It was a magical time. For a different reason than when I was a kid watching wrestling in the mid/late 80’s and seeing cartoon and comic book characters come to life. It was real as a kid, and I can’t even begin to describe how magical it was. Watching during the time of the n.W.o. Was beyond awesome for a different reason. I couldn’t get enough. My God, how I miss those days.
Nothing compares to WcW / nWo when it comes to wrestling. I've never been waiting for something like I was waiting for a Monday Nitro between 1996 & 2000.
I'm actually in the middle of watching Nitros from 99 atm, it was still pretty good then. It's 2000 when Russo starts really making a mess of things. Then it started to improve again in late 2000 and 2001 but TimeWarner had decided long before then that they just didn't want wrestling anymore.
I met Eric in 1995 and he treated me with respect, and despite others saying this and that about him, he treated me like an adult. I may be and old school (85 ish) fan but Eric never made me feel inferior.
I actually enjoyed Ruthless Aggression (2002 until Mania 25) a bit better. Wrestling after Mania 25 however has been much more bad than good. NXT has been really good in the last five or so years actually.
And like any other form of entertainment, it is not designed to be the same for too long. The Monday Night wars had meh in-ring performance but good storytelling (before 2000 at least). Today's product has entertaining in-ring performance but really meh storytelling. That's just how it is.
@@maxxdahl6062 Depends on where you lived. For some of us on the West Coast we only had WWF and WCW. Since I wasn't in Oregon I didn't get Portland wrestling. One thing to keep in mind, WCW's last ratings were like 3x better than today's RAW and you have an idea of just how far wrestling has fallen.
This is awesome! There are SO many things about the Monday Night Wars that we are still in the dark about, its really cool to have podcasts like this. Its perfect to have on in the background while working!
Missed out on this whole thing, when I was a kid, cause I didn't have the UK's version of cable back in the day until about 1999. Going through it all now on the network. NWO and WCW was badass.
Same here I missed the whole thing, but for different reasons the nWo was born on the 7th on of July so I was only "6 days old" funny enough that I only caught glimpses of their fed run in 02 and thought it was the greatest thing ever being that I was just getting introduced to wrestling through my relatives VHS tapes and hogan was my guy that being Said still going back to the network and experiencing it all over again is dope the only two things i hate about it is the heavily edited shows & dubbed music.
Eric is a flat out genuine Iconic wrestling mind!! No doubt, BUT to be fair, NWO doesn't work without Hall, Nash, Hogan. Stars just lined up for the opportunity. Great time to be a wrestling fan!
You know, any true wrestling fan that have been watching since at least the mid 90s, know how cool austin, DX, and the rock were but if you never watched wcw and the nWo genesis, you missed out on the coolest shit in wrestling.
I was too young then and even then never was shown Wrestling until I think the smackdown before no mercy 04 and it only taker battering gangrel and Mabel. But I've watched many many hours of wrestling from before I became a fan. You guys were blessed!
Nice interview. Agree with Eric that Sting would have been good, maybe borderline great. But nothing could have been bigger than the way it happened w/ Hogan. Best angle ever.
As a person born in 74. A child and teenager in the 80s. I hated the Hogan character. I was a fan of heels. I never once in my life thought I would ever be a Hogan fan ... that nWo heel turn by Hogan proved me wrong. Hogan is in the top 5 best heels in the history of Wrestling (my opinion).
Without babyface Hogan i dont think the heels would have been so over. Without babyface hogan there is no horrible heel Andre king kong bundy earthquake. When they feuded with hogan they were really hated. After their program with hogan they drifted away...
@Arsenal fc fan club & Man City supporter He just knockin him because he uses this phrase several times throughout these podcasts so more of a tongue in cheek type of thing
@Arsenal fc fan club & Man City supporter Because it's not a case of "I can't remember" but rather "I don't wanna talk about stuff that makes me look bad and i don't want to admit shit i did"
@@melaniel.4269 Oh really? Assuming you were alive back in 1996, how much do *you* remember from back then? If I were to question you about shit that was going on in your life, you may remember most of the big events, but I highly doubt you'd remember too many of the details. If you do, then congratulations for having an exceptionally good long term memory, but most people don't have memories that good.
@@JMFSpike The problem is, it's not faulty Memory, it's selective memory and trying to save face what Eric does. Like him denying that he ever made an offer to Bret in 1996 or even talked to him that year. First of all: That's not something you forget, because that's a pretty thing. It's not like Bret was some meaningless jobber from bumville, usa. Other things also should be easy to remember. Paul Heyman can remember stuff from the early 90's. Cornette can remember stuff from the 80's. And since you mention it: Yes, i can actually remember a hell of a lot of things from 1996, wether it's the vacations to Malta and Italy, getting a new PC, my reaction to Hogan's turn at the Bash, my reaction to wrestling in Germany deemed "adults only" and shoved into the late at night timeslots and a lot of private and school stuff (i was just 11 back then), heck i can even still remember the fucking cheat codes for Duke Nukem 3D like DNCornholio. And i don't think i have exceptional memory, actually i have a pretty bad memory, especially my name and short memories are kinda faulty. Nobody here wants Eric to remember what he ate on June 10, 1996 or how threesomes he had with his wife and strippers in 1996 (though i bet THAT is something he would remember and if it's just because he went on trial for one of such adventure later on) but actually big events at his job. Running a wrestling promotion and dealing with millions of dollars, famous wrestlers and all that is not something you would easily forget i think.
I don't know why so many people poke at Bischoff for not remembering exact contract details, numbers and dates. First, it was 20+ yrs ago and unlike jealous ex wrestlers who have no life and do shoot interviews in motel rooms with a beer in their hand, Bischoff moved on with a production company, a gaming company. He's a pilot, has a family. A life. Plus, so many lies are told about him that he probably gets tired of trying to refute everything. We are the obsessed ones watching these things. :)
Yes thank u. exactly. I hate when people just accuse people of lying, their not in the persons mind. And remembering so many details from 20 years ago aint easy.
Always love just hearing Bischoff's voice. I immediately picture that cheesy gin and the floppy black mullet. GREAT first podcast, look forward to more.
But remember that at first he was not that smarmy sarcastic character, he was a straightforward face "Ken Doll" announcer, later revealed to be an executive.
