Eric Bischoff SHOOTS On Wrestlers He Couldn’t Get Along With!

Eric Bischoff talked exclusively to Inside The Ropes during our tour last year about wrestlers he couldn’t get along with and legal battles with WWE.
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#ericbischoff #goldberg #wcw

[@InsideTheRopes]

Is Eric Bischoff the most underrated booker of all time? Let us know in the comments below!

[@XFactor1111]

No. He failed to book Bret Hart properly when he entered WCW.

[@dimedraweriv258]

LOL no. Despite the 96-98 success , I would consider him one of the worst. He paid millions to a lot of wrestlers they didn't need. I remember WCW roster being very bloated. On the other hand though , there should have been someone at Turner to say no.

[@CPUGaming]

Absolutely not

[@ronaldfielder9584]

He wasn’t ever the booker Always had a booker or a booking committee

[@deangelobailey5863]

How can you have hulk hogan, macho man, sting, Goldberg, nash, ddp, Scott Steiner, Bret hart, Mr perfect, lex Luger and ric flair in your roster and go out of business?? Horrible at booking.

[@robertcornelius3514]

Eric is the best ever. He tells us on every podcast.

[@subhasis_art.]

😂

[@kazman_6899]

Do you remember how he treated Conrad in the early ones? He couldn't have a laugh at himself. He was still litigating things from 25 years ago. When he worked our there's money in this, he suddenly started to love Conrad. And his memory became perfect.

[@johndawhale3197]

He's not wrong though...

[@peterf08]

He's his own biggest fan

[@JMFSpike]

@@kazman_6899 Sounds like you're just looking for a reason to hate on the guy. People learn and change over time. And his memory never "became perfect". You clearly haven't listened to many of the podcasts.

[@RetroTiburon]

Eric is right. He always gets accused of stealing talent when McMahon did the same thing in the 80's. Business is business.

[@qweasdzxcname]

yes he did. and also vince did. but well... too bad. as you said, business is business.

[@jamesm7281]

he didn't steal talent. Mcmahon didn't want to pay them the huge salaries WCW paid them. He didn't steal them. He did way overspend for many of them and just like aew he had way too many on the payroll.

[@user-nm5ry4xt5g]

​@qweasdzxcname it's not stealing. They're free agents. Nobody deserves to have a monopoly on anything.

[@wavedog23]

I remember being one of those kids who was super into wrestling, specifically playing the absolute HELL out of WCW Vs. NWO on N64. I fell out of it when I was in my mid-teens and only occasionally watch clips every now and then. Even though wrestling has basically zero presence in my current life, I always look back on memories of these times with the fondest of memories.

[@ntimmons8770]

Same here, I remember my dad switching back and forth between WCW and WWF. It was a highlight of my childhood. It’s unwatchable now, I don’t know who any of those people are. 😂 It’s super suspicious to me that wrestlers die out of nowhere. The WWE needs to be investigated.

[@Mavvvzz]

@@ntimmons8770typed all that to say nothing

[@rondellschuyler7074]

​@@ntimmons8770Drug use is prevelant in pro wrestling. Not just steroids. Everything

[@Spardeous]

All I know is that when Eric Bischoff was in charge of the WCW, that was about the only time in the entire history of wrestling when you couldn't miss a Nitro. They blew the WWF out of the water so hard in their narratives, storytelling and character buildups that outside of the Undertaker who had some very unique star power, no one cared about what was going on on the WWF. If you go down and look at the plots and how patient the WCW was about setting them up, whatever *that* is, whatever you want to call it, WCW had it in spades and it has never been replicated. I remember watching Kevin Nash slam Eric Bischoff into the table and him coming out with a cast awhile afterwards thinking, wow what is this? This isn't the goofy bullshit I expect from wrestling, this is serious! I remember the outsiders coming in and interfering with matches, and I thought damn, this isn't goofy, what is going on? I remember the Hulk betrayal and I was hooked. I remember the whole plotline with Sting being set up by the NWO and Luger thinking he got betrayed by Sting cause he beat him up, when in reality it was an NWO guy dressed up as Sting. They didn't just cash out immediately with those plotlines like the WWF does every time they get their hands around something, they played them out over a long period of time. They took their time and developed it, and that's part of, in my view, why the big WCW guys had so much star power going forward. Because people remembered the intricacies of the plotlines they were involved in.

