thedarkness214
06-04-2014, 11:03 PM
http://www.pyroandballyhoo.com/responsible-attitude-era/
“Happy Birthday, Vince”, I said with a smile on my face as I slid the “unwrapped” birthday present I had bought him across his living room table towards his direction.
Looking back now . . . what was I thinking? What could you possibly buy a Vince McMahon for his birthday? He had to be thinking I was a complete imbecile, but yet I think he was rather “entertained” by the gesture. Years later, and in looking back now, I think that’s what attracted Vince to me–just my raw innocence of not knowing any better, which included having little, or no filter when I worked with him. That’s why it was easy working with Vince on a creative level. I never once had to worry about anything I said to him. I never had to be PC, I never had to concern myself with what he was “really” thinking–-because he would let me know immediately. My 15 years following those special times, I never had that sense of “freedom” in presenting ideas that I had with Vince.
Getting back to the gift.
Obviously laughing on the inside, Vince opened up the box and unfurled a folded T-shirt. Vince looked at the shirt, folded in back up, but it back into the box and graciously said, “Thank you, Vince.”
“That’s it? I said–-did you read what it said?”
I took the shirt out of the box–unfurled it again–and read it aloud to him.
“Don’t give me any of your ATTITUDE, I have plenty of my own”, I recited to Vince with a proud smile on my face.
Vince had to be thinking, “I know I have a set of brass b****, but this kid from Long Island is dangling CAST IRON!!!”
I’d love to say that shirt was actually responsible for the “Attitude Era”, and I can imagine that some of my critics reading this are “hoping” I will–-but, it wasn’t, and I won’t. That shirt I gave Vince for his birthday was just an omen for things that were just around the corner, waiting to EXPLODE the wrestling industry with raw energy, excitement, anticipation, and yes–-ATTITUDE!!!
whoneidhart2In those early days of booking with Vince, it was something that I could have never imagined growing up. I was a “casual” wrestling friend, not obsessive about it, but its entertainment value is what drew me. The characters were larger than life–-bigger, more magnificent, and grander than anything I had ever seen on any TV show, or movie before–I was just drawn to them. And, here I was, 20 years later, now going to be an integral part of keeping that tradition alive. But, at that time in the WWE, the business was on a downward swoon–-nothing was new, nothing was fresh, it had all been done before. From the outside looking in, as a fan first and employee second, I told Vince that we just needed to bring the product up to “speed” so to speak. Mirror what is going on in TODAY’S society. Forget the wrestling of yesteryear–-people just aren’t buying it any more, mainly because the “mystique” was murdered the day that the internet came into play. “Is it real, or is it not”, just no longer existed.
At that time, it was a three-man committee. It was me, Vince and James Cornette. It soon became obvious that while I was pulling Vince in one direction–-Jim was pulling him in another. That led to many arguments over “philosophy”–in which direction does the WWE need to go–backwards–what’s old is new, or forwards–let’s give them something new. Honestly, my frustrations were starting to grow in those early meetings for two reasons–1. I knew that I was right, and nobody was going to convince me otherwise, and 2. We were wasting A LOT of precious time over the “discussions”. Finally, after one of those meetings, I think it was the next day, I went up to Vince’s office and I told him that I didn’t think the current creative structure in place was going to work. I told Vince that too much time was being wasted, and for the good of the company–-Vince had to pick a direction. My life on my kids–-I DID NOT push Vince towards my direction. I simply told him that if he wanted to proceed without me, and with the team of him and Jim, that I would completely understand and go back to working on the magazine. I said that–-and I meant that. Vince thanked me for my honesty–-and I left his office.
The next week when I showed up at Vince’s house to write–-there was no James Cornette. So, please, don’t ask me for the 100 MILLIONTH TIME–-why does Jim Cornette hate you–-I just answered that question for the very last time.
Now, as yet another HUGE low blow to my critics–that hope I am now going to say that it was I–-THE GREAT VINCE RUSSO–who was INDEED responsible for the “Attitude Era”. WRONG AGAIN!!! Sorry, guys, you’ll have to find something else to ridicule me over.
rulesSo for weeks, upon weeks, Vince and I–TOGETHER–worked on this new way to present wrestling to the fans. There was no fear, no limitations, no guidelines, no restraints, it was clearly a period of nothing is off-limits–-let’s just “try it”. I remember telling Vince that we had to just discard the “Wrestling 101″ playbook–burn it, throw it away–where as “the book” dictated that if “this” happens you have to do “that”, I told Vince that we had to go the complete opposite way–-every time. I told him that was what was going to get the audience back. They were so used to the predictability of wrestling, and now–-that was no longer going to exist. For what seemed like a lifetime, we first stopped the bleeding concerning the ratings, then held them, then started to grow them very, VERY slowly. We were in the 3′s at the time. Every week those ratings would come in while we were writing and Vince would look at them, then look at me, and say, “Vince–-we work damn hard for those 3′s”. Yes–-we were NO DOUBT on the right track–-but–-we just needed that ONE BIG THING to get us over the hump.
