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Vince McMahon was WWE's overall decision-maker for four decades before being replaced by Triple H in 2022. While Vince Russo did not always agree with McMahon's creative ideas, he recently gave his former boss credit for creating The New Age Outlaws.
In 1997, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg formed a tag team at a time when they were struggling as singles competitors. The unlikely duo quickly became one of the most popular tag teams of the Attitude Era. They also joined forces with Chyna, Triple H, and X-Pac in the legendary D-Generation X faction.
Russo, a WWE creative team member at the time, appeared on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws with Dr. Chris Featherstone and EC3. The veteran writer revealed that he questioned whether McMahon made the right decision when he paired The New Age Outlaws up:
"I gotta give Vince [McMahon] all the credit in the world because he saw these two guys together, and that's how The New Age Outlaws were [created]," Russo said. "I gotta tell you, man, when he pitched that to me, and all I could see is Rockabilly [Billy Gunn's former gimmick], and I was like, 'Vince, are you sure, man? I don't see it.'" [From 20:16 – 20:39]
Watch the video above to hear the panel's reaction to WWE releasing Cameron Grimes shortly after he was allegedly promised a job for life.
Why Vince McMahon wanted The New Age Outlaws to succeed
It is well known that Vince McMahon often stuck by his own ideas even if audiences did not react how he initially wanted.
Vince Russo believes The New Age Outlaws are the perfect example of a character change that McMahon enjoyed simply because it was his creation:
"Because it was kinda like his baby, he worked more closely with those two guys than I ever saw him work with anybody else. Because it was his idea, he was gonna make sure that it got over. So that's one case where I really specifically remember we had two guys and you would have never thought in a million years they were gonna make the money they did." [20:40 – 21:06]
Billy Gunn and Road Dogg became six-time WWE Tag Team Champions. In 2019, they were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside D-Generation X.
What do you think is Vince McMahon's best creative decision? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
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