Mid 20th Century
160-582: Vincent James Russo (born January 24, 1961) is an American professional wrestling writer, booker and pundit . He is notable for his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in creative roles. He also occasionally made appearances as an on-screen authority figure , and professional wrestler, in WCW and TNA. Russo's writing style often blurred
320-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
480-544: A one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion , and scored televised singles victories over future WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Booker T (the latter to win his world title). Vincent James Russo of Italian descent, grew up in Farmingville , New York , and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana (then known as Indiana State University Evansville) in 1983 with a degree in journalism . He worked for
640-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
800-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
960-417: A 2011 interview, Mantell denied this and the two proceeded to argue over Twitter for several months after this. Russo became head of creative for TNA sometime during July 2009. On addressing the "Fire Russo!" chants, Russo said he was not head of creative during that time, and when the idea of the electrified steel cage was presented to him, he said that there was no way that the concept could have been done in
1120-490: A February 2010 interview that it was a "very positive experience" and that their collaborations were productive. By October 6, 2011, Russo had stepped down to the role of a contributing writer, with Bruce Prichard taking over the head writer's role. On February 14, 2012, TNA president Dixie Carter explained that TNA and Russo had mutually parted ways during the week. In April 2014, the PWInsider website claimed that Russo
1280-550: A PPV service for its ExpressVu television provider known as Vu! in 1999. Home Theatre was later acquired by Shaw Communications ; after gaining permission to operate nationally, it re-branded as a white-label PPV known internally as Shaw PPV in December 2007. In 2014, due to Bell Media 's majority ownership of Viewers Choice because of its acquisition of Astral, and because both Bell and Rogers now ran their own in-house PPV operations (Vu! and Sportsnet PPV ), Viewers Choice
1440-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1600-496: A believable manner and that he was often blamed for ideas that he never even came up with. At the September 2009 No Surrender pay-per-view, Ed Ferrara joined TNA and began working on the creative team with Vince Russo and junior contributor Matt Conway. On October 27, 2009, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff signed with TNA and were paired with Russo, whom they had conflicted with in WCW and had not worked with since they departed
1760-488: A born again Christian, the book was perceived by some to portray a negative attitude towards the wrestling business. Originally titled Welcome To Bizarroland , the title and content of the book were revised to correspond with his newly found faith. Russo's second book Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo was released on March 1, 2010 and chronicles his tenure with WCW and TNA Wrestling. The title Rope Opera stems from
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#17327912437481920-546: A brief period, Russo returned as an on-screen character on the May 28, 2003 pay-per-view where he would hit Raven with a baseball bat helping Gilbertti become the number one contender for the world championship. The next week on June 4, 2003, when Gilbertti fought Jarrett for the world championship, Russo would hit Gilbertti with a baseball bat which in turn helped Jarrett retain his belt. On the following week's pay-per-view (June 11, 2003), when A.J. Styles and Raven fought Jarrett for
2080-417: A cap on what we can make. But the promoters and fighters insist on pay-per-view because that's where their greatest profits lie." "It's a big problem," Greenburg continues. "It's getting harder and harder to put fighters like Manny Pacquiao on HBO World Championship Boxing. If Floyd Mayweather beats Oscar, he might never fight on HBO World Championship Boxing again. But if HBO stopped doing pay-per-view,
2240-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2400-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2560-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2720-506: A clear winner as Russo was speared by Goldberg through the side of the cage at the same time Booker T exited the cage. Two days later on Thunder , Russo was announced as the winner and new champion. However, the reign was short lived as Russo announced he was vacating the title immediately after, as he was not a wrestler. Russo suffered a severe concussion from the spear spot, and took time off because of post-concussion syndrome . Russo's run as head writer and fledgling in-ring career came to
2880-511: A creative power struggle over the direction of the programming. During the time when these rumors circulated, Russo eventually debuted as an on-screen character when the mysterious masked wrestler "Mr. Wrestling III" helped Jeff Jarrett win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and was eventually unveiled as him. In the on-screen story, Jarrett did not want Russo's help which led to the two become involved in
3040-401: A creative writer and would assist in the writing and production of the shows. Russo claims that the name "Total Nonstop Action" came from him and that the original concept was, as they were exclusive to pay-per-view, to be an edgier product than WWE; the initials of the company "TNA" being a play on "T&A," short for "Tits and Ass." Throughout the first few years, there were numerous reports of
3200-431: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Pay-per-view Pay-per-view ( PPV ) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables
3360-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
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#17327912437483520-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
3680-401: A feud. Russo created his own faction of wrestlers he dubbed Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.), recruiting the likes of Glenn Gilbertti , Sonny Siaki , B.G. James , Raven , Trinity , and others. S.E.X. faced the more traditional TNA wrestlers led by Jeff Jarrett. Eventually, Russo would leave his on-screen role and Gilbertti would become the leader of S.E.X. instead. After leaving for
