Eric Bischoff: Sports Entertainments Most Controversial Figure
Released 6/7/16

Documentary

The Controversies We open with a video package of various talking heads (mainly former WCW employees) over the years being critical of Eric with the usual complaints. We cut to present day Eric who is ready to address everything.

Cody- Eric says most cant point out Wyoming out on a map because its remote. The population is only half a million. Eric lives in Cody and loves it out there. Its very a beautiful wilderness and looks peaceful. Eric says hes an outdoors-man loves fishing, riding horses, hunting etc. We even see his office which is located outdoors.

Detroit Bad Boy- Eric grew up in a different world from Wyoming, in Detroit and mentions how there was always tension and fighting in the air. His brother Mark said he was always a fighter.

Mentor: Eric’s family moved to Pittsburgh and His love for the outdoors came from a neighbor named Bob Racioppi. He was about a dozen years older than Eric but Eric viewed him as a big brother and mentor. Bob introduced him to martial arts and hunting. Bob eventually moved to Wyoming to be a ranch hand which is the reason Eric lives there today. He installed confidence in Eric and made him believe he could be an entrepreneur.

Tenacious. Relentless: The family moved to Minneapolis when he was a Sophomore joined the wrestling team. His brother said Eric’s peers didn’t view him as the best wrestler, but was tenacious and relentless. Eric hated school and liked to work in landscaping and even started his own business with a partner and did really well. It became one of the biggest landscaping businesses in the city at only age 21. But Eric had other goals and interests and let his partner buy out his business. Eric trained to get a black belt and competed around the country and we even get footage of Eric fighting in martial arts. Sonny Onoo says Eric would stomp on people even which was a no-no as he enjoyed the fighting part so much.

The Model: Eric decided to get in sales, and someone suggested to him he should be a model as he had the looks and it was great money. We see some of Eric’s first modeling shoots and he even did photos in ads from stores such as Target and Sears. Eric also met his beautiful wife Loree through modeling as she started at the age of 4 and was running her own agency at the age of 21. They moved to Chicago to get more modeling opportunities which they had a wonderful year. They decided to do something more stable and had entrepreneurial ideas.

AWA- Sonny Onoo called him up with a low tech laser tag idea game called Laser Star Wars and we get the commercial for it! While they didn’t make any money off the game, The commercial was the start of Eric’s career in professional wrestling as he thought it would be great to advertise it during AWA on ESPN. Greg Gagne calls Eric the ”Ninja Suit Man”Eric was a fan of the AWA and Bruno Sammartino and loved to wrestle as a kid. Eric built a great relationship with the Gagnes and AWA Director Mike Shields who suggested Eric should get into syndication sales with the AWA. He was fascinated with the television side of wrestling and how it all comes together. Greg says he studied and worked hours and hours. Eric dubbed and edit shows and even learned how to run a camera. He organized some successful events and house shows too. Their announcer (Larry Nelson) no showed a tv taping one day and they got Eric to fill in and be the interviewer. It was Erics first time around the wrestlers and as let behind the curtain. Eric says the decision to leave AWA was hard but he was running out of money and couldn’t pay the talent. Eric says he went 4-6 months without a paycheck. He couldn’t heat his home and cars were repossessed. He was married with 2 young children so in June of 1990 got a tryout with the WWF as an announcer. We see footage of his audition where Vince directs him to sell that broom. Eric didn’t get the gig.

Beer Branding: Erics lived in Cody since 1997/1998 and loves the Western Culture. In 2010/2011 with Yellowstone a popular attraction that millions visit they could take home some Buffalo Bill Codys beer and its born. Eric says the brand is growing and he hopes to catch up with Samuel Adams. Eric even designed the logo for it. Jason Hervey says you want to buy a bottle of it to drink and another bottle to keep as a souvenir.

WCW- Greg Gagne says Eric approached him about wanting to stay in the wrestling business and could he help him get a job. Greg called WCW President Jim Herd and recommended Eric to him and he got the job as a C-Level announcer to work with Diamond Dallas Page. Eric was floored as he knew DDP from his AWA days and nearly got into a bar fight with him. DDP says it was a near pull apart brawl. Eric called DDP about the gig and he says DDP was gracious and supportive. DDP says they were on at 4 AM in many markets and #4 on the depth chart behind JR, Tony Schiavone, and Gordon Solie. Jim Herd thought Eric had a great look to him and told him he hired him to make the other announcers miserable. Dusty Rhodes (from 2012) says many didn’t like Eric and at first didn’t even give him an office. Kevin Nash says they treated Eric like a Ken Doll that he was too pretty, but he actually had ideas and told him even back then that he was going to take the company over, Nash laughed at him and told him good luck. Nash says there was 3 different leaders in WCW in a 6 month span. DDP says Bischoff hated Bill Watts and wanted to take this job from him. Eric brought up his AWA past and DDP was intrigued that maybe he could run it.

Executive Producer- Dusty says WCW was so poorly run he had 9 different bosses. They didn’t want it and they didn’t care. Nash says with the constant change he thought WCW would be gone in 2 more years. New Turner President Bill Shaw came in and decided to hire an Executive Producer as it was a television show. Shaw says WCW was losing millions and Ted Turner asked him to look into it and decide to keep it. Eric says he was looking at interests in Hollywood. In 1991 he met Jason Hervey and they teamed up for a game show idea geared for kids. Eric had big plans for it expanding more than just a show. They pitched the show but it didn’t happen. Eric says the pitching idea was fun but hard. He was ready to leave WCW but threw his name into the Executive Producer hat. Bill Shaw says hes never told anyone this, but he called up Vince McMahon on who to hire for the EP but Vince wouldn’t help and told him to do it on his own. It came down to Eric Bischoff and David Crockett and Shaw says with Erics presentation and planning it blew him away and he got the job. Eric says it shocked everyone. Greg Gagne was floored they brought Bischoff into the business and now he was his boss, Stone Cold mentions the rise from low level announcer to the boss and how impressive it was, but he had a vision and could sell ice to Eskimos. Austin said at the time he thought was Eric smart or sneaky? Eric admits WCW could have hired someone better than him as he was never in charge of everything and it was a ridiculous move, but he was well rounded in many aspects of the business. Eric said WCW at the time was like 27th distant cousin behind the WWF for 2nd place and wanted to be perceived different. He cut out house shows as they’d have 150 fans and half paid. He decided to set up at Disney MGM Studios for WCW as it would help their brand. Thus WCW Worldwide was taped at Disney. Bill Shaw was quickly impressed by Erics results and garnered respect for him. Around this time Hulk Hogan left WWF and was shooting Thunder In Paradise at a nearby studio from WCWs taping. Eric with the help of Ric Flair convinced Hogan to sign with WCW. Hogan (from 2014) says that after listening to Eric’s pitch and how he always wanted to make a Hulk Hogan sandwich that he realized that Eric was as big of a wrestling fan as himself. Bill Shaw says Eric was going too fast with the ideas and needed to settle down and get some rest. Around 94/95 WCW was growing internationally and wanted a deal with StarTV to get WCW in China. He set up a meeting with Ted Turner, but to Eric’s surprise 30 seconds in Ted didn’t want to hear the pitch he asked how could WCW be competitive with Vince? Eric was shocked and the first thought in his mind was the WWF had prime time on Monday Nights and WCW was on Saturday at 6:05. Ted told Turner Executive Scott Sassa to give WCW 2 hours every Monday Night on TNT (Turners flagship network) starting in the Fall of 1995 and Nitro was born (though WCW Monday Nitro didn’t go to 2 hours till May 1996) Eric admitted he was unsure if it was work or not.

