For any fan who might not have a clue who Vince Russo is, he was a booker and writer who was massive in the early to late '90s for his work with the WWE and WCW. Russo has had his fair share of completely awful ideas which will be highlighted heavily, but let's give the man some credit because he was partially responsible for things like the formation of D-Generation-X, Austin vs. McMahon, and Mick Foley getting a push in WWE.
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After making his name in WWE, Russo decided to take his creativity elsewhere and try to help WCW return from the failing state they saw themselves in around 1999. The higher ups at WCW let Russo practically have full reign on what he wanted to do with PPVs and the weekly shows, and in turn fans got to see some of the weirdest angles and matches that have taken place in WCW. Here are just a few of the mistakes Russo made during his tenure with WCW.
10 David Arquette's Run
Vince Russo brought actor David Arquette into WCW after his role in Ready to Rumble. It started normal enough with Arquette appearing on Thunder in the crowd before facing off against Eric Bischoff and even getting a match against him on Nitro.
Things would change when Diamond Dallas Page put his World Championship on the line in a tag match with Arquette facing Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett. Arquette would get the win and become the WCW World Champion, a title he would hold for 12 days.
9 Crowning Himself World Champion
Sticking with World Champions who shouldn't have held the belt, Russo himself was crowned champion on Nitro after beating former champion Booker T in a steel cage match. Russo would be speared through the cage by Goldberg, causing him to technically win the match before vacating the belt the following week.
The decision to take the belt off of Booker T a week after winning it was already odd enough, but then Booker would be the one to regain the championship after the infamous San Francisco 49ers match against Jeff Jarrett. Other than having a non-wrestler hold the World title, Russo devalued the belt by just simply stating he didn't even want it to begin with.
8 G.I. Bro
Booker T created the G.I. Bro gimmick back when he wrestled at Ivan Putski's Western Wrestling Alliance Live! program during 1986-1992. The character would be shelved when Booker T formed Harlem Heart with his brother Stevie Ray and got signed to WCW, however.
Russo would bring the character back when Booker T joined the Misfits In Action stable alongside names like Captain Hugh G. Rection and Major Gunns. The character was odd timing as Booker was nearing the main event scene after being a multiple time Tag Team Champion and Television Champion.
7 NWO 2000
The nWo had run its course by the time that Vince Russo joined WCW with all members doing something else. December 1999, Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Hall, and Bret Hart would reform the nWo now with black and silver colors and called themselves nWo 2000.
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Scott Steiner then joined the group shortly after. Despite the star power in the faction, it never reached the same heights that either the original of even Wolfpac did. The trajectory of the faction may have been different as Russo actually walked out of WCW for a few months after Souled Out 2000.
6 Mike Awesome's Many Bad Gimmicks
Mike Awesome decided to join the WCW in April 2000 starting with a bang by attacking Kevin Nash. He would adopt the "Career Killer" gimmick after feuding with Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon before changing into "The Fat Chick Thriller" character, a man who had an obsession with heavier women.
That gimmick only lasted a couple of months before Awesome became "That 70s Guy" because That '70s Show was popular at this point. Again lasting only a few months Awesome would finally become his final gimmick of "Canadian Career Killer" after joining WCW's Team Canada stable.
5 "On A Pole" And Other Terrible Match Types
Vince Russo really liked to play around with different odd match types that could happen in the world of professional wrestling. As mentioned earlier, Booker T beat Jeff Jarrett in the San Francisco 49ers match, a match that featured three weapons sitting in boxes that were hanging from poles in the ring and a fourth box holding the WCW World Championship.
Pole matches became a frequent thing for Russo including putting Buff Bagwell's mother Judy on a "pole" as a stipulation. Another amazing match was the "DNA match" between David Flair and Buff Bagwell which saw Flair need to get a sample of Bagwell's blood and take it to some technicians.
4 Turning Goldberg Heel
The Great American Bash 2000 saw Jeff Jarrett defending the WCW World Championship against Kevin Nash. Goldberg came out and was one of the biggest faces of the promotion at this point but decided to Spear Nash and let Jarrett retain the belt.
The heel run only last around two months before Goldberg became a face again. His biggest match as a heel was facing Kevin Nash at the following Bash at the Beach 2000 show with Scott Hall's contract on the line.
3 Leaving WWE
Vince Russo had his reasons for parting ways with the WWE in 1999. The departure came after a dispute with Vince McMahon because of the increased workload after the creation of SmackDown and McMahon supposed disregard of Russo's family.
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WCW was offering a bit of money to Russo and the creative control over the show, but the timing was bad from the start. WCW lost the lead in the ratings, partially due to Russo, and were struggling to have good stories and keep fans invested.
2 Hot Potatoing The World Championship
From Vince Russo joining the company in late 1999 to the closure of the company, 29 different title reigns occurred including a few vacancies. The longest reign during this time was Scott Steiner holding the belt for 120 days before losing it to Booker T on the final episode of Nitro before being bought out by the WWE.
Champions during this time would be crowned by just handing the belt over, awarding themselves the title just because, and pinning someone who wasn't champion during a tag team match.
1 Bash At The Beach 2000
The cherry on top of all the bad decisions was Bash at the Beach 2000 where Russo and Hulk Hogan argued about the result of the WCW World title match that night with Hogan refusing to lose. Russo would have champion Jeff Jarrett lie down in the ring and give the match to Hogan.
Russo then came out and publicly fired Hogan and reversed the decision and created a match between Jarrett and Booker T for the championship. The match resulted in Hogan suing Russo for defamation of character and was the final nail in the coffin for WCW.