Could you focus one episode on the Time Warner Takeover of WCW? I've heard Eric mention blurbs about all the problems this caused with creative. And read about his political battles with the suits. Hearing this fleshed out completely would not only be entertaining, but also provide MEGA CONTEXT for what was happening from 98-01. THANKS and great job!
Kevin Newsom would be great I agree, there is a good one with Jericho but would be great to hear the political side with Turner and AOL, would love to hear his own take on everything in detail.
@@vacuumboots69 I bought his book off the Play store, and seriously, it's ridiculous how much he was getting fucked over by the suits and HR folk, he was basically being told that anything remotely edgy was immediately off limits which was the bread and butter of wrestling at the time, and Kevin Sullivan has backed up everything Bischoff has said, his hands were completely tied so it's a bit shit how much blame Bischoff gets for how bad WCW was at the time
Man.. if Vince wasn’t so fuckin cocky they really could have done WCW as it’s own organization on USA Network, lead by Eric. and then they really could have nailed the ‘Invasion’ angle and waited for the WCW roster to come over from the TW / AOL contracts. They straight up could have done Nitro vs Raw and kept both shows going. It would have be crazy, tbh Vince probably would have done that in hindsight. It would have made sooo much money lol.
People act like Eric can run a million dollar product and company on a billion dollar platform. While also micro managing every minute of everyone's career down to whether or not a feeling is hurt. The guy was a TV executive. Everyone of them before him has made mistakes. But Bischoff did some really great things as well. That are still being felt in pro wrestling to this day.
Number 1 Eric never got his due for his incredible accomplishments in taking a southern promotion to national spotlight and beating WWF for 83 weeks...nobody on the planet ever did what Bischoff did in challenging Vince and putting his back to the wall... unfortunately in most podcast and interviews it's obvious that Bischoff has selective memory when it comes to giving credit to other ppl...example is how he stutters around saying for sure that Kevin Sullivan had Hogan at his house that night...it's the way Bischoff says yeah that's possibly true instead of saying yeah Kevin really made sure nobody got to Hogan...little shit like that is annoying to me but in general Bischoff is always fun to listen to and his knowledge of TV and the wrestling business is damn good I think and he comes across as real smart...Bottom line is this was good show and only thing better would be if they did it on video so we could see their facial reactions...
It doesn’t matter he gave them a run for their money, they folded, they lost, history is written by the victor, they succame the same fate as every other wrestling promotion on the planet. Bischoff may be a special one, but he’s one of the many failed promotions, while Vince is still active and has only gained more board power, money, and centralized a wrestling developmental system that has some of the best independent talent on the planet that was stabilized before the Indy wrestling boom. WCW was once really good but it was also shit a lot and really stupid and repetitive.
It's absolutely impressive. and keep in mind Nitro actually beat Raw MORE than 83 weeks --- the 83 weeks just refers to the CONSECUTIVE weeks that Nitro won. No matter which way you cut it, that IS impressive and Nitro will be remembered as the ONLY wrestling show which was able to defeat WWE.
Kent Kaliber do u think that if he got a handle on wrestlers having ridiculously never seen before power in the dressing room and creative control in their contracts, he would of stayed on top? I mean I know its ifs and buts but that along with him going on screen definately didn't help and maybe if they planned after the nwo and not rehashed it? Defo could of used Bret Hart better. Maybe a faction with him, Jericho and Benoit could of took on the nwo in a match to end it all. War games.
Oh I agree man, there were a LOT of missed opportunities in those final WCW years. But man growing up with RAW on one station and NITRO on the TNT, it made for the most volatile, exciting period in the entirety of wrestling history. It was really special.
I’ll tell you how big this era was. My father hated wrestling, my two brothers and I were not allowed to watch it. To Dad’s credit, we would start fighting when we watched it, literally lol. But because of that we stayed up until midnight every Monday night and watched the nitro replay until 3am when dad had gone to bed lol. This was one of the funnest times of my life.
Outstanding podcast!! You got my attention, and I love that this isn't just a "brief few minutes" long. I will be tuning in for these as soon as I catch up to current... and I'll be slamming that Like button. I'm really glad that it was described that the "Hogan Heel Turn" was significant based on the era. I completely agree with it being in the top 3. The most notable other turn that I remember was when Larry Zbysko turned on Bruno Sammartino. I was little, back then... and that was my first exposure to a "massive heel turn". I still remember it to this day, because of it's brutality.
But the fact that Sting was a loyal WCW guy woulda made that angle even better (of course if Sting had fully embraced it). But at the same time Hogan's schtick was so stale, this was probably the best. As Hall & Nash said Hogan wasn't gonna miss that $$ train.
I love this podcast and I love Eric and Conrad! Eric is funny and insightful while Conrad keeps him honest and on track by calling him out on his BS. Lol!Great show, keep it up. Can't wait to hear all of the other episodes.
I love what EB is saying that he wanted to bring in a more reality-based product. Wrestling would really need that right now. Something Hogan said when he turned though, he said something like "New Wrestling Organisation" or something like that which would have been an interesting name for a new company.
It was a magical time i was actually doing some training to be a cruiser wheight at that time so sad to see what wrestling has become Thx alot Vinny Mac
I remember watching wrestling back when i was little probably 1992 in like 2nd-3rd grade and kept it on the downlow cuz it wasnt considered cool to like it openly in my school...but i loved it back then up til i stopped watching in like 2004-05... These podcast are awesome!
Eric was the catalyst which pulled Pro Wrestling kicking and screaming into the new millennium. He revitalized the careers of WWF’s most famous celebrities AND changed the goofy 00s Wrestling into something Which was edgy and entertaining, kept you on the hook every week. AND forced Vince to reinvent his product into the Attitude Era. The rest is history. Like it or not, all things Wrestling, the fans, the wrestlers, the companies all owe him some gratitude and homage.
A couple of favorite episodes of this was the one about the DX Invasion, clearly taking place in the day, and Eric thought he was in the ring cutting a live promo. They were on EST. The other was Starrcade '98 where the cluster fuck of '97 came into the discussion and had the "pleasure" of hearing Eric try to justify that.