Renegade: Eric says there was a lot of pressure but it was a big opportunity to Nitro. He wanted it to be different than the WWF, but knew he couldn’t outmatch them at their own game. Nash says it was Southern Wrestling, not competition, DDP was doubtful at Erics claims as well as Stone Cold. Eric says he made a list of what differences to make. Live television, a different demographic, and reality based storylines. He says that list was the start of Nitros success. Eric believed in stories and anticipation. For example its human nature to look forward to your birthday or Christmas. With reality he wanted the audience to believe it was true. He also wanted to mix in great action with the element of surprise, thus SARSA was born (Story, Anticipation, Reality, Surprise, Action) and applied it to everything he did.

Monday Night War: Eric mentions the NWO as the best case example of his SARSA method. As Hall & Nash were in WCW, left for bigger success in the WWF and returned as invaders taking over WCW. The anticipation was the 3rd man, and the surprise was it being Hogan and the gang like action backstage. Cody Rhodes said he was a smartened up fan as an 11 year old but thought the NWO was real. Bill Shaw says the NWO is the biggest success that Eric had. Jericho says Bischoff was a maverick and elevated the idea from New Japan amd rode a wave of gold. Jericho says WCW had the Midas touch from Summer 96 to Summer 97 maybe a little longer (Id say Starrcade 97) Jericho brings up Eric giving away the taped RAW results live on Nitro. Austin thought it was a low blow but knew he was doing everything it takes to be successful. Eric said he wanted to kick people right between the eyes and that was his approach. Madusa says Eric used controversy to get Vince and the WWFs attention. Austin says he thought the decision to go head to head was asinine but they kicked their ass for 2 years. Eric also did popular merchandise from video games to NWO t-shirts. Jericho mentions how there was six Nitro s or so that was in nearly sold out stadiums and WWE only does that for Wrestlemania, WCW was doing it for Nitro. DDP says Nitro was Ted Turners baby but Eric raised it. Eric brings up how getting Malone and Rodman got WCW mainstream attention and how that resulted in Jay Leno getting involved the next month due to the popularity of it. Eric says it was just awesome. Jason Hervey calls it an ironic moment. Nash praises Eric for the Cruiserweights, Buffer announcing the main events, and the Nitro Girls to give wrestling realism. Eric says he had a blast during that era especially with his character.Eric says despite being an executive hed wear cowboy boots and grew his hair out long and facial hair to be a renegade. Nash says what Eric did passing the WWF was a moonshot. WCW was #1 and turning profits and filling stadiums of high six figure gates.

Answering The Hard Questions: The video at the start of the documentary is replayed and Eric is now going to address it. Eric understands what the talent saw once a week for a day during TV, and that’s how they felt and you cant invalidate how someone feels. Eric admits WCW was disorganized for a live television show, but Eric doesn’t like to rehearse and likes the spontaneous feel of a show and it makes great television. Eric does regret not being more disciplined with creative. He admits WCWs depth was great and felt the Hogans, Savages, Flairs, and Stings were relevant for years. He wishes he did elevate your Rey Mysterios, Eddie Guerreros, and Chris Jerichos in the main event scene. Eric also agrees with Booker T that he became one of the boys. He said many of the comments he disagreed with though such as Mean Gene saying everyone had creative control was irresponsible and false. He says it bothers him even after 20 year and hes close with Mean Gene, and he doesn’t know what hes talking about. Eric says Hogan only had creative control and that’s it. Nash and DDP talk about how Eric tried to do everything himself. Jericho mentions Erics weird decisions like his 2 meetings declaring WWF would go out of business in 6 months. Eric doesn’t remember saying it but admits he likely did. He said he did it due to the amount of confidence, but didn’t literally mean it, but he wanted to be #1 at any or all costs. He didn’t want anyone to lose their jobs or livelihood. Jericho mentions the promo where he declared himself king and winning the ratings and how the WWF beat him the next week. Jerichos says after everything was going right for a year and a half everything went wrong

The Downfall: Eric says Ted Turner and Bill Shaw wanted WCW to succeed, but the suits didn’t from day one. Bill Shaw says executives rolled their eyes and groaned at meetings upon WCWs success. They envisioned TBS as the channel that we see today not with wrestling on it. Dr. Harvey Schiller says wrestling got pushed aside between news, networks and pro sports teams. Nash mentions how standards and practices took over and tried to take control of what they could and couldn’t do and it started to kill Nitro. They would use Nitro to promote movies and other television shows and despite strong ratings, wasn’t driving in the advertisers. Eric mentions how ABC during the Monday Night Wars took out ads in the Wall Street Journal saying not to invest in wrestling. Nash says he got close to Eric and was in the bunker with him. Nash says the PPV revenue would go to Turner Home Entertainment, and not WCW itself. WCW was generating a fortune of $$$ from merchandise, live events, and international television, but none for ad sales. Nash couldn’t believe how much $$$ they brought in but didn’t get all of it due to the executives. Bischoff says things got stressful and it burnt him out. Jericho said at the time he hated Eric but now realizes how much pressure he was under. Nash says he tried to help him, and felt bad for him as he knew they would eventually kill it. The mergers of Turner with Time Warner and AOL was what killed WCW but Ted Turner didn’t know it at the time. Eric says he was good at picking fights and getting things to Ted. But at the end of 1998 Ted Turner was losing control of WCW as it was now of a much larger company, he didn’t have as much as a say so as he did. Eric wishes he left at that point. 1999 pushed Eric over the edge, in September Dr. Harvey Schiller decided to fire Eric. His wife compares it to saying stop at 100 miles an hour.