[@pilisopa]

100%

[@chrisbinwang2119]

The Undertaker being the only cartoonish wrestling persona to survive the WWE's worst era in the 90s is cool.

[@bryanmack4054]

Dark and mysterious characters always tend to be most interesting and long lasting…they’re planning to remake the Crow after all

[@Kasigi03]

Well he adopted well enough and properly with the times where even if it didn't make sense, it was fun. Like a special treat from the past. Remember when wrestling created monsters, legends and larger than life characters? Now it's just guys who all want a fake belt and nothing of flavor.

[@KelticTim]

Uhhh 2 words, Hulk Hogan.

[@toni4PF]

​@bryanmack4054 which will be ass compared to Lee's role.

[@KelticTim]

@@toni4PF I watched the trailer, I was nervous as hell, but it looked like Bill is playing the lead different enough and well enough, with just enough tributes to Lee. I could be optimistically blind, the feel of the whole movie feels like that, diff enough, yet still decent looking with tributes to the original. Billy did a great job with Its clown from what I’m told, so hopefully is the same situation here.

[@Az__T]

Nice to hear him speak and not hear Conrad.

[@nzelver559]

He's equally as annoying as Conrad - he's a liar and a bitter old man. He gave away the results of Raw, and it bit him in the arse.

[@Forever_Thatter]

same, I couldn't sit through a single episode of 83 Weeks.

[@leonardoyi3183]

Its incredible how wcw became so important. It had a 13 year life from 88 to 01. Other companies have stayed longer like TNA, but people still talk about wcw...

[@stevenhenry5267]

Mostly to make fun of it.

[@leonardoyi3183]

@@stevenhenry5267 I don't think so. WCW has been the only company going toe to toe with WWE. Even surpassing them at one time.

[@yungugh1-689]

Only company to legit beat wwe for a brief period

[@AD-ur1fk]

Because they were one of the few companies to be the number 1 wrestling show

[@rondoughhowell6442]

of course WCW was WWE best rival thanks to Bischoff

[@TheQuincyEdwards]

I always liked Bischoff. He was unpredictable there for a while and it was a refreshing time to live thru for wrestling. WCW was killing WWE there for a minute.

[@alexh8613]

Unpredictable? How unpredictable is have a great main event every week, but make sure that there is outside interference to disrupt the ending. Resulting in a DQ and then a going off the air brawl

[@JayCord00]

Every? 🤣🤦 NWO and Eric changed the image of wrestling forever, whether you like it or not.

[@MrTbomb69]

Over a 13 minute video and only the last two minutes were about anyone that he may or may not have gotten along with. 🙄

[@naughtynonsense]

Wish I would've seen this.... could've fast forwarded....

[@HombreGermany]

Typical ITR unfortunately.

[@naughtynonsense]

@@HombreGermany right recently I've been noticing they're pretty clickbaity, might be time for me to unsub lol

[@hikingthehaunts4200]

It's Easy E, man. Whatever he's talking about, it's gonna be interesting.

[@MrBobby35790]

Had the same thought. I was driving so had to listen to whole thing but kept thinking, ok, when do we actually get to the title question?

[@MarkAtherton]

I’m sick of Bischoff getting trashed because it’s the internets way of remembering history. If you lived it, you don’t need some warped internet interpretation of what happened. I remember it well. WCW had lightning in a bottle. I was 10 years old in 97 and waiting for Nitro was the highlight of my week. I’ll always love and be so thankful for the memories that I have from my childhood. It was such a special time.

[@sunnylal888]

For sure I agree being from the uk I only seen wcw or wwf Sunday night heat didn’t have sky sports so that’s why in the uk we love sting Goldberg etc

[@stevenhenry5267]

He stole a gimmick from Japan and had a big checkbook and then fucked up every advantage he was given.

[@MarkAtherton]

@@stevenhenry5267 regardless of what you think, he is the only person to ever compete with Vince McMahon and have a sustained competitive advantage over a long period of time.

[@mattperkins261]

Yeah, I'm your age give or take, and wcw was always far more predictable than wwe and it was never as entertaining. That's what happens when conmen like eric get control, steal ideas like the nwo from Japan and then have no clue on how to properly execute the idea. It might have beat RAW in the ratings for a while, but it was pure crap mostly, because it was so predictable. The only reason I watched wcw was for the cruiserweights and the mid card because the 'main event' always failed to deliver and sucked.