Fast forward to June 28, 1997, the MGM Grand GArden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
There was a piece of a human ear laying on the canvas.
In their heated rematch a year and a half later from their original bout, which Evander Holyfield had won, Iron Mike Tyson BIT the then Champ’s ears–-that’s right, not one, but BOTH–-spitting out a piece of the bloody cartilage the second time, causing referee Miles Lane to disqualify him. This was to be the most controversial, shocking, and unforgettable moment not only in boxing, but in the history of professional sports. A record 2 MILLION people had bought that fight on PPV, and every person on this planet was talking about the incident for days, weeks, months, and even years to come!!! It is was created the “legend” of Mike Tyson. All those KOs prior now meant NOTHING–-Tyson had brutally bitten off a mans’ ear, then defiantly spit it out–-and the entire world witnessed the event!!!
BITE 1With gnawing on a man’s ear–-comes punishment. Mike Tyson’s boxing license was rescinded by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and being that most state athletic commissions honor sanctions imposed by other states, this effectively made Tyson unable to BOX in the United States.
That’s BOX in the United States.
Now, do you “really” want to know what the genius of Vince McMahon is. If you think that it was “filtering” Vince Russo–than you’re a plain, damn, fool. That is just not wanting to give me credit for ANYTHING because you personally don’t like me–-even though we’ve formally NEVER MET!!! No–-Vince’s genius came in SEEING opportunity first–-and then SEIZING that opportunity. Mike Tyson, even though barred from boxing at the moment, was the hottest commodity out there. On top of that, Vince knew that TWO MILLION people had just purchased his last fight on PPV. Now, Iron Mike wasn’t going to be on PPV in a boxing ring in any way, any time soon–-but a WRESTLING RING? Nothing is barring him from “THAT” squared circle.
So Vince went to work. From what I understand in doing research, and I have no concrete evidence on this–other than Wikipedia, Vince paid Tyson 3 million dollars for his services at WrestleMania 14. What a freakin‘ genius. Who wasn’t going to slap down the fifty-bucks, or whatever, not only to get to SEE Mike Tyson again, but to SEE what he was going to do fresh off his ear chewing and spitting!!!
holyfield2
So we came up with the creative, and I suggested to Vince that we surprise the audience with a SWERVE in Mike Tyson joining DX, rather than him teaming with Steve Austin which seemed to be the obvious fit at the time. And, even though Mike was going to be portrayed as a “heel”, he was cool with that because not only WAS he a heel–-he WANTED to be a HEEL!!!
So WM XIV went off without a hitch–-everything went according to plan–however–aside from the buy rate, we still had no idea how this move was going to effect our overall ratings of “Raw” in the weeks to come. Well–-we soon got our answer. In the months leading up the WM 14, the “Raw” ratings were on an average in the mid-3s–as I stated earlier. The week following Mike Tyson and WM IV, the rating hit a 4.4, and never saw the 3′s on a consistant basis again until around June of 2002 (when I “almost” went back there). And once, the audience came to the product–and got HOOKED on the product–the ratings hit marks that I don’t think Vince himself ever even imagined. So, in hindsight, the “Attitude Era” was indeed already born in those early days at Vince’s living room table, HOWEVER, the ratings were moving at a turtle’s pace BECAUSE ONLY THE SAME AUDIENCE WAS WATCHING EVERY WEEK. Nobody else knew that “wrestling was different now”. That is until Vince used Tyson as the vehicle –-to bring millions, and millions of casual fans to our product. Then we hooked them, thus making Vince and the WWE a fortune, thus enabling Vince to take the company public, thus a PG 13 rating, thus equating to numbers back in the 3′s.
OH–-the circle of life!!!
So “who” was responsible for the “Attitude Era”? With no disrespect to Austin, Rock, DX, and all the incredible talents that gave every bit of their all to that time, it all actuality it was that bloody, battered, probably stepped on piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear, that lie motionless on the cold, callous canvas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 28, 1997.