Would love to hear a part 2 about the process off adding all the members, why it was decided to add non WWF talent, the Wolfpac split, now 2000 and more
I think Hulk Hogan was jealous of the Wolfpac's popularity. They were more over than his NWO. That's why he took Hall away. Then the fingerpoke happened... NWO Elite etc happened.
@@nostalgiaman6816 the fingerpoke happened because WCW was going to launch a new primetime program on NBC that never happened and they wanted the first main event of that show to be Hogan and Savage, but with that show not even being produced the fingerpoke of doom match lost its context.
@@andrewft31 Huh? Where did you hear that? As much as Nash & Bischoff talk about it - I’ve never heard them bring that up. I’ve heard Eric bring the NBC deal up but he never blamed the finger poke on it.
@@nostalgiaman6816 Wrestling Bios talks about the nbc show playing a part in the ‘finger poke of doom’. They said they wanted Hulk to be champion again, because they were planning on doing an NBC show with Hulk as the main event. ( Wrestling used to air on NBC in the past, so it’s not very outlandish ) the NBC show ends up getting canned for whatever reason and they were stuck with the results of Hogan v Nash.
Lol at Eric on Conrad jumping around... he asks questions as they come up in his head... that's what makes him so great for these podcasts. Come on man.
Yelp. Nash has said he told eric he couldnt sell nwo shirts and eric was confused. Nash and hall started kayfabe bootlegging them in parking lot to make invasion look real. Eric cant tell a story thats believable
Anyone else agree that Heenan's "Whose side is he on?!" call actually helped sell the angle? Like if Heenan is suggesting it then no way. And in others ways speaking for us in real time? Then Tony quickly brushing him off like Hogan was absolutely there to rescue the WCW guys. Hogan hadn't been seen for a while, he even seemed to carry himself differently while walking to the ring. No music hit either. Everything in those 30 seconds or so before the leg drop heard around the world was perfect. I feel like Henan's reaction helped solidify it.
No. That was Heenan going into business for himself because he knew it was an historic moment (in my opinion.) He always had to be the smartest guy in the room (and often was,) and nearly cheapened the greatest swerve in the history of the business. The ultimate, all-time, #1 hero. Say your prayers, take your vitamins, thumbs up, wave the flag, comes out to save WCW, and drops the atomic leg drop instead. Also, Savage should have been in the middle of the ring. And Sting should have taken a Jackknife. But, I'm nitpicking now ;)
Loved this podcast and I have respect for Eric being honest and not bull shitting unlike someone else. But he does need to loosen up and maybe the podcast will be better. But hey this is the first episode. It's just great to hear him talking about the business and his side of things. I always respected Bischoff because he had balls to do stuff nobody else would have done. I also was more of a wcw fan then wwf in the 90's. I watched them on Saturday Night as well as Monday. Great times.
Say If Luger Got Attacked During The Match & It Was 2 On 2, Sting & Flair vs Hall & Nash Seems Like A Bigger Disadvantage, Especially Once Hogan Turns Heel. Hogan Leg-Dropping Savage Seemed More Shocking Than Hogan Leg-Dropping Flair To Form The NWO.
Flair was WCW. In the home territory he was always going to be seen as Mr. JCP/WCW and therefore you couldn't have him as part of an "invading organization"
i'm a WCW purist will always be. And yeah I was a kid during this time watching with my dad. WE BOTH were floor'd it was good it was really really good. DAD grew up in the time were riots and stuff in Memphis and Jonesboro was a common thing lol. BUT when he seen that fan jump up on the ring he was like oooo this is good. This is really good and it just set me up as a fan 4 life.
By far the biggest angle in wrestling history. This...... this is what propelled the Attitude Era. If WCW had handled their shit in 98, they'd have taken down the titanic.
I started watching maybe 6 months to a year before the nwo angle started. Back then I had no idea Scott hall and Kevin nash were former wcw employees. Hearing that adds a new layer of depth for the whole thing for me. Thank you
This guy not only doesn’t get his full due but he should be the man running turner broadcasting and if wcw did not get fucked with we’d still be doing great today. Me personally thank you to Conrad and Eric, your discussions help me make it through the day and are great to listen to. Hey Eric question if you could change one major thing with the current product what would it be, how would you do it and why?
Making Kevin Nash go over Goldberg was one of the worst decisions in the history of the business along with letting Taker do the favours for Lesnar at WM30.
I've been reading and listening to many people dog easy E forever now. It's nice to finally get his take on everything. Say whatever you want but the man did something nobody else has any many tried. He knocked Vinnie Mac out if his socks for 83 weeks...
Eric bischoff rules no matter what anybody says he's the man that kept WWF underwater for 83 weeks really impressive Vince Russo is liking pigs slop and did nothing for WCW. I'd really like to see if aew become as competitive is WCW once was
very refreshing as a former fan to see honesty even when being evasive. no following unwritten rules by lying or not talking numbers. kind of proves why he was successful with the NWO and poaching talent. not the typical "rastlin guy"...
1:17:44 "Less is more. You don't need to cram everything down a wrestling fans' throat just because you think you should." Who would have thought 20 years down the road, WWE does the EXACT opposite.
Some of those rumoured names for who the third man would be are laughable! The only two who could have made the story work were Luger and Bret. Sting turning would have been a big deal. But the problem with that is that you needed Sting as the figure head for WCW against the NWO. They could have turned him later, but at the start of that feud you needed Sting on the babyface team considering his history with WCW.
In this same episode Eric goes from saying that he wrote all of Scott Hall's promo and even rehearsed it with him to saying that they never fully scripted anyone in WCW okay so which is it Eric cause it can't be both. You can't have wrote all of that first one and have the claim that we never fully scripted anyone in a promo.
Bobby Heenan didn’t spoil shit. The very second Hogan was shown coming down the aisle, 13 year old me dove across the room, and started calling my friend to let him know Hogan was the third guy. I was 4-5 digits in before Heenan said his line.
I watched it live on PPV and as soon as that camera pointed on Hogan coming down the aisle, I assumed he was the 3rd guy. Seconds before Heenan's comment.
Today’s fans will never understand how big and how over Hall, Nash, Hogan, Syxx, and the rest of the nWo really was. In 96 I was watching both WCW and WWF. When Hall and Nash showed up in WCW I stopped watching WWF. I tried to watch them but I just couldn’t get into them, WCW was truly must see TV for 2 years.
