@CeemPlay]

@@TheNextStep851 Russo got rid of all the international talent. Brought in aload of young folk who clearly weren't ready. Tried to rip off numerous WWF characters. Went to short matches & just tried to copy RAW to horrible effect. Eric & Russo had equal power. Eric was just in it for the paycheck at that point. A WCW non wrestling suit was the one with the real stroke hence why the bash at the beach thing went down the way it did.

[@ZakynthosDiamandis]

Yeah, aside for being one of the main contributors to the inception of the most successful period in wrestling history, Russo was the biggest money loser.

[@MilMaska]

"After Vince Russo left the watchful eye of Vince McMahon. He kil led every company he came in contact with" - Jim Cornette

[@Foxo-Matti12]

Lies. 2 million people watching TNA under his creative.

[@truthtransistorradio6716]

Vince Russo said that in WCW he knew that he needed to get the mid card and younger guys over. But he was dealing with old guys politics and creative control that made it impossible to do what Vince wanted to do. He would be in charge for a few months, the ratings went up, then they wanted to give him a creative team. So he went home, saying they had breached his contract. The ratings went down again. Then they asked him to come back. This led to Bash at the Beach 2000.

[@bryanmack4054]

@@Foxo-Matti12 hardly anyone cares about TNA …nowhere close to wwf popularity in the late 90s

[@bryanmack4054]

@@truthtransistorradio6716 what’s your source for ratings going up under Russos tenure? If you can’t cite any, then it’s best to retract that statement

[@truthtransistorradio6716]

@@bryanmack4054 I have heard that from several people in the Wrestling business. It hasn't been refuted. I don't know where to find the information. But I would come back to you and say, if you can't refute it, then I don't need to retract anything. Here is what I know. Russo was the head writer in WWF from late 97 to late 99. He switched to WCW in October of 99 and was head writer for a few months before they breached his contract. The claim is that the ratings were below at 2.0 in October, and a 3.0 by January. He left, and the ratings went back down to a 2.0. A few months past when they asked him to come back, but according to Russo, it had become a hopeless situation by then.

[@undertakerfanz628]

Hogan vs Goldberg without a doubt should have been on pay-per-view at Bash at the beach

[@perfectblindguy]

you are correct but EZ E was only interested in winning the ratings war...money meant nothing apparently.

[@bluecollartradesman715]

WCW was owned by Turner Broadcasting. Turner is a television company. Turner cared about ratings. Nitro was a live show where anything could happen.

[@undertakerfanz628]

@@bluecollartradesman715 😴😴😴😴😴😴

[@CGJUGO80]

Imagine a 90s fan saying this lol. Dorks

[@GrandeRed]

@@undertakerfanz628 okay. Be rudely dismissive of the correct answer, mark. Goldberg vs. Hogan 2 could have been on PPV instead of the first match.

[@mixey01]

Note to oneself: Never give your kids the name " Vince", they mind end up becoming nutty geniuses 🙂

[@CraigWeir-q5v]

or rapists .

[@Ziomaletto]

@@CraigWeir-q5vI didn't know rape was when you AGREE to do kinky shit, only to denounce that 30 years later when the money well dries up. I guess last 5 years of MeToo hysteria didn't taught me anything yet.

[@hititdj]

Vince McMahon is not a genius, he's great at the business aspect but creative no, the only good creations are Wrestlemania and Undertaker. Other people came up with the Royal Rumble concept, the Elimination Chamber etc.

[@fizzyfuzz5878]

Wish he would've understood that great question better about him never getting real revenge on Hogan and the nWo after his streak ended and the finger poke. Instead he thought he was talking about the first Hogan match again.

[@perfectblindguy]

Starrcade 98 should have been Hogan vs Goldberg the rematch. But WWF was kicking WCW in the ass so bad in the ratings that EZ E went a different direction.