3840-471: A gross revenue of $ 222 million. In October 2016, it was reported that 42% of the UFC's "content revenue" in 2015 came from pay-per-view buys, followed by U.S. and international media rights. In 2018, UFC 229 would pull an all-time record for the promotion, with estimates indicating that the event attracted nearly 2.4 million buys, breaking the 1.65 million buy record set by UFC 202 . In March 2019, as part of
4000-461: A halt after the concussion and other injuries. AOL Time Warner bought out Russo's contract shortly after the WCW buyout in May 2001. Russo later returned to WWE in June 2002 as a consultant to oversee creative direction of both Raw and SmackDown! , but quickly left after two weeks, after stating that there was "no way in the world that this thing would work out". The major storyline idea he proposed
4160-401: A joint venture of Astral Media , Rogers Communications , and TSN . Western International Communications operated a separate service in the west initially known as Home Theatre; it was later rebranded as Viewers Choice under license. Viewers Choice Canada was a partner in a French-language PPV service known as Canal Indigo , which is now entirely owned by Videotron . Bell Canada launched
4320-422: A larger contract with ESPN for media rights in the United States, it was announced that future UFC pay-per-views will only be sold to subscribers of the network's streaming service ESPN+ . Professional wrestling has a long history of running pay-per-view events. WWE (then WWF) launched its first pay-per-view event in 1985 with its annual flagship event WrestleMania and has run numerous others throughout
4480-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
4640-742: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
4800-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
4960-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
Vince Russo - Misplaced Pages Continue
5120-953: A streaming service. Per nations with Pay-Per-View or PPV system in South América: In Argentina , Torneos y Competencias is a producer and sports events organization that are broadcasts live main matches of Argentine Soccer in four categories on TyC Sports , TyC Max (six channels), TyC Sports 2, TyC Sports 4 and TyC Sports 5. In Brazil , in the soccer main matches of Serie A (Six games per matchday) and Serie B (Four games per matchday) in two categories of Brazilian Soccer are broadcast live on Premiere FC and SporTV . The Serie C Championship are broadcast live on SporTV with two games per matchday in Pay TV. In other sports are broadcast live on NBB TV (Exclusive channel of Brazilian Basketball League in Premium system). In Chile ,
5280-413: A success that Viacom themed its annual report for that year around it. Viacom marketing director Pat Thompson put together the fight, and subsequently put together additional PPV fights, wrestling matches, and even a televised Broadway play. After leaving Viacom, Thompson became head of Sports View and produced the first pay-per-view football game on October 16, 1983: a college football game between
5440-468: A tag team match against Dusty Rhodes and Jeff Jarrett, although his partner, Styles, yielded the pin. On the October 15, 2003 pay-per-view, Russo made his final appearance of that year in a street-fight with Jarrett. It was reported that Russo was written out of the company as a result of Hulk Hogan 's signing and because Hogan reportedly said that he would not work for TNA as long as Russo was involved with
5600-570: A television broadcast signal. The field tests conducted for Phonevision lasted for 90 days and were tested in Chicago , Illinois . The system used IBM punch cards to descramble a signal broadcast during the broadcast station's " off-time ". Both systems showed promise, but the Federal Communications Commission denied them the permits to operate. Telemeter , an experimental coin-operated pay-per-view service, had
5760-677: A trial run in Los Angeles in 1952 and Palm Springs, California from 1953 to 1954, featuring first-run movies and live sporting events, until a lawsuit from a local drive-in and other issues forced it to shut down. The service then set up an experimental run in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke , Canada in 1959, free from American antitrust laws and outside of the FCC 's juridiction. Programming initially consisted essentially of first-run movies and fictional series. In 1961, Telemeter signed deals with
5920-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
6080-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
6240-433: A viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guide , an automated telephone system, or through a live customer service representative . There has been an increasing number of pay-per-views distributed via streaming video online, either alongside or in lieu of carriage through television providers. In 2012,
6400-518: A way to murder him without going to prison, I would consider it the greatest accomplishment of my life." In June 2017, Russo filed a restraining order against Cornette after repeated verbal threats of physical harm towards Russo and his family. Their real life rivalry has been featured in two episodes of Vice TV 's Dark Side of the Ring documentary series covering the Montreal Screwjob and
6560-530: A writer on the TNA creative team. Russo was paired with Dutch Mantell and Jeff Jarrett on the TNA creative team. During the March 2007 TNA pay-per-view Destination X on the "Last Rites" match with Abyss and Sting , "Fire Russo!" chants erupted from the crowd in the arena at Orlando indicating the fans' frustration with the incidents that occurred during the match. Another time the "Fire Russo!" chants were heard
Vince Russo - Misplaced Pages Continue
6720-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
6880-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
7040-794: Is broadcasting martial arts events organized by the world's most prominent fighting organizations, such as the UFC , K-1 , HBO Boxing , Dream, Glory WS, World Series of Boxing etc. and its pay-per-view service covers the Balkans region. Sky Deutschland , accessible in Germany, Austria and partially in Switzerland, provided nine PPV-Channels called "Sky Select", where their regular Pay-TV customers can see movies or various sports events such as boxing or soccer. As of 1. October 2020 only sport and wrestling events remained on PPV as movies were changed towards