[@mattperkins261]

​@@sunnylal888you don't speak for the UK fella. Goldturd and Sting had equal detractors compared to fans. They were both lazy and tedious as all hell. One was a knock off Steve Austin, only minus the talent and charisma, but he was an incompetent meat head who knocked himself out multiple times, and the other was an Undertaker wannabe who'd work for 3 months, then take 6 off. They're both trash and they were not universally loved here.

[@Ryan-hl4ur]

Hall coming through the crowd was Zbyszko's idea. As Hall said; "if I came down the ramp, wouldn't "the boys" & fans know it's a "work."

[@midwestripppa]

Being in the driver seat at that time would’ve been crazy. Gotta respect the effort🤷🏻‍♂️

[@projectjab156]

It was an awesome run for that year and a half. Give the man credit for putting a juggernaut like WWE/F on the ropes for a moment.

[@ZBR_ProXP]

@@projectjab156I give him no credit

[@Mavvvzz]

@@ZBR_ProXPok mark go watch aew

[@brandonhamilton6136]

I always love just listening to conversations Eric or Paul have, such great listening!

[@sidgreenstorm4634]

I dont care what anyone says but when the NWO first appeared on WCW it was the beginning of the BEST ERA of wrestling. Eric is the reason that wrestlers like Hall,Nash,Sting,Hogan and etc reached their peak which made Vince up his game and gave WWF a run for their money back in the day. Good ol days

[@awee5816]

At the same time Eric played out that Idea 💡 & the audience wanted something New but didn't meet those needs. So Everyone moved back to WWE

[@sidgreenstorm4634]

@awee5816 that's true I agree

[@jamesm7281]

eric wasn't. He didn't want Hogan and he's admitted it. He wanted sting which would have been a horrible idea because now they lose their top face. Hogan and the Outsiders talked to Eric and Eric finally relented.

[@_WF23]

Eric is the man. Hated him when he was on RAW.

[@MicroGrizzly]

i wish wcw had a plan for after the nwo, the lack of forsight is what ruined them

[@NoneofYabiz-rx3zi]

They had too many chiefs and Bischoff isn't Vince. Vince would put his foot down if neccessary. Starrcade 97 would have never happened the way it did if Vince was the one in charge.

[@zlinedavid]

You could caption this thumbnail with “Goldberg gets a prostate exam from a doctor with cold hands”

[@Justinosborn]

Ive heard Eric tell the story of how Nitro came about several times and he said he had a meeting with Turner and he asked Eric “what do we have to do to beat wwf?” And Eric said we need to go up against wwf on Mondays. But here he says nitro was decided for him and he didn’t want it.

[@stevenhenry5267]

Exactly. He's full of shit.

[@handsolo1209]

What he has said multiple times is that he went to a meeting to convince Ted Turner to sign off on a TV deal with Rupert Murdoch. Turner asked him how to beat WWF and on the fly he said "WWF is on primetime, we are in Saturday mornings. We need to be primetime too", and Turner gave him the timeslot on Monday. Who knows the reality, but he has been consistent with that story for years.

[@kennybadger]

It was Thursday night Thunder that he didn't want.

[@Spardeous]

It was Thunder that he didn't want, they made Nitro 3 hours which was taxing the writing team and added Thunder in addition to that because the dirty coin-men at Turner Broadcasting thought it would be a money printer. Many of the wrestlers rebelled against it.

[@Justinosborn]

@@Spardeous@kennymathews Bit that’s not what he said in this clip. He was talking about Nitro. He specifically mentioned in the clip competing with WWE, thunder was not created to compete with WWE, there was no wwe smackdown yet at that point.

[@awesomeFrost]

If it's not predictable, it wasnt planned, and if it wasn't planned... Bro late WCW fans would look at the titantron waiting for someone to come down to interfere every. single. match.

[@Lostmymind1]

You mean the years he wasn't with the company?

[@nickowen8069]

@@Lostmymind1 Wrong. Bischoff was largely in charge during the height of the NWO angle, when virtually every single Nitro main event ended in a DQ and a disorganized, nonsensical brawl. I still struggle to remember a single Nitro episode that ended with somebody actually winning a match with a pin, let alone a clean one.

