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The Blue Meanie believes Vince Russo’s exit from WWE indirectly harmed his chances of succeeding with the company.
Russo left WWE in October 1999 to join WCW. Vince McMahon’s ex-head writer liked The Blue Meanie’s work and often wrote storylines for him. Shortly after Russo’s departure, Meanie also left WWE and returned to ECW.
In a recent interview with WSI’s James Romero, Meanie admitted that he knew his days in WWE were numbered following Russo’s exit:
“He was a big fan of ECW and he brought me in," said Meanie. "It’s kind of like when if you’re a recording artist and the guy who signs you to the label leaves the label, they usually get rid of all the recording artists that that person brought in. So I was a Vince Russo signing, so I felt kind of like, ‘All right, this probably isn’t good for me.’”
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Meanie made his name in ECW between 1995 and 1998 before joining WWE. Following his departure in 1999, the ECW legend had another short run with Vince McMahon’s company in the summer of 2005.
The Blue Meanie comments on WWE's ideal Superstar
Vince Russo told Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Dr. Chris Featherstone in 2021 that Vince McMahon once advised him to hire a nanny to look after his children. Due to that comment, Russo felt McMahon “did not give a cr*p” about him or his family, so he decided to leave WWE.
Following Russo’s exit, Meanie suspected WWE’s higher-ups wanted to use their own creations instead of someone best known for their ECW work.
“If you’re a WWE-created wrestler, then they’ll push you to the moon," Meanie continued. "Well, they’ll give you more opportunities. But yeah, the character wasn’t a WWE creation. Vince Russo brought me in. They tried, they sent me to Memphis [developmental system] for a little bit to try to reinvent myself, but things didn’t work out.”
Meanie said in another interview on Brisco and Bradshaw in 2021 that he almost returned to WWE in 2015 as a surprise Royal Rumble participant. WWE's decision-makers ultimately opted to bring back Bubba Ray Dudley instead.
Please credit WSI and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