“Happy Birthday, Vince”, I said with a smile on my face as I slid the “unwrapped” birthday present I had bought him across his living room table towards his direction.
Looking back now . . . what was I thinking? What could you possibly buy a Vince McMahon for his birthday? He had to be thinking I was a complete imbecile, but yet I think he was rather “entertained” by the gesture. Years later, and in looking back now, I think that’s what attracted Vince to me–just my raw innocence of not knowing any better, which included having little, or no filter when I worked with him. That’s why it was easy working with Vince on a creative level. I never once had to worry about anything I said to him. I never had to be PC, I never had to concern myself with what he was “really” thinking–-because he would let me know immediately. My 15 years following those special times, I never had that sense of “freedom” in presenting ideas that I had with Vince.
Getting back to the gift.
Obviously laughing on the inside, Vince opened up the box and unfurled a folded T-shirt. Vince looked at the shirt, folded in back up, but it back into the box and graciously said, “Thank you, Vince.”
“That’s it? I said–-did you read what it said?”
I took the shirt out of the box–unfurled it again–and read it aloud to him.
“Don’t give me any of your ATTITUDE, I have plenty of my own”, I recited to Vince with a proud smile on my face.
Vince had to be thinking, “I know I have a set of brass b****, but this kid from Long Island is dangling CAST IRON!!!”
I’d love to say that shirt was actually responsible for the “Attitude Era”, and I can imagine that some of my critics reading this are “hoping” I will–-but, it wasn’t, and I won’t. That shirt I gave Vince for his birthday was just an omen for things that were just around the corner, waiting to EXPLODE the wrestling industry with raw energy, excitement, anticipation, and yes–-ATTITUDE!!!
whoneidhart2In those early days of booking with Vince, it was something that I could have never imagined growing up. I was a “casual” wrestling friend, not obsessive about it, but its entertainment value is what drew me. The characters were larger than life–-bigger, more magnificent, and grander than anything I had ever seen on any TV show, or movie before–I was just drawn to them. And, here I was, 20 years later, now going to be an integral part of keeping that tradition alive. But, at that time in the WWE, the business was on a downward swoon–-nothing was new, nothing was fresh, it had all been done before. From the outside looking in, as a fan first and employee second, I told Vince that we just needed to bring the product up to “speed” so to speak. Mirror what is going on in TODAY’S society. Forget the wrestling of yesteryear–-people just aren’t buying it any more, mainly because the “mystique” was murdered the day that the internet came into play. “Is it real, or is it not”, just no longer existed.
At that time, it was a three-man committee. It was me, Vince and James Cornette. It soon became obvious that while I was pulling Vince in one direction–-Jim was pulling him in another. That led to many arguments over “philosophy”–in which direction does the WWE need to go–backwards–what’s old is new, or forwards–let’s give them something new. Honestly, my frustrations were starting to grow in those early meetings for two reasons–1. I knew that I was right, and nobody was going to convince me otherwise, and 2. We were wasting A LOT of precious time over the “discussions”. Finally, after one of those meetings, I think it was the next day, I went up to Vince’s office and I told him that I didn’t think the current creative structure in place was going to work. I told Vince that too much time was being wasted, and for the good of the company–-Vince had to pick a direction. My life on my kids–-I DID NOT push Vince towards my direction. I simply told him that if he wanted to proceed without me, and with the team of him and Jim, that I would completely understand and go back to working on the magazine. I said that–-and I meant that. Vince thanked me for my honesty–-and I left his office.
The next week when I showed up at Vince’s house to write–-there was no James Cornette. So, please, don’t ask me for the 100 MILLIONTH TIME–-why does Jim Cornette hate you–-I just answered that question for the very last time.
Now, as yet another HUGE low blow to my critics–that hope I am now going to say that it was I–-THE GREAT VINCE RUSSO–who was INDEED responsible for the “Attitude Era”. WRONG AGAIN!!! Sorry, guys, you’ll have to find something else to ridicule me over.
rulesSo for weeks, upon weeks, Vince and I–TOGETHER–worked on this new way to present wrestling to the fans. There was no fear, no limitations, no guidelines, no restraints, it was clearly a period of nothing is off-limits–-let’s just “try it”. I remember telling Vince that we had to just discard the “Wrestling 101″ playbook–burn it, throw it away–where as “the book” dictated that if “this” happens you have to do “that”, I told Vince that we had to go the complete opposite way–-every time. I told him that was what was going to get the audience back. They were so used to the predictability of wrestling, and now–-that was no longer going to exist. For what seemed like a lifetime, we first stopped the bleeding concerning the ratings, then held them, then started to grow them very, VERY slowly. We were in the 3′s at the time. Every week those ratings would come in while we were writing and Vince would look at them, then look at me, and say, “Vince–-we work damn hard for those 3′s”. Yes–-we were NO DOUBT on the right track–-but–-we just needed that ONE BIG THING to get us over the hump.