Great stuff but I think that Eric's audio levels are a little low and Conrad's are a little high. I had to keep adjusting the volume. Conrad has a loud and powerful voice as is, no need to over emphasise.
That shit was phenomenal! Total mistake on Bobby's part, but I remember at the time, I didn't even give it a 2nd thought. I was assuming Hulk was coming down to be Hulk and Heenan was just harboring his longtime disdain for the man who was his biggest rival. I totally didn't feel the turn coming
New World Order was clearly NOT some random thought, we all knew BUSH SR said that in a Speech. The design coming from Disney is not a shock at all, it was probably an old design they remodel.
Imagine being a kid and knowing Tuesday, not Monday, was the worst day of the week. That’s how great the Monday night wars were.
Tuesday *has* no feel. *Monday* has a feel; Friday has a feel; Sunday has a feel….
@@andrewlivingston1590 Thursday has Thunder!!!...
@@licentiousdreams Thunder was cool but it really screwed them when they changed Nitro to a 3 hour show. Kinda reminds me of another Company 🤔
It was a magical time. For a different reason than when I was a kid watching wrestling in the mid/late 80’s and seeing cartoon and comic book characters come to life. It was real as a kid, and I can’t even begin to describe how magical it was. Watching during the time of the n.W.o. Was beyond awesome for a different reason. I couldn’t get enough. My God, how I miss those days.
Only good thing about Tuesday was going to school and discussing all the happenings on both Raw and Nitro with all my friends!
Nothing compares to WcW / nWo when it comes to wrestling. I've never been waiting for something like I was waiting for a Monday Nitro between 1996 & 2000.
I stopped watching wcw in september of 1998. Kudos for hanging in that long!
It was good in september 98
I'm actually in the middle of watching Nitros from 99 atm, it was still pretty good then. It's 2000 when Russo starts really making a mess of things. Then it started to improve again in late 2000 and 2001 but TimeWarner had decided long before then that they just didn't want wrestling anymore.
Eric bischoff changed the entire business. So glad to see you back podcasting and talking about your success at WCW. Well deserved.
LOL. Ted Turner changed the business kid
Agreed Gaz
@@That90sShow sooo Ted Turner was booking talent? Nooo he was just a checkbook. Shut up
@@indiangawd2177 exactly lol he's stupid
@@That90sShowGTFOH eazy e was the president & the hands on guy when it comes to creative Ted was just the owner.
Four minutes in and he counters the story about being influenced by the NJPW invasion angle. This should be loads of fun.
I met Eric in 1995 and he treated me with respect, and despite others saying this and that about him, he treated me like an adult. I may be and old school (85 ish) fan but Eric never made me feel inferior.
Tommy Mclaughlin Eric is a dick ask russo
@@michaelallanrubin2376 if you take Russo's advice on ANYTHING, not only are you a liar but YOU are a dick like Russo. 😂 FACTS
@@michaelallanrubin2376 Did you seriously just use Vince Russo as a source of information?
I'm from Columbia, SC. I met Eric and the nWo Oct 5 1998 ...they were cool as hell
@@michaelvaleone5485 Dillon,Sc
This was the best time to be a wrestling fan. Todays product doesn't come close to the Monday night wars! The ship has sailed.
I actually enjoyed Ruthless Aggression (2002 until Mania 25) a bit better. Wrestling after Mania 25 however has been much more bad than good. NXT has been really good in the last five or so years actually.
Sir Joelsuf it will never be the same again
And like any other form of entertainment, it is not designed to be the same for too long. The Monday Night wars had meh in-ring performance but good storytelling (before 2000 at least). Today's product has entertaining in-ring performance but really meh storytelling. That's just how it is.
I'd say the 80's were better than this period. So many choices to choose from back then.
@@maxxdahl6062 Depends on where you lived. For some of us on the West Coast we only had WWF and WCW. Since I wasn't in Oregon I didn't get Portland wrestling. One thing to keep in mind, WCW's last ratings were like 3x better than today's RAW and you have an idea of just how far wrestling has fallen.
This era had the power to make you like Mondays, think about that!
💀beautiful words my man
Exactly!!!
🔥
@@brandonbennett7337 yes. Crappy school day or crappy Mondays....but we know it gets better with time as both raw n nitro on in the evening time!
Wow, never even thought of that. I was around 10 or 11 and would have goosebumps at dinner anticipating Nitro coming on at 7 on TNT!
The idea of DDP as Eric Bischoff's wacky sitcom neighbor is just the best lol
Noel ComiX DDP with the Kramer pop in
I was thinking the same thing when i heard it. Like Larry from Threes Company.
That would be a great series on the network lol
especially with Eric doin the DDP voice 😂
MGTOWN I thought they swapped wives 😂
I will never forget Rey mysterio Jr getting thrown like a lawn dart into a trailor
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
"HE THREW HIM LIKE A DART!!!!" Larry Legend really got that over..
First time we saw his face
Lol🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 me neither
Lol that was hiliarious. Those spring break shows were bad ass
This is awesome! There are SO many things about the Monday Night Wars that we are still in the dark about, its really cool to have podcasts like this. Its perfect to have on in the background while working!
Missed out on this whole thing, when I was a kid, cause I didn't have the UK's version of cable back in the day until about 1999. Going through it all now on the network. NWO and WCW was badass.
Same here I missed the whole thing, but for different reasons the nWo was born on the 7th on of July so I was only "6 days old" funny enough that I only caught glimpses of their fed run in 02 and thought it was the greatest thing ever being that I was just getting introduced to wrestling through my relatives VHS tapes and hogan was my guy that being Said still going back to the network and experiencing it all over again is dope the only two things i hate about it is the heavily edited shows & dubbed music.
My kid ordered some tee shirts, and now Eric Bischoff keeps prank calling my house. Thanks a lot, Conrad Thompson...
Well that’s cool if he keeps prank calling you atleast he calls you
Eric is a flat out genuine Iconic wrestling mind!! No doubt, BUT to be fair, NWO doesn't work without Hall, Nash, Hogan. Stars just lined up for the opportunity. Great time to be a wrestling fan!
You know, any true wrestling fan that have been watching since at least the mid 90s, know how cool austin, DX, and the rock were but if you never watched wcw and the nWo genesis, you missed out on the coolest shit in wrestling.
