Former WWE writer Vince Russo has once again addressed his decades-long feud with Jim Cornette, this time during an interview with Ariel Helwani, where he insisted he holds no personal animosity toward the veteran manager—despite the two being locked in one of wrestling’s most infamous rivalries.
Russo began by downplaying the idea that he has any hatred toward Cornette, instead characterizing him as someone who never genuinely affected him.
“First of all, let me make one thing perfectly clear. I don’t have any beef with Jim Cornette. I don’t have any hatred for Jim Cornette. If I am going to be honest with you, and I’m a New Yorker, to me, Jim Cornette is a goof. To me, Jim Cornette has always been a goof. So a goof is not going to upset me.”
Russo claimed the tension stemmed from two key professional moments where major executives chose him over Cornette, something he believes Cornette never accepted.
“Here’s what happened, Ariel. It’s really easy and it’s twofold. Number one, how did the hatred start? It’s real simple. Vince McMahon chose me over Jim Cornette. Years later, Dixie Carter chose me over Jim Cornette. Rather than Jim Cornette look himself in the mirror and say, ‘Wait a minute, why Russo? Why didn’t they choose me? What do I need to work on? What do I need to approve on?’ Rather than him do that, it was my fault. It was my fault that they chose me off.”
He also said Cornette has incorporated him into his on-air persona and online fanbase, fueling the ongoing animosity.
“Now, you add to that, I have become part of Jim Cornette’s shtick. His cult of Cornette, whatever it is, they expect Cornette to rip on every single thing I do to cut promos on me and to call me a Yankee and a sh*t stain.”
Russo went on to say he has repeatedly attempted to settle things publicly through a debate, but that Cornette refuses to meet him.
“I have offered to have public debates with Jim Cornette and Eric Bischoff, both of them. These guys will not get in front of me. Listen, man. This is the way I look at it. And again, I’m a New Yorker. If I think somebody is a liar and every word out of their mouth is a lie, and I can get them face to face and expose them, bro, I am going to be all over that. I am going to be all… But yet these guys have claimed for 25 years, every word out of my mouth is a lie. So I have said, no problem, let’s debate. I even said to Cornette, Jim, let’s do it online. We’ll have a debate. All the money goes to Cauliflower Alley. I don’t want a penny. Give all the money. Nope, they refuse. They’ll talk about me behind my back. They’ll cut promos behind my back. One on one in the same room. I’m still waiting for that to happen.”
Cornette has maintained his own strong views on Russo across interviews, podcasts, and live appearances, but the two have not spoken face-to-face in decades.
Vince Russo is asked about the feud with Jim Cornette: To me, Jim Cornette is a goof.#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/6NuCYNdFy0
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 26, 2025
