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Tiffany Stratton often receives positive crowd reactions despite WWE's higher-ups listing her internally as a heel. Vince Russo, WWE's former head writer, cannot understand why the 25-year-old is not presented as a top babyface.
On January 3, Stratton successfully cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on SmackDown to win the WWE Women's Championship from Nia Jax. Before the cash-in, she performed as the villainous Jax's sidekick alongside Candice LeRae.
Vince spoke to host Dr. Chris Featherstone on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo. Discussing Stratton's situation, he claimed the Triple H-led creative team failed to capitalize on the SmackDown star's popularity.
"Bro, they're months too late," Russo said. "I mean, when you put her in that angle with Nia Jax and Frances LeRoux [Candice LeRae] over there, I mean, Ms. LeRoux was clearly, clearly the heel. I mean, there was no doubt about it the way they set up the story; that's why I don't know why they would still be presenting her as a heel. I don't understand that." [5:31-5:57]
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According to Vince Russo, the decision to book Tiffany Stratton as a babyface should have been made as soon as fans started cheering for her.
"You know immediately. So, once you know immediately, you just wanna go down that road in a way which it makes sense. You don't wanna abruptly out of nowhere go down that road. Once you know, you go down that road, but you just lay it out over time where it makes sense, and you just do that by being true to the character. It's not difficult to do at all, Chris!" he added. [6:39-7:08]
Watch the video below:
Vince Russo on WWE's stubbornness over Tiffany Stratton's booking
In the late 1990s, Vince Russo wrote storylines for the Stamford-based company when RAW regularly drew the highest ratings in the brand's history. He later worked as a writer and occasional on-screen character for WCW and TNA.
Russo added that WWE writers are only making their jobs harder by delaying Tiffany Stratton's face turn.
"It's almost like they're saying, 'We'll turn her babyface when we want to turn her babyface,' and that's ridiculous, bro. Bro, booking and writing is hard enough. You don't need to go against the grain. You don't need to make it more difficult on yourself than it is. That's ridiculous, man!" he said. [8:47-9:08]
On January 17, The Buff Barbie will defend her WWE Women's Championship against Bayley on SmackDown.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
