JBL Recalls Vince McMahon’s Refusal to Feature Vince Russo on WWE Programming

During a recent Q&A session on the Something To Wrestle With podcast, JBL addressed a listener’s inquiry about whether Vince McMahon harbored a grudge against Vince Russo.

JBL admitted he had no definitive knowledge of McMahon’s feelings on the matter. “I do not know. Vince never said anything to that. I do not think he would even if he had them. I do not know the feelings of Vince when Vince Russo left.”

To provide some insight, JBL recalled an incident from his former WWE Network show, Legends with JBL. “I do know when I did a Legends with JBL and I had Eric Bischoff on, he said something about Vince Russo as far as WCW. Russo sent me a text. I sent a very nice text back. He said, ‘I want to come on and refute what Bischoff said about me.’ I said, ‘Okay,’ so I asked Vince McMahon. I said, ‘Hey, here is what happened on Legends with JBL. I had Bischoff on. I thought it was a very good show, but he said this about Vince Russo. Russo has sent me this text. You can read it if you want to.’ He said, ‘No, I do not want to. Give me a summary of what it is.’ I gave him a summary. I said, ‘Would you want to do a show with Vince Russo? I will be happy to interview him.’ Vince said, ‘Nope. Not giving him any press whatsoever. Nope. Not doing it,’ and that was it.”

JBL emphasized that while McMahon was firm in his decision not to give Russo a platform on WWE programming, his motivations remained unclear. “So I do not know if Vince had any animosity towards him or this guy was out there saying anything negative about our product and I do not want to give him press as far as prestige as far as putting him on a WWE show. I do not know what Vince’s motive was behind saying unequivocally, ‘No, this is not going to happen.’ So I do not know what Vince was thinking.”

Ultimately, JBL acknowledged that McMahon’s refusal to feature Russo on WWE programming was final, but the reasoning behind it remained speculative.