Return: He decided to go fly fishing in Wyoming and jokes hed say F^%k you if someone told 16 years later to the day someone told him hed be in Wyoming talking with WWE on a documentary. Eric says it gave him peace and no stress. In the Spring of 2000 Brad Seigel called him back to return to head WCW. Eric says things were worse when he returned than when he left. He said it was unnerving to see it. He knew the only way he could turn it around was if he bought WCW, but it wasn’t for sale. He told Brad Seigel the place was bleeding and he should sell it while there’s still some value to the brand. A short time later, they changed their mind. Eric and Jason Hervey put together a team of 6-8 months that purchased WCW called Fusient Media Ventures. In March the deal fell through as new President Jamie Keller dropped WCW on all Turner networks. In scrambling to find a network they was near a year long deal with FX for 44 Networks but it wasn’t enough to sustain the value. When the WWF bought WCW Eric thought his time in wrestling was over and was planning a move to the general entertainment industry

WWE: Eric says he received a phone call from Vince and they had a great conversation and knew it would lead to them doing something down the line. He says Vince was very gracious with him and said he would have worked for Eric if WCW had won the war. Eric knew right then he liked Vince and was WWE bound. On RAW in July 2002 Eric became the RAW GM in a surreal moment. Jericho said Erics got a lot of balls. Jericho says Erics on screen character in WCW was good but it was great in WWE as he didn’t have to worry about running the company. Austin said he loved the Co-GM time he had with Eric in WWE and they worked ad-libbed most of the time besides a script. Eric says it was a high note to end his wrestling career and very grateful for it. It ended in December 2005 with the Trial of Eric Bischoff. Eric says he suggested Vince to put him in the garbage truck at the end of the show instead of John Cena.

BHE: Eric now runs BHE (Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment) with Jason Hervey a production company that pitches shows to networks. They got their first show in 2003 with NBCs I Want To Be A Hilton and shows like Discovery Channels The Devils Ride and VH1s Scott Baio is 45 and single. Eric says they freelance instead of having corporate meetings and he prefers it that way.

Memories: Its nighttime and Eric has built a campfire. He likes to reflect a lot especially on the wrestling business but doesn’t dwell on it. He says hes made more money with BHE than in the wrestling business. Jericho says he likes Eric and has had drinks with him and texted him. Kevin Nash says WCW should have been dead in 95 but Eric turned it around. Austin compared Eric to Wile E Coyote and says you cant kill em and hes become a good friend of his and likes to have him over for a beer when hes in LA. Eric says hes closer to his brother and sister and also his wife and kids. Eric says the Legend With JBL episode he taped and he realized the Monday Night War turned out the way it should have. Hes glad the WWE won, because if WCW had won the war, he doesn’t think AOL/Time Warner would do anything with it, and have had no commitment to the industry that Vince McMahon has and there’s no live wrestling, or no WWE Network. Erics grateful to do the documentary and he hopes millions of people will see it, and that its documented for years to come.

Stories

Pop Bottles– Eric’s first entrepreneurship? Selling empty pop bottles to neighbors at 6 years old.

Hunting: Eric was a big fan of pheasant hunting as he did it with his dad before he got paralyzed and he’s taken Garrett pheasant hunting since the age of 5 and does it as an annual tradition

Grandma: Mark Bischoff says they became wrestling fans through their paternal Grandmother. She had suffered many strokes in the past, but she would get so into the action his parents were worried shed have another stroke from it.

School Time: Eric said he’s a hand on type of guy and not the type to read and listen for long periods of time, which is why he hated school. However he loved foreign language class in school and took German, as he lived in neighborhoods of them and wanted to understand their conversations. He also enjoyed photography class and physics sans the math part. But history, math, and English class he would rather chew his leg off. Eric mentions how back then in 1973 liberal Minnesota is like No Child Left Behind like it is today. He said he seriously believes he wouldn’t have graduated if not for it.

Believability: Eric says it’s more difficult to do today with the Internet and Social Media, but the core magic is the mystery of it, is the story real or not? He said he learned it from Verne Gagne in the AWA. He said the magic no longer exists today and if he ever ran a wrestling promotion again that’s what he’d want to bring back.

New Suits: Loree says the WCW announcing opportunity was huge for them as they were running on fumes and using only one vehicle. The owner of a suit shop in the mall was gracious enough to let Eric buy some nice suits via monthly payments.

Travel Tickets: Eric mentions one way he decided to save money for WCW was the tens of thousands of dollar lost monthly via plane tickets. Wrestlers would redeem plane tickets for $$$. He says one high profile name in WCW who he wont mention as hes still active in the business today would show him where the real money is and showed him a 2-3 inch stack of unused travel tickets. (My guess is Paul Heyman) Guys wouldn’t turn in their tickets when they changed plans by a day or 2. & they were as good as $$$ or credit for a flight. You cant do it today however with the e-tickets.

The Television Character: Eric says being an announcer on Nitro was due to necessity rather than enjoyment. He inserted himself as he knew what he wanted in the stories, and explain it the way he wanted to since it was his vision, even though he admits Tony was a better announcer than him. On becoming the NWO leader, he said that was more fun. He enjoyed being the egotistical, arrogant, power hungry bad guy. He enjoyed getting the audience to hate his guys. Jerichos laughs at Erics hand pointing when he does heel promos but knows Eric had fun with it. Loree agrees and says we loved him but millions of others hated him for seeing him on TV and it was hysterical. Eric says there was a difference between the character and the human being, but real elements such as his name and job title. He says turning up the volume made him a better actor than he really was.

Entrepreneurial Spirit: Eric attended a Christmas party at Terry McGuirk’s house Turners #2 guy. Eric mentions how all the big executives where there as well as Gerald Levin of Time Warner right after the big merger. During a toast Levin said the most exciting thing of the merger is the entrepreneurial spirit of Turner and financial strength of Time Warner and brings the two powerhouses together. Eric was excited and sold, but the exact opposite happened. He believed it was an equal merger but actually Time Warner bought and controlled Turner. While the entrepreneurial spirit of Turner and his executives was true it got absorbed. He says you don’t feel the effects of a merger immediately as things were normal as first but changed into Time Warner as protected their jobs and stock market sharing just like Time Warner executives would.

No Ticky, No Laundry Jericho says he verbally agreed to an extension with WCW, but the contract papers weren’t sent. He worked for 17 MONTHS without a contract including his Cruiserweight Championship Reigns. He says in WWE they wouldn’t let you work without a contract for 17 minutes. Jericho held off that long to see how aware Eric was. Eric eventually came to him in late 1998 and asked him to sign the contract and Jericho refused saying if it was Hogan it would have been taken care of as soon as possible. For not doing it Bischoff had him drop the TV title Konnan, which Jericho said he really didn’t want. Bischoff asked Jericho has he ever been to a Chinese laundry. Jericho’s like no and Eric said ”No Ticky, no Laundry” Jericho thought that was hilarious and begged for it to be put on the DVD as an extra so Eric could see it. Jericho didn’t sign the extension with WCW and jumped to the WWF in the summer of 1999

Creative Control Eric reiterates only Hogan had Creative Control, and challenges the hundreds of other guys who had contracts at WCW to show him if they had it in their agreement. Eric did say Goldberg had mutual approval over storyline and character development, but that Turner Executives would have the final say if there was a disagreement and The Outsiders had a consulting agreement on their storylines/angles. Eric says agreements with talent existed with the contract language like that with the Kliq in the WWF.

Flavor Profile Eric experienced his love for beer in Germany as a foreign exchange student trip in high school and hated American beer. He styled his Buffalo Bill Cody beer after the German beer he tasted.

