Show: Wrestling Epicenter
Guest: Vince Russo
Date: 06/19/2026
Your Host: "Arizona" James Walsh

It was 24 years to the day that TNA Total Nonstop Action Wrestling first made its debut on pay-per-view. Like, literally, to the day! June 19, 2002! 24 years later, a brand new book about one man's journey through the years as the creative force of TNA Wrestling is about to hit the shelves. That man? Vince Russo! The book? Total Nonstop Agony!

We sit down with the controversial mastermind of the WWE Attitude Era who also brought new lief to WCW in late 1999 and was the creative force during what many consider to be the best periods in TNA Wrestling history. In our chat, we discuss TNA's history, the infamous Roddy Piper incident where Piper blamed Russo for Owen Hart's death in the ring, the arrival of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, Dixie Carter, and so much more. 

We could pick Mr. Russo's brain for a decade and never run out of stuff to talk about. But, for 40 minutes, we got to do just that and got some of the best quotes we've had in a while. What a great conversation this was!

Vince Russo's new book, Total Nonstop Agony, the Rise and Fall of TNA Wrestling is out soon on ECW Press. Order your copy via Amazon, ECW Press' official site, or pick up your copy wherever your favorite wrestling books are sold!

Don't forget to check out www.WrestlingEpcienter.com for our prior 2 interviews with Vince Russo back when he released his other books! And, our entire interview catalog of over 900 guests over the past 24 years!

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/TDLeTynxsmo

VINCE RUSSO: 

On why now was the right time to do a bo
ok about the rise and fall of TNA:
"Wow, well, you know, man. I wrote my first book Forgiven back in 2004 and my second book, I think, in 2006. And, I had always wanted to do these books as a trilogy. I wanted the first book to focus on WWE, the second book to focus on WCW, and the third to focus on TNA. But, in 2006, when i wrote my second book, I was burnt out, man. I really didn't think I had it in me to write the third one. But, after a number of years, I reached back out to my friend Michael Holmes at ECW Press and asked if he thought it would be a good time to pull the trigger on the third one. When he gave it the thumbs up, I got to work on it right away."

On if the timing worked out great given the 3 part Dark Side of the Ring special on Jeff Jarrett & TNA looming:
"It does. I'm a part of that documentary as well. Theys at me down for a couple of hours and I will be appearing on the Dark Side of the Ring documentary on Jeff Jarrett and TNA. The timing is great because there will be more conversation about TNA when the documentary airs."

On if the title Total Nonstop Agony implies the times were all bad in TNA:
"Oh, no! There were a lot of great times in TNA. The "Agony" part of it started when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came into the company. Because, they changed it to something completely different from what it was and what it was meant to be. But, those early days, especially, with that company were great times. Sure, there were issues, little arguments along the way. But, as a whole, being a part of the early days of TNA as the company grew and figured out what it was going to be? Those were great times."

On if he felt the company should have kept the name TNA so long:
"Absolutely not. I came up with the name TNA. That was my idea. We were talkig about being on Tuesday nights.  but, TNA was supposed to be T&A. It was supposed to be the adult wrestling show. We were supposed to have foul language. We were supposed to have nudity. We were supposed to have all the things that made it an adult wrestling show and that is why the TNA name would have made sense. And, if anybody had an issue with the name, we could have said, "It stands for Tuesday Night Action" or something like that. But, once they got on FS1, they should have changed the name to Impact Wrestling. But, that was beyond my power to decide."

On the company eventually changing to Impact Wrestling only to bring the name back:
"Yeah, I don't think that is the right move. Again, TNA was meant to be T&A. It was supposed to be adult oriented wrestling. Once the decision was made to go more mainstream with the presentation, the name no longer made sense and should have been changed."

On Roddy Piper's infamous promo on Russo during a November 2002 NWA TNA PPV:
"That was 100% real. He did not know I was in the building that night. And, I did not know he was going to be in the building that night. But, when he went to the ring and cut his promo, I was standing outside listening and when he started going down the Owen Hart road, I said that if nobody was going to go to the ring and stop him, I was going to go to the ring and stop him myself. And, that is exactly what I did. So, I went to the ring and when he turned around and he saw me... I mean, he didn't even know I was in the state of Tennessee! That was 100% real. It was what it was. You know, man. You can tell people some things that were 100% shoots in pro wrestling were real and for whatever reason, they still want to believe it was a work."

On people going back and forth on thinking the Bret Hart Montreal Screw Job was a work:
"Bro, there is no going back and forth on it. I was there. It was 100% a shoot. As for people asking why Bret Hart had a camera following him around right at this time, it was because Bret did not trust what was going to happen. He believed something could go down. But, I was there. I was the guy who suggested that finish to Vince McMahon. And, I can tell you, without any doubt, it was 100% a shoot."

On pushing Bret Hart in WCW when he got there being him repenting for the screw job:
"Yeah, but not really, bro. What happened was when I got there, they had Bret Hart for almost 2 years and they had done next to nothing with him. Here was Bret "The Hitman" Hart, one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. And, they had done next to nothing with him. So, when I got there, I simply gave Bret Hart the opportunity to be Bret Hart again, bro."

