New WWE stars should have received promotion like Chris Jericho, Vince Russo says (Exclusive)

Chris Jericho's WWE debut is widely viewed as one of the greatest in wrestling history. Vince Russo, WWE's head writer at the time, used that moment to highlight how Motor City Machine Guns had an underwhelming first SmackDown appearance.

On August 9, 1999, Jericho interrupted The Rock on RAW after several weeks of teases about a "countdown to the new millennium" clock. The former WCW star then introduced himself as Y2J and vowed to save WWE.

Russo told Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo host Mac Davis there was not enough promotion around Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin's WWE debut:

"They did not do them any favors. I mean, my God, Mac, I was a part of that Y2J stuff, man. You've got to set the table for these guys, otherwise you know what? You're setting them up to fail, man. You're setting them up to fail and it is not their fault." [4:01 – 4:21]

Motor City Machine Guns defeated A-Town Down Under and Los Garza on the October 18 episode of SmackDown. They will face Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa on October 25, with the winners challenging Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa for the tag titles.

---

Vince Russo on Motor City Machine Guns' history before WWE

SmackDown commentator Corey Graves mentioned how Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin inspired many of today's top tag teams due to their innovative style. However, Vince Russo still thinks more backstory needs to be told about the former TNA stars.

Russo added that he sees similarities between Motor City Machine Guns and AEW's The Young Bucks:

"They were the first wave of The Young Bucks. These young kids that just loved, ate, slept, drank wrestling. This is the positive about that generation, bro. There is no drugs, there is no alcohol. Bro, they go to their rooms and they play video games, and that is a good thing. It really is." [4:29 – 4:56]

Russo also explained why he would book Motor City Machine Guns in an invasion storyline on SmackDown.

What are your thoughts on Motor City Machine Guns' debut? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

---

Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.