Vince Russo has released an official statement regarding his working relationship with TNA, and it’s as deflecting and non-apologetic of an apology as one would come to expect.
…I was officially hired by John Gaburick as a creative consultant on October 24, 2013, with the plan being that it could lead to a permanent position in the future. At the time of my hiring, the specific instructions laid down to me by Dixie Carter, was that if anyone was to find out about our working relationship outside of me, herself and Gaburick—it would come to an end. I asked why the blanket of secrecy from the start—but never received an answer. Almost 9 months later, when an e-mail that I had accidentally sent out to a third-party was brought to the forefront, Gaburick was untruthful in telling the source involved that I was recently hired to produce the TNA announcers.
As I said in my previous article detailing Impact’s cancellation, regular viewers could very clearly sense the shift from non-Russo to “oh god oh god Russo’s back isn’t he” around that time. I can absolutely believe the timeline, and, sadly, that John Gaburick – Executive Vice President of Creative and Talent Relations – and company president Dixie Carter would 100% want to hide him from everyone.
John Gaburick told me sometime in January/February that at a recent TV taping, he DID INDEED tell Spike representative Scott Fishman, that I was working with TNA as a consultant. He even went as far as to tell me that Scott “was cool” with it. Therefore, the story that Spike just found out about my involvement with TNA merely weeks ago, which caused them to not renew their TNA contract, is an ABSOLUTE MISTRUTH. Spike knew of my TNA presence some 6-plus months prior.
He’s…sort of right. While he wasn’t the sole reason for Impact’s cancellation, and Spike executive did know a few months prior, based on what I’ve been told by my sources at Spike, the six-month timeline doesn’t quite add up. Of course, most of his statement shifts blame to Gaburick, because if there’s one thing Russo is good at, it’s taking responsibility for the ideas of other people.
YES, I am 100% GUILTY of trying to work that said source who received the e-mail, in an effort to protect the wishes of my employer. I regret even agreeing to be dishonest, deceitful and untruthful from the beginning, but the TRUTH is that I needed the income, so I agreed to the verbal restraints that were dictated to me from the start. I regret that now. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have never accepted the job under those circumstances being that my ability to be honest and truthful with family and friends was taken from me.
This is the part where we’re supposed to feel sorry for him, right? The part where he willingly joins up with the old boys club of Gaburick and Bob Ryder, gets to pull the strings from behind the scenes, write out gross, misogynistic storylines, and sends the company reeling back into its worst days? It was rumoured before his previous departure that because of him, the unspoken rule of “a man cannot hit a woman on a televised wrestling program” not only had to be spoken, but put into writing as well. My sympathies for someone who has continually lied, perpetuated some of the worst stereotypes about the wrestling industry, and reinforced dangerous, antiquated ideas about women in wrestling are running pretty low over here. Once TNA parts ways with Spike, a company who obviously took umbrage to his employment, how are we supposed to believe the moment that door shuts, he’s not going crawl right back through a window?
Russo’s upcoming projects seem to indicate that he won’t be returning to TNA, most specifically a self-published book about his experiences working with them titled Total Nonstop Agony, as in what I feel whenever I watch a Russo-penned segment. He’ll also be developing a script for a show called Belle of the Brawl, what one can only assume with be a respectful and progressive show about a female-owned and operated wrestling company.
In conclusion, after 20 years of dedicating my blood, sweat and tears to three major wrestling organizations, without ever holding anything back, and always delivering the best product I possibly could, I think it’s fair to say that that portion of my life has officially come to an end…
…or has it???
Well…that certainly cleared that up.
