Source: Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald

Vince Russo is a writer, and his latest offering is the book Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo (ECW Press). It is the follow-up to his first autobiography Forgiven: One Man’s Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification.

Russo’s résumé is unique. He wrote TV successfully for the WWF and had his ups and downs scripting for WCW. Currently writing for the growing company TNA, Russo is 49, married, with three children.

Russo has plenty to say, and Rope Opera covers and uncovers an interesting time in his life, stemming from this unusual roller coaster ride.

On the Rope Opera press release, it states: “He’s been known as both the savior of the WWF and the man who destroyed WCW.”

A born-again Christian, Russo was instrumental in writing WWF’s Attitude Era which surged WWF ahead of WCW in the Monday night ratings war.

After leaving WWF for WCW, the ratings for WCW TV increased immediately, but it was an uphill battle.

With disdain toward wrestling from higher-ups in Ted Turner’s hierarchy, a revolving door of non-wrestling types trying to run the company and the large amounts of guaranteed money being pocketed by talent, WCW fell apart.

Whether people enjoy Russo’s work or not, he has weathered some storm — a wrestling storm lasting 14 years and counting. Today, he continues scripting the action for 1.5-million plus fans who watch TNA iMPACT (9 p.m. EST Thursdays Spike TV) on a weekly basis.

That’s his job.

“I’ve been writing professional wrestling shows since 1996,” he said. “So I’ve been doing it for 14 years now, and to write a wrestling show every week, it doesn’t give you the freedom to write outside the boundaries.

“Rope Opera is the second book I’ve written because I just enjoy writing. It gives me the opportunity to write in a forum outside a wrestling show every Thursday night. It really is an outlet for me to be a little bit more creative in book form and not necessarily within the constraints of a 2-hour wrestling program.”

What is Rope Opera?

Russo answered: “I wrote a book a few years ago titled Forgiven. That book brought you through my years in the then World Wrestling Federation and how I broke into the business and my early experiences in the business.

“With the new book, Rope Opera, I picked up where I left off at the end of the first one. The book is much more wrestling based, and it really gives you more insight. There is an underbelly to the wrestling business, a dark side to the wrestling business, and a lot of that has to do with politics. It’s really not a pretty part of the business. It’s really not a part I’m proud of, but going through that really changes you as a person.

“Within the context of Rope Opera, this innocent, young kid breaks into the business at age 30, 31, and by the time I’m 35, 36, 37, I’m entrenched in the business. It is a journey of how the business can change you and almost make you somebody that you’re not and drive you to the lowest point possible. There are a lot of wrestlers who go through what I did. A lot of them don’t have the opportunity to write a book.”

Who is Vince Russo?

“I don’t know what it is, but I’m really looked at through a microscope. I’m really picked apart and critiqued and criticized,” he said. “At the end of the day — and I’ve said this all along, since I’ve been in the wrestling business about 19 years now — Vince Russo is a guy who goes to work everyday, does the best job he possibly can to support his family. No different than if you’re a teacher or banker or columnist. Being a wrestling writer, producer is my job. The reality is that’s all it’s ever been to me.”

People, especially blobbers and IM-posters on the Internet, continually bash the wrestling writing and the shows.

“Most of the time it’s not for good,” Russo said. “A lot of that really comes from a misunderstanding of what it is I do — just exactly what I do and do not have control over — and the obstacles that get in the way in doing what I do, because you’re dealing with personalities, stars, celebrities.

“A lot of times, when you write a story, which to the writer — being me — is the perfect story or the dream story, you take it to the talent/the personalities, and you’ve got to sell it to them. They’re the ones who will be doing it.

“Then there’s a little tweak here, a little tweak there and a little change there.

“All of a sudden, it’s not the original story that you had in mind, but at the end of the day, you’re getting criticized for everything because you’re the writer. There are just so many elements that unless you do it, you can’t understand it.”

Read the full interview (there is a lot more to this one) here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/wrestling/v-fullstory/story/1474058.html

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