Eric Lofstrand Totally agree!
I was too young then and even then never was shown Wrestling until I think the smackdown before no mercy 04 and it only taker battering gangrel and Mabel. But I've watched many many hours of wrestling from before I became a fan. You guys were blessed!
Until Syxx joined. Then it was all downhill.
The NWO made wcw awesome, but I also loved the cruiserweight division a lot
dizzlethagod ...so much this 👍
Dude said “a pimpster on a hample’s ass”. That’s one of the greatest gaffes I’ve ever heard.
Pimple on a hamsters*
Don't worry BROTHER I have made the same mistake when I was overly hyped 😂😂 🤙
Lol
Nice interview. Agree with Eric that Sting would have been good, maybe borderline great. But nothing could have been bigger than the way it happened w/ Hogan. Best angle ever.
great show loved it. Eric seemed lil tense but as time goes on i think he will learn to have lil more fun while doing the show
He's got the personality of a brick. Good luck
Always liked Bischoff, But he has a hell of a way of answering questions, lol. 🤔🤓
"hogan hated scripts"
Well, that explains his movies
I hate the phrase LOL, but I giggled out loud yo!
Hey, NK HOLDS BARRED was a Classic!! 😂
Wooooooo!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHA!!!
@@jasoncoward-aintscared I lol'ed!
As a person born in 74. A child and teenager in the 80s. I hated the Hogan character. I was a fan of heels. I never once in my life thought I would ever be a Hogan fan ... that nWo heel turn by Hogan proved me wrong. Hogan is in the top 5 best heels in the history of Wrestling (my opinion).
I've always considered it the best heel turn of all time. It was so real. And it was so shocking to kids and to grownups. Plus, Hogan became cool!!!!
I didn't like Hogan either way. His look was cooler but he had the same lame moves.
@@jamminjohn and his promos didn't change.
Without babyface Hogan i dont think the heels would have been so over. Without babyface hogan there is no horrible heel Andre king kong bundy earthquake. When they feuded with hogan they were really hated. After their program with hogan they drifted away...
@@samthomas1291 Andre was bigger than all those guys and always over. In no way can you compare Andre the Giant to Earthquake
Bischoff was a perfect heel. So was Hogan. Then the Crow angle for Sting was gold baby.
Happy to finally get around to listening to these podcasts. Eric and Conrad are a great duo.
Thanks Easy E and Conrad for this show. I drive and I never miss a show.
"I Don't Recall" w/ Eric Bischoff
@Arsenal fc fan club & Man City supporter He just knockin him because he uses this phrase several times throughout these podcasts so more of a tongue in cheek type of thing
@Arsenal fc fan club & Man City supporter Because it's not a case of "I can't remember" but rather "I don't wanna talk about stuff that makes me look bad and i don't want to admit shit i did"
@@melaniel.4269 Oh really? Assuming you were alive back in 1996, how much do *you* remember from back then? If I were to question you about shit that was going on in your life, you may remember most of the big events, but I highly doubt you'd remember too many of the details. If you do, then congratulations for having an exceptionally good long term memory, but most people don't have memories that good.
@@JMFSpike The problem is, it's not faulty Memory, it's selective memory and trying to save face what Eric does.
Like him denying that he ever made an offer to Bret in 1996 or even talked to him that year. First of all: That's not something you forget, because that's a pretty thing. It's not like Bret was some meaningless jobber from bumville, usa.
Other things also should be easy to remember.
Paul Heyman can remember stuff from the early 90's. Cornette can remember stuff from the 80's.
And since you mention it: Yes, i can actually remember a hell of a lot of things from 1996, wether it's the vacations to Malta and Italy, getting a new PC, my reaction to Hogan's turn at the Bash, my reaction to wrestling in Germany deemed "adults only" and shoved into the late at night timeslots and a lot of private and school stuff (i was just 11 back then), heck i can even still remember the fucking cheat codes for Duke Nukem 3D like DNCornholio. And i don't think i have exceptional memory, actually i have a pretty bad memory, especially my name and short memories are kinda faulty.
Nobody here wants Eric to remember what he ate on June 10, 1996 or how threesomes he had with his wife and strippers in 1996 (though i bet THAT is something he would remember and if it's just because he went on trial for one of such adventure later on) but actually big events at his job. Running a wrestling promotion and dealing with millions of dollars, famous wrestlers and all that is not something you would easily forget i think.
He was only running WCW at the time.
Hell of a start for the series! I can't freaking wait for more shows!
Conrad needs to start a podcast with Vince Russo called “WTF” or “it’s a swerve bro.”
Or "Podcast on a Pole"
Still not on Spotify. God bless you TH-cam......
HighFlyingBird82 It's such a love hate relationship with spotify.
Hey Conrad, stop using the word"innuendo" and get everyone else's microphones to be as loud as yours for once, will ya?
I don't know why so many people poke at Bischoff for not remembering exact contract details, numbers and dates. First, it was 20+ yrs ago and unlike jealous ex wrestlers who have no life and do shoot interviews in motel rooms with a beer in their hand, Bischoff moved on with a production company, a gaming company. He's a pilot, has a family. A life. Plus, so many lies are told about him that he probably gets tired of trying to refute everything. We are the obsessed ones watching these things. :)
Yes thank u. exactly. I hate when people just accuse people of lying, their not in the persons mind. And remembering so many details from 20 years ago aint easy.
Always love just hearing Bischoff's voice. I immediately picture that cheesy gin and the floppy black mullet. GREAT first podcast, look forward to more.
Jonathan Lindsey when I hear his voice I picture him on his motorcycle with the mic in hand and a big ass smile.
But remember that at first he was not that smarmy sarcastic character, he was a straightforward face "Ken Doll" announcer, later revealed to be an executive.
#MulletHeroes
Yeah, but he became a great heel when he turned. One of the most "hateable" characters ever
@Ry G insecure much?
Interesting start...still need to hear a couple more episodes before I decide if it's become one of my new fav Wrestling podcasts....
Could you focus one episode on the Time Warner Takeover of WCW? I've heard Eric mention blurbs about all the problems this caused with creative. And read about his political battles with the suits. Hearing this fleshed out completely would not only be entertaining, but also provide MEGA CONTEXT for what was happening from 98-01. THANKS and great job!
