Being a gifted athlete and even an Olympic medal winner does not guarantee success in WWE, according to Vince Russo.
Over the decades, several Olympians have made their presence felt in Vince McMahon’s promotion, the most successful of which being WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle.
During a recent episode of Sportskeeda’s “The Wrestling Outlaws” podcast, the topic of Olympians came up as those on the show discussed Tamyra Mensah-Stock signing with WWE.
Russo explained what an Olympian pursuing a WWE career needs to succeed and gave examples from the company’s past and present. He said,
“These are all legit blue-chip athletes. Bro, being an athlete is one thing; being an entertainer is something completely different. I’m going to go back to the ‘it’ factor. Kurt Angle was an entertainer from day one. He had that in him. Bro, if you don’t have that, Ronda Rousey is kind of stalled. That’s kind of a part of it. I think a lot of it with her, you know, it’s the writing and the presentation, and Chris, I’m eager to watch her on RAW because I am a fan of hers and really want to see what they are doing with her.
“Being a great athlete doesn’t mean you’re going to be a great entertainer. I mean, what was Mark Henry before Sexual Chocolate? That’s the thing, bro. It is not a gimme just because you’re an Olympic Champion.”
Mensah-Stock signed with WWE earlier this year, and the company is also home to fellow Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson.
