Vince Russo says he never wanted to pitch below-par storyline ideas to Steve Austin during their time together in WWE.
Russo worked as WWE’s head writer when Austin rose to the main-event scene in the late 1990s. As one of the company’s most successful superstars, The Texas Rattlesnake was hands-on with his storylines and the direction of his character.
Speaking to Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Dr. Chris Featherstone, Russo said he would never insult Austin by giving him “cr*p” ideas:
“I know I’m now going to Austin and I’m presenting, ‘Okay, Steve, this is what we’re [thinking].’ I knew, Chris, I can’t give this guy cr*p. This has to be at the level that Austin wants it to be. This can’t go in being mediocre… No, bro, I couldn’t do that to him.” [10:33-11:00]
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In the video above, Russo also discusses the way in which WWE books the likes of Big E and Drew McIntyre compared to Austin two decades ago.
Vince Russo had a lot of respect for Steve Austin
In modern-day WWE, Vince Russo is unsure if the company possesses megastars like Steve Austin who want to strive for perfection in their storytelling.
The one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion added that he did not fear listening to Austin’s feedback. However, he always wanted to present the Hall of Famer with the best possible ideas for his segments:
“Before I even approached him, I had to know, ‘Okay, bro, he’s gonna be cool with this.’ Again, bro, like we talked about today’s product, how am I going to approach Big E with this? How am I going to… you know what I’m saying? I don’t want to say there was a fear, but there was a respect that, ‘Bro, I’m not gonna give you garbage, man.’” [11:01-11:27]
Austin is widely viewed as one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. The 57-year-old won the WWE Championship six times and the Royal Rumble three times during his legendary career.
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