Great-Grandfather Brewer: Eric’s beer brewer a chemist from Montana who told him he needed to put himself on the bottle. Eric didn’t want to even though he became a star in wrestling. He went on Ancestry.Com and his Great Grandfather ironically enough was a brewer in Germany and moved to Detroit. Eric says he put his picture on there but also his Great Grandfather since he knew about beer.

Horseback Riding: Eric got into horseback riding 8-10 years ago and ended up buying a stable of horses and mules. Eric became obsessed with them since he loved the outdoors and understood the psychology of them as they are complex creatures and finds it fascinating to train them. He compares it to flying an airplane.

Spider Web of Life: Eric calls wrestling his spider web of life. If you follow one strand of the web it will take you back to it, that moment and decision. If he follows something far enough it takes him back to wrestling. He says he would have never been in the television business of not for wrestling.

Legends With JBL (Guest Eric Bischoff)

JBL asks if Eric was lucky or good? But praises him in the introduction. Eric is speechless but says timing can be everything.

They start in 1990 with Erics WWF tryout complete with footage, but Eric said he was green and knew he would be a longshot to get it despite desperately needing the job.

Eric got involved in AWA thanks to the Ninja Star Wars game advertisement that he partnered with future WCW manager Sonny Onoo with.

Eric says Verne was stubborn and didn’t believe the WWF’s national expansion would stick and it was killing the business. Eric and JBL talk about how they were brought into the business by Verne and Brad Rheigans to hate Vince.

We get footage of Erics first on air appearance in AWA. He was supposed to be a interim fill in to replace Larry Nelson, but no one stuck around for the job full time and he got it. He didn’t have goals at the time for higher aspirations

Eric mentions how he is vilified being ”ATM Eric” when Vince was doing the same thing in the 1980s taking stars from the territories and finds it ironic.

Black Saturday is mentioned, and Eric admits he was actually unaware of the history between Vince and Georgia Championship Wrestling until a few years ago and that’s likely the cause of why the feud was personal to Ted Turner, but it wasn’t personal for himself.

Contrary to popular belief, Eric did not talk regularly to Ted Turner, and the last time he talked to him was a decade ago for a job reference. He still keeps in touch with former Turner President Bill Shaw.

JBL asks Eric if he believes Ted is bitter that WCW ended, and Eric says yes and not only that but the AOL/Time Warner merger itself (considered one of the all time worst mergers) JBL believes WCW would still exist today if Ted had stayed in the picture Eric is not as sure but believes it would have had a chance.

His biggest mistake was believing that Ted would always been in power and have his back.

JBL and Eric have a laugh about the Ding Dongs a Jim Herd creation, but Eric says he had some bad ideas too. Jim Herd, not Eric was the first in wrestling to do guaranteed contracts, and Herd was the one who hired Eric in WCW.

Eric thought Bill Watts was a bully that threw his weight around, but was really a wimp. He was fired for racist remarks in a company where baseball great Hank Aaron had an office a few doors away. That’s when Eric was first aware of the position of Executive Producer open and that they wanted someone that did not have a wrestling background.

Eric clarifies that he didn’t fire JR but that JR was bitter and asked for his release once Eric got the job. He does admit JR didn’t fit what he wanted as the lead announcer and was going to be demoted and work in sales. Eric confirms JRs quote that WCW was run by a bunch of idiots.

Eric talks about the Disney/MGM partnership and says the talent hated working there as it was an unfamiliar environment to them. Eric wanted to save money and thought less traveling not more house shows where they had to paper audiences was the way to go. Erics was hoping to profit one million dollars because he knew it would be gold from there. After the savings the first two years of cutting costs he had a budget that was able to compete with the WWF by signing Hogan and Savage in 1994.

The Mall Of America was chosen as the first Nitro Location because A. He thought the setting was great B. He knew they wouldn’t sell out an arena. He wanted Nitro to be everything different that the WWF was doing.

Lex Luger is mentioned as Eric says he did it as a favor to Sting. He didn’t think his debut would be as big as it was.

JBL mentions that Arn Anderson believes Eric stole stars and didn’t create any. Eric admits organically besides Goldberg he didn’t create any new stars, but that Hall, Nash, Foley, HHH, and Austin all started out in WCW before they became stars in the WWF. Eric wanted Foley gone because he felt his style would be a liability to WCW.

Austins podcast is brought up where he admits he would have fired himself if he was in Erics shoes. Eric said Austin needed a change as he was injured and upset over Hogans signing and balked over ideas and that was the last straw. They always fired employees via mail and didn’t feel the need to call.

JBL says Eric started the Cruiserweight trend in this country and asks was there a ”catch 22” that stuck around with the guys on the roster to be labeled as that. Eric said he told the guys they’d be his 9PM slot to keep the eyes glued to WCW and how he wanted a different presentation from them than the main event heavyweights. Eric also adds he made stars out of Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, and Rey Mysterio. JBL asks why didn’t they become main eventers in WCW and Eric says while they eventually would have they werent ready yet at the time. Eric mentions the deep talent pool WCW had and that they might not have elevated in WWE if they had the same talent pool.

JBL believes NWO angle and Austin vs. McMahon are the greatest angles of all time and asks Eric did he get the concept of the NWO from Japan. Eric says he did but didn’t know at the time Hall and Nash would be free agents.

JBL asks Eric if he believed the WWF was finished as he did at the time. Eric said he didn’t think about it personally as he didn’t know Vince but heard stories of them eliminating water coolers from the offices as they couldn’t afford it.

He never thought the WWF would be pulled off the air for the Attitude Era as you could get away with a lot more on cable TV back then.

Eric was unaware Turner had a standards and practices division. They drove him nuts as they wanted scripts a month in advance when he liked to book on the fly and criticized him using Leno’s monologues saying they were risque when Leno read them on network television. He knew that was the beginning of the end for WCW in August 1998 as they had no idea how the business was run.and he regrets not walking out then

JBL praises Eric from taking WCW from 10 million in the hole to a 40 million dollar profit and says he should have been given the opportunity to run Time Warner. Eric says a 400 million dollar profit wouldn’t have been enough as the suits didn’t want WCW to exist.

JBL asks Eric was there a need for the Montreal Screwjob and Eric says no as he didn’t need Bret to come with the belt and how it would have been done without permission and would have been sued if he did. JBL brings up Flair in WWF with the NWA belt and Madusa on Nitro trashing the WWF Womens Championship. He asks Eric would he have done the screwjob in Vinces shoes and he said yes.

JBL asks a great question why didn’t Bret debut right away in WCW and instead they waited a month, Eric isnt sure if it was a mistake or not but he wanted Bret not to be on Nitro but the face of the new WCW Thunder show launching in January. JBL says Sting told him Bret wasn’t the same in WCW, and Eric says Bret was a shell of himself.in and out of the ring and thinks he was a broken man.

