Kevin Owens won the WWE Universal Championship on RAW this week. The wrestling world has been buzzing after it happened with many fans excited for what we saw! Not everyone was excited though, Vince Russo took to his podcast to bash Owens as the new WWE Universal Champion. Below are some highlights of his rant.
Russo says that:
“Kevin Owens is now the hood ornament of your company. Do you want to drive around with Kevin Owens sitting at the hood of your car? I don’t. Basically bro, at the end of the day, this is what you have to do; it’s very simple: Put Kevin Owens in the John Cena role. It’s that simple. We’re going to put Kevin Owens on Good Morning America, we’re going to put Kevin Owens in commercials, we’re going to put Kevin Owens in movies, we’re going to put Kevin Owens on the Kids Choice Awards, on MTV, it’s that simple. He’s the hood ornament of your company. Would I make Kevin Owens the hood ornament of my company? No, I would not! I don’t see Kevin Owens sitting next to Kelly Rippa. I don’t see that. If you disagree with me, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me. But, you’re replacing John Cena is what you are doing, which is preposterous. That is absolutely freaking ridiculous” (Source: Vince Russo’s The Brand).
Russo says David Arquette was more over than Kevin Owens will ever be;
“Then I hear things like; oh, says the guy who put the belt on David Arquette. First of all, David Arquette was more over than Kevin Owens will ever be. Casual wrestling fans and casual wrestling viewers in general knew who David Arquette was. That’s first of all. Casual viewers have no idea who Kevin Owens is, and every time he comes out, literally they’re like, who is this guy? So, that comparison is ridiculous” (Source: Vince Russo’s The Brand).
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You can check out the full podcast on PodcastOne. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
This coming from the guy who ran WCW into the ground and put the WCW belt on David Arquette. SMH
I like russo, but I have to disagree w/ him on the casual viewer argument. I personally don’t many, if any “casual viewers” of WWE. either you watch it or you don’t. I don’t know anyone who would look at KO and say “who is he?” when comparing him to cena. HELLO, if you’re comparing him to cena you probably watch wrestling. and for those who only know cena because of the ‘today’ show…. THOSE AREN’T WRESTLING FANS! THOSE ARE PEOPLE WHO ONLY KNOW CENA FROM THE ‘TODAY’ SHOW.
if someone who watched the ‘today’ show flipped over to wrestling accidentally and saw cena, they would say “what’s that host doing on a wrestling show?”
the correlation b/t ‘today’ show watchers and wrestling watchers are night and day. that’s not the same audience AT ALL.
granted, KO isn’t the most awesome choice to put on TV simply for optics purposes… but you can still use roman, seth, deano, charlotte, sasha, finn, cena… a million other people. the champ doesn’t necessarily have to be the one to promote or be the face of the product. i’m a fan of MMA, and i couldn’t sit here and tell you who the women’s champ is…. but i can tell you this…. no one cares. every news/media outlet wants to hear from ronda rousey.
it doesn’t matter who the champ is because anyone can promote the company. sure, the optic of hoisting the belt on TV is a nice image… but don’t be so narrow-minded in thining it does anything tangible for the product to have the belt on TV. its not making anyone tune in more to the product.
I agree with you. I feel like other than Hogan, there has never really been a wrestler who is universally recognized by wrestling marks, “casual fans” and people who don’t watch at all. Possibly the Rock with his new life outside of wrestling? Even guys like Austin and Randy Savage I don’t feel fit the bill.
agreed.
This guy is a fool. Anyone who takes him seriously is a fool.
Wow, Vince. You want fries with that salt? ?. Look. It’s called succession planning. John’s not gonna be around forever to hold the WWE up. We need to try different things. Different people. Owens is a great heel and a pretty good entertainer. He makes the crowd FEEL which is why John works on kids. KO is the grown [and sometimes insecure & whiny. JK] man’s John Cena. People are different and have a different appeal. That’s why no one cares what you think now as well and why we as wrestling fans can appreciate KO’s position in WWE. Go to the nearest Lazy Boy, ask for a quote then Take. Several. Seats.
Kevin would be great on the media circuit. They guy has a gift of gab. While he may not have a chiselled physique, not every champ does.
Of course casual fans know who he is by now. Maybe the channel changers don’t. Even if Arquette had more name recognition, it was a negative for him as champ.
…Russo’s argument is delusional and has more holes than Swiss cheese. First of all, ignoring AJ Styles, pretending the Brand Split doesn’t exist. Secondly, if he got put on the interview circuit, he’d crush it, because he’s a great talker. Think Owens himself had Russo property pegged trying to be controversial in order to garner clicks.
Ok Tardo