Vince Russo explains why he left TNA (Exclusive)

Vince Russo worked as a TNA writer and occasional on-screen character between 2002 and 2014. The 63-year-old recently disclosed details about why he decided to leave the company.

Russo made his name as WWE's head writer in the late 1990s when RAW often drew its highest television ratings. In 1999, he and fellow writer, Ed Ferrara, left WWE to work for WCW.

On Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Outlaws show, Russo explained how he used to have freedom as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's main writer. However, he no longer enjoyed the job after former TNA President, Dixie Carter, hired several creative team members, where he felt he was wasting his energy trying to convince people, rather than being able to concentrate on his job.

"Dixie had created so many layers that I was spending the majority of my time trying to convince people of what we needed to do," Russo said. "That's how all my energy was being spent. I wasn't gonna do that anymore, bro. I knew what we needed to do. I'm not gonna try to convince other people that don't know." [2:15 – 2:38]

Watch the video above to hear Russo's thoughts on WWE canceling a Paige and Shelton Benjamin romance storyline.

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Vince Russo compares TNA to modern-day WWE

Elijah, formerly known as Elias in WWE, collaborated with Vince Russo on storyline ideas shortly before receiving his release in 2023.

Russo added that the problems he faced as a TNA writer probably still exist today in WWE under Triple H's creative leadership and touched upon powerplays and control in the industry being a major factor in the business.

"I'm sure there's a lot of that going on, bro, because it's all control and it's all a powerplay and it's all positioning. So if somebody doesn't want you to get ahead, they're gonna put the kibosh on your ideas. That's a huge problem," stated Russo. [2:39 – 2:57]

In 2021, Russo offered his services to WWE as a part-time writer but a deal could not be agreed. The following year, Vince McMahon stepped down as the company's creative figurehead and handed the responsibilities to Triple H.

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Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Outlaws and embed the video if you use quotes from this article, with an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.