[@Mrjonezzz]

@@nickowen8069I couldn’t watch wcw because of exactly what you just described. I can’t remember an episode where the main event didn’t end in a DQ finish and then deteriorate into some massive brawl that made absolutely no sense.

[@mattperkins261]

Late wcw? Try 3 weeks after the nwo formed. The nwo is what started wcw being predictable. It was always more predictable than wwe.

[@papagalooleo559]

I know he said he wanted to appeal to adults(or young adults at least) but as a child I loved WCW for exactly the reason you’re talking about, and I never really had the time for WWF

[@TimothyReady-df8zu]

Great interview and a GREAT interviewer- which is rare in wrestling. Bischoff is hated because he was so good. I *never missed* Nitro except when the Steelers were on MNF. The show was exciting and incredibly well produced. Eric is an arrogant guy; because he accomplished so much. That was the last time wrestling was great. He's a legend.

[@jamesm7281]

oh yes; epic. booking he and hogan vs jay leno and ddp. Or having him get a title while pinning terry funk. Wanting sting instead of hogan for the nwo. bash at the beach, nash beating goldberg, arquette and russo winning titles. bash at the beach. amazing times.

[@AuburnTradingCardShow-xf1oi]

Great video ..

[@TojuRacing-ry4cf]

Good watch, Eric brings up some interesting points!

[@MiketheratguyMultimedia]

Eric sat down with a list of all the ways that he could be different from the WWE of 1996. Tony Khan is filling out a list of all the ways he can be similar to the WCW of 2000.

[@MilMaska]

"I don't have a good thing to say about Eric Bischoff or anything he ever did. That guy was, talk about the Midas Touch; he was the opposite. He could ki ll your career." - Bret Hart

[@stevenhenry5267]

Exactly

[@nick56677]

Bret Hart killed his own career. He was yesterdays news once the nwo and attitude era hit. It's no coincidence that whatever company he was with would lose the ratings battle, he was a broken record, promos were terrible. Butt Hurt is full of himself, he has thousands of pictures of himself in gimmick all over his home, a pink hitman pool table, and made his family take a family photo in the hitman gimmick😂, he was too into himself and his time passed. He has those belts in zipper suitcases and presents them today like he legit won them😂. Bret is a whiny bitter cry baby.

[@krillep546]

Bret is a crybaby. Nobody cry and whine more than Bret Fart - Excellence of Excuses.

[@johnv6806]

@nick56677 he did have pretty awesome theme music though

[@RudeOfTheTurks]

Bret Hart killed Bret Hart's career. Him whining and complaining about how the whole world has wronged him IS his career.

[@jonlester62]

In other interviews he says Ted asked him "what do we need to do to compete with wwe" and Bischoff says he answered "Prime time program on Monday nights" so he kinda says something different here. Everything else he says in this he has said in prior interviews though.

[@SenorSchnitz]

@eric in AEW you moderated a debate. You asked questions. That's basically a Quizmaster. So you can cross "job beginning with Q" off your list 😊

[@martyhogsed5172]

How many people have heard Eric say it was his idea to go head to head with raw on Monday. And he wasn’t forced lmao

[@qweasdzxcname]

same thing goes with all wrestling personalities. you just need to listen to multiple interviews, learn the main story and cut through the bs. eventually we can assume the closest thing to the truth. but never expect a wrestling personality to tell the actual truth, because the real story is never as good as the story they invent.

[@brianpeaden5911]

He's likely over-simplifying the story. The kernel of truth is likely that he was put in the unenviable task of competing with WWE, there was some back and forth on what that would involve, and his list resulted in him getting a Monday night show that he might not have been in a position to handle at the time. Perhaps a "careful what you wish for" scenario. I don't think you can take any interview as the unvarnished truth in these situations.

[@ZakkOsborne]

"It never happened before!" Apparently Eric doesn't remember the Midnight Express doing it just a few years earlier.

[@andyfrye3585]

Yeah, Dusty & JCP should get some credit for creating outside/back stage scenarios. There are quite a few instances, example: Dusty/Horsemen hand injury, Dusty/Magnum/BabyDoll/Cornette/MidnightExpress w/ a truck, etc. Dusty was rather inventive.