[@soulofanerd9364]

I thought the same thing while he was talking. I don't understand why the interviewer didn't just reiterate the question. I've heard Nash talk about what the plan was and I think I've heard Eric talk about it as well, but it would make sense to hear Goldberg's perspective

[@webs538]

When you hear it from Nash’s point of view the poke made sense except when Goldberg punched a car window that almost damaged his arm permanently and he missed time just because he couldn’t follow instructions. I always liked the poke because it’s what bad guys would do. Russo is horrible but he wasn’t a plant since time Warner hated wrestling since the beginning and always wanted it gone

[@soulofanerd9364]

@@webs538 😆😄😄 man I remember that arm through the window. That dude could have lost his arm off of that incident 🤦🏽‍♂️

[@wwfwrestlemania2000]

I feel like every Goldberg interview ive seen has him say something along the lines of "If I wanted to hurt him, I would have." Seems like a genuine guy but man he always has to bring up that he can hurt people for real. Like yeah, no joke. Pretty much everyone who enters a ring in a mainstream promotion can legitimately fuck someone up with the moves if not done properly, or if someone lays it in hard.

[@LiberatingReality]

Was just about to comment this.

[@Triplebrc]

Goldberg is insecure because little Jericho got the better of him in a real fight and no one buys him as a tough guy, so he has to constantly talk up his ability to hurt others.

[@ja9145]

​@@Triplebrcwhat i dont get is hes always saying like "if i wanted to".....dude you hurt so many people when you DIDNT want to, thats why everybody calls you a garbage wrestler lol. I dont think he will ever understand. His stans wont either.

[@fromolwyoming]

@@TriplebrcBruh. Goldberg and Jericho are friends.

[@fromolwyoming]

Maybe because he constantly gets people bashing on him for "hurting everyone he worked with"? But this one is personal. Trying to equate it to others is different.

[@MrJuggalo909]

One of the biggest moments in pro wrestling history happened on raw. Wcw helped make that happen.

[@BigDyse]

That has to be the BIGGEST mistake ever made in history when it comes to trying to make the competition look bad.. it literally full on backfired in their faces and they lost ever since and went outta business

[@vincentprice9156]

Yep, when I watched the rerun of Nitro later that night I couldn't believe how bad their main event was. Tony did us all a favor by getting us to turn to Raw watching an amazing Main Event and moment.@@BigDyse

[@vincentviera5233]

Can you elaborate? What episode was it?

[@MrJuggalo909]

@@vincentviera5233When WCW told their audience that Mankind was about to win the world title on RAW.

[@paulcowlishaw]

What was that

[@boraonline7036]

Would be funny to add on everything Goldberg says :"Ok, but YOU CAN'T WRESTLE!!!" 🤣 ... is he still eating corn the long way? 🤔

[@James.chalmers]

Oh the match where interface somehow happened on the outfit and Goldberg kicked out of 3 leg drops which was completely ignored by announcers

[@TheRealLiquidTrip]

Listening to Goldberg talk about turning Heel at the end of the video really puts things into perspective.. people badmouth Goldberg sometimes for taking himself too serious but looking at his situation from his point of view shows a different side of the Character. He really has always cared about The Kids !

[@webs538]

Good on him but he does take himself seriously though among almost permanently damaging his arm to losing to a door twice. It’s good that he cares about kids though

[@turbogeek.421]

Russo wasn't a plant. He was a guy that couldn't tell the difference between a good idea and an idea. WWE picked out his good ideas (with a few exceptions), whereas WCW let him loose with ALL his ideas.

[@truthtransistorradio6716]

That is not true. Russo had a longterm plan at WCW. The ratings went up for several months. Part of it was getting younger talent over. But the old school used politics to keep that from happening.

[@danielsims916]

@@truthtransistorradio6716 Bobby Heenan said it best about Russo , what has he done since wwe ? Russo wasn’t the sole reason why wcw went down but he was part of the problem. It was 5 key players into wcw demise: Ted turner, bischoff, hogan , Russo and Jamie Kellner .

[@truthtransistorradio6716]

@danielsims916 The highest rating in TNA was with Russo as head writer! It was at 2 million. Which is more than Raw gets today. And actually more than Raw got when he took over in 1997!

[@danielsims916]

@@truthtransistorradio6716 that’s your problem, wrestling stopped putting ratings as its number one priority years ago and you’re comparing TNA to todays wrestling? Not a a good comparison

[@vincesmith2499]

​@@truthtransistorradio6716It's obvious that you're Vince Russo.

[@dustin.r.strong]

Why Hogan vs Goldberg was not on ppv is so baffling. Goldberg was as hot or hotter than Stone Cold at the time. One of many WCW missteps.

