Stevie Richards Comes To Vince Russo's Defense

When considering the most divisive figures in professional wrestling, former WWE and WCW writer Vince Russo's name always comes up in the conversation. But despite the criticism against Russo, Stevie Richards is adamant that there are more layers to Russo beyond his shaky reputation.

During a recent appearance on the "Insight" podcast, Richards stated his gratitude for Russo, citing him as one of the people who went the extra mile during the scary spinal infection Richards went through earlier this year.

"Vince gets such a bad rap. I don't understand it. I still don't understand it to this day. And I'm a guy who worked in WWE with him, worked in TNA with him, and then obviously I work with him on the 'Smackdown Review' with him and Bin Hamin," Richards said. "But when this infection happened, the one person — there's people that reached out almost every day — but Vince, every single day or multiple times per day, reaching out, checking on me, praying for me, talking to me, trying to cheer me up. I could say, 'Man, maybe if I put a few pillows under me, I could still do the shows from a hospital.' And he was like, 'No, don't do that.'"

Richards added that while he was out of commission, Russo continued to pay him. Even after Richards was later discharged from the hospital, Russo kept frequent contact with him and still reminds him not to overtrain during his recovery. As Richards slowly transitions back to daily life, he remains forever thankful for Russo's kindness.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.