[@booboo7502]

Nice catch. Not many people seem to be aware of that.

[@ZakkOsborne]

@@booboo7502 I'm fairly certain he was already exec producer at that time lol But correct me if I'm wrong.

[@Mythoughtsreviews]

I loved Eric’s Wwe theme song

[@brobsty1856]

There were backstage fights in WCW before Nitro

[@tylerrink7616]

I don't know why Bret Hart thinks this guy is stupid he not

[@dman9152]

Stupid in the way he booked bret hart

[@mikedeck8381]

Bischoff thought Hart was a good wrestler but that he wasn't much of a character, that he was depressed and not really like into his job as far as WCW goes. Bischoff doesn't much like Bret.

[@c.s3369]

Because he was 😂

[@Cuchulainn1984]

If you know anything about any subject he talks about, it is clear that Bischoff is a fucking moron. According to pro wrestlers and career bookers who have worked with him, he doesn't know anything about pro wrestling. He also doesn't understand: How lawsuits in the US and UK work. Basic storytelling, let alone visual storytelling. Basic finance. He not only thinks diversification lowers risk but that it is the best way of lowering risk. He's wrong in both counts. That he hates Russo and Meltzer, deep down, because he recognizes that they are the same kind of overconfident moron he is without consciously realizing it.

[@mrnicemam8523]

​@@mikedeck8381yup that's true. He lost passion for wrestling after the screwjob, and Owens's death was the final nail in the coffin.

[@RadChannel]

Came for the clickbait, stayed for the philosophy

[@rickypowell8630]

Well thank you because you force the best out of the WWF

[@MrLennybach]

The origins of the Dark Winter ❄️ on Spotify free!”

[@mskulls83]

on his podcast he demanded live tv from ted turner and to go head to head with raw... wrestling stories change like the wind! I still love bischoff think AEW should hire him and let him book!!

[@DarkArterialGore]

Yer man's hair looks much better brushed back as it looks much more professional for an interviewer than his previous "Static X" hairdo I've seen in other ITR videos😅

[@McMahonHater]

Note to self, make Ming my personal assistant when negotiating contracts with wrestlers.

[@jasonnapier2942]

Those boots on Eric though 😂😂

[@417Graphix]

He lives in Wyoming, that’s probably the standard footwear out in those parts

[@BigLos5639]

@jasonnapier2942 IKR!!😂😂😂

[@jasonnapier2942]

@@417Graphix I'm from the country and there isn't any way that state approved 😂🤣

[@jayw9494]

Shit flickers

[@seankinsellasean]

Moe syslak vibes

[@Mekrabb]

He has literally said in other videos that he asked to go live against Monday night Raw....

[@richardsteberl4102]

Job that starts with Q....quality control. Finish that list Mr. Bischoff!! :)

[@AcaciaApparition]

Why do I like Eric biscoff more than most people.

[@larryconnerjr1835]

I always wondered if Bischoff had decided to put Monday Nitro on Tuesday instead of Monday in competition with Raw would both companies have made even more money because both shows would have had even better ratings because of not splitting the audience once both shows were on, also I thought Nitro would have reached more viewers if it would have been on TBS instead of TNT because my parents had the cheapest cable package in the 90’s and TBS was a part of that package but TNT was on the more expensive cable package, that’s 2 mistakes that Bischoff made that most people don’t think about but looking back all these years later could have been very favorable to WCW if Bischoff would have implemented them

[@TheHannibalTV]

👍

[@GlitchedMew]

I love this man, lol 😂

[@TyRanT_SoLDieR]

I think WCW vs NWO Revenge was the biggest reason WCW got more popular than WWE during that time.

[@MCJustJ420]

The N64 Era of wrestling games was so good lol

[@michaelmfwayne]

That game came out in 98. WCW had been beating WWF in the ratings for a while then.

[@TyRanT_SoLDieR]

@@michaelmfwayne Yeah I think I meant WCW world tour. But I think both those games added to WCW popularity at the time. Just my opinion.

[@TyRanT_SoLDieR]

@@MCJustJ420 Right. Those games at sleep overs were so much fun back then.