Kevin Newsom would be great I agree, there is a good one with Jericho but would be great to hear the political side with Turner and AOL, would love to hear his own take on everything in detail.
@@vacuumboots69 I bought his book off the Play store, and seriously, it's ridiculous how much he was getting fucked over by the suits and HR folk, he was basically being told that anything remotely edgy was immediately off limits which was the bread and butter of wrestling at the time, and Kevin Sullivan has backed up everything Bischoff has said, his hands were completely tied so it's a bit shit how much blame Bischoff gets for how bad WCW was at the time
Man.. if Vince wasn’t so fuckin cocky they really could have done WCW as it’s own organization on USA Network, lead by Eric. and then they really could have nailed the ‘Invasion’ angle and waited for the WCW roster to come over from the TW / AOL contracts. They straight up could have done Nitro vs Raw and kept both shows going. It would have be crazy, tbh Vince probably would have done that in hindsight. It would have made sooo much money lol.
People act like Eric can run a million dollar product and company on a billion dollar platform. While also micro managing every minute of everyone's career down to whether or not a feeling is hurt.
The guy was a TV executive. Everyone of them before him has made mistakes. But Bischoff did some really great things as well. That are still being felt in pro wrestling to this day.
Number 1 Eric never got his due for his incredible accomplishments in taking a southern promotion to national spotlight and beating WWF for 83 weeks...nobody on the planet ever did what Bischoff did in challenging Vince and putting his back to the wall... unfortunately in most podcast and interviews it's obvious that Bischoff has selective memory when it comes to giving credit to other ppl...example is how he stutters around saying for sure that Kevin Sullivan had Hogan at his house that night...it's the way Bischoff says yeah that's possibly true instead of saying yeah Kevin really made sure nobody got to Hogan...little shit like that is annoying to me but in general Bischoff is always fun to listen to and his knowledge of TV and the wrestling business is damn good I think and he comes across as real smart...Bottom line is this was good show and only thing better would be if they did it on video so we could see their facial reactions...
It doesn’t matter he gave them a run for their money, they folded, they lost, history is written by the victor, they succame the same fate as every other wrestling promotion on the planet. Bischoff may be a special one, but he’s one of the many failed promotions, while Vince is still active and has only gained more board power, money, and centralized a wrestling developmental system that has some of the best independent talent on the planet that was stabilized before the Indy wrestling boom. WCW was once really good but it was also shit a lot and really stupid and repetitive.
His main problem is his own arrogance and narcissism.
It's absolutely impressive. and keep in mind Nitro actually beat Raw MORE than 83 weeks --- the 83 weeks just refers to the CONSECUTIVE weeks that Nitro won. No matter which way you cut it, that IS impressive and Nitro will be remembered as the ONLY wrestling show which was able to defeat WWE.
Kent Kaliber do u think that if he got a handle on wrestlers having ridiculously never seen before power in the dressing room and creative control in their contracts, he would of stayed on top? I mean I know its ifs and buts but that along with him going on screen definately didn't help and maybe if they planned after the nwo and not rehashed it? Defo could of used Bret Hart better. Maybe a faction with him, Jericho and Benoit could of took on the nwo in a match to end it all. War games.
Oh I agree man, there were a LOT of missed opportunities in those final WCW years. But man growing up with RAW on one station and NITRO on the TNT, it made for the most volatile, exciting period in the entirety of wrestling history. It was really special.
I’ll tell you how big this era was. My father hated wrestling, my two brothers and I were not allowed to watch it. To Dad’s credit, we would start fighting when we watched it, literally lol. But because of that we stayed up until midnight every Monday night and watched the nitro replay until 3am when dad had gone to bed lol. This was one of the funnest times of my life.
The NWO were the rock stars of the wrestling business.
Conrad thank you for holding all these wrestling personalities accountable!
Outstanding podcast!! You got my attention, and I love that this isn't just a "brief few minutes" long. I will be tuning in for these as soon as I catch up to current... and I'll be slamming that Like button.
I'm really glad that it was described that the "Hogan Heel Turn" was significant based on the era. I completely agree with it being in the top 3. The most notable other turn that I remember was when Larry Zbysko turned on Bruno Sammartino. I was little, back then... and that was my first exposure to a "massive heel turn". I still remember it to this day, because of it's brutality.
Good comment!
It worked out perfectly hogan was a better heel than sting and it made more sense at the time because hogan was a wwf guy sting was the loyal wcw guy
Sting could never be a true heel in WCW
But the fact that Sting was a loyal WCW guy woulda made that angle even better (of course if Sting had fully embraced it). But at the same time Hogan's schtick was so stale, this was probably the best. As Hall & Nash said Hogan wasn't gonna miss that $$ train.
@@MCLogikILL Remember when they attempted to turn him back in '99? That one kind of backfired imo....
@@SuperWarking it absolutely did, was one of the last major creative mistakes WCW made that killed them
@@MCLogikILL Well, we shouldn't be surprised.... Starrcade 1997 is all I am going to say.
Need a new shirt...#StingMoney
John Porter III i need it
I love this podcast and I love Eric and Conrad! Eric is funny and insightful while Conrad keeps him honest and on track by calling him out on his BS. Lol!Great show, keep it up. Can't wait to hear all of the other episodes.
“No I was technically lying.” I love that.
also, Sting has always been the only true well marketed wcw guy
Yeti
Eric has yet to realize the damage that Nash's powerbomb has done to his memory
I love what EB is saying that he wanted to bring in a more reality-based product. Wrestling would really need that right now. Something Hogan said when he turned though, he said something like "New Wrestling Organisation" or something like that which would have been an interesting name for a new company.
Johnny Skinwalker he also said he didn't use flair in the first match because he wanted to go younger with Hogan and Macho who are same generation...
He said New World Organization
He said that because he couldn't remember New World Order.
Wait, so Eric went to Japan and just studied what people liked? There's gotta be more to it than that.
I use to look forward to Mondays.
I use to wait all day long in middle school to go home. Then finally pop in my VHS, hit record, and enjoy Monday Nitro!
I used to sit there and pause out the commercials. I recorded all the wwf and wcw ppvs and the shows the night after.
