Vince Russo Comments on the Current Bill DeMott Controversy

In a new editorial on WrestleZone.com, former WWE, WCW, and TNA Head Writer Vince Russo comments on the current Bill DeMott controversy that has been surrounding WWE and NXT for the last week. As previously reported, DeMott resigned from his position as NXT Head Trainer on March 6 amidst said controversy, which claims that he physically and verbally abused talent within the WWE developmental territory.

Russo writes the following on, “The Bill DeMott that I Knew,”

“How lies turn into truth within the rings of professional wrestling is just something I will never understand. Things that get reported on by people who just don’t have a clue, is like watching a game of telephone being played by a group of five year-olds who are trying to convince their mommies that they indeed WERE NOT the one who invaded the cookie jar before dinner. It’s a joke, and a very sad joke at that because many reading actually believe the horse!@#$%

I read something yesterday morning that really pissed me off. And, believe it, or not, it didn’t even concern ME. On top of that, the blatant mistruth didn’t even come from a misinformed wrestling website, but rather Wikipedia.

As I started to think about this week’s column, my heart was weighing heavy for somebody that gave me everything they had when they worked under me at WCW – his name was Bill DeMott. Now, in discussing Bill and his prideful career, I went back and did a bit of research in order to get my facts straight. Yes, I remember clearly the Misfits in Action, but I couldn’t exactly remember all the team members of the ultimate underdog faction. So, I turned to Wikipedia, because everything is factual there, right?, and this is the first thing I read:

“The Misfits in Action were originally formed in 2000 from a group of wrestlers that Vince Russo considered were TOO LAZY TO GET OVER.”

Are you !@#$%^ kidding me, or what? I’m in charge of creative at WCW my first three months there, and I’m going to waste my time to come up with a concept for a group of wrestlers that are considered by me to be TOO LAZY TO GET OVER? Then I’m going to put those said wrestlers on LIVE TV with my freakin’ a** on the line? Do you understand just how asinine that statement is?

When I had the glorious “book”, some things got over, some didn’t, that’s just the way it goes. Many major league hitters get one hit every four times up, and that’s considered “average”. You’re not always going to have that epic story that will be talked about for decades, and you know that going in, but you put your best foot forward regardless, because you have pride in what you do. Yes, the pride that doesn’t exist today by those now sitting in my old seat.

But, good, or bad, the one thing I always attempted to do was to find a spot for EVERYBODY. If your name was on the roster it was my job to creatively find something for you, and put you on TV. If I didn’t “have something” for a talent, a phrase you hear many times associated with creative teams, then I should have been the one who was fired, not the talent.

The day I walked into the locker room at WCW, I saw so many talented men and women doing absolutely NOTHING being that they were hardly figured into the mix. Immediately, one of my top priorities was to put them to work in order for them to contribute their talents. THAT’S WHO the Misfits in Action were. Lash LeRoux, Chavo Guerrero, Van Hammer, Tylene Buck (Major Gunns) and the late Jerry Tuit (Sgt. AWOL). All six of these performers worked as hard as anybody else on the roster, and even though they didn’t have the name recognition, that’s not what it was about for me. For me, it was about the guys who left their heart and soul on the mat, never bringing one ounce of it back to the dressing room. There were the guys that I WANTED to work with, the guys that weren’t going to let me down.

It wasn’t by mistake that General Hugh G. Rection was put in charge of this band of rejects. As a matter of fact, he was specifically hand chosen by ME. Bill DeMott was in my view everything that a wrestler should be. He was class, man, he came to play every day and never said a word. He was thankful. Thankful for the opportunity. Bill DeMott was a TEAM PLAYER. There was absolutely no politician in this guy. None. Which is one of the reasons why he was so buried beneath the pack when I arrived. Bill DeMott ALWAYS worked hurt, ALWAYS. He never sold anything, not even when I clearly knew that he was in no condition to compete that night.

It’s called work ethic.

Not knowing his wrestling roots, there was one thing that was certain to me – whoever trained the young Bill DeMott trained him the RIGHT WAY. Trained him with honor, dignity and respect, many traits that wrestlers who I worked with over the years lacked. But, it was more than that. Bill DeMott was trained to be a survivor in a business that will chew you up and spit you out without even thinking twice about it. Bill DeMott was not only trained to be a wrestlers, he was also schooled on how to be a man.

I have no idea what happened at the WWE training facility, and many of us never will, however I do know this – whatever Bill DeMott’s training methods were, he employed them because he thought they were “right”. He employed them because back in the “old school”, perhaps he was trained the same way. It’s quite possible that Bill DeMott was only training the way that he “knew”, the way that the art of wrestling was passed down to him.

Look, there are no sides here, that’s not what this is about. This is about a very respectable man not having a job today, not having a way to support his family. Opportunities come few and far between in wrestling, especially when you’ve been accused of the things that Bill has as a trainer. And, you know what, that sucks. It sucks for Bill, and it sucks for his family.

Maybe it all could have been handled a different way. I’m sure it could have, but, regardless, and, as they say in wrestling, “it is what it is”. But, nevertheless, I owed this column to Bill DeMott. He always treated me with the utmost respect and I just wanted to return that favor to him. So, thank you, Bill, this former writer will never forget what you brought to me, and to the arena of professional wrestling. Hold your head high, my friend, you are respected by more than you know.”

Editor’s Note:
Interesting read.