[@MCJustJ420]

@@TyRanT_SoLDieR They were the best, some of my favorite times as a gamer Me and my friends did a draft, then changed wrestlers attire to match our selected colors, then anytime you lost a match the winner would get that wrestler for their stable, we did this for months lol

[@manifoldnook1]

Eric sounded like Harley Race

[@broadcastergamer]

Man Eric Should have gone to Law School. He would make one hell of a lawyer. He's so intelligent and so charmastic. He's an asshole but he's still fair.

[@donaldsalkovick396]

Hogan was sitting on the side of the road looking for someone to do 😂

[@davidswan5295]

I'm sorry. Was the Dungeon of Doom not during Bischoff's time?

[@jeffbrumbaugh5366]

That would almost be the whole cast lol

[@martifrey3357]

Yeah ok Eric, you just went straight to 1996 when Scott Hall showed up in May. But what about 1993 to early 1996 when WCW and Nitro was pretty much a bad copy of Raw? Dungeon of doom, the Yeti, Andre the Giant's son (Paul Weight), Shark (Earthqauke), The Bootyman/Butcher, the 3 floor cage disaster matches, Renegade (Ultimate Warrior), The Boss (Big Boss man) etc. Never trust guys like Bischoff and Russo, they only want you to remember the good stuff. Other than that they simply use excuses

[@billwebber400]

Can't argue with your correctness! You are not only a fan you are a student of the game👍

[@ratgenerationx2946]

Truth!

[@HereForAStorm]

He was specifically asked about the time when the nWo came about...

[@HAVOCJKD]

True, but he prefaced it with "When I was given Nitro..." Which obviously predates the NWO and he again references "it's what made Nitro work" k​@@HereForAStorm

[@ChristopherQualtrough]

Didnt he come into his main role in 1995/1996?

[@Cultivation420]

I feel like the "Dungeon of Doom" could have saved WCW in 2000! Give'em some of that Yet-tay love hug! Ask Hogan about it! Oh yeah! He remembers that move!

[@ericgilbert56]

This is where Eric has all the bragging rights.

[@TheDCGuitar13]

I hated Eric all those years because wwe taught me to hate him but looking back at the 2 times he’s ever had any say so in wrestling, I have to give him immense credit as a booker. He ran wcw in its peak and when he came to wwe, he gave it a new boom period following the dip after the attitude era ended. The guy just knows how to manipulate reactions out of fans

[@snake3516]

guy looks like Jim Cornette front row 00:30

[@hitmanhart670]

He acts like he always did “reality based” programming at WCW. What the hell was dungeon of doom though?

[@frankb7393]

Yes, thats what always comes to my mind when eric is describing his "realitiy based" approach.

[@stevenhenry5267]

The Yeti🤣

[@jonathancurran5366]

Also the Mortal Kombat themed characters and the Kiss demon.

[@Antihero297]

​@@jonathancurran5366You're right about the other characters, although the KISS demon could've been interpreted as just some guy who was a wannabe rock star, as opposed to an actual supernatural character. That's how I saw him anyway

[@Myrzghe]

Can someone explain this to me? I read somewhere that the fake diesel and ramone was part of a "Jim Ross as a heel" run? So they were brought out in a way that everyone knew it was fake, but Ross, in his heelish ways, tried to pass them off as the real deal!

[@stevewhitney7037]

I remember Scott Hall saying Larry Z idea to walk down through the crowd great idea. Brett calls him a maggot but Brett was nothing like he was after the screw job and Owen. So he should take some responsibility because it was him too.

[@SezarLopez]

I just heard him on who killed wcw he said he needed a show on Monday night against WWF. I’ve noticed through the years you can never believe anything he ever says. Same episode he says he a sales man

[@everythingstrength1485]

Eric is a smart guy. His ideas were sometimes farfetched. And everyone including Russo, would just go with it. Its hard to be "better" when you're surrounded by "yes" men

[@andyxmunoz]

Wow Eric is pretty damn smart - but it sounds like it just came down to the superstars. Eric strategizing his target market was a fun segment.

[@garyshaver1945]

I don't know if he can say WCW wasn't cartoony. Just watch the Dungeon of Doom Arc with Hogan.

[@awee5816]

I don't he's honest in some of the things he's saying. I feel that he actually payed Kevin Nash & Scott Hall more money 💰 to stay cause they thought 🤔 they were going to leave back to WWF. Even Kevin in other Interviews 🎥 confirmed 👍 this, so...