Tuesday-Sunday felt like forever
Kyle Bennett I swear
It was a magical time i was actually doing some training to be a cruiser wheight at that time so sad to see what wrestling has become Thx alot Vinny Mac
I remember watching wrestling back when i was little probably 1992 in like 2nd-3rd grade and kept it on the downlow cuz it wasnt considered cool to like it openly in my school...but i loved it back then up til i stopped watching in like 2004-05... These podcast are awesome!
Eric was the catalyst which pulled Pro Wrestling kicking and screaming into the new millennium. He revitalized the careers of WWF’s most famous celebrities AND changed the goofy 00s Wrestling into something Which was edgy and entertaining, kept you on the hook every week. AND forced Vince to reinvent his product into the Attitude Era. The rest is history. Like it or not, all things Wrestling, the fans, the wrestlers, the companies all owe him some gratitude and homage.
Pl211
A couple of favorite episodes of this was the one about the DX Invasion, clearly taking place in the day, and Eric thought he was in the ring cutting a live promo. They were on EST.
The other was Starrcade '98 where the cluster fuck of '97 came into the discussion and had the "pleasure" of hearing Eric try to justify that.
Been waiting for this podcast! Hopefully it's just 2-sweet!!!
Not on google play yet. So glad for TH-cam lol. Great show guys!
Now on google play. Love how it's the old bow logo with the 83 weeks spray painted over!
Would love to hear a part 2 about the process off adding all the members, why it was decided to add non WWF talent, the Wolfpac split, now 2000 and more
I think Hulk Hogan was jealous of the Wolfpac's popularity. They were more over than his NWO. That's why he took Hall away. Then the fingerpoke happened... NWO Elite etc happened.
@@nostalgiaman6816 the fingerpoke happened because WCW was going to launch a new primetime program on NBC that never happened and they wanted the first main event of that show to be Hogan and Savage, but with that show not even being produced the fingerpoke of doom match lost its context.
@@andrewft31 Huh? Where did you hear that? As much as Nash & Bischoff talk about it - I’ve never heard them bring that up. I’ve heard Eric bring the NBC deal up but he never blamed the finger poke on it.
@@andrewft31 Not saying you’re wrong though. But they were both on LEGENDS OF WRESTLING and never brought that up.
@@nostalgiaman6816 Wrestling Bios talks about the nbc show playing a part in the ‘finger poke of doom’. They said they wanted Hulk to be champion again, because they were planning on doing an NBC show with Hulk as the main event. ( Wrestling used to air on NBC in the past, so it’s not very outlandish ) the NBC show ends up getting canned for whatever reason and they were stuck with the results of Hogan v Nash.
Lol at Eric on Conrad jumping around... he asks questions as they come up in his head... that's what makes him so great for these podcasts. Come on man.
You look like a bean. Beanface.
@@Dredsed are we 2?
@@FilmThePoliceFTP are we a bean? BEANHEAD Looooool
Great show. I can't wait for Eric to loosen up more.
Scott has said a million times that Larry Zbyszko was telling Eric: "No No No! He has to come through the come crowd!" Eric is lying.
Yelp. Nash has said he told eric he couldnt sell nwo shirts and eric was confused. Nash and hall started kayfabe bootlegging them in parking lot to make invasion look real. Eric cant tell a story thats believable
Anyone else agree that Heenan's "Whose side is he on?!" call actually helped sell the angle? Like if Heenan is suggesting it then no way. And in others ways speaking for us in real time? Then Tony quickly brushing him off like Hogan was absolutely there to rescue the WCW guys. Hogan hadn't been seen for a while, he even seemed to carry himself differently while walking to the ring. No music hit either. Everything in those 30 seconds or so before the leg drop heard around the world was perfect. I feel like Henan's reaction helped solidify it.
No. That was Heenan going into business for himself because he knew it was an historic moment (in my opinion.) He always had to be the smartest guy in the room (and often was,) and nearly cheapened the greatest swerve in the history of the business. The ultimate, all-time, #1 hero. Say your prayers, take your vitamins, thumbs up, wave the flag, comes out to save WCW, and drops the atomic leg drop instead. Also, Savage should have been in the middle of the ring. And Sting should have taken a Jackknife. But, I'm nitpicking now ;)
@@stevewardlaw I mean, you could be right, but I think it added to the slow burn. Like "there goes Brain, stirring the pot again." And then BAM!
@@stevewardlaw lol ?!
Round the 45:00 mark, Conrad stated from May 19-26 Scott Hall had a 7 day week.... Is there somewhere where a week is NOT 7 days?
Dave Meltzer got another timeline wrong??? SHOCKING!
Loved this podcast and I have respect for Eric being honest and not bull shitting unlike someone else. But he does need to loosen up and maybe the podcast will be better. But hey this is the first episode. It's just great to hear him talking about the business and his side of things. I always respected Bischoff because he had balls to do stuff nobody else would have done. I also was more of a wcw fan then wwf in the 90's. I watched them on Saturday Night as well as Monday. Great times.
Bischoff still has a great mind...Cant wait to see what he does with Smackdown!
LOL! I agree with the great mind
Was always curious as to why Savage who was a WWE Legend was picked as part of team WCW and not a guy like Flair
Say If Luger Got Attacked During The Match & It Was 2 On 2, Sting & Flair vs Hall & Nash Seems Like A Bigger Disadvantage, Especially Once Hogan Turns Heel. Hogan Leg-Dropping Savage Seemed More Shocking Than Hogan Leg-Dropping Flair To Form The NWO.
*WWF* Legend
Flair was WCW. In the home territory he was always going to be seen as Mr. JCP/WCW and therefore you couldn't have him as part of an "invading organization"
The NWO vs WCW roster angle was just brilliant.... DDP and Goldberg was getting beat up like every Monday and me and my buddies enjoyed it.
That's was fire 🔥... then the red vs white nwo
What if Eric Bischoff would've had Bret Hart debut on Nitro with a WWF replica belt saying he never lost it...
It would not have mattered because WWF got Mike Tyson, which ultimately did it.
@@OmegaRedFan I think it would've had a great impact... Imagine Bret constantly claiming to be WWF champ still on NITRO....