Eric wasn’t worried about the launch of the Attitude Era, and says he was taking flying lessons when he heard Mike Tyson was going to be involved at Wrestlemania. JBL says the Wrestlemania buyrate from 13 to 14 tripled and that shortly after RAW ended Nitros winning streak and DX invaded. The WWF was also doing aggressive things like Superbowl Ads. Eric mentions that WCW was still competitive ratings wise for 6-9 months after the WWF ended their ratings streak in April.

Eric blames it on house show increases to pay for Thunder, which he didn’t want due to overexposure of the product but Ted wanted it. The merger was causing internal issues and some budget problems after being approved.

Eric regrets making Nash the booker, as he was preoccupied with the internal issues at Time Warner, but doesn’t think he was in it for himself and the boys. JBL and Eric agree that Nash is smart.

JBL talks about how after DX invaded Nitro that the WWF was worried WCW would strike back and sent their toughest guys like him, Simmons, Shamrock and Blackman in the parking lot and that he secretly hoped for a Haku (Meng) vs Shamrock fight. Eric doesn’t think there would have been a gang fight as the boys didn’t hate each other which JBL agrees. He does regret not opening the doors for DX to come through.

Vince almost accepted Erics challenge at Slamboree. Eric thought it would have been awesome. Hogan thought Vince would show as was worried for Eric. He kept calm through it however. He said he didn’t care if Vince whipped his ass or not as it would have been on a WCW PPV.

Eric did Goldberg/Hogan on Nitro instead of PPV for the ratings as he figured that would be a great way to make noise again after the WWFs momentum in the Attitude Era. He says revenue at the time wasn’t a problem for WCW.

Eric said Halloween Havoc 98 was a disaster in that they went over the allotted time and the cable companies switched off early during the Goldberg/DDP main event. JBL compares it to the lights going out at In Your House Beware Of Dog in May 1996 and Eric jokes he was responsible for it. JBL says Foley legitimately thought he caused the power outage by kicking something underneath the ring waiting for his run in.

Eric says the Foley announcement of winning the title on the January 4^th 1999 episode of Nitro wasn’t anything different that he had done in the past.

Eric said he was burnt out and was removed as WCW President on September 10^th, 1999 and went fishing in Montana afterwards.

Eric had a Y2K PPV stadium special planned on New Years Eve featuring a Kiss Concert, but it was dropped when he was let go and Russo was hired.

Eric says Russo was worse than bad and didn’t believe his credentials in the WWF. Eric says Russo almost jumped to WCW under his watch a year prior as he was miserable and Kevin Nash tried to make the deal happen as he was a Russo fan.

Eric knew he would be called back when the Radicalz bailed from WCW to the WWF.

Eric said his and Hogans version of the story at Bash At The Beach 2000 over Russo was true, and that Hogan has the settlement of 4-5 million dollars (and jokes its now Lindas)from court to prove it.

Erics plan was for Hogan to walk out as Champion but a new champion be crowned in the meantime during a tournament then have Hogan return saying he is the true champion. Similar to the CM Punk/John Cena angle of 2011.

Brad Siegel finally caved in to let Eric buy WCW outright and with Fusient they were going to purchase it for nearly 70 million dollars, but fell through when the TV deal was canceled. WCW was worth 300 million dollars in 1998, and it assets 3 years later were purchased by Vince for a little over 4 million dollars with the tape library included.

Eric says he wasn’t as emotionally invested into it as he was in the past and that it was like someone who had died 50 years earlier.

His RAW debut was his favorite moment, as he was on board after only a few minute conversation with Vince. His whole time from that night to the trial where he was fired as GM in late 2005 was a blast.

His biggest regret was not leaving WCW in the Summer of 1998, but he was loyal to his bosses.

He misses the business but not the travel and long work hours. He wishes he could have a property as hot as WCW in its prime as he feels he is smarter on a corporate level and on creative, especially helping guys with promos.

JBL compares Eric to Tesla, as his ideas where evolved by Edison. Without Eric, there might not be the training center, RAW live every week and 3 hours, with PPV quality matches and monthly PPVs and even in films. Eric says his focus was on reality based angles and WWE started to use them as well.He thinks Vince took ideas and made them bigger and better, but he knows a lot of things he sees where its origins came from his ideas.

JBL and Eric mention the irony of how WWE today is like WCW in 1998 with the focus being family friendly with limits by standards and practices.

Eric keeps up with the current product from time to time, but doesn’t watch much television.

JBL wraps things up and said Eric was one of the first people he wanted as a guest on his show.

Eric Bischoffs Most Controversial Moments

Your host is Eric! He says Controversy Creates Cash

10. Challenging Mr. McMahon- Nitro May 11th 1998 In response to the DX Invasion Eric challenged Vince to a match at Slamboree. He was warned Vince would possibly show up and kick his ass but Vince didn’t show and Eric won by forfeit. In reality Stephanie was graduating college so Vince couldn’t attend.

9. Searching For Stone Cold RAW February 3rd 2003- With an ultimatum from Vince McMahon to improve RAW in 30 Days or be fired, Eric sought out Austin in Texas to return after walking out the previous Summer and got into a bar fight

8. Indecent Proposal- Smackdown October 31st 2002– Eric dressed up as Vince for Halloween and made out with witch (and showing the cleavage) Stephanie in a segment. The weird thing is the segment was created and directed by Vince himself.

7. The Randy Anderson Incident- Nitro February 10th 1997. Eric teasing referee Randy Anderson in front of his family with his job on Nitro by firing him and having his kids tell him. Eric said in real life the offices were flooded with complaints about how an executive can treat a contractor by that. The angle came across so well that Randy Andersons church even had a fundraiser for him.

6. Not Fair To Flair- Starrcade 98 I’m floored this match isn’t on the DVD but Eric vs. Flair at Starrcade 98 based off their real life feud and lawsuit stemming over Ric skipping a Live Thunder to reform the 4 Horsemen to attend his late son Reids wrestling tournament which he won. Eric was worried Ric might legit hurt him in the ring but that Ric was a professional in the ring and for the most part out of it. Eric wins the match

5. Wedding Crasher (Eric disguised as the preacher in Billy/Chuck Wedding) Smackdown September 12th 2002. Eric says he was in the digsuise backstage all day and no one was aware it was him.

4. The Trial Of Eric Bischoff (Eric fired as RAW GM) December 5th 2005 Eric thought it was a fun way to end his WWE tenure and that it lasted a lot longer than he thought it would.

3. Late Night Heist (Eric Hijacks The Tonight Show) July 1998 Great moment when Eric and Hogan hijacked the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. However Eric then would do NWO Late Night as Leno would fax him his monologues and he would repeat them. This did not go over with the audience though during the Monday Night Wars as boring chants occurred with the live crowd and ratings took a hit.

2. Puppet Master Revealed- Nitro November 18th 1996 Eric joins the NWO. This surprised me as a kid at the time, as the first heel authority figured occurred and he was great in the role. It was done to get heat on the NWO who were starting to get pops being cool heels. Ironically the WWF turned their fortunes around a year and half later by Vince doing the same thing.