7200-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
7360-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
7520-599: Is no longer with the promotion. In 2014, Russo wrote a series of pro wrestling columns for What Culture , a UK -based website. He wrote a weekly column for Chris Jericho 's website Web Is Jericho until March 2023. Since 2015, Russo hosted numerous daily podcasts for his podcast network Vince Russo's The Brand , formerly The RELM Network . Russo also briefly hosted a podcast on website Fightful Wrestling in 2016. Russo now discusses professional wrestling, entertainment and more on his podcasting network called "Channel Attitude" which features wrestling personalities including
7680-469: The "Disco Inferno" Glenn Gilbertti , Justin Credible , EC3 , Stevie Richards , Al Snow and Stevie Ray . He also does podcasts reviewing Raw and discussing wrestling news on Sportskeeda . Russo has written two autobiographies , including Forgiven: One Man's Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification , released on November 29, 2005. Documenting his early life, his WWF run, as well as becoming
7840-612: The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom , which prevented any attendance of the matches). However, the matches proved unpopular, with team supporters' groups urging fans to make donations to charity instead, and the Premier League announcing that it would allocate the extra matches among its existing rightsholders (TNT and Sky, as well as Amazon Prime Video and BBC Sport , with some on free-to-air TV) through at least
8000-529: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on Nitro in late 1999 was not recognized by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the title lineage until 2007; Liger lost the title to Juventud Guerrera , a luchador , after being hit over the head with a tequila bottle. Swerves and scenarios treated as " shoots " were heavily emphasized, as wrestlers supposedly gave unscripted interviews using "insider" terms that were only recognized by
8160-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
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#17327912437488320-471: The New World Order . Russo and his booking committee sat down to determine what would now happen at Souled Out . One of the ideas included putting the now-vacated WCW Title on the shoot fighter Tank Abbott , a former UFC fighter. In an attempt to do something believable, the idea was originally to have a "rumble match" in which Sid Vicious would be an early entrant in the match and would last all
8480-583: The Toronto Argonauts football team and the Toronto Maple Leafs to broadcast away games; wrestling was also featured. Some original programming, such as a 1962 Bob Newhart stand-up comedy special, thought to be the first filmed pay-per-view television special were produced at Telemeter's Bloor Street studio and several Broadway shows and an opera performance were also broadcast. At its peak, 5,800 households were subscribed but
8640-525: The University of Tennessee and the University of Alabama from Birmingham , Alabama . Sports View played a role in building pay-per-view networks, and became the early pioneer in developing TigerVision for Louisiana State University , TideVision for Alabama and UT Vol Seat for Tennessee. Sports View also produced the Ohio State - Michigan football game for pay-per-view in November 1983. In 1985,
8800-480: The domain name payperview.com, which redirects to the WWE Network website. With the rise of direct broadcast satellite services in the 1990s, this meant more services exclusively for DBS users appeared. DirecTV had Direct Ticket (which, in addition to movies and special events, also included PPV sports packages, most notably NFL Sunday Ticket ), while Dish Network had Dish On Demand . PrimeStar , on
8960-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
9120-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
9280-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
9440-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
9600-616: The 1960s and 1970s, with " The Rumble in the Jungle " fight drawing 50 million buys worldwide in 1974, and the " Thrilla in Manila " drawing 100 million buys worldwide in 1975. Closed-circuit television was gradually replaced by pay-per-view home television in the 1980s and 1990s. The Zenith Phonevision system became the first home pay-per-view system to be tested in the United States. Developed in 1951, it used telephone lines to take and receive orders, as well as to descramble
9760-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
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#17327912437489920-498: The 325,000–450,000 range. Pay-per-view fights in that range almost always generate more money for the promoter and fighters than HBO wants to pay for an HBO World Championship Boxing license-fee. In May 2007, the junior middleweight boxing match between Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. on HBO PPV became the biggest-selling non-heavyweight title fight, with a little more than 2.5 million buyers. The fight itself generated roughly $ 139 million in domestic PPV revenue, making it
10080-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
10240-849: The Beach 2000 "the proudest moment of my career, and the greatest contribution I was able to make to the business." Former TNA President Dixie Carter praised Russo as "incredibly talented" in 2014, but admitted his presence "proved to be too distracting to continue a working relationship"; when asked if Russo could return to the promotion she said "never say never". Various wrestlers who worked with Russo in TNA have spoken fondly of him, including Hernandez , Kurt Angle , and AJ Styles . Velvet Sky and Angelina Love credit Russo for being supportive of TNA's Knockouts division. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
10400-482: The Internet smarks ; chaotic broadcasts became the norm. In January 2000, Russo received two phone calls, one from Bret Hart (then WCW World Heavyweight Champion) and another from Jeff Jarrett (then WCW United States Heavyweight Champion), both saying that they were injured, thus could not wrestle and forced to vacate their respective championships. This required Russo to alter the plans he had in mind for Hart and
10560-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
10720-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
