Why AEW's Tony Schiavone Hates That Vince Russo 'Gets So Much S***'

It's become something of a low-hanging fruit in wrestling to disparage Vince Russo. The controversial writer/booker is responsible for some of the most cringe-worthy moments of the Attitude Era and beyond, but yet, the man was steadily employed for a good chunk of time in several promotions, so surely there must've been some good that came along with the bad. One colleague of Russo's that had a positive experience was Tony Schiavone, who worked with Russo in WCW from 1999 to 2001. On "What Happened When," Schiavone took a brief moment to defend Russo.

"I hate it that Russo gets all the s*** that he gets," Schiavone said. "It's not fair. Vince Russo worked endlessly, tirelessly, to put a product together. He did. And [he] was good to me, and was a good guy. And I'm honest about that."

Russo's writing career began in 1992 as a freelancer for WWF Magazine, before being promoted to the creative team in 1996. In late 1999, Russo, along with fellow writer Ed Ferrara, made the jump to WCW in an attempt to reclaim the top spot in the cable ratings war. It didn't work, and things got silly quick. Russo made himself an onscreen character and feuded with the likes of Goldberg and Ric Flair, and booked himself as WCW World Champion. Aside from his many detractors — Jim Cornette once called him a "gutless p***y," and that's probably one of his nicer remarks — others have been softer to Russo. Booker T credits Russo for his first WCW World Championship reign, and even The Rock spoke highly of his Attitude Era segments. After WCW, Russo joined the creative team at TNA, where he worked for roughly 12 years.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "What Happened When" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.