Vince Russo says Stephanie McMahon did not want him back in WWE 15 years ago, and he knew it would cost him the job.
In 2002, Vince Russo went to meet with Vince McMahon about a position in creative. On The List & Ya Boy! Fightful Wrestling's Podcast, he said WWE was dropping in ratings and friend Disco Inferno convinced him to call Vince McMahon to offer his services. It had been years since Russo worked for WWE, after defecting to WCW years prior. Russo recalled McMahon brought him to a meeting and asked him to show up for a pay-per-view. Russo said after rejecting the pay-per-view idea, he stayed the night to meet with WWE's writers.
"(Vince McMahon) said 'The writers are meeting tomorrow, will you stay the night and meet with them tomorrow? I will make the announcement.' I said 'Yes I will do that.'...I had breakfast with Shane McMahon, who was a big advocate of me coming back. Shane and I had a great breakfast, then Vince brought me to the writers, Bro." said Russo. " I left three years earlier and it was just me and Ed Ferrara. I walk into a room and there's fifteen writers. My jaw hits the floor and a lot of them were really young," he continued.
Russo said he was confident he would be joining WWE and changing things for the better. He presented a year-long plan for television to the writing staff, but theorized the writing staff was not happy with his presence but he said he knows another person did not want him there.
"During that time, Stephanie was not there. I think Vince told her he hired me. I had one conversation with her, Bro. She was so freaking disrespectful to me," said Russo. "When she hung up the phone with me, I knew there's no way this is going to work out...She didn't want me there, Bro. Her and Triple H wanted the power," he continued.
Stephanie McMahon had just been named head of creative and Russo noted she did not want him around because he "knew more about creative than she ever would." The former WCW Champion believes if she was not head of creative, she may have felt different about him being there.
The List & Ya Boy! airs on Wednesdays with Co-Hosts Sean Ross Sapp and Jimmy Van.