10880-474: The WWF because Vince McMahon was able to control them, while Ric Flair doubted Russo's WWF influence during their time together in WCW, later blaming Russo for the disorganization of WCW. Eric Bischoff has said that Russo was hired at WCW by overstating his influence in WWF, which Bischoff called "fraudulent." Wrestling promoters Tony Khan and Jody Hamilton have criticized Russo's role in the downfall of WCW, and TNA co-founder Jerry Jarrett expressed regret at
11040-473: The WWF was the result of a dispute with Vince McMahon over the increased workload caused by the introduction of the new SmackDown! broadcast and McMahon's disregard of Russo's family. Russo and Ferrara attempted to make the same "Crash TV" style on Monday Nitro which was similar to Raw Is War , only at an accelerated pace, including soapier storylines, more lengthy non-wrestling segments, constant heel/face turns, an increased amount of female representation on
11200-570: The WWF" and "the man who destroyed WCW". WWE credits Russo with being responsible for many of the Attitude Era 's storylines. Likewise, Bob Kapur of Slam! Wrestling gives Russo credit for the company turning away from the cartoonish style of the early-mid 1990s and instead bringing more mature storylines and characters to the promotion. WWF's The Rock spoke fondly of working with Russo, praising his "crazy out of box ideas". Gene Okerlund claimed in 2004 that Russo's ideas were successful in
11360-434: The angle into a shoot, and that he was double-crossed by Turner executive Brad Siegel who did not want to use him anymore due to his costs per appearance. Eric Bischoff states in his autobiography, Controversy Creates Ca$ h , that Hogan winning and leaving with the title was a work which would result in his return several months later where the plan was to crown a new champion at Halloween Havoc , where Hogan would come out at
11520-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
11680-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
11840-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
12000-587: The cable industry adopted satellite technology and as flat-rate pay television services such as Home Box Office ( HBO ) became popular. While most pay-per-view services were delivered via cable, there were a few over-the-air pay TV stations that offered pay-per-view broadcasts in addition to regularly scheduled broadcasts of movies and other entertainment. These stations, which operated for a few years in Chicago, Los Angeles and some other cities, broadcast "scrambled" signals that required descrambler devices to convert
12160-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
12320-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
12480-501: The channel DigiGold. In France , launched in the late 1990s, Canalsat (Ciné+) and TPS (Multivision) operate their own pay-per-view service. While CanalSat holds the rights to live soccer matches for France's Ligue 1, TPS had the rights for Boxe matches. In 2007, Multivision service ceased by the end of TPS service which merged with Canalsat. Nowadays, Ciné+ is the only existing pay-per-view service in France. In Croatia , Fight Channel
12640-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
12800-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
12960-423: The company after Bash at the Beach 2000 . In 2010, when asked about his relationship with Russo at TNA, Hogan said he came to TNA in peace, that the writing staff of Russo, Ed Ferrara , Matt Conway, and Jeremy Borash have really "stepped it up", and that Hogan loved Russo "from a distance". According to Russo, the three met together and worked out their differences. While working with Russo, Bischoff also stated in
13120-435: The company following the incident) also alleged in a shoot interview published by Highspots that the disputes and the incident also affected his WCW run, in which Russo allegedly took out his problems with Hulk Hogan on Awesome, citing that he was "too close of kin" to Hogan, by portraying several poorly received gimmicks. In mid-2000, Russo entered into an angle with Ric Flair . The angle notably included Russo sending cops to
13280-413: The company shortly thereafter. At Bash at the Beach 2000 , Russo was involved in an incident with Hulk Hogan where Hogan was booked to lose a match against reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett. Hogan refused to lose the match (invoking his contract's "creative control" clause to override Russo), due to Russo's apparent lack of direction for Hogan's character following the planned loss. In
13440-411: The company. In February 2004, shortly after Hogan was not able to commit with TNA, Russo would eventually return but strictly as an on-air character, becoming the "Director of Authority" in the storylines. This time, he was a face , claiming to have changed his ways (which was likely inspired by Russo's real-life conversion to Christianity). However, he would disappear again in late 2004 when Dusty Rhodes
13600-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
13760-493: The decision of bringing Russo in. Russo's decision to have David Arquette win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was viewed as highly controversial, though Russo defended his decision, citing that mainstream American newspapers covered the story. WrestleCrap named Arquette the worst wrestling champion of all time and called Russo's decision a "monumentally damaging blow to a company that
13920-529: The end of 2020, as it had done during the conclusion of the previous season. In Canada , most specialty television providers provide pay-per-view programming through one or more services. In all cases, prices typically range from around C$ 4.99 (for movies) up to $ 50 or more for special events. Initially, there were three major PPV providers in Canada; Viewers Choice operated in Eastern Canada as
14080-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
14240-413: The end of the show and ultimately win a champion vs. champion match – but Russo coming out to fire him was in fact a shoot which led to the lawsuit filed by Hogan. Bischoff claims that he and Hogan celebrated after the event over the angle, but were distraught to get a phone call hearing of Russo's in-ring shoot after Hogan left the arena. Mike Awesome , cousin to Hogan's nephew Horace Hogan (who also left
14400-460: The end, Russo booked Jarrett to literally lie down for Hogan, which resulted in Hogan doing a worked shoot on Russo saying, "That's why this company is in the damn shape it's in; because of bullshit like this" and scoring the pinfall victory by placing his foot on Jarrett's chest. Russo would come out later in the broadcast to nullify the match's result, as he publicly fired Hogan. This action restored