[@RipRoarin]

Bischoff's boots are some pimp sht

[@storysnob1022]

I don’t always agree with him, but Eric Bischoff seems like a fun guy to shoot the sh*t with. He talks about everything with an almost devious enthusiasm.

[@Justin_Ebright]

Well, damn, took 30 years but I finally agree with Bischoff. Loved Goldberg outside of wrestling, was never a fan of the streak. Few wrestlers pull off the monster, he wasn't one.

[@ChumpMaLe4u]

not true. mean gene did wrestling spotlight from the back production room.

[@Big.Stepper.]

Liberace was brought into WWF, not his brother George Liberace.

[@johndawhale3197]

He did make me go "what the hell is that" with his shows...but the most "what the hell is that" moment I think of is The Yeti intervening in a very solid match between Hogan and The Giant and turning it into absolute sh!t... I do love WCW overall but that was unforgiveable.

[@GregoriB98]

He says WWF had cartoony characters and he wants reality and after that he created the Dungeon of Doom. Makes sense.

[@takerdust]

Bischoff's explanation didn't refute the Outsiders claim about getting more money because of the fake Diesel/Razor. They said that Vince was hyping up the return of the characters, and WCW panicked, and found out afterward it was a total joke. After Nash/hall got a better contract of course.

[@daveschannel747]

4:03... Eric, did you forget about a little promotion called CWA outta Memphis ran by Jarrett Promotions? They were doing behind the scenes stuff during the 80's.. Jerry Lawler got ran over FOR REAL by Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert in a 🚗 , in the parking lot behind the 📺 studio! I've watched the episodes. I've seen it with my own eyes!

[@mw2000]

If there is one thing Nitro was not pre-nWo it was in any way different to the WWF in terms of what it presented. If Eric didn't want to appeal to kids, then what the hell was The Dungeon of Doom. it was hokey and cartoonish as hell in terms of the angles. When he lucked into the nWo, yes, he and the show were revelatory, but whatever he put down on that yellow legal pad was not what made air for the first 9 months of Nitro's existence.

[@jimcrack3776]

Easy get a bad rap he did a good job running wcw

[@stevenhenry5267]

Except he didn't.

[@jimcrack3776]

@@stevenhenry5267 that’s your perspective

[@internetrambo5165]

@@jimcrack3776you mean he buried wcw wrestlers like flair just because someone said: "that doesn't work with me brother." He gave a lot of people creative control and etc. which was just horrible or he thought matches like ultimate warrior vs hulk hogan were a good idea in 1998.

[@jimcrack3776]

@@internetrambo5165 so were not going to give him credit for elevating wcw?

[@philmcrackinnow]

So Eric Bishoff is the sole reason that late 90’s wrestling was the best time in wrestling history. If he had not had this mindset, Vince never would have created the attitude era.

[@Scorch1028]

I liked when Eric Bischoff wore the karate gi and pretended to be a black belt. 😆

[@quackstarsproductions4212]

If they could only have had continutiy in storylines and no hogan dictatorship they would have easily taken over at the top. Once Sting didnt get a top run after Starrcade 97 it was over and Vince went on attack.

[@50ninaKLIQ]

Its weird. He says here that had no choice but to go head to head on prime time with Raw but before hes said that Ted asked him what do you need to beat the WWE and Eric foolishly asked for prime time and he didn't think he'd get it but he did.

[@mikejones2389]

Oh wrestling i remember my dad starting to watch wcw after hogan went heel watching every Monday night until this bald guy named stone cold Steve Austin. Came in the back room dad said we are watching wwf now you'll like this bald guy i promise 😂😂😂

[@rebal180]

The Attitude Era really screwed up everything for WCW. Because once the edgier stuff started TNT had their hands tied. They had a standards and practices guy telling them they can do nothing to top the TV 14 stuff WWF was doing.

[@alexh8613]

You are going to go head to head with the WWF....oh did we forget to mention that you'll have an unlimited checkbook. Oh yeah, you have that now.

[@peterbruno657]

When the WWF pivoted to a more adult-oriented program, WCW, should have gone kid-friendly.

