WWE Hall Of Famer Eric Bischoff Explains The Heat Vince Russo Built In WCW

Former WCW executive Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo didn't see eye-to-eye when the two were a part of WCW, and he has explained why the heat that Russo built as an on-screen character wasn't useful to the product. 

Bischoff and Russo, while initially starting off behind the scenes, became on-screen characters later in their WCW careers, with Russo even going on to win the WCW World Heavyweight title in controversial fashion. Bischoff, during a recent episode of his "83 Weeks" podcast, stated that the heat that Russo generated was one of disappointment.

"Let's talk about Vince Russo's heat. It wasn't money heat; it was disgusting heat. There's no money there," began Bischoff. "Heat, to me, is a commodity, and you can exchange it for money. Vince Russo's heat was pure disgust, disappointment ... maybe disgust is too strong a word; definitely disappointment."

Bischoff believes neither he nor Russo should've been in the ring or won a title, but argued why Vince McMahon felt more legitimate as an in-ring star. McMahon, like Bischoff and Russo, won titles when he was in charge of creative. 

"I had heat because I was the smarmy boss that everybody hated and I was full of myself, and I made sure everybody knew I knew it ... all that stuff I did to get my a*s kicked. They wanted to see me get my a*s kicked. Nobody wanted to see Russo get his a*s kicked. They didn't want to see him in the ring, just like they didn't want to see me kicking somebody's a*s [and] winning the title," Bischoff said. "McMahon, on the other hand, was believable. Vince looked like he could kick your a*s."

The WWE Hall of Famer also added that the heat that he had in WCW was valuable, which he doesn't believe Russo had.