Jeff Jarrett discussed Vince Russo made himself WCW Champion in 2000 during his latest My World with Jeff Jarrett. Here are the highlights:
The idea:
“I was still a huge believer of, what are we doing next week? Who’s his opponent? What kind of match is he going to have, and I’m not talking about 5 star quality. I’m talking about episodic storytelling. How is Vince going to go tell a story in a match? It just wasn’t there, ever there. He wasn’t trained to be a wrestler. I know the Arquette story, the fluke win, and all of that, and that was a publicity stunt. There’s a bunch of different moving parts. I didn’t think Vince could get to week-to-week episodic storytelling. I didn’t think it was a good idea at all.”
Whether Goldberg tried to hurt Russo in their angle that led to Russo’s concussion:
“On Sunday afternoons, do you think a defensive back tees off on a wide receiver and says, ‘I’m going to hurt this guy?’ No. I think they tee off and say, ‘I’m going to make this son of a gun feel it tomorrow and maybe the next day, and maybe the next day, and maybe the next day. I’m going to sting him.’ Russo signed up for this and Bill said, ‘Ok pal. If you’re signing up for it, you’re going to feel it.’ Now is he going to try and concuss him? No. Is he going to try to permanently maim him? No. But he’s going to make him feel it. There’s no doubt in my mind. I’ve been in the ring with Bill. Bill is aggressive. He’ll take it to you and everything that goes with it. Is he the most polished guy? No. But I don’t think Bill said, ‘I’m going to hopefully end this guy’s career.’ No, I don’t think that.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription