Vince Russo, who served under Vince McMahon for many years, once made a bold move to challenge his then-employer.
In a recent episode of his “Legion of RAW” podcast, Russo brought up a memory about the historic SummerSlam 1998 match that took place between Steve Austin and The Undertaker. He remembered,
“I’ll never forget this, it was the SummerSlam’s ‘Highway to Hell’ match and it featured ‘Taker against Austin. This was perhaps the only occasion where I literally spoke up against Vince McMahon. The friendship between Taker and Austin was so strong that they desired a face-to-face match without a clear villain and hero. I recall a heated argument taking place at Madison Square Garden.”
Russo wasn’t in favor of the friend vs. friend match dynamic, but he admits that the decision was justified considering the fan-following of the two WWE legends. He remarked,
“Looking at it now, Vince’s decision was right. With the popularity of Taker and Austin, you need to fulfill their wishes, that was apparent. However, I couldn’t help but show my frustration at Vince. I reasoned, ‘This is New York, this is Madison Square Garden. The audience wants someone to cheer for and someone to jeer at. They don’t want a face-face. Even though I understand that these guys are friends.’”
The memorable match was christened as the ‘Highway to Hell’, and it ended with Austin being victorious and retaining the WWF Championship.
By year’s end, The Undertaker would switch sides to become a heel, eventually defeating Austin at WWF Over the Edge 1999 and securing his third World Championship.