[@joedavid82]

The crowd was super hyped. They knew they were seeing something special

[@Chuckberry30]

That’s why I liked WCW. They gave the title shot for free instead of a pay per view.

[@C-Lyfe85]

Because WCW were a television company, and the ratings are the most important thing. They care less about a pay-per-view, that's the other company. Y'all got to understand that.

[@Tha_Pencil]

Hotter than stone cold? Lmao never in a million years

[@Foxo-Matti12]

No Vince Russo equals no Attitude Era. You do the math.

[@Tha_Pencil]

You're a clown if you seriously believe that

[@tukelenkku2146]

Goldberg nailed it, I’ve always thought that too about Russo

[@truthtransistorradio6716]

I can debunk that theory. The ratings went up the first several months he was head writer at WCW. Then politics got involved. Russo's plan was getting younger talent over. The old school wanted to keep their spot.

[@danielsims916]

@@truthtransistorradio6716Russo was trying to bring sports entertainment/crash tv into wcw and yes the ratings went up for a short time but overall it confused people and people stopped watching. If you listen to his podcast he only talk about the attitude era, never about wcw and TNA . People already knew that wrestling was scripted but Russo was throwing it people faces and traditionalists of wrestling stop watching wcw because of it

[@truthtransistorradio6716]

@@danielsims916 He only confused wrestling marks. His style was always about bringing in casual fans. Trash tv was popular back then. Later, his vision was connected to reality shows. He wanted to bring more reality to wrestling. In TNA, he was attempting to do what Larry David does on Curb Your Enthusiasm. There is a basic plot. This is where we are going, but all lines are improvised. Unfortunately, after a few weeks, the traditional wrestling minds took over and went back to basic wrestling. We never got to see the concept over a long period. So by 2002, he had moved past trash tv to what was popular in 2002.

[@danielsims916]

@@truthtransistorradio6716 but him trying to do that confused everyone. How could he try and get casual fans when he was telling people wrestling was fake ? We know that it’s a work, don’t tell us that. Look at curb your enthusiasm, game of thrones, walking dead. We all know that those shows were just television shows and fake but name one time they flat out told you it was fake? They let you suspend your disbelief into thinking they’re going through real life situations. Russo with the constant swerving, start and stop pushes , sexual characters that made zero sense , didn’t value the art of pro wrestling, just looked at it like a television show, wanted to see his name in the credits at the end of the show

[@rybacksmith2672]

that does not debunk the theory at all.@@truthtransistorradio6716

[@walterclark3198]

The match with Goldberg vs Ddp at Halloween havoc was a great match.

[@SteveAndFantaTime]

I quite like Goldberg in this interview.

[@JonySmith-bb4gx]

I never take what he says seriously

[@regulardadhere8832]

The kick heard around the world 😐

[@KinnereyB]

GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG! 🔥🦍😤🙌🏻💪🏻😜👊🏻🎆🎇🧨

[@billyshead1339]

I’m with Goldberg when Russo came all of a sudden weird wrestlers weird story lines. It got weird fast.

[@drnastyful]

I know it would be stupid if he put on his tough grunting voice like he did for promos but goldberg's speaking voice is so drastically normal for a wrestler. He almost talks like joe rogan a little bit and it catches me off guard every time.

[@joedavid82]

Yea Goldberg was not even half as popular as Stone Cold. Austin was the 1990s #1 mega superstar

[@SaveCrystalGaming]

Russo and Goldberg were building a good storyline with each other.

[@dudeiousmaximus650]

Has anybody asked Goldberg on how he would of liked for the streak to end ..

[@fletchbundy]

No, they dragged on the unbeatable Goldberg shit way too long. Painted themselves into a corner. On top of many other issues with the wrong guys calling the shots. They buried tons of talent for that Goldberg storyline.

[@rustyshackleford3514]

You don’t owe anyone an apology.

[@shoulderlabrum520]

I always felt that Bret was a plant, he went to WCW and fed Vince all the info - him and Vince had a handshake agreement, the MSJ was a work

[@perfectblindguy]

MSJ was a work.

