Vince McMahon philosophy no longer exists in WWE, veteran says (Exclusive)

Vince McMahon oversaw WWE's creative direction for four decades before being replaced by his son-in-law Triple H in 2022. Vince Russo, WWE's head writer in the late 1990s, recently noticed a change in the company's presentation of on-screen personas.

Wrestling storylines usually revolve around a babyface (good guy) feuding with a heel (bad guy). However, over the last few months, Russo thinks the likes of CM Punk, Gunther, and Seth Rollins have switched between babyface and heel multiple times.

The veteran writer discussed the current product on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws with host Dr. Chris Featherstone and former WWE star EC3. With Vince McMahon gone from the company, he thinks audiences are no longer being told which wrestlers to support.

"They're not attempting to control the minds of the fans, so they're out there on their own, and, like EC3 just explained, bro, they're all over the place," Russo said. "One week this, one week that, one week that. I mean, Chris, I still believe it's possible for the WWE, if done correctly, to still control who they're going to boo and cheer for." [17:14 – 17:44]

In the video above, Russo explained why he would book Charlotte Flair in a storyline with her ex-husband Andrade on SmackDown.

Vince Russo on Vince McMahon's approach to fan reactions

During WWE's popular Attitude Era, Vince Russo co-wrote RAW every week alongside Ed Ferrara before reporting directly to Vince McMahon.

According to Russo, McMahon rarely allowed fans to dictate which wrestlers they wanted to cheer and boo:

"Bro, remember Vince's philosophy used to be, 'You're gonna like so and so whether you like it or not.' That was Vince's philosophy for years, and, bro, sometimes it took some time, but 99 percent of the time Vince got his way." [16:21 – 16:41]

Charlotte Flair's booking as a babyface has caused controversy since her Women's Royal Rumble win on February 1. In the same episode, Russo claimed WWE set The Queen up to fail.

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