1. Hell Freezes Over: RAW July 18th 2002 In a moment many thought would never occur. Eric debuts in WWE as the RAW GM and hugs Vince. Eric says the debut was kept such a secret that he even bought his own plane ticket and that guys were shocked backstage.

Eric closes by saying he could return one day to create more controversy.

Fun countdown, my only complaints though was too many WWE moments as they got half the countdown when Eric was primarily a WCW guy. I felt the Flair situation was underrated, and controversies that should have been on the list were omitted like firing Steve Austin and giving away RAW results on Nitro.

Ninja Suit Man- AWA April 26^th 1987

AWA Announcer Larry Nelson shows off and tests out Eric and Sonny Onoo’s Ninja Star Wars game

Eric & Greg Gagne Discuss Billy Robinson: AWA January 1991

Eric and Greg introduce a classic Billy Robinson vs. Nick Bockwinkel match from Christmas 1981. Eric says Billy Robinson was one of his all time favorite wrestlers, a man of 1000 holds and seemed to invent moves in the ring. Greg says emotions kept Robinson from becoming AWA World Champion.

Eric goes into the Women’s Locker Room WCW Great American Bash – July 14, 1991

For the past two PPVs, Missy Hyatt has attempted to get interviews from the men’s locker room, but has failed both times thanks to Stan Hansen. Now Eric Bischoff is trying to get an interview from the women’s locker room, but he catches Missy in the shower and she screams “PEEPING TOM”. We’ve all got to start somewhere, Eric.

A Gift for Muhammad Ali- WCW Halloween Havoc October 23^rd 1994

Eric and Bill Shaw present Muhammad Ali with a lifetime achievement plaque and a check for his foundation. An Ironic inclusion considering Ali passed away mere days before the DVD release. RIP champ.

Jackknife Bischoff WCW Great American Bash June 16^th 1996

Eric Bischoff brings out the “interruption”. He asks Hall and Nash straight up whether or not they work for the WWF. They both quickly answer no and demand to know who their three opponents are for the Bash at the Beach on July 7. Whip out the checkbook, Billionaire Ted. When Bischoff refuses to tell them who their opponents will be, Hall jabs Bischoff in the gut to set up a POWERBOMB from Nash off the STAGE through a TABLE! These boys mean BUSINESS. This huge moment in WCW history that turned the nWo angle up a notch had to be pretty sweet for the ECW fan boys who hated Bischoff at the time.

Kevin Nash tells a story on how he was blinded by the lights during the powerbomb as they never rehearsed the spot and in a split second hit him on the target. Nash says Eric thanked him afterwards for protecting him and Nash told him the truth that he was lucky to hit the spot. He said a bond and trust was built that night as Eric risked himself to take the move to further the angle.

NWO Bischoff WCW Monday Nitro November 25^th 1996

Here comes the New World Order (without Hogan) led by Eric Bischoff. Bischoff explains why he turned to the nWo. The morning after taking a Jackknife Powerbomb off a stage through a table, he asked himself whether or not he wanted to be consumed by the power, or did he want to become part of the force! Now we know it’s the latter. Not only is the highest executive in the nWo, but he’s the highest executive in WCW. The guys in the back have 30 days to convert their WCW contracts to nWo contracts or they will be targeted. As for you Mr. Piper, if you decide to get out of hand, he will fine you. As for the U.S. title, possession is 9/10ths of the law and I mean, who’s going to take that belt away from him? Wait a minute. Here comes the American Males. Riggs tries to change Bagwell’s mind, but he embraces the nWo boys anyway. When Bagwell goes over to tell Riggs that it’s just business, he drops him with a reverse neckbreaker! “nWo” chants roar throughout the arena. That’s actually as vocal as they get the whole night. Looks like Riggs got punked. And there you have it. Marcus Bagwell is the NEWEST member of the nWo.

Many call the defections over the next 30 days to be the first real mistake Bischoff had made with the nWo storyline by bringing in guys who were either long time midcarders or people who never had a big name in the business.

Easy E WCW Monday Nitro January 20^th 1997

Eric Bischoff VLOGS on the nWo camera about their opposition – Roddy Piper, the Giant, and Randy Savage. Did he mention Hulk bought him that bike?

Eric Fires Randy Anderson WCW Monday Nitro January 27^th 1997

Bischoff introduces the footage of the Steiners winning the tag belts from the Outsiders at Souled Out, but a WCW ref Randy Anderson counted the pinfall. They call Randy Anderson from the ring over to the broadcast table and he explains that the ticket he received for Souled Out was a gift from a WCW promoter. For me, that throws off the whole “this was strictly an nWo show” ruse. Bischoff says that goes against the policy because you can’t accept gifts at WCW. It’s a tight ship, ya know. Therefore since Randy Anderson accepted the gift, he is immediately terminated. Randy Anderson mentions how he’s had a bout with cancer over the last year and how he’s got kids to support. Don’t we all, Randy. Bischoff couldn’t care less though.

Randy Anderson Pleads For His Job- WCW Monday Nitro February 10^th 1997

Out comes the nWo to take over the announce table. Bischoff wants to give former referee Randy Anderson a chance to speak his mind and plead his case after being fired two weeks ago. Out he comes with his wife and two kids. Boy, do they look SAD about their dad losing his job. After Randy Anderson asks for his job back, Bischoff asks Randy’s two kids if they would please tell their dad that he is STILL FIRED. HAHAHAHAHA. That is such awesome douchebaggery. Nah, he’s just kidding. To prove to the world that Bischoff does indeed have a heart, he makes a match for next week’s program. Randy Anderson VERSUS Nick Patrick. If he wins, he gets his job back. If he loses, he’s out of here for good. Against his wife’s better wishes because of his cancer and all that, Randy Anderson accepts the challenge. Kevin Nash reminds Randy Anderson that Nick Patrick is in fact UNDEFEATED! Oh man, this was just all-around bad TV, but I did have a good laugh at Eric’s punch line because Randy Anderson looks like such a simpleton.

Eric says Randy Anderson had a face that you could feel sorry for. He said he let the air out of the audience when he told his children to tell their dad he’s still fired. A couple of days later he received a call from Dr. Harvey Schiller who actually believed he had fired Randy Anderson as many were enraged even Andersons own pastor for firing him on national TV in front of his children. Eric loved it due to the realism and how people couldn’t tell the difference between Eric Bischoff the character and the real guy.

Eric Bischoff (w/Scott Hall) vs. Larry Zbyszko Special Referee Bret Hart WCW Starrcade December 28^th, 1997

If Bischoff wins, the nWo get complete control of Monday Nitro. If Zbyszko wins, he gets to face Scott Hall at the next PPV. Bischoff wears his leather jacket out to the ring with no shirt. I’m reminded of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I imagine a similar conversation happening backstage. Just replace duster with leather jacket and LAUGH:

Mac: WHY ARE YOU WEARING MY DUSTER WITH NO SHIRT?
Dennis: Because it’s the perfect combination, do I really have to explain this to you bro?
Mac: YES! Explain it to me.
Dennis: Are you kidding me? Black, leather duster. Tough, muscular dude. Underneath it, inside of it. Very sexual.