[@mikeg2491]

It also makes you wonder if Bischoff figured out he was a plant which is why he was marginalized and kept away from the inner workings. Of course Eric would never admit such a thing either.

[@truthtransistorradio6716]

Please watch Russo explain what happened in WCW. He had his legs cut off by politics and creative control. He never could implement his longterm plan. But in the first few months at WCW, the ratings went up!

[@lanserilstorm8414]

He isnt sure about anything he says. He keeps looking at the interviewer for reassurance.

[@Farmerb1985]

Cool interview

[@Cajunman1977-k3f]

If he wasn't a plant he was definitely a good chess piece to move.

[@fishingmule3266]

The issue with Russo isn’t as simple as just the numbers being down before and while he was first there. The issue was that he completely turned the brand on its head and made it a parody of WWF which ran away the people who weren’t fans of the whole WWF thing. The time when Flair was booking cooled WCW off, but Russo made people completely give up on it. To be fair, when Bischoff came back, he didn’t seem to do anything to fix it.

[@truthtransistorradio6716]

The ratings went up when he took over WCW though! Then politics came in and his legs were cut off.

[@fishingmule3266]

@@truthtransistorradio6716 I’m sure there was some curiosity from both WCW and WWF fans at the time to boost the ratings after a bit of slump. The loss of viewers when Flair was booking was just people falling off the product a bit. After it became WWF-light, people would eventually give up on the wrestling altogether or just follow WWF (since modeling your show after WWF tells your fans that you think their show is better). Also, the reason Bischoff left in the first place was because the company higher-ups were already screwing with the product, so the behind the scenes politics started long before Russo got there.

[@Parlimant_Strifey]

@@fishingmule3266viewers also outright abandoned the wrasslin that remained. The numbers don't lie.

[@soulofanerd9364]

Bischoff didn't do anything because he was brought back in a different capacity. He wasn't the EVP anymore and essentially he and Russo had authority over different aspects. Eric explains it in some interviews I've seen over the last year.

[@EternalStud1969]

I actually see it now ..parody makes perfect sense

[@takerdust]

you guys should have asked him about Evan Karagias

[@PeerWorker]

And Hulk Hogan was a politician

[@garyv2498]

Goldberg was indeed the biggest mark for himself.

[@DWtechfan]

Wow! I just realized something, Goldberg and Bret Hart have more in common than you’d think. They both took pro wrestling way too seriously and they thought the super hero thing was real. 😆

[@justiceriser8970]

Nah bret was more humble and self aware than gold

[@DWtechfan]

⁠@@justiceriser8970you obviously didn’t catch the whole screw job thing. That whole thing happened because Bret was the opposite of humble and self aware. The difference is Goldberg never spent decades crying over things in the past.

[@justiceriser8970]

@WildWest83 both of them let go of things

[@James.chalmers]

Even the name Monday nitro sounds like Monday night raw.. 😂

[@AsianGFguy91]

No it does not, TF walnut brain?

[@RefrigerationJones]

That was by design.

[@PiCheZvara]

Goldberg going full tinfoil hat. I love it.

[@vmaninblackv]

I remember many more Nitros

[@themcgonigleboxingpodcast8581]

Good point here and no one has ever raised this!

[@johnnstamoezz5491]

Im beginning to think Fragile Phile was a plant aswell.

[@soulofanerd9364]

😄😄😄 his heel run lasted longer than 24 hours. I guess he's either being figurative or he just means in his own mind he went back to babyface quickly. I remember a couple weeks he was heel. He lost to Booker T as a heel and he beat Kevin Nash in a match where Scott Hall's contract was on the line

[@MBeats27]

Goldberg spitting facts

[@wyattrussell7496]

Is it a coincidence that Brett’s career was ended by a super kick, given by the only guy to be allowed to squash Lesnar?

[@AWrestlingHistorian]

If this ridiculous conspiracy was true, McMahon would've given Russo a WWE job for life!

[@JoshKetchum]

Never knew old Goldy was such a softie :( brings a tear to the eye

[@sowingandreaping7871]

Im a hogan fan and i enjoyed the match.