14560-792: The exclusive rights of Chilean Soccer are owned by TV Fútbol and broadcast live on a channel called Canal Del Fútbol ( The Soccer Channel ), also known CDF . Sports Field S.A. has exclusive rights to games on the Chilean professional basketball league, which are broadcast live vía CDO (Premium Signal). In Paraguay , the Teledeportes producer business have exclusive rights to broadcast live main matches of Paraguayan Soccer in four categories vía Tigo Max and Tigo Sports. Teledeportes have live broadcast of Paraguayan Basketball League broadcast Tuesday at 9:00 pm on Tigo Sports (K.O 21:15) and Wednesday at 8:55 pm on Tigo Max (K.O 21:10). In Uruguay ,
14720-407: The expansion of pay-per-view "the biggest economic issue in boxing", stating "I can't tell you that pay-per-view helps the sport because it doesn't. It hurts the sport because it narrows our audience, but it's a fact of life. Every time we try to make an HBO World Championship Boxing fight, we're up against mythical pay-per-view numbers. HBO doesn't make a lot of money from pay-per-view. There's usually
14880-609: The experiment was not a success and shut down operations on April 30, 1965 with only 2,500 subscribers. One of the earliest pay-per-view systems on cable television , the Optical Systems-developed Channel 100 , first began service in 1972 in San Diego , California through Mission Cable (which was later acquired by Cox Communications ) and TheaterVisioN, which operated out of Sarasota , Florida . These early systems quickly went out of business, as
15040-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
15200-545: The fight. A major pay-per-view event occurred on September 16, 1981, when Sugar Ray Leonard fought Thomas "Hitman" Hearns for the World Welterweight Championship . Viacom Cablevision in Nashville , Tennessee – the first system to offer the event – saw over 50 percent of its subscriber base purchase the fight. Leonard visited Nashville to promote the fight, and the event proved such
15360-502: The final show being the one-year anniversary. In 1992, Russo was hired as a freelance writer for WWF Magazine following a letter that he had written to Linda McMahon , and would later become an editor in 1994 under the pseudonym of Vic Venom. He was eventually promoted to the WWF Creative Team in 1996. In that same year, Monday Night Raw hit a ratings low of 1.8, as Monday Nitro ( Raw 's chief competition),
15520-507: The first pay-per-view boxing card held in Puerto Rico . Pay-per-view has provided a revenue stream for professional wrestling circuits such as WWE , Impact Wrestling , All Elite Wrestling (AEW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Ring of Honor (ROH) and Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA). WWE chairman and chief executive officer Vince McMahon is considered by many as one of the icons of pay-per-view promotion. McMahon owns
15680-406: The first pay-per-view cable channels in the United States – Viewer's Choice (now In Demand ), Cable Video Store , First Choice and Request TV – began operation within days of each other. Viewer's Choice serviced both home satellite dish and cable customers, while Request TV, though broadcasting to cable viewers, would not become available to satellite subscribers until the 1990s. First Choice PPV
15840-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
16000-492: The first thing he wrote as WWF head writer was the episode of Raw that aired on December 15, 1997. At the King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1998, Ed Ferrara joined the WWF creative team and was paired with Russo. Some of the more controversial characters during this time, often cited by critics of Russo, include Sable , Val Venis and The Godfather . Russo devised the infamous Brawl for All tournament. Russo also contributed to
16160-588: The formation of D-Generation X , The Undertaker vs. Kane feud, the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon feud, the rise of The Rock , and Mick Foley 's three-face pushes. In the two years following Russo's promotion to head writer, Raw surpassed WCW's Nitro in head-to-head ratings. In October 1999, Russo was replaced by Chris Kreski as WWF head writer, after Russo departed the company. On October 3, 1999, Russo and Ed Ferrara signed with WCW; Russo contends that his reason for leaving
16320-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
16480-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
16640-473: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
16800-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
16960-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
17120-893: The late 1980s when companies such as Viewer's Choice, HBO and Showtime started using the system to show movies and some of their productions. Viewer's Choice carried movies, concerts and other events, with live sporting events such as WrestleMania being the most predominant programming. Prices ranged from $ 3.99 to $ 49.99, while HBO and Showtime, with their event production legs TVKO and SET Pay Per View, would offer championship boxing matches ranging from $ 14.99 to $ 54.99. ESPN later began to broadcast college football and basketball games on pay-per-view through its services ESPN GamePlan and ESPN Full Court , which were eventually sold as full-time out-of-market sports packages . The boxing undercard Latin Fury , shown on June 28, 2003, became ESPN's first boxing card on pay-per-view and also
17280-446: The lines between reality and fiction, while also favoring elements such as shock twists, grand moments and larger-than-life characters over in-ring action, which made him a controversial figure amongst certain wrestling fans. Russo was part of the WWF's creative department during the widely acclaimed Attitude Era , during which the company achieved record high television ratings. During a self- booked in-ring career in WCW, Russo became
17440-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