Fast forward to June 28, 1997, the MGM Grand GArden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
There was a piece of a human ear laying on the canvas.
In their heated rematch a year and a half later from their original bout, which Evander Holyfield had won, Iron Mike Tyson BIT the then Champ’s ears–-that’s right, not one, but BOTH–-spitting out a piece of the bloody cartilage the second time, causing referee Miles Lane to disqualify him. This was to be the most controversial, shocking, and unforgettable moment not only in boxing, but in the history of professional sports. A record 2 MILLION people had bought that fight on PPV, and every person on this planet was talking about the incident for days, weeks, months, and even years to come!!! It is was created the “legend” of Mike Tyson. All those KOs prior now meant NOTHING–-Tyson had brutally bitten off a mans’ ear, then defiantly spit it out–-and the entire world witnessed the event!!!
BITE 1With gnawing on a man’s ear–-comes punishment. Mike Tyson’s boxing license was rescinded by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and being that most state athletic commissions honor sanctions imposed by other states, this effectively made Tyson unable to BOX in the United States.
That’s BOX in the United States.
Now, do you “really” want to know what the genius of Vince McMahon is. If you think that it was “filtering” Vince Russo–than you’re a plain, damn, fool. That is just not wanting to give me credit for ANYTHING because you personally don’t like me–-even though we’ve formally NEVER MET!!! No–-Vince’s genius came in SEEING opportunity first–-and then SEIZING that opportunity. Mike Tyson, even though barred from boxing at the moment, was the hottest commodity out there. On top of that, Vince knew that TWO MILLION people had just purchased his last fight on PPV. Now, Iron Mike wasn’t going to be on PPV in a boxing ring in any way, any time soon–-but a WRESTLING RING? Nothing is barring him from “THAT” squared circle.
So Vince went to work. From what I understand in doing research, and I have no concrete evidence on this–other than Wikipedia, Vince paid Tyson 3 million dollars for his services at WrestleMania 14. What a freakin‘ genius. Who wasn’t going to slap down the fifty-bucks, or whatever, not only to get to SEE Mike Tyson again, but to SEE what he was going to do fresh off his ear chewing and spitting!!!
holyfield2
So we came up with the creative, and I suggested to Vince that we surprise the audience with a SWERVE in Mike Tyson joining DX, rather than him teaming with Steve Austin which seemed to be the obvious fit at the time. And, even though Mike was going to be portrayed as a “heel”, he was cool with that because not only WAS he a heel–-he WANTED to be a HEEL!!!
So WM XIV went off without a hitch–-everything went according to plan–however–aside from the buy rate, we still had no idea how this move was going to effect our overall ratings of “Raw” in the weeks to come. Well–-we soon got our answer. In the months leading up the WM 14, the “Raw” ratings were on an average in the mid-3s–as I stated earlier. The week following Mike Tyson and WM IV, the rating hit a 4.4, and never saw the 3′s on a consistant basis again until around June of 2002 (when I “almost” went back there). And once, the audience came to the product–and got HOOKED on the product–the ratings hit marks that I don’t think Vince himself ever even imagined. So, in hindsight, the “Attitude Era” was indeed already born in those early days at Vince’s living room table, HOWEVER, the ratings were moving at a turtle’s pace BECAUSE ONLY THE SAME AUDIENCE WAS WATCHING EVERY WEEK. Nobody else knew that “wrestling was different now”. That is until Vince used Tyson as the vehicle –-to bring millions, and millions of casual fans to our product. Then we hooked them, thus making Vince and the WWE a fortune, thus enabling Vince to take the company public, thus a PG 13 rating, thus equating to numbers back in the 3′s.
OH–-the circle of life!!!
So “who” was responsible for the “Attitude Era”? With no disrespect to Austin, Rock, DX, and all the incredible talents that gave every bit of their all to that time, it all actuality it was that bloody, battered, probably stepped on piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear, that lie motionless on the cold, callous canvas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 28, 1997.