Anywho. Bret Hart – the biggest “get” for WCW since Razor Ramon and Diesel – has arrived. He’s been very coy and borderline aloof since appearing in WCW the past two weeks. Is he nWo? He didn’t show Bischoff any love when he agreed to be the special referee for this match. Is he really WCW? If you think he is WCW, it means his allegiance more than likely does lie with the nWo. Who knows!

Larry Z wears his signature gear for the match while Bischoff is oiled up armed with kickboxing gloves and wearing a black gi like he’s a member of Cobra Kai. Bischoff connects with a few shots on Zbyszko to start. Very tentative beginning to this fight. Larry Z doesn’t just pounce on Bischoff and eat him alive. Zbyszko gets in some open hand slaps and Bischoff retreats to the corner complaining about them. Bischoff avoids a shoot and kicks Zbyszko in the head. Larry Z sells the kick, but gets pissed off and charges Bischoff in the corner. He takes Bischoff down and rubs his face on the mat until Bret breaks it up. Bret forces Larry Z to break up a sleeperhold as well since he thinks it’s a choke. He does the same thing with a headscissors making our esteemed commentators wonder about Bret when he said he would call it down the middle. Zbyszko applies a standing figure-four and Bischoff finds the ropes. To the floor we go, Larry Z runs Bischoff into the ringpost and the steps. Back inside, Bischoff sneaks another head kick on Larry Z. Over in the corner, Zbyszko plays the rope-a-dope game and wears out Bischoff. Larry Z pounds the back and lands a suplex. He follows up with a swinging neckbreaker before putting Bischoff in the tree of woe. Scott Hall gets up on the apron and Zbyszko punches him down. While Bret tries to get Zbyszko out of the corner, Hall puts a steel plate inside Bischoff’s kickboxing shoes. I don’t know what they’re called. Bischoff kicks Larry Z in the head again and the plate goes flying across the ring. Pretty sure Bret saw all of that. Bischoff is so proud of himself to have knocked out Larry Z. He wants Bret to declare him the winner, but Bret PUNCHES ERIC BISCHOFF DOWN. Hall doesn’t stand idly by. He gets in the ring and goes after Bret only to receive some punches and the inverted atomic drop to set up the clothesline. SHARPSHOOTER to Hall! The crowd has just lost their minds. Hall taps out until he passes out. Meanwhile, Zbyszko is back up and choking out Bischoff with his own belt. When he lets off Bischoff, Bret lifts Zbyszko’s arm and declare him the winner via DQ, I assume. (11:12) Was Bret Hart being a special referee for this match the BEST idea? Probably not, but again I ask what do you do with him? Since the day after Survivor Series, the nWo had said that Bret Hart had joined their crew. With him being so coy, the special referee spot creates some doubt as to which side he will favor. If they had stuck with Bret being a positive force against the nWo for WCW, we may remember Bret’s run here much more fondly than we do now. Unfortunately, 1998 is just riddled with bad decisions by WCW. As far as “wrestler versus boss” matches go, Vince McMahon has the edge on Bischoff like you wouldn’t believe. ¾*

Eric Challenges Vince McMahon to a Fight- WCW Monday Nitro May 11^th 1998

Eric arrives on a Harley and he loves and every one of us! He knows how the fans feel but wonders what Vince McMahon is thinking sending his cronies (DX went to the CNN Towers though WCW earlier that year moved into a one story building in Atlanta suburb Smyrna) and asks why Vince sends his wannabes where Bischoff isn’t. He refuses to apologize to Sean Waltman for firing him and tells him to ”Bite Me” He has an open invitation for Vince McMahon to fight him since Slamboree will be in WWF territory in Worcester MA, if he has the guts to show but he will be waiting for him if he does show. Eric says don’t buy the PPV if you’re expecting to see the showdown since Vince wont show. (which he didn’t)

Its Good to Be King- WCW Monday Nitro May 18^th 1998

Eric opens on Nitro on a bike and wearing a crown. He says it’s good to be king. Hes looked back at the past 100 weeks and his TV record is 98-2, and his wrestling record is 2-0 beating Larry Z and Vince McMahon. He wants to beat Vince in the ring but realizes that won’t happen. He has to look forward to the future which will be a better record than Goldbergs, and thanks everyone for the greatest night of his life. Jericho has mentioned before how this promo came back to bite Eric as WCW and WWF traded ratings wins for the next 6 months until WWF took control for good in November.

Eric discusses doing NWO Nightcap to spoof the Tonight Show to promote the tag team match at Road Wild against Jay Leno. Eric used his monologues and felt by doing this they added realism to them where the audience would believe Leno would be legitimately upset with them. Turner eventually pulled it after a few weeks due to risqué jokes, even though Leno used them on network TV. It was for the best IMO.

NWO Nightcap- WCW Monday Nitro July 20^th 1998

The setup is like The Tonight Show Eric makes jokes of the time period about topics like Monica Lewinsky, Secret Service Agents, Charlie Sheen (yes even in 1998) and the heatwave. ”Bill Clinton has slept everywhere but Hillary and Janet Renos place” They were actual Leno monologues from his Friday show which Tony mentions. Eric complements himself and the band laughs. Eric rags on Jay Lenos chin and claims hes a disgrace to the bikers and compares it to Monica and swimsuit calendars. The crowd booed and chanted boring during segment.

Eric says only his family; Vince & Stephanie knew he was debuting on RAW. He bought his own plane ticket for it not to leak and stayed in a hotel till WWE picked him up and he stayed in the car for two hours. He compared it to being in a zoo as the limo was tinted and talent didn’t know who it was. Vince & Stephanie thought Eric would be nervous but he was excited. The Booker T segment was legitimate and not rehearsed. Guys like Big Show were excited while guys like Ric Flair thought it was the devil. Eric also says he met with and talked to longtime WWE talent like the Undertaker to let them know he was part of the team and wanted to contribute.

Eric Bischoff Is Named General Manager Of RAW- RAW July 15^th 2002

Vince says it takes a real SOB to be successful in this business so from one SOB to another the NEW RAW General Manager is ERIC BISCHOFF. In a surreal moment Eric comes out and hugs Vince. Sadly ”Back In Black” is dubbed. Eric heads to the ring and introduces himself to people that don’t know him as the man that run WCW and not the watered down version in the Invasion last year. He says he competed and took it to Vince McMahon and is what ruthless aggression is all about. He signed Hogan, Savage, Hall & Nash away from Vince. He kicked the family business in the crotch while Vince was worried dealing with the Feds. He was beating Vince at his own game. Eric says his success wasn’t all about Turners money and lists his accomplishments: Nitro going LIVE, giving away RAW results, a competitive main event each week and the creation of the NWO and not the washed up NWO that the WWE audience has seen. He says Nitro beat RAW 84 weeks in a row in the ratings. Eric says he got a call from Vince to take control, and turn this struggling brand into a major powerhouse, which he will do starting at Vengeance this Sunday. Eric mentions he had wished to sign a certain talent for Nitro would still be on the air till this day and that man is Triple H (In reality Bischoff did have HHH signed to WCW from late 93-early 95) that he wont sign with the NWO but with him! Eric closes by saying he is what they need by making the product and the RAW brand better and that he will put the ”E” in WWE.