17600-932: The most lucrative prizefight of that era. The record stood until 2015 before it was broken by Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao in a fight dubbed as the "Fight of the Century" on May 2, 2015, which generated 4.6 million ppv buys and a revenue of over $ 400 million. The leading PPV attraction, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has generated approximately 24 million buys and $ 1.6 billion in revenue. Manny Pacquiao , ranked second, has generated approximately 20.1 million buys and $ 1.2 billion in revenue. Oscar De La Hoya , has "sold" approximately 14 million units in total, giving $ 700 million in domestic television receipts and stands third. In fourth place in buys, Evander Holyfield has achieved 12.6 million units ($ 550 million); and at fifth, Mike Tyson has reached 12.4 million units ($ 545 million). Ross Greenburg, then president of HBO Sports, called
17760-645: The number of pay-per-view boxing events significantly increase and currently all of the UK's top fights are only available via pay-per-view. Broadcasters (most notably PremPlus ) have abandoned their aspirations to introduce PPV into other sports markets following poor interest from the public. In October 2020 during the 2020-21 season , the Premier League experimented with PPV telecasts of football matches not selected for broadcasts by its main rightsholders (which are usually blacked out 3:00 p.m. kickoffs, amid
17920-489: The other covering the WWF Brawl for All , which aired in 2019 and 2020. Russo is among the most controversial figures in wrestling. He often states that the story and character elements of the show are what draws viewers, and thus emphasizes entertainment over the in-ring aspect of professional wrestling. Newsday writes that "Despite scripting some of the most successful WWF television programs in history, and later doing
18080-1014: The other hand, utilized pre-existing services like Viewer's Choice and Request TV (as it was owned by a number of major cable providers), though promotional material bannered all PPV services under the name of PrimeCinema . In 2006, HBO generated 3.7 million pay-per-view buys with $ 177 million in gross sales. The only year with more buys previously, 1999, had a total of 4 million. The former record fell in 2007 when HBO sold 4.8 million PPV buys with $ 255 million in sales. BY 2014, HBO had generated 59.3 million buys and $ 3.1 billion in revenue since its 1991 debut with Evander Holyfield-George Foreman. 1999 differed radically from 2006: 1999 saw four major fight cards: De La Hoya-Trinidad (1.4 million buys), Holyfield-Lewis I (1.2 million), Holyfield-Lewis II (850,000) and De La Hoya-Quartey (570,000). By contrast, only one pay-per-view mega-fight took place in 2006: De La Hoya-Mayorga (925,000 buys). Rahman-Maskaev bombed with under 50,000. The other eight PPV cards that year all fell in
18240-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
18400-674: The popular video sharing platform YouTube began to allow partners to host live PPV events on the platform. Events distributed through PPV typically include boxing , mixed martial arts , professional wrestling , and concerts. In the past, PPV was often used to distribute telecasts of feature films, as well as adult content such as pornographic films , but the growth of digital cable and streaming media caused these uses to be subsumed by video on demand systems (which allow viewers to purchase and view pre-recorded content at any time) instead, leaving PPV to focus primarily on live event programs and combat sports. The earliest form of pay-per-view
18560-430: The promoters would simply do it on their own [like Bob Arum did with Cotto-Malignaggi in June 2006] or find someone else who will do it for them." Former HBO Sports President Seth Abraham concurs, saying, "I think, if Lou (DiBella) and I were still at HBO, we'd be in the same pickle as far as the exodus of fights to pay-per-view is concerned." The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion,
18720-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
18880-497: The ring to arrest Flair during the wedding between Stacy Keibler and Flair's son David . In August 2000 at New Blood Rising , Russo entered into a feud with Goldberg after confronting Goldberg when the wrestler left a match and "refused to follow the script." The next PPV, Fall Brawl , saw Russo interfere in Goldberg's match against Scott Steiner , costing Goldberg the match. On the September 18, 2000 episode of Nitro , Russo
19040-417: The same for WCW and TNA, Russo remains one of wrestling's most reviled personalities for his sometimes unconventional take on the wrestling business." According to Russo, one reason he is reviled is due to his take on the current WWE product; he believes there is too much actual wrestling and not enough storylines. In Russo's book, Rope Opera , he writes that he has been conversely referred to as "the saviour of
19200-587: The school newspaper The Shield as an assistant sports editor and later as editor-in-chief. Russo got his start in professional wrestling when he began training under the tutelage of Johnny Rodz at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn . He owned two video stores on Long Island . Russo also hosted his own local radio show from 1992 to 1993 called Vicious Vincent's World of Wrestling , which aired Sunday nights on WGBB in Freeport . The program ran for exactly one year,
19360-623: The service had 2.12 million subscribers. Since the beginning of 2022, WWE has ceased using the term "pay-per-view" and replaced it with "Premium Live Events" in promotional materials, to emphasize their carriage via subscription platforms. WWE had also begun to phase out WWE Network in some markets in favor of agreements with existing streaming services, including its U.S. agreement with Peacock . Other major organizations such as World Championship Wrestling , Extreme Championship Wrestling , TNA , Ring of Honor , and All Elite Wrestling have also run pay-per-view events. In 1999, Woodstock 1999
19520-462: The show, fake retirements, more backstage vignettes, expanded storyline depth, constant title changes, and the utilization of midcard talent in a more effective manner. Russo and Ferrara often focused on poking fun at the WWF. Russo's writing style created a large turnover in title changes, reflecting his "crash TV" writing philosophy. His booking of Jushin Thunder Liger losing and regaining
19680-704: The signal into standard broadcast format. These services were marketed as ON-TV . The first home pay-per-view cable television broadcast was the Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson rematch in 1960, when 25,000 TelePrompTer subscribers mailed $ 2 to watch Patterson regain the heavyweight title. The third Patterson–Johansson match in 1961 was later viewed by 100,000 paid cable subscribers. Muhammad Ali had several fights on early pay-per-view home television, including Cassius Clay vs. Doug Jones in 1963, and Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay which drew 250,000 buys on cable television in 1964. Professional boxing
