Eric's theme here is that Bret didn't care so he didn't book him with much. He also said Sting didn't care so he didn't follow through on Sting's angle. Additional Info: Bobby Heenan (who was brilliant) went to Eric once with a great opening for Nitro and Eric ignored him so much that Bobby said he never bothered again. Tony Schiavone said he would literally put his head down on the desk between segments. Maybe WCW was just a terrible place to be for anyone but Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan and their immediate buddies, and that's why no one seemed to care.
In all fairness, neither did Vince. I remember Vince saying in the Bret dvd that if he were WCW, he wouldve built the entire company around Bret. Yet in his conversations with Bret when Bret asked what they had planned for him for the next few years, Vince told him he would be putting over Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and would then be used to help elevate other performers. I don’t believe Vince is putting the spotlight on Bret on a roster with Hogan, Goldberg, and Sting.
Brett Hart was one of the best pro wrestlers of all time. He made it look like wrestling was easy. The only other wrestler I can say that about is Curt Henig. They just flowed naturally in the ring.
They had some real classics that are just old vaulted matches I stumbled upon on Daily Motion. Circa 89 Hart and Henning had some matches that were ahead of their time and much better than what WWE was putting on Saturday Night Main Event and PPVs back then
He was boring his matches were always the same he was a trasional champion wwf used when Hogan left until they could fun a replacement Bret never takes any blame for anything in his career he's old bitter washed up and a mark for himself
@@jordanwillett8456 it almost sounds cruel when you say it out loud but Bret definitely had his issues. However he did put Shawn and Steve over so thank god for that at least.
I have to agree with Bret on saying that Ric Flair would go 20 minutes with no psychology. They'd lock up, Flair would go for a wrist lock, his opponent would reverse it, Flair would scream in pain, go to the ropes, hit the turn buckle, take the back body drop, plead for mercy by screaming "noooo!", get up and poke the guy in the eyes, go to the turn buckle and chop the guy, attempt an Irish whip, have it reversed, hit the turn buckle again, take another back body drop and repeat the process all over again. It's entertaining but, yeah. It was like that with every time, even when these 2 wrestled in the WWF for the title.
Bret literally said in his book he kept a tape recorded diary during his career for a future book at the end of it. I'm not aware of anyone else, other than Jim Cornette, who took that level of recorded keep for an accurate end product.
Brets a bull shitter and a liar where the tapes then why has no-one heard them brets a bitter old fuck who was a mark for himself everyone knows it except Bret fans anyone who's ever done buissnes with Bret knows what he was like Bruce Pritchard has said the same things Eric is saying now
Me too....i think people who re-watch it from hindsight with all the revisionist history by wwe will never know how great it really was back then. It was incredible from 1996 to 1999 then went to shit very quick. Even the fact that not everything made perfect sense for a dirtsheet reader and internet user (only super nerds had internet back then) made wcw even better because it felt organic and spontaneuos not overscripted like WWF. WWF felt like a TV show, wcw felt like a sports broadcast
Bret should have pdirected his character more first and foremost and looked out for Davey boy , tag titles then u.s belt just to prove he's worthy and push Goldberg's title win back and Hart Hogan should have had a back and worth trade off with the belt
@@Buckdawg I hope one day some idiot kid is arguing with you about Edge's solo run being bigger than his TLC tag team days so you can see how stupid you sound. Mick Foley held the title less than Bret and he was a New York Times best selling author at the height of his fame. Mankind is bigger than Bret Hart. If Bret was so amazing then frankly the fans would have just made his angle what was hot, it's what happened with SCSA. Heck the Rock was getting over as a face while he was a heel before the Deadly Game Survivor Series. Just go watch it on Peacock from late 95 until the Screwjob and you'll see WCW is not to blame, Bret was not some god who all the fans loved and adored. neither was HBK. It'd be like if TNA had gotten big and hired away CM Punk and Daniel Bryan in 2012, wrestling got hot and by that I mean even your grandparents are aware of it somewhat, and then Cena/RKO were ran out of town for new better talent. That's essentially what happened in 96-98.
Darth There’s no way he would’ve offered that kind of money without seeing the numbers, and KNOWING Bret was a draw. He certainly wouldn’t have planned to make him the top guy on their new show. He just bent to the will of “Doesn’t work for me, brother.”
He wasn't a complete draw when compared with his contemporaries, although his name and lineage still had significance which could of potentially been a draw with the correct booking.
Darth Also, to your second point, no one can draw if they’re not pushed. Stone Cold wasn’t the top draw in the business until he got pushed to the top of the cards. Same for Rock, and even Hogan. Hogan drew peanuts in his first WWE run, being on the lower card (in his blue ring gear). Then he went to the AWA, got pushed, and a star was born. Came back to WWE, got pushed there, and drew insane numbers. Bisch just desperately wants to rewrite history so that he never screwed anything up. Unfortunately, it’s not true. For all the good he did, he also helped kill WCW by letting guys like Hogan essentially run the place, and change plans on a whim (exactly what Hogan did with Bret).
This is not a bad episode but there are some huge missed questions here. Why was Bret not booked in matches with Hogan and Sting right off the bat? Why did Bret not say on Nitro he couldn't wrestle because he broke his hand punching Vince? Challenges about how to fit Bret into a crowded roster? Where was his title run in 1998? What about a WCW branded Thunder headed by Bret? Eric's thoughts on nWo 2000? These topics are not seriously discussed with the same fervor as the topics in the finger poke of doom episode.
Noel ComiX they did it deliberately to create the illusion that WCW had a greater depth of talent than WWF, that Bret wasn’t worthy of headlining Nitro
Where do i begin? What a load of shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet ppl believe eric's dream. Eric, you remember all these meetings but forget how much you paid Bret hart? hahahaha. Ok then! Eric, Bret wasnt a draw, yet you paid him TOP DOLLAR cash! You mentioned him with Hogan, savage, flair (BTW flair couldnt draw for shit. he was all southern draw. Nobody in Canada gave a shit, nor did anyone over sea's, or most of america. sorry but that's fact) in same sentence. You're all over map on this one. Hogan came to WWF in 1993, so was flair and in 1992 when they where on top, DIDNT DRAW! As Bruce Prichard said, nobody cared to be quiet frank. WHATS THAT ABOUT DRAWING POWER? They where already on way down in all kinds of numbers, WWF and wrestling that is because of steroid scandal. In 1993, Hogan couldn't pick up viewing numbers or house show numbers or ppv buys as CHAMP, you know the #1 guy! Fact was, he was behind Bret in popularity at that time. Bret was most IMPACT and profitable wrestler in ALL of north america at this time. So Bret wasn't a star, yet...every1 knew his name, was all over tv's, media. Had a #1 song about him in Germany, top Canadian, wwf biggest draw outside of america, won everything in wwf, made MILLION's and was handed #1 heel in 1997 a long with most popular wrestler in wwf 3 outta 6 years he was champ. Yet, can't draw, not a star power? WTF is eric talking about???? Buddy, you dont like Bret, thats fine but at least be HONEST and real in your podcast. You are contradicting yourself, dumbass. Listen, if Bret wasnt that big... he wouldnt be able to get no where near that cash and his name wouldnt be top 5 of all time in his ERA. Oh is Bret going to have fun with this one... Oh now HINDSIGHT he was signed for WCW Thunder. Anybody who knows and was close to wrestling and Bret... knows youre flat out, FULL OF SHIT esp on this one! Dont even try and pretend, now, that's why u picked Bret Hart! Maybe the ppl who dont know the in details, but you aint fooling the one's who know! Draw power? Bret was biggest star outside of America in his era, ask Vince or JR who have publicly said this how many times? Oh wait they're lying, lets listen to Eric B who cant even get his facts straight. BTW, the tickets bought and merch are TRUE indicators. Austin, Rock, Hogan, Cena are all bigger then Bret in America, but he's legit top 5! Who the hell saved WWF in days of fans leaving? Bret Hart. Who woulda been that champion and guy who could take wwf outta dark days in usa and go everywhere else and make money? Hogan and flair couldnt draw in those days in WWF and WCW where they wrestled in empty chairs and wwf still wrestled in full arena's for PPV and packed whatever taping event they had whichever size. Dont get it twisted that Hogan was drawing huge in WCW. Its a roster that draws... bookers, why do u think he couldnt draw in 1992-1993 in wwf when he came back? IN LATE 96 nwo was a cool faction, new look in wrestling...perfect take credit! But notice in cpl years that ended faaaaaaaaaaaast? But I thought Hogan drew? why did WCW sink? why did they lose to WWF in ratings all of a sudden, but they had biggest star ever hogan? Becuz its not one guy team, he needs bookers and great talent around him. Oh and dont go after Bret on wcw sink, you didnt let him wrestle anyone big or start a rivalry or push him to #1 to even say he couldnt draw in those days! So its just like austin and rock in wwf they had great roster backing em up but eventually in 2002 numbers started slipping and by 2004 it went right down. Not because rock and austin are not stars or cant draw.. it just became stale entertainment and nothing new to look forward too. Like any league you got stars but you def need talent around to make it fun and exciting with rivalry. Bret wrestled in era's with Bashiton booger, al montoya, eric bradford, sparky plug, skip, dean douglas, whalem murssy etc... Bret cant wrestle himself, he needs another top dog to start rivalry with. Imagine if he was pushed with savage, flair, hogan, warrior, jake snake, ric rude, mr perfect etc... he coulda been huge too wrestling great talent makes you big. Bret did it on his own because that was his only shot, vince seen that outta him! Hogan knew, dont wrestle bret or he'll be booed outta park, he wasnt the man after 1992. Thats fact, jack! No one can deny it. Hogan coulda helped wwf and helped push Bret to newer heights.. but meh he wanted yokozuna, that worked out well, that drew huuuuge lol!!! Bret WAS a star, made million's... had legion of fans everywhere. #1 selling book, top canadian, top selling WWE dvd. Lead wwf 4 different years in merch sales. Shawn loves to brag about his 1996 merch lead, mean while Bret was out for 6 months, fuck i hope you made most shawn!!! and when wrestling went to Canada he was THE biggest thing. Not even Austin, Hogan or rock and Goldberg could get over VS Bret Hart...neither in UK, Germany or south Africa etc... and you cant fight it because youtube or GOOGLE is your fucking friend in case you "forget" as u like to say in this podcast. You didnt let Bret Hart vs Hogan happen but once on a silly b.s. match that ended up them being "friends" you coulda had a rivalry, started a feud made/tried for millions off a match Hogan bulked at in WWF years earlier, which he prolly did again in WCW, thats why we didnt see it. But u let Hogan run ur show in WCW and u got what u deserved. Bankrupt!!! BTW since Hogan is draw by himself, what happened to wcw...while he was top guy? Why did u sink? exactly! Wow is this complete fucking joke of a podcast by you. Conrad is cool. BTW, wtf was Bret Hart in WCW anyways? Good, bad, good, bad, mid card, heavy weight champ, us champ, referee, HUH???????? Yeah thats YOUR mind set! Your ego is upset because Bret has said numerous times, youre full of shit and back stabbing POS. This podcast proves all lies you make up. I love when you pretend to tell us what u think now... Best Line. Bret Hart wasn't a draw...but i paid him top dollar just under Hogan. Thats an idiot, folks. Ill leave it as.. if Bret wasnt a big star, why are we talking about him? why does his name sell? why does have he have millions of followers? We are talking about him right now, because...HE WAS A FUCKING STAR! Not a Konan....
I can answer some of those, even though I’m not Bischoff. Why was Bret not booked immediately with Hogan and Sting? Because he came in right before Sting vs Hogan which had been building since Bash at the Beach 96 and was the biggest thing in wrestling despite what the revisionist history that the WWE would have you believe. Sting and Hogan had 2 more matches that lasted into the spring. I argue that while 2 more matches was sufficient, the feud could’ve stretched out a little further, especially had the match at Starrcade gone the way it shouldve. Then outta nowhere Bill Goldberg became white hot. I’ve always thought it was ridiculous that Bret has always basically contended that WCW should drop everything they were doing and put everything on hold just to give Bret the feud he wanted. Also important to note that Bret did not come in as “the hottest thing in wrestling” like so many people contend. In 1997, the internet was in something like one out of every 5 households, and those homes tended to be higher income homes who did not watch wrestling. The majority of fans had no idea what had even happened at Survivor Series....and for the ones that did, why would they have all this sympathy for Bret after he dogged the shit out of them for the better part of 97? I distinctly remember Bret getting booed in his early WCW interviews and several “USA!” chants. It was so bad that I remember Bret interrupting the boos and chants to say that he didn’t want to disrespect America. So his switch from vicious anti-American heel to babyface was “I mean no disrespect to Americans??” Quite the babyface turn..... Bret’s hand? Vince said in his infamous Bret screwed Bret interview that he was keeping legal options open. Last thing you want to do is say something on live television that could be used by McMahon in court. Challenges about Bret fitting in? He was a WWF guy who had no allies, he had trashed the company, Hogan, and Flair, he is a loner without many friends and wasnt adept at maneuvering in political climates. Bret’s 98 title run? Pushed to the side because Goldberg, Sting, and nWo wolfpack were getting much stronger reactions.
Bret Hart wasn't a draw is one of the biggest misnomers and false narratives in wrestling history. If your requirements to be a draw are drawing Hogan, Austin or The Rock numbers then no he wasn't a draw but in that case neither was anybody else. But if your requirement is actually bringing fans to the arena and moving the needle when you're there than Bret was a draw. Here's some numbers that come straight from historyofwwe and the observer. After Hogan dropped the title to Warrior at Mania 6 business slowly started dropping. Warrior couldn't put 10k in the Garden or draw 5K in hot markets like Detroit, Chicago or Philadelphia. When Bret became the guy he would routinely draw 15K in the Garden and 20K for PPVs and sell out Detroit, Chicago and Philly. The Bret vs. Owen feud was the biggest drawing program WWE had in "several years" according to Meltzer. Before that in 1992 WWE ran multiple loops, one house show look was headlined by the World CHampion Savage, the other by IC champion Bret. One would think the Heavyweight champion would draw much bigger crowds right? Wrong, routinely Bret would outdraw Savage despite working "b" towns and not having the Heavyweight belt on the card. Now lets look at PPV buyrates. Brets first real main event as champion was the RR93. That drew 40K more buys than the previous year. Then his first Mania as champ drew likewise drew 40K more. He gets moved down the card in favor of Lex Luger and what happens? Buy rates drop. The Summerslam 93 rate was lower than 92 which heavily involved Bret and Survivor Series 93 was 70K worse than 92 which again heavily involved Bret. So when Bret is at the top things are looking good, when he's not things go down. That is a draw. Onto 1994. Mania's buyrate is slightly down from the previous year but again Luger and Yoko are the ones getting most of the hype but of course Bret ends up winning the belt. Now that he is champion again guess what? Business picks up. Both Summerslam and Survivor Series are way up with him headlining vs. him being buried down the card the previous year. 1995. He starts that off by headlining the Royal RUmble and of course buy rates go up vs. the previous year when he was down the card but come Mania he is pushed down the card again and guess what? Buyrates plummet from where they were the previous year as does Summerslam. 1996. Him being in the championship at Royal Rumble leads to an increase in buyrates from the year before but Mania is down with him vs. Shawn. They stay down the rest of the year with him gone but once he comes back for a high profile match with Austin at Survivor Series they jump back up. No coincidence. 1997. 1997 buyrates were all down until Summerslam where not coincidentally they jump up massively with Bret headlining compared to him not being there the year before. Survivor Series also jumps up with him headlining as well. Bottom line is that almost every PPV that focused heavily on Bret did way better than the years that didn't. If that happened once or twice I may say it is a coincidence but it happened time and time again. That means that you are a draw. His attendance numbers as headliner were solid compared to everybody else during that era. Bischoff admitted himself that they couldnt' give tickets away at that time but when Bret was champ he was drawing 5-10K while the Hogans, Flairs, Michaels and Savages of the world couldn't get nobody. Bret just had the misfortune of being in between Hogan and Austin, the two biggest draws of all time so compared to them he didn't seem like one.
Y doesn’t anyone ever knock Shawn Michaels for not being a draw? Feel like I only hear talks of Bret not being a draw but in the mid 90s Shawn Michaels was pushed more than Bret
That was probably one of Brets hottest years coming off of the fued with Austin. Couple that with now being part of the biggest and most talked about event in wrestling history., Bret was thebl hottest talent in wrestling and Bischoff blew it! Waited several weeks to put him on TV and in a match then he does it as a referee. Come on now.
@Andy Parker he was actually a bigger draw than Flair and probably Savage. Now I'm only 34 but I hear how Flair basically carried NWA in the 80s when it was on its back but I just didn't see it and never saw a great draw. NWA folded while he was on top there, WCW was nothing during his first run, he didn't make an impact when he went to WWF and WCW was spinning its wheels for years until the NWO started and once again, WCW folds with Flair still there. The wrestling business was down during most of Brets early years as champ and he was the primary reason it stayed afloat along with the kliq wrestlers and others. He was also a huge draw IN Europe, even more so than Austin or Hogan.
I love how Thompson will call both Prichard and Bischoff out. He's not aiming to shoot on either of them, but he knows the smell of bull and calls it bluntly without issue when he gets wind of it. Thompson, you're one of the best if not THE BEST in the shoot business.
Hearing that Bret is so into Western gunfighter movies makes me realize that people may have been taking Bret’s gimmick and personality the wrong way all these years. Straight laced, no nonsense, no real emotion other than either calm or anger combined with “Hitman” and “Sharpshooter” and the idea that he was so good that he could beat anyone..the guy thought of “Bret Hart” as a gun fighter.
Bret is always consistent and everybody else either says " I don't recall " or change their stories or like Shawn Michaels they outright admit they had lied. I'm going with Bret on this.
Classic psychology always tells us it’s far easier to remember the truth. I don’t doubt that Bret has embellished, but there’s a lot about Bischoff’s account that does not add up. He literally says he would’ve never offered Bret that kinda money, but he actually signed for pretty damn close to that kind of money. I don’t understand how he can say one thing with a straight face when the reality of the actual contract is not in line with his words.
Considering his job, age, and businesses he he has run it's easy to see him initially not remembering this stuff. Only marks would complain about that.
@@scrappy93 I think you mis understood my comment. He's doing a podcast about going down memory lane, he is asked a question and usually cant remember. But he goes off on on about stuff that wasn't even asked. It's like I can't answer that but here's this about this. It's fine, as everyone loves a story and bit of rambling, that's why people listen to stuff like cornette, but with bishoff it's really jaring, you get to the point where conrad has to keep going back to the original question over and over.
BLAKE MCCORMICK ok. You know because you say so. It’s that kind of dismissive nature that gives people license to lie straight to your face all the fucking time… We’re talking about guys who literally lied about who they are as a character for their fucking career… We’re talking about a guy who is still in love with Kaybabe and probably has it tattooed on his dick…a guy who literally held the entire company hostage because of what might happen to his fucking character if he lost in his “hometown” which was actually 3500 km away from his actual hometown: But yeah Brett Hall didn’t lie that much.... sure.
Imagine if Stone Cold refuses a job simply because “I can’t lose in the United States I’m too big of a hero there.” Or god forbid HBK did that! But because it’s Brett Hart he can’t lose in a country almost as big as the United States. Fuck him.
@Justin Sharpe I believe Stone Cold said that he would have lost to Brock, just not in a qualifying match for King of the Ring. He didn't think that's where that match should have taken place. Bret found every reason to try to keep the belt because he didn't like Shawn Michaels/couldn't lose in Canada. Situation is a little different.
No, but his representation that was working McMahon, Bischoff and Meltzer simultaneously in order to get huge money for their client was. All while working in just enough of the truth to make it believable. It's kind of what they do.
@@e2go just seemed like EVERY SINGLE THING bret was reported as saying in this clip regarding WCW was denounced by Eric as an untruth. I just have a hard time believing that. Maybe some....but ALL of it? Don't seem plausible.
I love how Conrad bluntly calls Bischoff on his bullshit but this also makes me realize Bischoff more. Bischoff is direct and honest and not afraid to assess situations from his perspective and call bullshit on others. He's also a bit of a bullshitter himself.
@@weworldwide1348 He couldn't afford to pay Bret they signed a contract and it came out that Vince didn't have the money for the contract. Look shit up before spouting off
@@aaronscott4984 u dumb, brody. If Vince had really wanted to keep him and Bret wanted to stay, they could've re-negotiated, which happens all the time. Obviously, that never happened. Vince clearly told him to go sign with WCW.
@@weworldwide1348 Yep with Austin blowing up he just didn't need Bret anymore. Plus when you watch Bret's Wrestling with Shadows documentary(along with people close to Bret and their recollection of him at the time) you see he just wouldn't have fit the attitude era.
I call b.s. Bret has stayed so consistent on topics over the years..and his story never changes..do an interview with easy e in a year about this topic and it will be different.
We get it. You guys don't like Bret Hart- and took this opportunity to bury him. The bottom line is that Eric brought him in, paid him a lot of money but completely dropped the ball. Your reasoning of holding back to create anticipation is weak because the Montreal situation was white-hot - and you didn't capitalize. Of course Bret became apathetic - who wouldn't when the boss can't even stick to a storyline , and bulks under the pressure of "that doesn't work for me brother"
I cracked up the bit when Conrad called Eric out on not thinking Bret was a draw and yet paid him $2million a year! I enjoyed this a lot, but I think mostly Bishchoff was exposed at being at fault for the dropping the ball with Bret at least when he was there. Bret may have been partly to blame too, but when you see what WCW came up with for him I think its clear who was most at fault. I'm intrigued by the ending of having Nitro (NWO) VS. Thunder (WCW). Did Eric say why that didn't happen?
Sure, but if you listen to these podcasts Eric hardly ever takes the blame for anything that happened on his watch. As he himself has said people all have their own take on things. So the defence Eric makes of himself is his. To be fair to Bret has as always said that Eric was good to him in WCW, like how he supported him after Owen's passing. His beef with Eric was more just to do with how clueless he was about wrestling (in Bret's opinion), and carried on mis-managing Bret and letting the politics run wild back stage.
I really appreciate the honesty of eric , I know a lot of people would prefer him to lie or maybe embellish a story but I like the fact he would rather just admit he can't remember , keep up all the good work
That's his boyfriend, what did you expect? They took the cash grab at TNA and contributed nothing. They shamelessly did that as a couple....awwwwwwww. Lol.
Some takeaways from this. I don't think anyone would seriously believe that when Bret tells Eric that he can be late when discussing his 1997 jump from WWF that he intended that to be written into his contract. More like he was forewarning him. Second - Eric says that Bret didn't contribute. Well, he certainly contributed to the Goldberg steel plate idea. Bret could have spoken up more, for sure. Why did or didn't is a question only he can answer. If Eric really believed that Bret wasn't a draw then why did WCW offer him a new deal in mid 1999?
Eric: "I don't have payrolls sitting in front of me, but if somebody can PROVE he made 2 and a half million, so be it." Conrad: "I have the data. He made 2.66 million." OOPS
Eric revealed what he is doing, what he knows he does, when he accused Brett of making up so many stories that now Brett can't tell what was true and what wasn't. That's what Eric has done. He no longer knows the real details because he's made up so much shit.
@Ze TheGame everyone knows Bret didn't draw like Hogan, Austin, the Rock or Savage, but what is this absolute myth that Michaels was drawing back then, either? Michaels finally got kinda hot during 97', and then just as quickly dropped the belt (rightfully so) to Stone Cold, and disappeared for like 3 years. His title run in 96' and anything up until his heel run a year later were generally box office disasters.
Ze TheGame Exactly! I mean I believe the guy who paid someone top dollar who couldn’t draw any money. Eric gave Bret every opportunity to succeed in WCW and it’s all Bret’s fault for failing. Right off the bat they booked him to immediately to take advantage of coming off the biggest storyline in wrestling after the Montreal screw job. He came in red hot but it’s Bret’s fault that he didn’t make it by being a special referee in the Hogan and Sting match and it’s Bret’s fault that only Nash, Hall and Hogan ran the show backstage. WCW was a failure because of Bischoff. They had so much talent from top guys to the mid card. Not only did they have the huge names from WWF’s past but they had new talent that had to go to the WWE to be recognized. WCW had everything they would ever need to succeed except competent leadership. When you have top names like Hogan, Macho, Hart, Sting, Flair, etc to maim event and the mid card has Jericho, Guerrero, Benoit, Mysterio, etc and you still fail it speaks volumes that Eric is a fucking liar and is rewriting history to cover up his absolute incompetence as a promoter. He’s trying to bury Bret here because Bret has called him out for being an idiot and little Eric’s feelings got hurt.
Where do i begin? What a load of shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet ppl believe eric's dream. Eric, you remember all these meetings but forget how much you paid Bret hart? hahahaha. Ok then! Eric, Bret wasnt a draw, yet you paid him TOP DOLLAR cash! You mentioned him with Hogan, savage, flair (BTW flair couldnt draw for shit. he was all southern draw. Nobody in Canada gave a shit, nor did anyone over sea's, or most of america. sorry but that's fact) in same sentence. You're all over map on this one. Hogan came to WWF in 1993, so was flair and in 1992 when they where on top, DIDNT DRAW! As Bruce Prichard said, nobody cared to be quiet frank. WHATS THAT ABOUT DRAWING POWER? They where already on way down in all kinds of numbers, WWF and wrestling that is because of steroid scandal. In 1993, Hogan couldn't pick up viewing numbers or house show numbers or ppv buys as CHAMP, you know the #1 guy! Fact was, he was behind Bret in popularity at that time. Bret was most IMPACT and profitable wrestler in ALL of north america at this time. So Bret wasn't a star, yet...every1 knew his name, was all over tv's, media. Had a #1 song about him in Germany, top Canadian, wwf biggest draw outside of america, won everything in wwf, made MILLION's and was handed #1 heel in 1997 a long with most popular wrestler in wwf 3 outta 6 years he was champ. Yet, can't draw, not a star power? WTF is eric talking about???? Buddy, you dont like Bret, thats fine but at least be HONEST and real in your podcast. You are contradicting yourself, dumbass. Listen, if Bret wasnt that big... he wouldnt be able to get no where near that cash and his name wouldnt be top 5 of all time in his ERA. Oh is Bret going to have fun with this one... Oh now HINDSIGHT he was signed for WCW Thunder. Anybody who knows and was close to wrestling and Bret... knows youre flat out, FULL OF SHIT esp on this one! Dont even try and pretend, now, that's why u picked Bret Hart! Maybe the ppl who dont know the in details, but you aint fooling the one's who know! Draw power? Bret was biggest star outside of America in his era, ask Vince or JR who have publicly said this how many times? Oh wait they're lying, lets listen to Eric B who cant even get his facts straight. BTW, the tickets bought and merch are TRUE indicators. Austin, Rock, Hogan, Cena are all bigger then Bret in America, but he's legit top 5! Who the hell saved WWF in days of fans leaving? Bret Hart. Who woulda been that champion and guy who could take wwf outta dark days in usa and go everywhere else and make money? Hogan and flair couldnt draw in those days in WWF and WCW where they wrestled in empty chairs and wwf still wrestled in full arena's for PPV and packed whatever taping event they had whichever size. Dont get it twisted that Hogan was drawing huge in WCW. Its a roster that draws... bookers, why do u think he couldnt draw in 1992-1993 in wwf when he came back? IN LATE 96 nwo was a cool faction, new look in wrestling...perfect take credit! But notice in cpl years that ended faaaaaaaaaaaast? But I thought Hogan drew? why did WCW sink? why did they lose to WWF in ratings all of a sudden, but they had biggest star ever hogan? Becuz its not one guy team, he needs bookers and great talent around him. Oh and dont go after Bret on wcw sink, you didnt let him wrestle anyone big or start a rivalry or push him to #1 to even say he couldnt draw in those days! So its just like austin and rock in wwf they had great roster backing em up but eventually in 2002 numbers started slipping and by 2004 it went right down. Not because rock and austin are not stars or cant draw.. it just became stale entertainment and nothing new to look forward too. Like any league you got stars but you def need talent around to make it fun and exciting with rivalry. Bret wrestled in era's with Bashiton booger, al montoya, eric bradford, sparky plug, skip, dean douglas, whalem murssy etc... Bret cant wrestle himself, he needs another top dog to start rivalry with. Imagine if he was pushed with savage, flair, hogan, warrior, jake snake, ric rude, mr perfect etc... he coulda been huge too wrestling great talent makes you big. Bret did it on his own because that was his only shot, vince seen that outta him! Hogan knew, dont wrestle bret or he'll be booed outta park, he wasnt the man after 1992. Thats fact, jack! No one can deny it. Hogan coulda helped wwf and helped push Bret to newer heights.. but meh he wanted yokozuna, that worked out well, that drew huuuuge lol!!! Bret WAS a star, made million's... had legion of fans everywhere. #1 selling book, top canadian, top selling WWE dvd. Lead wwf 4 different years in merch sales. Shawn loves to brag about his 1996 merch lead, mean while Bret was out for 6 months, fuck i hope you made most shawn!!! and when wrestling went to Canada he was THE biggest thing. Not even Austin, Hogan or rock and Goldberg could get over VS Bret Hart...neither in UK, Germany or south Africa etc... and you cant fight it because youtube or GOOGLE is your fucking friend in case you "forget" as u like to say in this podcast. You didnt let Bret Hart vs Hogan happen but once on a silly b.s. match that ended up them being "friends" you coulda had a rivalry, started a feud made/tried for millions off a match Hogan bulked at in WWF years earlier, which he prolly did again in WCW, thats why we didnt see it. But u let Hogan run ur show in WCW and u got what u deserved. Bankrupt!!! BTW since Hogan is draw by himself, what happened to wcw...while he was top guy? Why did u sink? exactly! Wow is this complete fucking joke of a podcast by you. Conrad is cool. BTW, wtf was Bret Hart in WCW anyways? Good, bad, good, bad, mid card, heavy weight champ, us champ, referee, HUH???????? Yeah thats YOUR mind set! Your ego is upset because Bret has said numerous times, youre full of shit and back stabbing POS. This podcast proves all lies you make up. I love when you pretend to tell us what u think now... Best Line. Bret Hart wasn't a draw...but i paid him top dollar just under Hogan. Thats an idiot, folks. Ill leave it as.. if Bret wasnt a big star, why are we talking about him? why does his name sell? why does have he have millions of followers? We are talking about him right now, because...HE WAS A FUCKING STAR! Not a Konan....
@Chris Terry The proof is with bret himself he's buries everyone he ever worked with he's a bitter washed up mark for himself he always blames everyone but best for his mistakes if you believe bret he never did anything wrong but if you listen to anyone who was there and seen what happened they'll tell you brets a liar
So, Bret didn't come up with the body armor hidden under the hockey jersey spot against Goldberg, right Eric? The same spot where you suggested Hogan come to the ring and lay both guys out with a chair?
The assertion that Bret wasn't drawing for Vince in 96/97 has always bothered me. WWF numbers were down as a whole - Shawn's run with the belt had tanked yet he remained untouchable. And even if Bret had underperformed at the box office, he was responsible for getting Stone Cold - the biggest draw in history - to the top table.
The Wrestle Wrant Exactly. The company was in the midst of the steroid trial so ppl werent feeling wrestling as a whole in 93-94,and lets not forget Hogan refusing to do business so you have a champion who’s supposed to be your next guy but he cant get the rub from the guy leaving (which is ironic come 97). I just hate how ppl act like Shawn’s reign was doing the biggest numbers.
Lol I love how Eric throws a fit about Bret lying and conflating 2 stories, but when Conrad asks Eric directly, he doesn't recall, or doesn't remember. Then how tf do you know he's lying if you don't remember??
....... Are you kidding? Because there are some things you know you would remember if they did in fact happen. I don't know where I was on January 22nd, 2003, but I know I wasn't wrestling a moose.
John Cook Im curious about the Warrior in the UK? Bret has always talked up the reception he received when he fought Davey. Ive seen that PPV numerous times and its clear to me that Davey got the biggest reaction of the night and Warrior was a close second.
(WCW wouldnt know what to do with a bret heart) that is unbelievably accurate. People can say what ever they want about Vince but the man knows the business better then any other. He's a genius.
Except for when he put Bret or HBK with the title and then he began his 83 weeks. Or we just supposed to believe what WWE says vs what we actually remember?
Yes, I agree. I love how Conrad & Eric say none of the contract at the start. Saying Bret is lying. But let's go back to how much he actually signed Bret to. The Exact amount Bret said he offered him? But Bret lied... none of this never happened. Come on. One thing even Vince says there was a bidding war with Bret. But they have the right to their opinion. & Their "Facts" But when Bret's story never has changes in 20 plus years. I know who's story I'm going with.
Bischoff had 2 year run of success and thats it. He was terrible in wwf and tna. Bret Hart is a star worldwide still and had a great career. BRET HART LEGEND.
Exactly. WCW wasn’t built or drawing on Bret. He was an after thought there. I watched those episodes when they aired and it always -ALWAYS- looked like Bret had an I don’t care attitude each time on TV. Maybe that is his character, but he was boring. Period. As far as Eric, he was mostly a talent on wwe and in TNA. I don’t know how much control he had at either.
They have an entire podcast on doink the clown too don't mean he was ever a draw Bret Hart is the biggest Bret Hart fan he blames everyone else for anything that ever happened brets full of shit there's a reason everyone in the business buries him
... I’ve seen this comment a few times. Listening about Bret for FREE is one thing, going out and buying tickets to see/ hear about him would mean he’s a DRAW (back in the day terms) that’s what he means when he says draw, he doesn’t draw people to pay for his Shit or to come see him. A podcast is free anyone can search this Shit up
To say Bret Hart didn't draw is by far the dumbest thing I have ever heard..Bret was a huge draw over seas and in Canada..and when he was heel doing the anti American thing he was the most hated man in wrestling...so for Bret not to be a draw is a flat out joke..
In wcw he wasn’t no one paid to come and see him because imo he wasn’t used properly if they had good programmes and story lines with him against great wrestlers that they did have he would of done good but just like vince said wcw wouldn’t no what to do with a Bret Hart
Fact is Brett was white hot when he came to WCW. The Montreal Screw Job 20+ yrs later is still one of the top 10 angles/storylines in wrestling history and whoever was on creative dropped the ball without coming up with something to take advantage of that as soon as it was possible. I actually believe Brett when he says he was put on the shelf at Hogan's request because it makes no sense otherwise to miss such an opportunity.
Not true he couldn't wrestle for WCW till January 98 but since he sucks at real promos not scripted ones they couldn't just give him a mic n let him talk. Sorry but he wasn't no scott hall or Kevin Nash on the MIC
@@josephmatthews7698 Where in Canada? Wasn't a thing in the states or he wasn't doing any of the big talk shows back then. Certainly wasn't Oprah or anything like Dateline, Primetime live, or 20/20. I was a teen then and wasn't watching WWF or WCW I had no idea who he was. Even the Simpsons episode he was in that sounds like the same voice who does Duffman and his name is so generic "Hitman". No one gave a shit about the Lonesome Dove prequel other than old people I got into WWF in 99 and I still had no clue who he was until much later. I only knew who HBK was from being a hidden character in the games and being commissioner. The kids at school were talking nWo and I remember the shirts around 96 until around 98 ish. WWF takes over for sure as a teen back then in 99. That's what annoys me about all this revisionism by WWE and the IWC. As a little kid I didn't watch WWF/WCW in the 80s but I knew who Hulk Hogan was, I knew Sting, I knew Ric Flair, I knew Macho. In the 90s when it got big I knew of nWo, Hall, Nash. Then SCSA/Goldberg. Finally I started watching. Bret/HBK were big in the same way any WWE champ not named Brock Lesnar, John Cena, or the Rock after 2008 is. They are big internally and everyone who doesn't watch wrestling or E! had no idea who they are. It's why when I watched "Wrestling with Shadows" I truly wonder what the hell the documentary was going to be about had the screwjob not happened? Bret was not that big a guy and was the documentary just going to be about him staying in WWF had he stayed or him leaving without issue to WCW had he left? Either don't seem like anything you'd make into a documentary. If you're going to do lesser know guys, like say "Beyond the Mat" does then they need to be doing interesting stuff like a 55 yr old broken down Terry Funk doing moonsaults at ECW or Jake the Snake being a drug addict. If Montreal was a work then Bret is a legend if it's a shoot then him and HBK need to suck down their pride and admit those two leaving in late 97/early 98 was the best thing that could have happened to WWF and all the evidence and history from those who lived it point to that. Fuck WWE revisionists, Fuck Melzter, Fuck the IWC.
Conrad is an obese mouth breathing smart mark who has done nothing but make money for the people who really have done stuff in the business. Brian last is much better as is Kevin Nash's host. The episodes where Conrad is gone are always better. You could literally replace Conrad with anyone and people would still care because they want to hear from bischoff and prichard and others. Replace Conrad with literally anyone and the shows are as good or better.
Hey Bischoff, Who are you to doubt Bret Hart? I don't believe a lot of what was said in this podcast. It's not just what Bret Hart has said about what happened behind the scenes, it's lots of other guys too who have similar things to say about Eric Bischoff and this time period. Bischoff feels like an executive who lies through his teeth to avoid admitting anything that could be used in a lawsuit.
You need top guys to put you over in order to be a top guy.. Hogan held so many potential top guys down. As much as he did for the business, he also fucked it over massively.
See that statement about hogan being scared of Bret because Bret would make his wrestling look mediocre never really made sense to me. Not saying that your wrong for saying it as that may very well have been the case to Hogan’s mind. The reason it doesn’t make sense to me is that Bret could wrestle a paper bag and make that paper bag look like amazing (hyperbole and exaggeration on the example I freely admit) but Bret could go out there and have a fantastic match with anyone and walk out afterwards with both guys looking really good. Hogan should have jumped at the chance to work with Bret... that’s basically a Win/Win situation for both guys in my opinion and from your lead in it seems to also be yours as well.
@ no question! Hogan was definitely the one with the higher name recognition of the two. Which is why a feud between the two could only have helped both of them. Hogan would have looked awesome because Bret could make anyone look awesome, and Bret would have benefited from working a feud with Hogan due to Hulk’s name recognition. And WCW would have made a ton of money off it... it would have been a no-lose scenario. Alas this is NOT what happened.
Where do i begin? What a load of shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet ppl believe eric's dream. Eric, you remember all these meetings but forget how much you paid Bret hart? hahahaha. Ok then! Eric, Bret wasnt a draw, yet you paid him TOP DOLLAR cash! You mentioned him with Hogan, savage, flair (BTW flair couldnt draw for shit. he was all southern draw. Nobody in Canada gave a shit, nor did anyone over sea's, or most of america. sorry but that's fact) in same sentence. You're all over map on this one. Hogan came to WWF in 1993, so was flair and in 1992 when they where on top, DIDNT DRAW! As Bruce Prichard said, nobody cared to be quiet frank. WHATS THAT ABOUT DRAWING POWER? They where already on way down in all kinds of numbers, WWF and wrestling that is because of steroid scandal. In 1993, Hogan couldn't pick up viewing numbers or house show numbers or ppv buys as CHAMP, you know the #1 guy! Fact was, he was behind Bret in popularity at that time. Bret was most IMPACT and profitable wrestler in ALL of north america at this time. So Bret wasn't a star, yet...every1 knew his name, was all over tv's, media. Had a #1 song about him in Germany, top Canadian, wwf biggest draw outside of america, won everything in wwf, made MILLION's and was handed #1 heel in 1997 a long with most popular wrestler in wwf 3 outta 6 years he was champ. Yet, can't draw, not a star power? WTF is eric talking about???? Buddy, you dont like Bret, thats fine but at least be HONEST and real in your podcast. You are contradicting yourself, dumbass. Listen, if Bret wasnt that big... he wouldnt be able to get no where near that cash and his name wouldnt be top 5 of all time in his ERA. Oh is Bret going to have fun with this one... Oh now HINDSIGHT he was signed for WCW Thunder. Anybody who knows and was close to wrestling and Bret... knows youre flat out, FULL OF SHIT esp on this one! Dont even try and pretend, now, that's why u picked Bret Hart! Maybe the ppl who dont know the in details, but you aint fooling the one's who know! Draw power? Bret was biggest star outside of America in his era, ask Vince or JR who have publicly said this how many times? Oh wait they're lying, lets listen to Eric B who cant even get his facts straight. BTW, the tickets bought and merch are TRUE indicators. Austin, Rock, Hogan, Cena are all bigger then Bret in America, but he's legit top 5! Who the hell saved WWF in days of fans leaving? Bret Hart. Who woulda been that champion and guy who could take wwf outta dark days in usa and go everywhere else and make money? Hogan and flair couldnt draw in those days in WWF and WCW where they wrestled in empty chairs and wwf still wrestled in full arena's for PPV and packed whatever taping event they had whichever size. Dont get it twisted that Hogan was drawing huge in WCW. Its a roster that draws... bookers, why do u think he couldnt draw in 1992-1993 in wwf when he came back? IN LATE 96 nwo was a cool faction, new look in wrestling...perfect take credit! But notice in cpl years that ended faaaaaaaaaaaast? But I thought Hogan drew? why did WCW sink? why did they lose to WWF in ratings all of a sudden, but they had biggest star ever hogan? Becuz its not one guy team, he needs bookers and great talent around him. Oh and dont go after Bret on wcw sink, you didnt let him wrestle anyone big or start a rivalry or push him to #1 to even say he couldnt draw in those days! So its just like austin and rock in wwf they had great roster backing em up but eventually in 2002 numbers started slipping and by 2004 it went right down. Not because rock and austin are not stars or cant draw.. it just became stale entertainment and nothing new to look forward too. Like any league you got stars but you def need talent around to make it fun and exciting with rivalry. Bret wrestled in era's with Bashiton booger, al montoya, eric bradford, sparky plug, skip, dean douglas, whalem murssy etc... Bret cant wrestle himself, he needs another top dog to start rivalry with. Imagine if he was pushed with savage, flair, hogan, warrior, jake snake, ric rude, mr perfect etc... he coulda been huge too wrestling great talent makes you big. Bret did it on his own because that was his only shot, vince seen that outta him! Hogan knew, dont wrestle bret or he'll be booed outta park, he wasnt the man after 1992. Thats fact, jack! No one can deny it. Hogan coulda helped wwf and helped push Bret to newer heights.. but meh he wanted yokozuna, that worked out well, that drew huuuuge lol!!! Bret WAS a star, made million's... had legion of fans everywhere. #1 selling book, top canadian, top selling WWE dvd. Lead wwf 4 different years in merch sales. Shawn loves to brag about his 1996 merch lead, mean while Bret was out for 6 months, fuck i hope you made most shawn!!! and when wrestling went to Canada he was THE biggest thing. Not even Austin, Hogan or rock and Goldberg could get over VS Bret Hart...neither in UK, Germany or south Africa etc... and you cant fight it because youtube or GOOGLE is your fucking friend in case you "forget" as u like to say in this podcast. You didnt let Bret Hart vs Hogan happen but once on a silly b.s. match that ended up them being "friends" you coulda had a rivalry, started a feud made/tried for millions off a match Hogan bulked at in WWF years earlier, which he prolly did again in WCW, thats why we didnt see it. But u let Hogan run ur show in WCW and u got what u deserved. Bankrupt!!! BTW since Hogan is draw by himself, what happened to wcw...while he was top guy? Why did u sink? exactly! Wow is this complete fucking joke of a podcast by you. Conrad is cool. BTW, wtf was Bret Hart in WCW anyways? Good, bad, good, bad, mid card, heavy weight champ, us champ, referee, HUH???????? Yeah thats YOUR mind set! Your ego is upset because Bret has said numerous times, youre full of shit and back stabbing POS. This podcast proves all lies you make up. I love when you pretend to tell us what u think now... Best Line. Bret Hart wasn't a draw...but i paid him top dollar just under Hogan. Thats an idiot, folks. Ill leave it as.. if Bret wasnt a big star, why are we talking about him? why does his name sell? why does have he have millions of followers? We are talking about him right now, because...HE WAS A FUCKING STAR! Not a Konan....
I don’t blame Eric though. Bret dogged the shit out of him a few years back and even called him a maggot and dumb.. but then said right after that he likes Eric. I love Bret but he goes after everybody and seems very bitter. Eric as a man I’m sure was just like fuck this guy I’m gonna air out my side of Bret being a difficult asshole. All that said I believe Bret more than Eric.
Bret got buried by the Hogan machine behind closed doors, he could've got over huge after the screw job. They should've did a sit down interview, discussing his last days at WWF. Have that interview on a week to week basis. Then set up his first angle. That would've got Bret over with the wcw audience.
@@darthbigred22 I wouldn't say it was bret wasn't that big... He was, imo. I'd say that there was no shortage of top talent in this time period and loosing one more or less was no biggie
The contradictions and B.S. by Bischoff just piles up as the interview goes on. He claims Bret never drew money, the $2 M contract was just "being at the right place at the right time", then says "we didn't have a plan for Bret because it happened so quickly", yet they clearly setup a feud with Hogan at the conclusion of SC97. Later, "I wasn't part of the booking, I was the president...", but clearly remembers that Hogan was never at a booking meeting. Also notice when asked about specifics, he claims not to remember but then goes on a diatribe about all the inner workings and random incidents unrelated to the question. Meanwhile, Bret's story has remained consistent and accurate in every detail for 2o years.
Its interesting how Eric remembers much more about things that make him look good or favorable. And he "Can't recall" things that make him look bad or silly.
Needs upper level talent for Thunder....since all of the upper level talent there are tied up in the nWo. Then when Bret gets there, puts him in a convoluted back and forth with the nWo....yep.
Lol, yeah...such lazy and boring storytelling. It made absolutely no sense to put him in the N.W.O and could of had "Legend climbs the ladder" type angle hyping up matches against Sting and Hogan but instead of any type of thought out long driven storyline they go the easy and lazy route. I blame Bret just as much for even agreeing with going in the NWO.
@@darthbigred22 I’m sure he didn’t expect that shit. He could’ve had classics with Eddie, Dean, Jericho I believe was there, midcard guys his size, DDP, etc. He could’ve had a solid run. But had he left WWE as the champion he would’ve had a better run. Eric knew the way he left WWE he had no leverage
You guys need to advertise this better. Im just now watching these. Amazing stories. I love it. Keep em coming! I want to buy a shirt too. Does he still call you if you buy one?
Bischoff takes forever to get to the point in his answers starting with one of the very first questions about Brett asking for 3-mill. He rambles on almost to the point where you forget what the question even was.
@@dmanentertament125 Lol that book is full of lies and bull shit he's a bitter old man who bought into his own gimmick and found out he wasn't as important as he thought he was
@@jessieb9384 Bret compared himself to Beatlemania in his book, what BS. I actually agree with what Eric says here, no way would he offer Bret more money than his buddy Hogan was getting. Also, Eric is right, he was making himself sound like Elvis, or actually, as I stated above the Beatles. Ugh.
Joseph Delledonne Theres a few details i believe eric on here. But the overall interview is Eric either not remembering or making excuses for how they used bret. Which was ridiculous lol. Nash doesnt even like bret but hes in charge of brets bookings lol. Laughable.
This new podcast is seriously good. Not sure how you expect us to choose between the poll choices. They're all great! To hard to choose! Great job Eric and Conrad!
@@84slaughter The WWF has existed for decades Vince bought the WWWF from his father in the late 70's or early 80's and started buying out the other territories
I'd really like to hear more details on this plan that Eric had for NWO NITRO and WCW THUNDER. Was Nitro going to feature matches like Savage vs Hall? Was WCW going to have it's own champion? I just don't see how it would have worked.
Gonna disagree with Eric on him saying Bret didn't get over and it was Bret's fault. I thought he was over. He always got the pop in WCW. If you consider him not being over, maybe you should blame yourself or creative or whoever wrote his forever fence straddling position for the entirety of his time there. He was nWo, no he wasn't, yes he was, was he a good guy, was he a bad guy - it swapped every other week so no fan could ever really commit 100% to booing or cheering and maybe that turned into apathy (what you would consider "not getting over") but that's hardly his fault. And before you call me a Hart fanboy, I think the guy's a whiny prick, but I also remember growing up watching this and I've watched it repeatedly as an adult to affirm my memories. One of the best technical wrestlers, yeah, kind of boring routine matches, of course, promos were forgettable but I'll give the guy his due. He was over, you're wrong, Eric.
Eric's trying to bury bret on purpose because he's spoken ill of him so often. So much of this was inaccurate. There was no negotiating with Bret in 1996 when he was the hottest free agent? Hall and Nash got favored nations clauses a year into their contracts after they were already signed? what??
I'm confused.. Bret was the hottest free agent in 1996? Not true.. and I say that as a 11 year old at that time that was absorbed in the nWo and WCW. Bret would have made zero difference at that time as Hogan, Hall, and Nash blew everything else out of the water.
Michael Shea Well like you say, you were 11 years old at the time so what would you have known about it? Bret was a free agent 2 months before Hall even showed up on WCW TV and 4 months before the nWo even formed.
@@michaelshea5251 are you an idiot? Hogan wasn't even hot at that moment until NWO started and Hall and Nash were definitely under him before NWO. But where you're most stupid is that they were all under contract, not free agents.
There will never ever be another Bret Hart. Nobody like him in the ring before he wrestled nobody like him since. He's beyond a legend. He's like a myth.
hey conrad, if this stuff is true, does that make vince telling bret to go back to wcw and still get that deal *actually* vince calling bret's bluff? this may be the most intriguing wrestling podcast ever.
The implication that Bret leaked to Meltzer for contractual leverage overlooks that Bret has often written of how his perception of Meltzer completely changed after the Montreal Screwjob (you can see it in the forward to "Tributes 2"). Until that point, Bret viewed Meltzer as the enemy...but when the true narrative got out regarding what Vince did, that all changed. He has no reason to lie on that point, and Bischoff has *plenty* of reason to lie RE the history of Bret's negotiations with his company.
I don’t watch wrestling anymore but these podcasts bring up crazy memories... Bret Hart was big as the Hulkster at some point I know that for sure it was in the post hogan era in wwf ... don’t Pew him out of that
They originally had a plan where NWO would do a hostile takeover of Nitro, and it would be called NWO Nitro, and WCW Thunder would be WCW's show. But they did a test run of the "NWO takes over Nitro" idea on the December 22, 1997 episode and the ratings bombed, so they cancelled that plan.
Can we PLEASE get a Curt Hennig episode and why one of the greatest wrestlers of that era was relegated to running arm & arm with Vincent as an NWO lackey?? What about why Randy Savage was in an angle where he watches Bischoff make out with Elizabeth?? Or maybe when he stood in front of an office of 85 ppl and said he’d break Ric Flair and his family and that Flair “Never drew one single dime!” ....is that all Bret Hart’s fault too???
Listen to Eric's interview with Steve Austin. He says that the first time they met they almost made a deal. Kind of contradicts what he says in this interview.
Can't say enough good things about this podcast. I really find interesting all the business/money/corporate thoughts and notes that Eric brings each week. The stories we all know get told in detail, but it's those stories of the finances and such that really set this podcast apart. Keep doing that!
![Bret 'The Hitman' Hart - Off The Record [02.11.03] FULL](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2JSJOKjo-XA/mqdefault.jpg)
Whether you agree if the Montreal thing was a work or a shoot, Bret meant a lot to Pro WRESTLING.
Eric's theme here is that Bret didn't care so he didn't book him with much. He also said Sting didn't care so he didn't follow through on Sting's angle. Additional Info: Bobby Heenan (who was brilliant) went to Eric once with a great opening for Nitro and Eric ignored him so much that Bobby said he never bothered again. Tony Schiavone said he would literally put his head down on the desk between segments. Maybe WCW was just a terrible place to be for anyone but Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan and their immediate buddies, and that's why no one seemed to care.
Well said.
you nailed it. which is why i didnt listen to this. he's full of himself, just like Hogan
The fact someone hasn't cleaned Eric Bischoff's clock is just beyond belief.
@@fredpamalexander6406Ric Flair punched him directly in the face when he showed up in the WWE locker room.
1:05:00 - 1:05:20
Vince was right, WCW wouldn't know what to do with a Bret Hart
Vince McMahon said that and how true it was. Sad really
Insanely true. They really blew it with Hart.
If you think about it that's a statement that really denigrates Bret along with WCW.
I wonder how much of it is that and how much of it is they were too arrogant to care or put a lot of thought into it
In all fairness, neither did Vince. I remember Vince saying in the Bret dvd that if he were WCW, he wouldve built the entire company around Bret.
Yet in his conversations with Bret when Bret asked what they had planned for him for the next few years, Vince told him he would be putting over Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and would then be used to help elevate other performers.
I don’t believe Vince is putting the spotlight on Bret on a roster with Hogan, Goldberg, and Sting.
"I don't recall" with Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson.
I know right?
I think they made an "I don't recall" t-shirt too.
That's hilarious!
Chris Terry jjlf
SHOCKER 401
Brett Hart was one of the best pro wrestlers of all time. He made it look like wrestling was easy. The only other wrestler I can say that about is Curt Henig. They just flowed naturally in the ring.
AGREED...Bret knew how to work properly...
I agree in terms of American pro wrestling. Owen Hart may be one of the others also.
Also Dean Malenko he didnt have the charisma asBret so he wasnt nearly as over but Dean was as far as in ring work top 10 Alltime!
@@jacksonhewitt7827 Dean Malenko vs Eddie Guerrero matches were some of the best.
I agree
They had some real classics that are just old vaulted matches I stumbled upon on Daily Motion. Circa 89 Hart and Henning had some matches that were ahead of their time and much better than what WWE was putting on Saturday Night Main Event and PPVs back then
Conrad: Eric is your last name Bischoff?
Eric: maybe I don’t recall.
Conrad: I have it right here on paper .
Eric: may I ask how you got that ?
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
💯🤣
Say what you want about Brett, but he put on the most entertaining matches to watch.
A lot of guys say their best matches were with Brett....he definitely made decent guys look much better than they were
He was boring his matches were always the same he was a trasional champion wwf used when Hogan left until they could fun a replacement Bret never takes any blame for anything in his career he's old bitter washed up and a mark for himself
@@jordanwillett8456 it almost sounds cruel when you say it out loud but Bret definitely had his issues. However he did put Shawn and Steve over so thank god for that at least.
**** Bret
@@jordanwillett8456 "His matches were boring...." coming from a guy who never took a bump in his life...... lol....
I have to agree with Bret on saying that Ric Flair would go 20 minutes with no psychology. They'd lock up, Flair would go for a wrist lock, his opponent would reverse it, Flair would scream in pain, go to the ropes, hit the turn buckle, take the back body drop, plead for mercy by screaming "noooo!", get up and poke the guy in the eyes, go to the turn buckle and chop the guy, attempt an Irish whip, have it reversed, hit the turn buckle again, take another back body drop and repeat the process all over again. It's entertaining but, yeah. It was like that with every time, even when these 2 wrestled in the WWF for the title.
Bret literally said in his book he kept a tape recorded diary during his career for a future book at the end of it. I'm not aware of anyone else, other than Jim Cornette, who took that level of recorded keep for an accurate end product.
Brets a bull shitter and a liar where the tapes then why has no-one heard them brets a bitter old fuck who was a mark for himself everyone knows it except Bret fans anyone who's ever done buissnes with Bret knows what he was like Bruce Pritchard has said the same things Eric is saying now
@@jessieb9384
There's plenty of tapes fuck he was wired when he got lied to about Montreal it's in his Wrestling with Shadows documentary
Aaron Scott yeah he was wired for a documentary that doesn’t have anything to do with him keeping an audio journal as he claims.
Jessie B bischoff, is that you?
I know Jericho kept a record of every match he ever had 😁
This is a classic episode. When Eric and Conrad bump heads it's a classic.
Still loved WCW more than any other company. Outside of my dads old tapes of WCCW.
;----)
Windy City championship wrestling?!
love the Von Erichs
Me too....i think people who re-watch it from hindsight with all the revisionist history by wwe will never know how great it really was back then. It was incredible from 1996 to 1999 then went to shit very quick. Even the fact that not everything made perfect sense for a dirtsheet reader and internet user (only super nerds had internet back then) made wcw even better because it felt organic and spontaneuos not overscripted like WWF. WWF felt like a TV show, wcw felt like a sports broadcast
Bret was a 5x World Champion and should've been brought in immediately to be in that mix
Yep. You dont put the belt FIVE TIMES on someone who "doesnt draw" lol. Especially back then when 5 times was A LOT.
Bret should have pdirected his character more first and foremost and looked out for Davey boy , tag titles then u.s belt just to prove he's worthy and push Goldberg's title win back and Hart Hogan should have had a back and worth trade off with the belt
@@Buckdawg I hope one day some idiot kid is arguing with you about Edge's solo run being bigger than his TLC tag team days so you can see how stupid you sound.
Mick Foley held the title less than Bret and he was a New York Times best selling author at the height of his fame. Mankind is bigger than Bret Hart.
If Bret was so amazing then frankly the fans would have just made his angle what was hot, it's what happened with SCSA. Heck the Rock was getting over as a face while he was a heel before the Deadly Game Survivor Series.
Just go watch it on Peacock from late 95 until the Screwjob and you'll see WCW is not to blame, Bret was not some god who all the fans loved and adored. neither was HBK.
It'd be like if TNA had gotten big and hired away CM Punk and Daniel Bryan in 2012, wrestling got hot and by that I mean even your grandparents are aware of it somewhat, and then Cena/RKO were ran out of town for new better talent. That's essentially what happened in 96-98.
“Bret wasn’t a draw.”
“I paid him over 2 million to be the top guy on Thunder.”
Complete contradiction.
hindsight. he thought he was a draw, until he realized bret didnt draw anything for wcw
Darth There’s no way he would’ve offered that kind of money without seeing the numbers, and KNOWING Bret was a draw.
He certainly wouldn’t have planned to make him the top guy on their new show.
He just bent to the will of “Doesn’t work for me, brother.”
AND....then offer him a 2 year extension on his contract!
He wasn't a complete draw when compared with his contemporaries, although his name and lineage still had significance which could of potentially been a draw with the correct booking.
Darth Also, to your second point, no one can draw if they’re not pushed.
Stone Cold wasn’t the top draw in the business until he got pushed to the top of the cards.
Same for Rock, and even Hogan.
Hogan drew peanuts in his first WWE run, being on the lower card (in his blue ring gear). Then he went to the AWA, got pushed, and a star was born. Came back to WWE, got pushed there, and drew insane numbers.
Bisch just desperately wants to rewrite history so that he never screwed anything up. Unfortunately, it’s not true. For all the good he did, he also helped kill WCW by letting guys like Hogan essentially run the place, and change plans on a whim (exactly what Hogan did with Bret).
This is not a bad episode but there are some huge missed questions here. Why was Bret not booked in matches with Hogan and Sting right off the bat? Why did Bret not say on Nitro he couldn't wrestle because he broke his hand punching Vince? Challenges about how to fit Bret into a crowded roster? Where was his title run in 1998? What about a WCW branded Thunder headed by Bret? Eric's thoughts on nWo 2000? These topics are not seriously discussed with the same fervor as the topics in the finger poke of doom episode.
Noel ComiX Eric wasnt there for the title or NWO run
Morgan Leggett right, but they should still discuss it.
Noel ComiX they did it deliberately to create the illusion that WCW had a greater depth of talent than WWF, that Bret wasn’t worthy of headlining Nitro
Where do i begin? What a load of shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet ppl believe eric's dream. Eric, you remember all these meetings but forget how much you paid Bret hart? hahahaha. Ok then! Eric, Bret wasnt a draw, yet you paid him TOP DOLLAR cash! You mentioned him with Hogan, savage, flair (BTW flair couldnt draw for shit. he was all southern draw. Nobody in Canada gave a shit, nor did anyone over sea's, or most of america. sorry but that's fact) in same sentence. You're all over map on this one.
Hogan came to WWF in 1993, so was flair and in 1992 when they where on top, DIDNT DRAW! As Bruce Prichard said, nobody cared to be quiet frank. WHATS THAT ABOUT DRAWING POWER? They where already on way down in all kinds of numbers, WWF and wrestling that is because of steroid scandal. In 1993, Hogan couldn't pick up viewing numbers or house show numbers or ppv buys as CHAMP, you know the #1 guy! Fact was, he was behind Bret in popularity at that time. Bret was most IMPACT and profitable wrestler in ALL of north america at this time.
So Bret wasn't a star, yet...every1 knew his name, was all over tv's, media. Had a #1 song about him in Germany, top Canadian, wwf biggest draw outside of america, won everything in wwf, made MILLION's and was handed #1 heel in 1997 a long with most popular wrestler in wwf 3 outta 6 years he was champ. Yet, can't draw, not a star power? WTF is eric talking about???? Buddy, you dont like Bret, thats fine but at least be HONEST and real in your podcast. You are contradicting yourself, dumbass. Listen, if Bret wasnt that big... he wouldnt be able to get no where near that cash and his name wouldnt be top 5 of all time in his ERA. Oh is Bret going to have fun with this one...
Oh now HINDSIGHT he was signed for WCW Thunder. Anybody who knows and was close to wrestling and Bret... knows youre flat out, FULL OF SHIT esp on this one! Dont even try and pretend, now, that's why u picked Bret Hart! Maybe the ppl who dont know the in details, but you aint fooling the one's who know!
Draw power? Bret was biggest star outside of America in his era, ask Vince or JR who have publicly said this how many times? Oh wait they're lying, lets listen to Eric B who cant even get his facts straight. BTW, the tickets bought and merch are TRUE indicators. Austin, Rock, Hogan, Cena are all bigger then Bret in America, but he's legit top 5! Who the hell saved WWF in days of fans leaving? Bret Hart. Who woulda been that champion and guy who could take wwf outta dark days in usa and go everywhere else and make money? Hogan and flair couldnt draw in those days in WWF and WCW where they wrestled in empty chairs and wwf still wrestled in full arena's for PPV and packed whatever taping event they had whichever size. Dont get it twisted that Hogan was drawing huge in WCW. Its a roster that draws... bookers, why do u think he couldnt draw in 1992-1993 in wwf when he came back? IN LATE 96 nwo was a cool faction, new look in wrestling...perfect take credit! But notice in cpl years that ended faaaaaaaaaaaast? But I thought Hogan drew? why did WCW sink? why did they lose to WWF in ratings all of a sudden, but they had biggest star ever hogan? Becuz its not one guy team, he needs bookers and great talent around him. Oh and dont go after Bret on wcw sink, you didnt let him wrestle anyone big or start a rivalry or push him to #1 to even say he couldnt draw in those days! So its just like austin and rock in wwf they had great roster backing em up but eventually in 2002 numbers started slipping and by 2004 it went right down. Not because rock and austin are not stars or cant draw.. it just became stale entertainment and nothing new to look forward too. Like any league you got stars but you def need talent around to make it fun and exciting with rivalry. Bret wrestled in era's with Bashiton booger, al montoya, eric bradford, sparky plug, skip, dean douglas, whalem murssy etc... Bret cant wrestle himself, he needs another top dog to start rivalry with. Imagine if he was pushed with savage, flair, hogan, warrior, jake snake, ric rude, mr perfect etc... he coulda been huge too wrestling great talent makes you big. Bret did it on his own because that was his only shot, vince seen that outta him! Hogan knew, dont wrestle bret or he'll be booed outta park, he wasnt the man after 1992. Thats fact, jack! No one can deny it. Hogan coulda helped wwf and helped push Bret to newer heights.. but meh he wanted yokozuna, that worked out well, that drew huuuuge lol!!!
Bret WAS a star, made million's... had legion of fans everywhere. #1 selling book, top canadian, top selling WWE dvd. Lead wwf 4 different years in merch sales. Shawn loves to brag about his 1996 merch lead, mean while Bret was out for 6 months, fuck i hope you made most shawn!!! and when wrestling went to Canada he was THE biggest thing. Not even Austin, Hogan or rock and Goldberg could get over VS Bret Hart...neither in UK, Germany or south Africa etc... and you cant fight it because youtube or GOOGLE is your fucking friend in case you "forget" as u like to say in this podcast.
You didnt let Bret Hart vs Hogan happen but once on a silly b.s. match that ended up them being "friends" you coulda had a rivalry, started a feud made/tried for millions off a match Hogan bulked at in WWF years earlier, which he prolly did again in WCW, thats why we didnt see it. But u let Hogan run ur show in WCW and u got what u deserved. Bankrupt!!! BTW since Hogan is draw by himself, what happened to wcw...while he was top guy? Why did u sink? exactly! Wow is this complete fucking joke of a podcast by you. Conrad is cool. BTW, wtf was Bret Hart in WCW anyways? Good, bad, good, bad, mid card, heavy weight champ, us champ, referee, HUH???????? Yeah thats YOUR mind set! Your ego is upset because Bret has said numerous times, youre full of shit and back stabbing POS. This podcast proves all lies you make up. I love when you pretend to tell us what u think now... Best Line. Bret Hart wasn't a draw...but i paid him top dollar just under Hogan. Thats an idiot, folks.
Ill leave it as.. if Bret wasnt a big star, why are we talking about him? why does his name sell? why does have he have millions of followers? We are talking about him right now, because...HE WAS A FUCKING STAR! Not a Konan....
I can answer some of those, even though I’m not Bischoff.
Why was Bret not booked immediately with Hogan and Sting? Because he came in right before Sting vs Hogan which had been building since Bash at the Beach 96 and was the biggest thing in wrestling despite what the revisionist history that the WWE would have you believe. Sting and Hogan had 2 more matches that lasted into the spring. I argue that while 2 more matches was sufficient, the feud could’ve stretched out a little further, especially had the match at Starrcade gone the way it shouldve. Then outta nowhere Bill Goldberg became white hot. I’ve always thought it was ridiculous that Bret has always basically contended that WCW should drop everything they were doing and put everything on hold just to give Bret the feud he wanted. Also important to note that Bret did not come in as “the hottest thing in wrestling” like so many people contend. In 1997, the internet was in something like one out of every 5 households, and those homes tended to be higher income homes who did not watch wrestling. The majority of fans had no idea what had even happened at Survivor Series....and for the ones that did, why would they have all this sympathy for Bret after he dogged the shit out of them for the better part of 97?
I distinctly remember Bret getting booed in his early WCW interviews and several “USA!” chants. It was so bad that I remember Bret interrupting the boos and chants to say that he didn’t want to disrespect America. So his switch from vicious anti-American heel to babyface was “I mean no disrespect to Americans??”
Quite the babyface turn.....
Bret’s hand? Vince said in his infamous Bret screwed Bret interview that he was keeping legal options open. Last thing you want to do is say something on live television that could be used by McMahon in court.
Challenges about Bret fitting in? He was a WWF guy who had no allies, he had trashed the company, Hogan, and Flair, he is a loner without many friends and wasnt adept at maneuvering in political climates.
Bret’s 98 title run? Pushed to the side because Goldberg, Sting, and nWo wolfpack were getting much stronger reactions.
Bret Hart wasn't a draw is one of the biggest misnomers and false narratives in wrestling history. If your requirements to be a draw are drawing Hogan, Austin or The Rock numbers then no he wasn't a draw but in that case neither was anybody else. But if your requirement is actually bringing fans to the arena and moving the needle when you're there than Bret was a draw. Here's some numbers that come straight from historyofwwe and the observer.
After Hogan dropped the title to Warrior at Mania 6 business slowly started dropping. Warrior couldn't put 10k in the Garden or draw 5K in hot markets like Detroit, Chicago or Philadelphia. When Bret became the guy he would routinely draw 15K in the Garden and 20K for PPVs and sell out Detroit, Chicago and Philly. The Bret vs. Owen feud was the biggest drawing program WWE had in "several years" according to Meltzer.
Before that in 1992 WWE ran multiple loops, one house show look was headlined by the World CHampion Savage, the other by IC champion Bret. One would think the Heavyweight champion would draw much bigger crowds right? Wrong, routinely Bret would outdraw Savage despite working "b" towns and not having the Heavyweight belt on the card.
Now lets look at PPV buyrates. Brets first real main event as champion was the RR93. That drew 40K more buys than the previous year. Then his first Mania as champ drew likewise drew 40K more. He gets moved down the card in favor of Lex Luger and what happens? Buy rates drop. The Summerslam 93 rate was lower than 92 which heavily involved Bret and Survivor Series 93 was 70K worse than 92 which again heavily involved Bret. So when Bret is at the top things are looking good, when he's not things go down. That is a draw.
Onto 1994. Mania's buyrate is slightly down from the previous year but again Luger and Yoko are the ones getting most of the hype but of course Bret ends up winning the belt. Now that he is champion again guess what? Business picks up. Both Summerslam and Survivor Series are way up with him headlining vs. him being buried down the card the previous year.
1995. He starts that off by headlining the Royal RUmble and of course buy rates go up vs. the previous year when he was down the card but come Mania he is pushed down the card again and guess what? Buyrates plummet from where they were the previous year as does Summerslam.
1996. Him being in the championship at Royal Rumble leads to an increase in buyrates from the year before but Mania is down with him vs. Shawn. They stay down the rest of the year with him gone but once he comes back for a high profile match with Austin at Survivor Series they jump back up. No coincidence.
1997. 1997 buyrates were all down until Summerslam where not coincidentally they jump up massively with Bret headlining compared to him not being there the year before. Survivor Series also jumps up with him headlining as well.
Bottom line is that almost every PPV that focused heavily on Bret did way better than the years that didn't. If that happened once or twice I may say it is a coincidence but it happened time and time again. That means that you are a draw. His attendance numbers as headliner were solid compared to everybody else during that era. Bischoff admitted himself that they couldnt' give tickets away at that time but when Bret was champ he was drawing 5-10K while the Hogans, Flairs, Michaels and Savages of the world couldn't get nobody. Bret just had the misfortune of being in between Hogan and Austin, the two biggest draws of all time so compared to them he didn't seem like one.
He didn't say bret wasn't a draw, he said bret wasn't drawing at the time which is true. If bret was drawing Vince would've kept him.
Y doesn’t anyone ever knock Shawn Michaels for not being a draw? Feel like I only hear talks of Bret not being a draw but in the mid 90s Shawn Michaels was pushed more than Bret
That was probably one of Brets hottest years coming off of the fued with Austin. Couple that with now being part of the biggest and most talked about event in wrestling history., Bret was thebl hottest talent in wrestling and Bischoff blew it! Waited several weeks to put him on TV and in a match then he does it as a referee. Come on now.
@Andy Parker he was actually a bigger draw than Flair and probably Savage. Now I'm only 34 but I hear how Flair basically carried NWA in the 80s when it was on its back but I just didn't see it and never saw a great draw. NWA folded while he was on top there, WCW was nothing during his first run, he didn't make an impact when he went to WWF and WCW was spinning its wheels for years until the NWO started and once again, WCW folds with Flair still there. The wrestling business was down during most of Brets early years as champ and he was the primary reason it stayed afloat along with the kliq wrestlers and others. He was also a huge draw IN Europe, even more so than Austin or Hogan.
