Vince Russo TNA Interview (Part 2) Speaks On Bill Goldberg, Samoa Joe, Russo On TV, Lots More   www.TNAwrestling.com

Here is the second and final part of TNA's interview with Vince Russo.

FORMAN:The addition of Kurt Angle to the TNA roster and the move to prime-time (Thursdays, 9 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV, starting Nov. 16). How big are those things?

RUSSO: Huge. I think Kurt will be a locker-room leader, much like The Undertaker was at the WWF when I was there. The boys really respected The Undertaker, almost like a father figure, teaching them right from wrong and keeping them in-line, making sure they didn’t go into business for themselves, that it was the company first. I think Kurt Angle, with his experience and what he’s accomplished in this business, is going to have a great influence and a great impact on that locker room, which will really help the talent grow up in a hurry. And that’s what they need because most of the guys are so young. That’s why I really feel that Kurt will be just as valuable behind the scenes as he is on-camera – and that’s huge unto itself. The move to prime time is the opportunity. Let’s face it, 11 p.m. ET is when a lot of people go to bed, so that’s a very difficult time to get people to watch the show. With a 9 p.m. ET/PT time-slot, it is now our job, our responsibility to keep those viewers who check us out. Every show needs to be the best possible show it can be.

FORMAN: Obviously I cannot ask you to talk about all 50 guys on the TNA roster, so pick five. Any five, whoever you want to talk about, for whatever reasons you choose. Be it a singles wrestler, a tag-team, a manager or a Knockout.

RUSSO Wow, that’s tough because there are a lot who I like. I’d have to top the list with A.J. Styles because A.J. is wonderful on-camera, in the ring, but also a wonderful person away from the ring; he has a wonderful heart. Even though I’m at least 20 years older than him, I was looking up to him and the way he led his life before I turned my life around. And what he can do in the ring is just incredible; it’s hard to describe it at times. Every time I watch him he seems to top himself. He no doubt is the future of wrestling, no question about it.

Lance Hoyt. I really like him. He’s a big guy, a good-looking guy, someone who can do some incredible things in the ring. For whatever reason, the business of professional wrestling may have been what has kept him down. Hopefully not for long.

Ron “The Truth” Killings. He has all the talent in the world; which has made it tough for creative to match that talent. He has more energy than anyone I’ve ever seen.

Samoa Joe. I’m a huge fan of his in-ring work. I also really like the kind of human being he is; he’s a great guy.

Kurt Angle. Kurt was coming into the WWF right when I was going out and, truthfully, the first time I really watched Kurt Angle was a few weeks ago on iMPACT! when he did the thing with Samoa Joe. The one thing that just blew me away was the intensity that Kurt has. And remember, I’ve worked with everyone in this business, from Hulk Hogan to The Rock to Steve Austin to Mick Foley. I know how important that intensity is, because you cannot teach someone intensity.

And to go into business for myself, and add a sixth favorite—I think LAX is one of the hottest things in wrestling right now. It’s just real. Konnan and I go way back, and I’ve always respected him both as a talent and a man. He just always finds a way to re-invent himself.

FORMAN: Is it safe to say, if ultimately it is your decision, that we will not see Vince Russo again on TV?

RUSSO: I don’t want anything to do with being on TV; I really don’t. If it ever got into a situation where I was absolutely, positively, 100 percent needed to help get a younger guy over, then yeah there’s a possibility, like I did for A.J. a couple of years ago. But I have no interest in getting on TV again. I have no desire whatsoever to be on television. In fact, I never wanted to be on television in the first place. Every time I was put on television, it was someone else’s idea. That’s not what I wanted to do. I want the wrestlers to have the spotlight. I want them to have the opportunity. I just want to be the one who gives them the weapons, whatever they need to reach the goals that they set for themselves.

FORMAN: When you came back, did TNA Wrestling President Dixie Carter give you any restrictions?

RUSSO: That’s a funny question because I know people have written on the Internet that there’s some sort of clause in my contract stating that I cannot curse or anything like that. Well, when I tell you that I’ve changed over the last three years, Dixie Carter is one of the people who know that. Dixie knew me before and she’s known me over the last few years as well, since I’ve become a Christian. So, for Dixie to even have to think that she’d have to put any restrictions on my writing is totally ridiculous. She knows I’m not that person anymore.

FORMAN: What’s the biggest lie or biggest misconception out there about Vince Russo?

RUSSO: There are a lot of them, a ton of them. Even before I became a Christian, before I was saved, I know in my heart of hearts that I cared for the talent more than anybody I’ve ever met in this wrestling business. And I can say that matter of factly because many times that got me into trouble with the office because I would always take up for the talent. I would never look at the talent as just a piece of meat, or a dollar sign. I always, always treated them with absolute dignity, absolute respect. I’d rather look one of the boys in the eye and tell them something that they might not want to hear as opposed to telling them a bold-faced lie. To this day, I’ve never been able to do that. The reputation that I have through the Internet or the dirt-sheets is second-, third-, fourth- or maybe even fifth-hand information. If you talk to those who know me, I really don’t think you’ll come across many people who have an un-kind word to say about me. That does not mean they all agree with everything I did creatively. Let’s face it, I got a lot of heat in WCW and I made a lot of enemies in WCW because I knew, in WCW, that we had to start getting the younger talent over. I knew that the guys on top were only getting older, their bodies were getting more and more beat up, that they were so limited as far as what they could do in the ring. I knew, for the survival of WCW, that we had to get the under-card going, that we had to start taking those mid-carders and start elevating them to the next level. Because of that, many of the veterans did not have a lot of nice things to say about Vince Russo – because they were worried about their spot. But, to this day, I’ll tell you that I was doing the right thing; it was the right thing to do from a business point-of-view and I would do the same thing all over again.

FORMAN: Finally, one name and this is an open question, just say whatever you want to say about him … Bill Goldberg?

RUSSO: Bill Goldberg probably was the hardest and the toughest individual I’ve ever had to work with. Bill Goldberg came (to stardom) so fast, in such a short period of time. He became a huge, huge star in the wrestling business and there was a part of Bill Goldberg who believed he could lose it all as quickly as he got it. So, instead of looking at where something creatively might help him in, say, six months, he instead simply looked at how it would effect him immediately. But all talent has to realize, and this isn’t just about Goldberg, that creatively we know where we’re going with the character … and yet they, unfortunately, don’t - they simply see what they’re going that night. They’re only seeing chapter one, not the whole book.

If I saw Bill Goldberg in an airport today, I would go right up to him, shake his hand. I’m not sure he’d do the same thing back to me; that’s up to him. But I personally don’t have a problem in the world with Bill Goldberg.

FORMAN: Do you want Bill Goldberg in TNA?

RUSSO: If he wants to be there. I have no problem if Bill Goldberg wants to come into TNA, much the way I’d have no problem if Hulk Hogan would want to come into TNA. I mean this from the bottom of my heart: I don’t hold grudges against anyone; I don’t have problems with anyone. There honestly is not one person in the business that I would not work with.

FORMAN: Any last thoughts?

RUSSO: Yeah, I feel rejuvenated, physically, mentally, and spiritually, you name it. TNA is on the cusp of something big. I believe they will drastically change the wrestling business for the better—both in front—and behind the camera. I’m just so thankful for the opportunity. I’m home . . . because I know that in God’s master plan—that’s where I’m supposed to be!