19840-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
20000-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
20160-474: The title from Vicious in a singles bout with Arn Anderson as the referee. Three months after Russo's departure, Sullivan was ultimately relieved of his duties in March 2000 and Russo returned as lead writer, alongside the returning Eric Bischoff. The idea was that Russo and Bischoff would reboot WCW into a more modern, streamlined company that would allow the younger talent to work with the established stars. On April 10, 2000's, WCW Monday Nitro episode, Russo
20320-567: The title of a television series idea that he pitched to networks at the time of his WWF tenure. Russo is an American of Italian descent, as his maternal grandfather was Sicilian. He has been married to his wife Amy since 1983. The couple have three children together. In October 2003, Russo became a Born Again Christian. In 2004, he formed a short-lived online Christian ministry titled Forgiven . In late 2005, he produced two shows for his Christian Ring of Glory independent promotion . Russo
20480-467: The title to Jarrett, which set up a new title match between Jarrett and Booker T , with the latter winning the match and the title. As Russo promised, Hogan never resurfaced in WCW and even filed a lawsuit against Russo for defamation of character (which was dismissed in 2003 stating that the charges filed against Russo were "groundless" and "were just part of a wrestling storyline"). Hogan claims (in his autobiography, Hollywood Hulk Hogan ) that Russo turned
20640-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
20800-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
20960-491: The viewing audience would be more reluctant to change the channel for fear of missing something. In 1997, Russo became head writer for the WWF and wrote their flagship show Raw Is War as well as their monthly pay-per-views . With the angles that he created, Russo had a large hand in putting WWF ahead of WCW in the Monday night rating war during the Attitude Era . In an interview with Jeff Lane in 2015, Russo acknowledged that
21120-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
21280-567: The way to the end when Abbott would come into the match and eliminate him with one punch. Russo said that Abbott might not have held the belt for more than 24 hours if this title change had actually occurred. However, the day after he and his committee came up with the idea, he was asked to work in a committee and no longer be head writer. Russo declined the offer and left the company, with his immediate replacement being Kevin Sullivan , who along with other bookers, chose wrestler Chris Benoit to win
21440-414: The world title in a triple threat match , Russo teased hitting Styles with Jarrett's trademark guitar, but eventually hit Jarrett leading Styles to win the world championship belt. Russo would then manage NWA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles for the remainder of his 2003 run and S.E.X. was quietly written out of the storylines. On October 1, 2003, Russo suffered the first loss of his in-ring career in
21600-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
21760-429: The years. Although it still offers its events via traditional PPV outlets, they have also been included at no additional charge as part of a larger, subscription-based streaming service known as WWE Network . The service also includes original programming (such as documentary-style series and other wrestling programs) and an on-demand archive of events and television episodes from WWE's library. Following WrestleMania 34 ,
21920-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
22080-491: Was closed-circuit television , also known as theatre television , where professional boxing telecasts were broadcast live to a select number of venues, mostly theaters, with Arenas , Stadiums , Convention centers , and Schools being less often used venues. Where viewers paid for tickets to watch the fight live. The first fight with a closed-circuit telecast was Joe Louis vs. Jersey Joe Walcott in 1948. Closed-circuit telecasts peaked in popularity with Muhammad Ali in
22240-451: Was "voted" the new D.O.A. over himself at the three-hour November 2004 pay-per-view Victory Road in an interactive "election" on TNA's website. Russo left the company after the 2004 Victory Road pay-per-view. In a November 2005 interview, Russo states that he never wrote a single show on his own during this period at TNA and described his time there as a "total nightmare." On September 21, 2006, TNA president Dixie Carter re-signed Russo as
22400-501: Was a relative newcomer to the PPV market. However, the promotion experienced a surge in popularity in the mid-2000s, credited initially to the popularity of an associated reality show on the cable channel Spike , The Ultimate Fighter . UFC 52 —the first UFC event since its premiere, broke the promotion's record with almost 300,000 buys (in comparison to 250,000 for UFC 5 ). PPV numbers escalated further in 2006, with its events taking in
22560-439: Was already at death's door." WWE's Rise and Fall of WCW documentary also largely blamed Russo for the decline of WCW, prompting DVD Talk critic Nick Hartel to write that "while Russo deserves a lot of blame, he was not the only one in charge." R. D. Reynolds was also critical of many of Russo's booking decisions but stated that Turner Broadcasting executive Jamie Kellner 's decision to cancel WCW programs from Turner Networks
22720-536: Was an entire restart of the WCW Invasion , featuring previously unsigned talent such as Bill Goldberg , Scott Steiner , Eric Bischoff and Bret Hart . After feeling disrespected by a phone call with Stephanie McMahon , Russo then left of his own accord (turning down a $ 125,000 per year stay-at-home 'advisory' role with WWE in favor of a $ 100,000 per year full-time position with TNA). In July 2002, Russo joined Jeff and Jerry Jarrett 's NWA - TNA promotion as
22880-452: Was at the following month's pay-per-view Lockdown that was held in St. Louis on April 15, 2007. The chants were heard during the electrified steel cage match with Team 3D and The LAX where the lights would flicker on-and-off whenever a wrestler touched the cage giving the impression of electrocution. Dixie Carter has since noted that gimmick was created by writer Dutch Mantell . However, in