On if Bash at the Beach 2000 with Hulk Hogan was a work or not:
"It was half and half. I'll tell you why. Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan were in on everything. They came up with some of the ideas of it. Where it became a shoot is Jeff Jarrett didn't think Hulk Hogan wanted to put him over. And, there may be some truth to that. Jeff Jarrett was not in on it. So, all he knew going in was the thought that Hulk didn't want to put Jeff Jarrett over. It was a work. But, it got out of control. And, it became real, bro."

On the show having a day long pre-show continually teasing Hulk Hogan could leave WCW that night:
"Here is what bothers me about this subject. I have talked about this for 25, almost 26 years. My story has never changed. I wrote books about this. My story has never changed. When I tell you that it started as a work, I'm telling the truth. It got out of hand and a lot fo that had to do with Eric Bischoff."

On his true feelings on Hulk Hogan:
"I have never butted heads directly with Hulk Hogan. I never did. All the problems that we had were because I came in to WCW when Eric Bischoff was let go and Eric Bischoff didn't like me for that reason. My only issues with Hulk Hogan were orchestrated by Eric Bischoff. When it comes to Hulk Hogan, I have nothing but respect for the man and everything he did for this business. I do. And, I get completely why somebody like that was protecting himself at all times. This is Hulk Hogan. The target on his back was immense and he had to be on guard at all times. In fact, when Hulk died, I had to go back and write the last chapter of my book. If you've not gotten that far in the book yet, you should read it. The last chapter is all about Hulk Hogan."

On Dixie Carter:
"Dixie Carter is a person who was simply too nice to be in the wrestling business. I don't want to come out and say, "She never should have been in the wrestling business." But, I will say she was just too nice to have ever been in the wrestling business. She came in to this really not knowing this business and the wrestling business can be evil."

On Velvet Sky giving him a lot of credit for the Knockouts Division's success:
"Man, I bet she didn't have anything nice to say about Dixie, though. (laughs) I appreciate it. I do. I think Dutch Mantell deserves a lot of credit for the Knockouts division really taking off. He put a lot of work in on it and worked to make it a success."

On if he has anything nice to say about Jim Cornette:
"Absolutely! For his time, he was an absolutely incredible performer. And, for his time, he was an absolute creative genius. The problem is, his time has passed him by. From what I've seen, he still doesn't want to change with the times. But, for his time, he was a great manager. He was a great on air character. He had a great gift of gab. He was great creatively during that time. I've never not said any of that."

On working with Jerry Jarrett in the early days of TNA:
"In some ways, he was a lot like Jim Cornette. He was great in his day and he had things to offer when TNA came around but in some ways, his day had passed him by also."

On Eric Bischoff being the one guy he bashes in the book:
"You know, I am a Christian man and I don't really like to say bad things about people if I can avoid it. But, Eric Bischoff deserves what I said. When he and Hulk Hogan came in to TNA (in 2010), they wanted to do everything their way and they wanted to do that with their guys. We had already put together a good crew of guys but they wanted to use their guys. I really think it hurt TNA in the long run because it was so different from what we were doing before they got there."

On the "Fire Russo" chants:
"The loudest the "Fire Russo" chants ever were was during that electrified cage match which was booked before I came back. I came back and that was already going to happen. And, yes, that thing was a disaster! But, I didn't take the chants too personally. When you do creative things, like if you're in a band, not everyone is going to like what you do and not everything you do is going to work. Your favorite band probably has a song that you really don't like. It is the same thing."

On if TNA ever could have gone toe to toe with WWE:
"No, bro. I don't think so. We had a good thing going. but at no point were we really within striking distance of WWE or able to say we were comparable to them. What we did do, though, was reach over 2 million people on Spike TV. That was an accomplishment. I know AEW would kill for 2 million viewers and they have a much larger network than TNA had with Spike TV."

On Tony Khan liking JCW Lunacy and Russo's booking:
"I appreciate that. I do. I stopped watching AEW years ago, bro, because it was just too much wrestling. All it was was wrestling. If you are longing for qa little bit of that Attitude Era "crash TV" style, you need to check out what we are doing on JCW Lunacy every Thursday on YouTube. There is wrestling but we have stories and characters and there is a great young roster there that is putting on a great show."

On "Big Al" Alice Crowley being a promising young talent:
"Yes, she is very, very good. There is a whole roster of talent just like "Big Al" who are already very, very good and will only get better. I'm very happy to be a part of this and to be doing this with ICP."

On if he ever thought we would live in a wrestling world without Vince McMahon in charge:
"No, I never did. But, if you look at what has been going on, I think Vince McMahon is getting ready to make a comeback. The legal issues are being resolved out of court and he is clearing his name. If you look at the numbers, not the dollar numbers but the viewership numbers, TKO cannot be happy with the way things are going. They can't be. I expect Vince McMahon to make a return. I really do."

On if Vince McMahon's return will be with WWE or if he'll launch a new promotion:
"With WWE. He will be back with WWE!"

On if Bitch Slap would have worked today:
"(laughs) That was an idea I had. It coul dhave worked then, I really believe it could have. Today, I don't think so because people don't have a sense of humor anymore."