[@MrPilgrim]

I extremely disagree, when you watch Nitro when Russo first arrived in 1999, it was actually watchable. Within the first few weeks it was actually presenting compelling storylines and buildup to matches that WCW never did before. People can say what they want about him being a plant for the WWE, but if I were taking my job seriously and got sent home for doing my best, only to see it get sent to shit just to be called back months later (April 2000); I’d flush the toilet too

[@wbhotboybg]

All yall saying that Russo rsised the ratings ect need to actually go take a look at the real ratings and not just take Russo's word for it.

[@CASUALGAMING1823]

Wcw was gonna fail eventually you have all those stars and had a guy like Goldberg just running through them was pretty boring trying to watch that every week thats kinda the reason me and other people started to hate John cena he was basically winning every match

[@5plus4]

By then it was over. U aren't old enough to watch

[@CASUALGAMING1823]

@@5plus4 the hell are you talking about

[@footballsexpert3895]

Cena became a cartoon super hero for kids for years. Goldberg just had a streak

[@CASUALGAMING1823]

@@footballsexpert3895 yeah also they had Cena winning matches he should have lost The rock ,stone cold ,hhh they would lose from time to time but Cena kept on overcoming the odds as they say it got old very quickly

[@footballsexpert3895]

@@CASUALGAMING1823 Shame! Lot of old school wrestling fans (mostly WCW and attitude era) got sick of this and quit watching.. leaving only kids following. No wonder The Rock made a comeback making mockery of Cena (only man with repu to do that)... You just couldn't go against John Cena that time.. that was the norm

[@tommymoore-5376]

I could understand sir you not being able to turn 🛞 heel. Especially having trouble beating up Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Hes such an American icon. God bless you sir. I was a teenager and loved you back in the late 90s.

[@joedavid82]

Such a wasted opportunity. It could have been a cross over like DC vs Marvel. Hulk vs Superman. Sting vs Stone Cold. It would have been jaw dropping. Vince sucks. As much cool stuff he has done? His ego destroyed much much more

[@aaronxtreme3752]

It's still real for bill, damn it!

[@ZakynthosDiamandis]

It's comical and impressive how Goldberg consistently makes a fool of himself in every shoot interview he does.

[@AceHole90]

Agreed 100% he's completely unaware of how much of a booger he is

[@imxlnt2]

he may have been a plant for wwe, but did he try to warn us about vince mcmahon? no. the writers were. look at the characters and the storylines... it was all there but most of us didnt even pick up on it! i didnt, i just always felt unseasy about vinny mac. well he wasnt vinny mac during the attitude era. very screwed up. i dont miss vinny mac when he was wwf. yeah he sounded fun but holy crap the alligations! just type in alligations in to youtube and you will find all those videos with that keyword. also, don't name your restaurant "Alligations" itll be shut down on grand opening.

[@johnlewisbrooks]

"I could have killed Vince if i wanted to!" Lol i cab imagine Cornette trying to guve goldberg one of those pointed German WWII helmets lol

[@perfectblindguy]

EZ E claimed that before the announcement, there were already tens of thousands of tickets sold..so Goldberg/Hogan had nothing to do with it....

[@userman44]

And Kevin Sullivan says that Goldberg/Hogan was just before the AOL merger, and TBS wanted a banger to show the execs that WCW had a bright financial future.

[@adamzullo3624]

Maybe but EZ E is a habitual lier

[@perfectblindguy]

@@userman44 True. That is why a lot of the suits were in attendance and Hogan heard about it so Hogan thought it would look good for him if he dropped the title to Goldberg. But of course all it did was made sure that WCW lost millions in PPV revenue. Thus it was not a good decision. But that is WCW for ya.

[@vincentprice9156]

This kid was wrong, the ratings only stayed until the Nwo civil war storyline completely went nowhere..once the Nwo B team completely died is when you see the ratings plummet. No one I knew wanted to see the same ol sh*t of one baby face vs another huge heel faction. It stunk up the whole building because not everyone was a Goldberg fan.

[@danielrierson6683]

I think the heel turn was designed to get revenge on the nwo elite. But I think guys were out but I thought he was a cool heel

[@taduuuma]

goldberg is the symbol of wcw and everything that was wrong with it.

