WWE vs. TNA failed for one key reason, Vince Russo says (Exclusive)

Vince Russo wrote for WWE and WCW before working for TNA between 2002 and 2014. He recently explained why TNA's 10-week attempt to go head-to-head with RAW in 2010 was destined to fail.

In the 1990s, Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan were instrumental in WCW Nitro regularly beating RAW in weekly viewers. More than a decade later, the two men featured heavily when TNA moved its weekly Impact! show to Mondays to compete with RAW. The program quickly lost viewers and reverted to its usual Thursday slot.

Vince Russo appeared on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws alongside host Dr. Chris Featherstone and former TNA World Champion EC3. He said former TNA President Dixie Carter did not have the finances to seriously challenge WWE:

"I was there, bro," Russo stated. "I remember getting the phone call from freaking Dixie, man, and I'm like, 'Are you sure this is what you wanna do?' But Hogan and Eric had her freaking ear one hundred percent. I gotta be honest, though, bro, I really believe that Hogan and Bischoff thought it would work. They really believed it would work, and I was looking at finances alone. Finances alone, you cannot compete with them head-to-head." [10:24 – 11:02]

Watch the video above to hear more from Dr. Chris Featherstone, EC3, and Vince Russo on whether WWE views AEW as competition.

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EC3 agrees with Vince Russo's WWE vs. TNA take

The first Monday night head-to-head battle took place on January 4, 2010. TNA Impact! averaged 2.2 million viewers on Spike, while WWE RAW averaged 5.6 million viewers on USA Network. TNA's numbers decreased as the weeks went on, resulting in Impact! switching nights again in May.

EC3, a WWE developmental talent in those days, believes TNA did not have the experience to run live television like their rivals:

"Dude, going onto live TV, it just seemed snake-bitten from the beginning, and there's so many things that you don't know can go wrong. I mean, WWE is so well-oiled at this point where if something goes wrong there's fail-safes and back-up plans out the keister meister." [9:40 – 9:58]

WWE and TNA are no longer viewed as competitors. On January 16, the two companies announced a multi-year partnership that allows wrestlers to appear on the other brand's shows.

What are your thoughts on the WWE vs. TNA battle? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

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Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws and embed the video if you use EC3 and Vince Russo's quotes from this article.