23040-582: Was available on Rogers Cablesystems in the United States and Canada . After Paragon Cable acquired the Rogers Cablesystems franchise in San Antonio , Texas , First Choice continued to be carried until Time Warner Cable bought Paragon in 1996. In the United States, pay-per-view broadcasters transmit without advertisements, similar to conventional flat-rate pay television services. The term "pay-per-view" did not come into general use until
23200-759: Was broadcast via PPV from Rome, New York for people who wanted to attend but could not. The cameras were a cause of the downfall of the event. In 2015, PPV broadcasts of the Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead tour set a record for buys for a music event, with over 400,000. Viewers in the United Kingdom and Ireland can access pay-per-view via satellite, cable and over-the-internet television services, mainly for films, boxing, mixed martial arts and American professional wrestling via services such as Sky Box Office and TNT Sports Box Office . Recent years has seen
23360-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
23520-516: Was close friends with Joanie Laurer, professionally known as Chyna before her death in 2016. Russo worked with Jim Cornette in the WWF during the 1990s and in TNA Wrestling during the early 2000s. They regularly conflicted over their opposing views on the wrestling business. In April 2010, a law firm contacted and accused Cornette of making a "terroristic threat" after writing a letter saying, "I want Vince Russo to die. If I could figure out
23680-447: Was getting paid about $ 3,000 a month, averaging to $ 36,000 a year, to be a consultant with TNA. On December 8, 2017, Russo signed with the Nashville, Tennessee -based Aro Lucha promotion as a script consultant. On April 5, 2018, Aro Lucha's CEO, Jason Brown, explained via a question and answer session on WeFunder (a crowd-funding website), that Russo had been hired as an independent contractor, not as an employee. As of April 2018, Russo
23840-401: Was heavily inspired by The Jerry Springer Show . "Crash TV" centered on Russo's philosophy that every character on WWF television should be involved in a storyline (feud). This contrasted conventional wrestling booking that would typically see a number of matches between wrestlers that were not necessarily involved in feuds. Russo believed that by constantly having storyline material on-screen,
24000-419: Was in a tag match alongside Sting and Booker T versus Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett, with the wrestler getting the pin receiving a shot at Booker T's WCW World Heavyweight Championship . Russo won after Booker T dragged an unconscious Russo onto Steiner for the three count. The following week, Russo faced Booker T in a steel cage match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The match did not appear to have
24160-557: Was in the midst of an 83-week winning-streak against Raw head-to-head ( see Monday Night War ). With World Championship Wrestling (WCW) eclipsing the WWF, WWF chairman Vince McMahon called upon Russo to make changes to the televised product. Russo contributed edgy, controversial storylines involving sexual content, profanity , swerves or unexpected heel turns , and worked shoots , as well as short matches, backstage vignettes, shocking angles and levels of depicted violence. Russo's style of writing came to be known as "Crash TV" and
24320-484: Was introduced as an on-screen antagonist authority figure. Notable storyline points his character was involved with include " The New Blood vs. The Millionaire's Club "; his feud with Ric Flair where he and David Flair were involved with shaving Ric Flair's hair as well as Reid Flair 's hair; his feud with Goldberg ; and his short reign as world champion. On May 8, 2000, Russo booked Miss Elizabeth in her first official wrestling match against Daffney . Elizabeth left
24480-410: Was largely introduced to pay-per-view cable television with the " Thrilla in Manila " fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in September 1975. The fight sold 500,000 pay-per-view buys on HBO. There was also another major title fight aired on pay-per-view in 1980, when Roberto Durán defeated Sugar Ray Leonard . Cable companies offered the match for $ 10, and about 155,000 customers paid to watch
24640-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
24800-713: Was shut down. In Romania , cable communications operator UPC Romania has notified the National Audiovisual Council (CNA) on the intention to introduce in January, February 2014 at the latest, an on-demand audiovisual media service called Agerpres. According to the manager of UPC Romania-owned Smaranda Radoi UPC, will allow customers to watch movies on demand or live events; as well as broadcasts of performances, concerts and sporting events. In November 2008, pay-per-view made its debut in Albania through Digitalb on terrestrial and satellite television, with
24960-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
25120-430: Was that Russo was to keep his involvement confidential. In less than two days, Russo's statement was removed from his website. On July 30, 2014, Russo claimed that he was "officially done" with TNA. Not long after, Russo revealed that he had been working for TNA since October 24, 2013, claiming that he had been involved in creative meetings and also critiqued the weekly episodes of Impact Wrestling . Russo stated that he
25280-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
25440-448: Was ultimately responsible for WCW's death. Regarding his time in WCW, Russo personally said, "WCW and I were never on the same page; it was just that simple". Booker T credits Vince Russo for his rise to main event status, citing "... if it weren't for Vince Russo, perhaps I would have never been the world champion... at all, ever!" Russo thanked Booker for the compliment and has since called Booker's coronation as WCW Champion at Bash at
25600-440: Was working as a consultant for TNA Wrestling. Russo denied the reports, but on July 15, PWInsider reported that Russo had accidentally sent an email to them with instructions on how TNA's commentators work. As a result, and after trying to state that he was not involved with TNA, Russo admitted on his website that he was already working as a consultant for TNA Wrestling to work with TNA's commentators and that one of TNA's conditions
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