[@Alycanj]

This guy loves to talk

[@RedfishCarolina]

What exactly do you expect here? The whole point of this interview is him getting paid to talk. Would you prefer he got up there and did handbells or some shit?

[@megamouthspike1930]

It’s amazing that there was no strict salary cap for Hulk Hogan in WCW in the 1990s & 2000s, considering how “old & stale” Hogan was at that time. Hogan’s salary absolutely should have been capped because his value was diminishing each year.

[@twk8520]

Everything revolved around the war with NWO and WCW. Without hogan as a front man who turns heel it doesn't work. Turner wanted Hogan for the publicity.

[@imogenaris1697]

Eric can claim what he did was revolutionary because he did it on a mainstream level. Paul Heyman did a lot of this earlier. In fairness, Vince & Eric glowingly borrowed a lot from "that little promotion in Philly that no one was watching". It was interesting to see Vince's product become edgier when they realized that Vince was out of touch with the times.

[@xodiaq]

I like Bischoff better than Vince. I also liked that they made for some real WWE competition and alternatives

[@Alex-Trejo]

The best gimmick was the mummy wrestler😂😂😂😂😂

[@EdeSands-do6st]

I see why they went out of business now🤦Eric is a real cornball💯

[@ajourneysaved4311]

Q is for quilting. I look forward to your patterns, Eric

[@TheShaddillac]

Didn’t he say many times before he went into Ted Turner’s office and asked to go head to head but didn’t think Ted would go for it but did?! 🤔🤔

[@marquisbrunson]

Yes. This comment. The story keeps changing.

[@Lostmymind1]

I've only heard that story on WWE released DVDs. You really trust WWE in 2005 to tell the truth about a company they hated? By 2005 Eric Bischoff was a paid actor in WWE with no power, and no obligation to inform you that WWE was all bullshit. He was saying what he was paid to say. And yes, that holds true for every WWE released documentary.

[@Flatlandproductionz]

Very first of all, I always tell people that what they like to refer to that era as the "attitude era" was started by Eric Bischoff & WCW. I call it the Nitro/Attitude era, because thats what it is. It is simply disrespectful to refer to it as anything else. If it wasn't for Eric's initial ideas, the wwe/f would not have changed their format to what Nitro was doing. Now it became a competition to see who could be edgier, & degrade the other product. Vince McMahon will probably never give credit to Eric Bischoff for that if which he ran with and used to change wrestling/sports entertainment forever. Back then I I thought I hated Eric Bischoff, but I learned to use my commo sense & love that guy for beating wwf/e's britches off 😂. If Eric Bischoff would have had a bigger stroke & better opportunity to do what was needed to run & possibly own WCW, there would have been another conversation that we would be having. I believe that either some fool at time warner/aol wanted to shortstop Eric along with whatever investors he had like Fusient & maybe Jerry Jarrett from buying the WCW entity, or & Vince McMahon played himself with some insider at time warner/aol right into being able to acquire WCW. Big Props to Bischoff!

[@jbsmith8848]

This is a pensioner recalling things from 30 plus years ago and wrestling fans, are picking his narrative apart. Comic book guy esque.

[@evalangley3985]

When you have Goldberg and Bret Hart agreeing on something, you know it can`t be far from the truth...

[@cpt.obrien5455]

People have a lot of nostalgia and I’m sure some were there as it happened - but the truth is when we were kids we would insult each other with accusations of nitro fandom. Yea they turned hogan bad and let hall and Nash do some cool shit - and that was it. I watched wcw one time and saw these two midgets powerbomb each other off the top rope and then were up running around seconds later. That was pretty much everyone’s impression of the quality of the in ring action there.

[@gaminglikeaproallthetime4563]

Eric made WCW vs WWE legit . Russo made WCW vs WWE a Slaughter.

[@kevinparsons6065]

Macho Man Randy Savage interrupted a wrestling match in Memphis. So, it had been done before.

[@mistercagney]

Also diesel interrupted skips match with and cut the promo outside the ring

[@cv003799]

Eric says in the death of WCW he asked turner for 2 hours prime time on Monday 🙄

[@jasonnapier2942]

Im sorry but Hall & Nash was in everyone's ear about money that way they would get more. Kinda smart kinda shady..

[@ashleyburns6752]

The laugh about Bruce is that anyone who is at this show is obviously knows who Bruce is.