[@Savvage.875]

Anybody that can defend Russo is delusional

[@m4st0rnoob-10]

This is a sheit interview because honestly, the 83 weeks were well over by this point and wcw were floundering a bit. The finger poke of doom is what have me a bad taste in my mouth and that was when i was like 13 or 14 years old. I didn't switch what I was watching I simply stopped watching wresting for a while. I rarely watched from 1999 - 2001

[@UvaldeShooter666]

HOGAN,NASH, HALL are plants too, NASH as the booker admitted on the WCW OMG DVD in 2014, He communicated with VINCE MCMAHON every week in 99 during Starcade 98/Fingerpoke, WCW was in general was run by PLANTS helping WWF before the year 2000, & certainly from 95-97 Era of WCW

[@mstancl]

If Russo is fine this day... why is Bret crying over spoiled milk to this day??? Bret got wet because he was at the right place at the right time and actually thought he was a main event champion. McMahon HAD to turn away from real sport entertainers and feed him a bone.

[@tylerdame1360]

This is what WWE has done to kill off its rival companies. Nobody talks about it. WCW gains the lead, WWE guys cross over, WCW dies. TNA gains momentum to compete against RAW, WWE guys cross over, TNA dies. AEW riding a lightning bolt into the industry, WWE guys cross over, AEW barely drawing 500k viewers a show and slowly dying. You are talking about a highly strategic infiltration of the opposing company to bring it to its death. Vince McMahon is NOT a dumbass. What gives it away is that all the WWE guys come back after doing their damage.

[@justiceriser8970]

Correct

[@frankblack4303]

i'm surprised the host of this show is not injured after interviewing him. bahahahaha

[@billyrouse4813]

😂😂😂, Vince is brilliant for storylines, but even he wouldn’t be able to pull that off.

[@vincesmith2499]

WCW never finished angles. It never finished the nWo storyline. Goldberg didn't get revenge on Hogan. WCW was garbage.

[@ToruKurosawa]

Vince was definitely a plant... his ideas were wacky af and made no sense for a lot of the wrestlers. As soon as he came in the WCW died soon after.

[@wispa1a]

Why was Goldberg so scared of Gilberg?

[@gsniroshan]

A-soo-ka was a plant for Vince Russo

[@mattheweoff5838]

Goldberg is a clown

[@perfectblindguy]

I always hated Goldberg. He never should have received the push that he got.

[@samuelsturgill6825]

Can I ask a stupid question?? Could a finger poke to the chest hurt for real if you hit at just the right spot ? Hard enough?

[@jpbart1390]

I imagine it would from someone that strong.

[@Pachanga5555]

Talk about an unearned push they guy was a wrestling hack hurt everyone he wrestled...all on looks.....

[@beerguy177]

I always thought that you know

[@TmacAbz]

Sounds like the biggest narc on earth. This guy doesn't understand pro wrestling. he is wayyy too much of a mark for himself

[@elleni-41]

Goldberg was very overrated...he couldn't wrestle for nothing..

[@newjerseyballer]

crazy. Goldberg is a top 5 wrestler all time. dude had a crazy undefeated streak.

[@RenegadeGunn]

Because he was just thrown into the spotlight because of his size

[@elleni-41]

@@RenegadeGunn ..yes I know that..

[@SuperSnakePlissken]

I don’t think he was overrated. I remembered living through that time I watched all his matches the hype was real. I remember going into the mall with my brothers and seeing Goldberg merchandise everywhere.

[@elleni-41]

@@SuperSnakePlissken ..i lived through it too..i was a teenager in the late 90s..he was very popular,not taken that away..

[@nerdgiant4101]

I hate Russo but Goldberg is an over rated, no talent, bitter has been.

[@shoresy6927]

Couldnt agree more.

[@perfectblindguy]

I always hated Goldberg.

[@TheWill0fStrength]

As an MMA and Boxing fan I disagree ... Goldberg was hype, real, strength, not that Indy trash you pussies like flipping and shit, getting hit by cars.... Etc..

[@Tarantula1522]

It makes sense, because Russo went from genius booking for WWE.. to a complete idiot in WCW.. was very obvious that it was meant to happen

[@kalb390]

Say anything you want about Vince Russo, but the numbers he pulled speak for themselves. The man gave the WWF their best ratings after the Golden Era (they never reached that level of popularity ever since) He gave WCW a fighting chance against its competition, and got more eyes on TNA than anyone else. The internet wrestling fans consider Dave Meltzer to be a God among men, who cares about what they think?

