Vince Russo Talks About Causing A Royal Rumble Result To Be Changed
Royal Rumble day has finally arrived, one that generates great optimism, and sometimes, great disappointment. This year's show is noticeably more unpredictable than previous years. Wrestling Inc Podcast co-host Vince Russo remembers this being a problem long ago.
On the newest edition of Nuclear Heat, Russo talks about how he was brought on WWE TV as Vic Venom to talk about the Royal Rumble. While Vince recalls the year as 1994, it was actually ahead of the 1997 Royal Rumble that the appearance happened.
"LiveWire was a new show on Saturday mornings, it was supposed to be an insider-type show. It had Sunny and Jim Cornette, and I thought it was just another wrestling show. I went to Vince and I basically buried the show," Russo said.
This situation led to Vince Russo getting a slot on WWF Livewire. In early January 1997, Russo, as Vic Venom, was asked to give his Royal Rumble picks.
"Everybody had different predictions, and Vince McMahon was in the studio at the time. They asked me for my prediction, and I'm in there as Vic Venom, and I said 'are you kidding me? It's obvious Bret Hart is winning the Royal Rumble,' and I really put over Bret Hart. I didn't have a second or third choice," Russo said.
This infuriated McMahon, who was livid that Russo would give away their planned Royal Rumble winner with such confidence live on air.
"As soon as it's ended, Vince was very red in the face. He started firing up on me, asking how I could give away the finish to the Royal Rumble. I looked him straight in the eye and said I had no idea who was going to win the Royal Rumblem nobody told me. It's obvious to any fan sitting at home that Bret was going to win the Royal Rumble. I wasn't in the inner circle at that point. It was obvious Bret Hart was going over." Russo said.
Russo said that the Rumble finish was changed. The Rumble in which he's actually remembering was when Steve Austin re-entered the Rumble after being eliminated and tossed Bret Hart out.
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