American author, podcaster, professional wrestling booker, writer, and pundit, Vince Russo.
Vince is notable for his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in creative roles.
Vince grew up in Farmingville, New York and graduated from the University of Southern Indiana in 1983 with a degree in journalism. He worked for the school newspaper The Shield as an assistant sports editor and later as editor-in-chief.
Vince got his start in pro wrestling when he began training under the tutelage of Johnny Rodz at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn. He owned two video stores on Long Island, New York. He also hosted his own local radio show from 1992 to 1993 called Vicious Vincent’s World of Wrestling which aired on Sunday nights on WGBB in Freeport, New York.
Vince Russo is also an author and has written Forgiven: One Man’s Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification.
His autobiography (released on November 29, 2005) documenting his early life, his WWF run, as well as his Christian faith. The book was written in 2000, originally titled Welcome To Bizarroland and was a book that negatively portrayed people in the wrestling business. After being a born again Christian, the title and content of the book was revised to correspond with his newly found faith.
Russo’s second book Rope Opera: How WCW Killed Vince Russo was released on March 1, 2010 and chronicles his tenure with WCW and TNA. The title Rope Opera stems from the title of a television series idea that he pitched to networks at the time of his WWF tenure.
Vince shared about:
- WWF wrestlers and real life
- How his Italian heritage influenced his career
- How he became a WWF character