[@henrygvidonas9573]

1. WWF's best rating was in 2000, Russo was in WCW and pulled a 2.5 against WWF's 7.4. 2. Vince McMahon edited and controlled all of Russo's writing for the top of the card. Of ten ideas Russo had, nine were thrown in the trash. 3. Watch "RAW" in 1999 before Russo left, the writing was objectively complete shite, more often than not. Yet they got high ratings. Why? Because: 4. What got the WWF the high ratings were the personalities, not the creative. They had half a dozen or more of the absolute most charismatic pro wrestling performers of all time on their roster. Nobody cared that the storylines were total garbage, we just wanted to see and hear Stone Cold, Rock, Taker, Shawn, Triple H, Foley, and heel Vince. Nobody gave a damn about the midcard that Russo had more control over. The numbers do not "speak for themselves". Without context and background knowledge they mean nothing, like all statistics. WWF's high in 1999 had a lot to do with WCW becoming unbearably boring, stale, and repetitive. A lot of the WCW audience switched over to the WWF camp. That's why the WWF didn't grow any further when WCW eventually collapsed, all the remaining WCW fans that watched until the end, basically gave up on pro wrestling entirely, went away, and never came back. Just like three quarters of the WWF/WWE fans did in the following two decades.

[@robintst]

@@henrygvidonas9573 On the nose. Vince McMahon had final say on everything, Russo was not autonomous in the WWF and leaving the watchful eye Vince McMahon for WCW exposed once and for all just what a fucking moron he was once he was when left to his own devices. As McMahon once put it, Vince Russo was nothing more than a "useful idiot." He was just in the right place at the right time and bullshitted his way into that spot on Creative when the WWF were losing and desperate. Remember too that a fair bit of those millions of people watching the WWF every week when they were hot weren't even necessarily wrestling fans, wrestling had just become such a pop culture phenomenon that the greater casual audience started tuning in too. I mean the shit Stone Cold and The Rock were saying became part of our common parlance on the street at a greater level than wrestling catch phrases. "Open a can of whoop ass," "Lay the smackdown," people still know that stuff, even the non-fans.

[@kevinlee9929]

​@@henrygvidonas9573 The ratings were best in 2000 because of the work that Russo had already done in WWF. And the fact that WCW ratings were on the downward spiral in 99. Anyone.who.thinks that the same VKM that wrote the New Generation and recent years of WWF was the mastermind behind the Attitude Era is kidding themselves 😂😂 That's your opinion on the writing in WWF in 99. Myself and many others enjoyed 99 when Russo was there.

[@michaelbatt9680]

I dont believe he was a plant for one second....I believe he had some of the worst ideas in the history of wrestling...he was just a clown, a moron, a bafoon, & once McMahon wasn't there to filter out all those bad ideas, he was let off the leash & WCW didn't do much to get out of its own way anyways. When Nash was booking it was pretty bad too, WCW just couldn't right the ship & they let a complete dullard take the reins & ultimately was the final nail in already pretty nailed up coffin. there was plenty of ideas before russo got there that were awful, & then there was that clowns ideas. WCW could have been something great, but they let the inmates run the asylum.

[@Ziomaletto]

Ah yeah, great filtering mind of Vince McMahon. The same guy who wanted to write incest storyline about his own family, get Kane to take off the mast and completely kill the character, and have Triple H hump a mannequin. CREATIVE GENIUS OF VINCE FUCKING MCMAHON, EVERYONE!

[@skee8721]

Bullshit, he's talking about not wanting to be heel because of kids. Man i guarantee it was 2 things money and hulk hogan in his ear. Hey brother, you know um, you are a monster babyface, making a lot of money, you wouldn't want to lose that.. meanwhile hogan just protecting his heel status in the company&doesn't care about Goldberg lol. Man Goldberg thought he'd make less as a heel. Lol

[@danielrierson6683]

I think Bret was a plant too if you really pay attention

[@justiceriser8970]

Correct but I think bret turned against Vincent when owen died

[@JonySmith-bb4gx]

Yeah we totally trust the guy that ended bret hart career 😂

[@RenegadeGunn]

He didn't purposely do it

[@Robert-zv4qu]

If you want to please and be in good grace with the Marks...Talk shit about Vince Russo. It seems to work everytime

[@bamashow3676]

I thought he was a plant also his antics were dumb and boring it was like a sabotage to the program at the time.

[@L.m.CeeTee]

Huh?!

[@Blacklabels686]

Yet never returned??

[@edbain6495]

Wolfpack was the reason people watched then, lol not Goldberg

[@JohnDoe-vc7bw]

It couldn't be both?

[@danarkham1]

Somehow I don’t think 100,000 fans would pay to see Goldberg vs Hogan with a 20 day buildup. wtf?

[@perfectblindguy]

You are right. EZ E stated that the GA Dome Nitro had already sold tens of thousands of tickets before the announcement that JJ made on Thunder. Goldberg had nothing to do with it. It was in Atlanta, Goldberg's hometown. It was a live wrestling show. It was in the GA dome. It is not that big of a deal that it sold over 40k. But you are right, Goldberg and Hogan would have never filled 100000 seat arena.

[@bradburke8232]

That era and where they were in terms of story telling...even if 100,000 is an exaggeration then 60,000 - 70,000 would be more realistic. Not saying for the Georgia Dome in particular but they could've found a venue and done it on PPV. You have to know what the climate was for wrestling at that moment in time was and be able to recall that climate in order to truly understand but I don't totally disagree with his sentiment there. Things have changed so dramatically in that regard that it's hard to grasp how fucking hott that stuff was at the time. I live in a town that isn't an "A" city for wrestling, might not even be a "B" city and back then, 20,000 plus every time Nitro or Raw came to town. Nowadays the same building is lucky to draw half of that no matter what company is in town. I guess what I'm saying is that ole Greenberg's sentiment and perspective here isn't as far off from the truth than one might think...for once.

[@userman44]

Ok, but Goldberg vs Hogan sold the most tickets of any WCW show ever.

[@edbain6495]

Goldberg sucks

[@alavanhe]

Bless his delusional heart

[@earthpart3]

stone clone bill goldberg

[@CeemPlay]

Russo has failed at every thing he has done in the wrestling industry since 1999. Yet he still has to work in it today through his channel cause he didn't make enough money to retire. I feel bad for him. He doesn't like his job. No different to the guy in the cubicle who goes into work everyday upset.

[@kalb390]

Failed = Gave every company he ever worked with some of their biggest ratings.

[@CeemPlay]

@@kalb390 At what cost with WCW. Attendances & buyrates went down. And things got so bad the Network didn't want them. Russo has take alot of the blame. He was the final nail

[@kalb390]

@@CeemPlay You're making things up, the only way for anyone to make Vince Russo look bad is to lie about him.

[@CeemPlay]

@@kalb390 Watch his WCW television & tell me it's not the worst wrestling ever seen in history.

[@kalb390]

@@CeemPlay Again... The ratings got better when he took over, which means that many more people were enjoying the show.

[@TheRealOeoeo]

Foisted

[@Rschr101]

This dude is a clown.

[@joedavid82]

Yea Russo poisoned WCW. I would not doubt Vince paid him. Vince could have had WCW still exists after he paid for it but he buried he. So spiteful. Can you imagine how cool WCW would have been if McMahon was 100% behind it? Wrestlemania could have featured a crossover match with the likes of Sting vs Undertaker or Goldberg vs Stone Cold

[@dougvuillemot8670]

Biggest mistake he ever made. He could have planted a few vets and made it a place for young stars to get real time wrestling action. Burying it was stupid.

[@MrJuggalo909]

So disrespectful for a squash wrestler to talk about booking like this

[@masonmonroe2243]

They filmed Thunder with Nitro.......

[@RenegadeGunn]

Its a damn shame nobody wants Goldberg back ever again im sure gonna miss him glad i got to see alot of him because i wasn't given a chance to watch him much as a kid because my mom wouldn't allow me to watch it its a damn shame how Goldberg was pushed and how he received criticism for him being too green if they had given him a chance to develop he probably would've been an all time great

[@LifeEntity]

Goldberg ended some one career, and the person never forgave him

[@JonySmith-bb4gx]

They shouldn't . Greenberg