Eric “I don’t recall/remember” Bischoff 😂
i'm a WCW purist will always be. And yeah I was a kid during this time watching with my dad. WE BOTH were floor'd it was good it was really really good. DAD grew up in the time were riots and stuff in Memphis and Jonesboro was a common thing lol. BUT when he seen that fan jump up on the ring he was like oooo this is good. This is really good and it just set me up as a fan 4 life.
Damn. I'd hate to be a wcw lifer. Lmao
We are definitely gonna need y'all to start selling some t-shirts for this podcast asap.
Congratulations Conrad and Eric , keep up the awesome work .
What an amazing episode!! Much appreciation and congrats to you both!!!!
This is just too sweet.
Finally! Got caught up with STWW to start these! Looking forward to it!!
By far the biggest angle in wrestling history. This...... this is what propelled the Attitude Era. If WCW had handled their shit in 98, they'd have taken down the titanic.
I started watching maybe 6 months to a year before the nwo angle started. Back then I had no idea Scott hall and Kevin nash were former wcw employees. Hearing that adds a new layer of depth for the whole thing for me. Thank you
I remember seeing razor ramon on wcw and thinking "wtf is the wwf intercontinental champion doing at wcw!!??" 😂😂
Pumped up for this podcast. Week 1 killed it. Let’s gooooooooo
This guy not only doesn’t get his full due but he should be the man running turner broadcasting and if wcw did not get fucked with we’d still be doing great today. Me personally thank you to Conrad and Eric, your discussions help me make it through the day and are great to listen to. Hey Eric question if you could change one major thing with the current product what would it be, how would you do it and why?
Making Kevin Nash go over Goldberg was one of the worst decisions in the history of the business along with letting Taker do the favours for Lesnar at WM30.
I've been reading and listening to many people dog easy E forever now. It's nice to finally get his take on everything. Say whatever you want but the man did something nobody else has any many tried. He knocked Vinnie Mac out if his socks for 83 weeks...
Man oh man it 4 years since this debut but I still enjoy this
I never knew this man was so brilliant
Eric bischoff rules no matter what anybody says he's the man that kept WWF underwater for 83 weeks really impressive Vince Russo is liking pigs slop and did nothing for WCW. I'd really like to see if aew become as competitive is WCW once was
When Eric’s voice goes low, he sounds like Bruce. And when Eric’s voice goes high, he sounds like Tony Schiavone.
Logan Lombard Goddammit pal, is it Bruce or is it Tony?
Kevin Nash seems like the type of guy who would lament SH's alcoholism yet drink a case of beer in front of the guy.
Amazing stuff. Thanks Conrad!
very refreshing as a former fan to see honesty even when being evasive. no following unwritten rules by lying or not talking numbers. kind of proves why he was successful with the NWO and poaching talent. not the typical "rastlin guy"...
Great as usual!! Thanx Conrad!!!...& You too Eric.
Always amazing to hear Eric talk!
1:17:44 "Less is more. You don't need to cram everything down a wrestling fans' throat just because you think you should."
Who would have thought 20 years down the road, WWE does the EXACT opposite.
LOL! Roman Reigns.
Who would have thought at that very moment WCW was doing the exact same thing
Some of those rumoured names for who the third man would be are laughable! The only two who could have made the story work were Luger and Bret. Sting turning would have been a big deal. But the problem with that is that you needed Sting as the figure head for WCW against the NWO. They could have turned him later, but at the start of that feud you needed Sting on the babyface team considering his history with WCW.
It’s insane to me they didn’t use Bret Hart as the 4th member. Such a giant fumble.
In this same episode Eric goes from saying that he wrote all of Scott Hall's promo and even rehearsed it with him to saying that they never fully scripted anyone in WCW okay so which is it Eric cause it can't be both. You can't have wrote all of that first one and have the claim that we never fully scripted anyone in a promo.
Lead-in music is Tom Sawyer? Already you got my thumbs up.
I used to skip all wrestling, WCW or WWF, even at 83W height, but these behind the scenes logistical operations are fun to listen to and respect!
Bobby Heenan didn’t spoil shit. The very second Hogan was shown coming down the aisle, 13 year old me dove across the room, and started calling my friend to let him know Hogan was the third guy.
I was 4-5 digits in before Heenan said his line.
I watched it live on PPV and as soon as that camera pointed on Hogan coming down the aisle, I assumed he was the 3rd guy. Seconds before Heenan's comment.
Today’s fans will never understand how big and how over Hall, Nash, Hogan, Syxx, and the rest of the nWo really was. In 96 I was watching both WCW and WWF. When Hall and Nash showed up in WCW I stopped watching WWF. I tried to watch them but I just couldn’t get into them, WCW was truly must see TV for 2 years.
He is the reason why i love Voodoo Child.
I feel like it's lost that the Sting conflict was so instrumentalto that angle. He was there from jump street opposing HALL.
'Hey Eric, how are you? How's the family?'
'YOU'VE ASKED ME TWO QUESTIONS THERE!'
Corny would have remembered all of these details plus which socks he was wearing and how many sprites he had left in his fridge
Great stuff but I think that Eric's audio levels are a little low and Conrad's are a little high. I had to keep adjusting the volume. Conrad has a loud and powerful voice as is, no need to over emphasise.
It was more than just 83 weeks but most people remember that as the Monday Night Wars anyways....
83 weeks was the winning streak duh
That night of the hogan heel turn, Bobby Herman said “who’s side is he on” when Hogan walked out.
countryboyok1
Really???? No shit
That shit was phenomenal! Total mistake on Bobby's part, but I remember at the time, I didn't even give it a 2nd thought. I was assuming Hulk was coming down to be Hulk and Heenan was just harboring his longtime disdain for the man who was his biggest rival. I totally didn't feel the turn coming
Wait, is this Eric Bischoff's channel? Holy shit!
N......W......O
What About 4Life
"WHA WHA-WHA-WHA WHA WHA WHAW WHAW"
Tooooooo sweeeeeeeeet......
New new new world order
@@Dredsed Cue the porn music.
New World Order was clearly NOT some random thought, we all knew BUSH SR said that in a Speech. The design coming from Disney is not a shock at all, it was probably an old design they remodel.
HHH is illuminated
@@Dredsed loony not tea (luminate)
@@Dredsed loony not tea (luminate)
@@OikPoinFive wtf are you on about? No, he is illuminated. Research the name Levesque and his daughters names.