Billy and Chucks Wedding- Smackdown September 12^th 2002

Rico comes out first and greets the old man minister but is upset with the wedding arrangements. Chuck and Billy mush over each other being tag team partners forever and Chuck puts a ring on Billy’s finger. We then get a video package of them. The minister asks if anyone objects to them committing to each other which brings out The Godfather and declares he is back in business. Godfather says lets be real hoes were into Billy Gunn, and Chuck was a skirt chaser and into the heavier ladies. Rico tells Godfather to leave and he does but tells Rico he’s missed getting a ride on the HO TRAIN. After some nervous tension Billy and Chuck say yes, but before the minister can pronounce them married they say they made a mistake, it wasn’t supposed to go this far, it was a publicity stunt and they’re not really gay. Rico is upset and knew they would back out of it as it was his idea. The Minister tells them to stop fighting, that the bond Billy and Chuck have is sacred no matter if it lasts 15 years, 15 months or 3 minutes. The ministers’ voice SUDDENLY changes into a familiar voice asking did he say 3 minutes, to the shock of the crowd. The minister reveals himself to be ERIC BISCHOFF to a big pop. Eric holds back Stephanie McMahon while 3 Minute Warning Jamal (the late Umaga) and Rosey (Roman Reigns older brother) take out Billy and Chuck and Eric feds them to Stephanie where Jamal delivers a SAMOAN DROP on her. As he attempts a splash the Smackdown roster comes down to save her from 3 Minute Warning. My favorite Bischoff moment in WWE as he had the crowd in shock and killed the disguise as the elderly preacher. It upset GLAAD though as they felt WWE duped them for positive publicity by having an actual gay wedding.

Eric says his career has a lot of highlights and he’s not saying this because it’s WWE, but the wedding was the highlight of his career in-ring. He had the most fun doing it in 30 years, even kicking Leno off the Tonight Show stage. He says WWE spent a lot of money getting a Hollywood makeup and mask team to create the character and that no one knew it was him backstage. It was written and created well. He says he can watch it over and over again because it makes him chuckle especially the reveal.

In The Skybox with Stone Cold Steve Austin- Judgment Day May 18^th 2003

Since they are Co-GMs Austin and Eric are watching the show from the skybox, they face off over refreshments, but everything is 50-50 so Austin offers him his hotdog which Eric doesn’t trust eating. Austin pressures Eric into drinking beer. We return to see Eric still eating hamburgers and pizza and drinking beer which Austin says he drinks like a sissy and should launch him out of the skybox. Austin tricks Eric into eating jalapeno peppers and he pukes right on some fans more like Queasy E!

Chris Jericho brings up how they did the Highlight Reel segment unscripted as they were all 3 great talkers and it was one of the favorite moments for all 3. Jericho says that’s when they both started to like Eric when they never before. They celebrated at the bar afterwards how tremendous they did.

Y2Js Highlight Reel With Steve Austin & Eric Bischoff- Insurrextion June 7^th 2003

Jericho insults the UK crowd and bashes the set hes given for his show compared to the states. He brings out Eric who calls himself and Jericho 2 good looking successful Americans (Jericho’s Canadian Eric) Eric bashes the dental work in the entire arena. He says Mad Cow disease is gone but not Fat Cow disease Stone Cold interrupts and Eric is TIRED of him. Stone Cold says this is the worst Highlight Reel ever. Stone Cold is sorry for the misunderstanding with Eric being Co-GMs so gives him a sign by flipping a bird. Austin complements Jerichos attire and says he bought a t-shirt of his. Jericho asks is he a fan and Austin says no they were out of toilet paper. Austin rattles off how many pints hes drank. Austin gets a HELLYEAH for Eric being a complainer. Austin announces he changed the main event of Nash vs HHH to a street fight much to the dismay of Eric. Jericho says this is HIS SHOW and he doesn’t appreciate him being disrespectful on his show in the UK and names off all kinds of British Celebrities. Austin doesn’t want to lose his composure but gets a HELL YEAH if he should lose it. Austin makes fun of Erics stupid haircut but wants to drink some beer with them. They have some beers and Austin STUNS Jericho out of the ring. Eric looks nervous but Austin says hes off the hook. Theyre 50/50 GMs and they have to get along via orders from Linda McMahon, but that’s in the STATES! KICK WHAM STUNNER on Bischoff! Not as epic as the three guys claim but you could tell they were having a blast out there and it was much better than todays scripted banter on WWE TV.

The Trial of Eric Bischoff- RAW December 5^th 2005

Vince McMahon comes out driving a garbage truck and calls Eric to the ring. Mick Foley says from HLA to Daivari’s return has shown why its time to take out the trash. Eric defends himself by saying controversy creates cash and he doesn’t care about the fans but about the money. He mentions the Elimination Chambers as a success and for it to headline the next RAW PPV in January. Eric says both he and Vince may be hated in the industry but are respected. John Cena says Eric censors fans when they chant you suck and there are 10,000 surprise witnesses (the fans) that think Eric should be fired which they cheer. Vince agrees to Erics proposal of the Elimination Chamber as the main event for New Years Resolution 2006, but that Eric won’t be there to see it as hes FIRED. Cena gives Bischoff an Attitude Adjustment and kicked him out of the ring. Vince helps Eric up and tosses him into the dumpster truck and marked the end of Eric Bischoffs 3 and a half year run in the WWE. He would write his book Controversy Creates Cash and make a few sporadic appearances in the next couple of years, but hasn’t appeared on WWE TV since a segment with Chris Jericho on the RAW 15^th Anniversary Special in December 2007.

Final Thoughts: A candid and fresh look into Eric Bischoff not only as the performer, but as a person. Eric has done a lot of reflecting and has mellowed out since his WCW days, and his story really is intriguing. He admits his mistakes and has no regrets on the outcome. This isn’t a DVD set though for those that like wrestling matches as only one match is on the DVD set. Also, if you have read Bischoff’s book you’ll notice some stories are repeated from it. Eric doesn’t have the depth of a career as a non-wrestler like a Paul Heyman does who had an entertaining set a couple of years back. Some of the moments and segments picked were random too, and other moments were glossed over like the Ric Flair controversy. Thumbs Down on getting the Eric Bischoff DVD for the extras but Thumbs Up on watching the documentary. Check it out on Amazon Prime or wait for it on the WWE Network.