@Andy Parker I would beg to differ. I love Macho Man but he was never "The" Guy. Bret at least can say he was.
I love how Thompson will call both Prichard and Bischoff out. He's not aiming to shoot on either of them, but he knows the smell of bull and calls it bluntly without issue when he gets wind of it.
Thompson, you're one of the best if not THE BEST in the shoot business.
It feels like, unlike other shoot interview guys, he is kind of a voice for the fans.
The backstage stuff unfolding from the past is a better story than anything coming out in pro wrestling today 😂😂😂
Hearing that Bret is so into Western gunfighter movies makes me realize that people may have been taking Bret’s gimmick and personality the wrong way all these years. Straight laced, no nonsense, no real emotion other than either calm or anger combined with “Hitman” and “Sharpshooter” and the idea that he was so good that he could beat anyone..the guy thought of “Bret Hart” as a gun fighter.
If you watched LEGENDS OF WRESTLING, Mick Foley talks about how he and Bret would trade books on stories about the War.
WWE did try to make him Cowboy Bret Hart at first
anti gun though, eh
Are you saying Bret is anti-gun? I hadn’t heard that.
Who?
Bret is always consistent and everybody else either says " I don't recall " or change their stories or like Shawn Michaels they outright admit they had lied. I'm going with Bret on this.
It's easier to maintain a simple lie than remember an complicated absolute truth.
Bret hart is a known liar
Always a few jackass Bret haters that flip the narrative lol. Guys like Michaels and others admit they lied and somehow Bret is still the liar lol
This. You don't need to remembet shit when you tell the truth.
Bret's stories have been the same for 20 years. Everyone else "can't recall"
Classic psychology always tells us it’s far easier to remember the truth. I don’t doubt that Bret has embellished, but there’s a lot about Bischoff’s account that does not add up. He literally says he would’ve never offered Bret that kinda money, but he actually signed for pretty damn close to that kind of money. I don’t understand how he can say one thing with a straight face when the reality of the actual contract is not in line with his words.
I honestly can't deal with Eric not remembering half the stuff Conrad has to ask, but goes on rants about stuff that has not been asked.
Considering his job, age, and businesses he he has run it's easy to see him initially not remembering this stuff. Only marks would complain about that.
@@scrappy93 I think you mis understood my comment. He's doing a podcast about going down memory lane, he is asked a question and usually cant remember. But he goes off on on about stuff that wasn't even asked. It's like I can't answer that but here's this about this. It's fine, as everyone loves a story and bit of rambling, that's why people listen to stuff like cornette, but with bishoff it's really jaring, you get to the point where conrad has to keep going back to the original question over and over.
@@KSECMPUNK well said
There is an HBO Special about Eric Bishoff coming out next month and it will be titled "I can't recall the specifics: The Eric Bishoff story"
"I didn't recall then. And I don't now."
@Definitely NOT DB Cooper It was DB Cooper, it said so on Unsolved Mysteries
"2.8 million is ridiculous. No way I offered that. "
5 minutes later..
"Yeah, I gave him 2.6 million"
2.6 isn't 2.8 so he was telling the truth 😀
Point was it wasn't a sizeable difference so him acting so stunned and saying "2.8 I would've never offered that" seems silly
This is one of my favorite podcast I've been a subscriber since the first airing of 83 weeks every podcast Conrad Thompson touches is great podcast
The best podcast is Grillin JR's!! Love it
Never heard of 83weeks
This is awesome memories thanks guys from Northumberland UK
There's no way Bret Hart was lying THIS much.
BLAKE MCCORMICK ok. You know because you say so. It’s that kind of dismissive nature that gives people license to lie straight to your face all the fucking time… We’re talking about guys who literally lied about who they are as a character for their fucking career… We’re talking about a guy who is still in love with Kaybabe and probably has it tattooed on his dick…a guy who literally held the entire company hostage because of what might happen to his fucking character if he lost in his “hometown” which was actually 3500 km away from his actual hometown: But yeah Brett Hall didn’t lie that much.... sure.
Imagine if Stone Cold refuses a job simply because “I can’t lose in the United States I’m too big of a hero there.” Or god forbid HBK did that! But because it’s Brett Hart he can’t lose in a country almost as big as the United States. Fuck him.
@Justin Sharpe I believe Stone Cold said that he would have lost to Brock, just not in a qualifying match for King of the Ring. He didn't think that's where that match should have taken place. Bret found every reason to try to keep the belt because he didn't like Shawn Michaels/couldn't lose in Canada. Situation is a little different.
No, but his representation that was working McMahon, Bischoff and Meltzer simultaneously in order to get huge money for their client was. All while working in just enough of the truth to make it believable. It's kind of what they do.
@@e2go just seemed like EVERY SINGLE THING bret was reported as saying in this clip regarding WCW was denounced by Eric as an untruth. I just have a hard time believing that. Maybe some....but ALL of it? Don't seem plausible.
I bought a ticket to a WCW house show in 1998 to see Bret Hart. Me and 5 friends.
I love how Conrad bluntly calls Bischoff on his bullshit but this also makes me realize Bischoff more. Bischoff is direct and honest and not afraid to assess situations from his perspective and call bullshit on others. He's also a bit of a bullshitter himself.
Its funny how eric says many occasions he cant recall but yet when bret talked about a deal was made in 96 he clearly remembers everything now. 😁😂
"WCW doesn't know what 2 do with a Bret Hart"
Vince McMahon
obviously Vince didn't gaf bout Bret in 97 either
@@weworldwide1348
He couldn't afford to pay Bret they signed a contract and it came out that Vince didn't have the money for the contract. Look shit up before spouting off
Boy was he right
@@aaronscott4984 u dumb, brody. If Vince had really wanted to keep him and Bret wanted to stay, they could've re-negotiated, which happens all the time.
Obviously, that never happened. Vince clearly told him to go sign with WCW.
@@weworldwide1348 Yep with Austin blowing up he just didn't need Bret anymore. Plus when you watch Bret's Wrestling with Shadows documentary(along with people close to Bret and their recollection of him at the time) you see he just wouldn't have fit the attitude era.
I call b.s. Bret has stayed so consistent on topics over the years..and his story never changes..do an interview with easy e in a year about this topic and it will be different.
Eric screwed Eric
Eric's wife screwed...not Eric
Fuck Eric
Only person who would.
We get it. You guys don't like Bret Hart- and took this opportunity to bury him. The bottom line is that Eric brought him in, paid him a lot of money but completely dropped the ball. Your reasoning of holding back to create anticipation is weak because the Montreal situation was white-hot - and you didn't capitalize. Of course Bret became apathetic - who wouldn't when the boss can't even stick to a storyline , and bulks under the pressure of "that doesn't work for me brother"
manosh S Was a huge fan of Bret as a kid, he took over for Hogan when he left, who was my fav as a child...
Vince was absolutely correct when he said WCW wouldn't know how to use Bret Hart.
manosh S YUP!!!!
manosh S Bischoff claiming Brett didn't get over is laughable.
Yep. He thinks Kevin Nash was more valuable. That is laughable as well.
"Bret isn't a draw" but I'm still talking about him 20 years later..... To get a draw on my podcast...........
Lol nicely put.
Yeah but the fans vote for the topic beforehand
Always annoying when comments get deleted because somebody doesn't agree with your point of view.
I cracked up the bit when Conrad called Eric out on not thinking Bret was a draw and yet paid him $2million a year! I enjoyed this a lot, but I think mostly Bishchoff was exposed at being at fault for the dropping the ball with Bret at least when he was there. Bret may have been partly to blame too, but when you see what WCW came up with for him I think its clear who was most at fault. I'm intrigued by the ending of having Nitro (NWO) VS. Thunder (WCW). Did Eric say why that didn't happen?
Sure, but if you listen to these podcasts Eric hardly ever takes the blame for anything that happened on his watch. As he himself has said people all have their own take on things. So the defence Eric makes of himself is his. To be fair to Bret has as always said that Eric was good to him in WCW, like how he supported him after Owen's passing. His beef with Eric was more just to do with how clueless he was about wrestling (in Bret's opinion), and carried on mis-managing Bret and letting the politics run wild back stage.
I really appreciate the honesty of eric , I know a lot of people would prefer him to lie or maybe embellish a story but I like the fact he would rather just admit he can't remember , keep up all the good work
Notice how heated Eric gets when he feels like Hogan is getting slandered.
We should all hope to have a friend like that lol
That's his boyfriend, what did you expect? They took the cash grab at TNA and contributed nothing. They shamelessly did that as a couple....awwwwwwww. Lol.
He is very loyal to Hogan, I wonder how loyal Hogan is to him?
I wonder if he’s afraid of lawsuit from Hogan.
Eric bischoff is such a hulk hogan mark
Jonathan Champion Eric suredoes stick up for Hogan. And Bury!!! Brutus the Fing barber beefcake
Bret Hart was the biggest heel in 1997, an underrated heel in my opinion.
I never liked the whiney bret gimmick.........
I believe 100% that Kevin Sullivan booked that War Games match at Fall Brawl 98. It has his trademark overbooked gimmick match written all over it.
Eric is channeling his inner Artful Dodger in this episode.
David R I’m sure he’ll be sniffing Hogan’s seat almost as bad as The Dodger does Shawn Michaels.
Well, you know...
I think artful is huge stretch. It wasn't hard seeing through the BS. All 2:40:00 Now Brother Love is an Artful Dodger.
Some takeaways from this.
I don't think anyone would seriously believe that when Bret tells Eric that he can be late when discussing his 1997 jump from WWF that he intended that to be written into his contract. More like he was forewarning him.
Second - Eric says that Bret didn't contribute. Well, he certainly contributed to the Goldberg steel plate idea. Bret could have spoken up more, for sure. Why did or didn't is a question only he can answer. If Eric really believed that Bret wasn't a draw then why did WCW offer him a new deal in mid 1999?
eric said in a interview that he offered bret contract because he wanted a big star to headline thunder
yet he says in same interview bret did not draw ok
thanks for re-uploading!
thank you 83 weeks bringing everyone back down memory line
Eric: "I don't have payrolls sitting in front of me, but if somebody can PROVE he made 2 and a half million, so be it."
Conrad: "I have the data. He made 2.66 million."
OOPS
Lol.....burn.....
Eric revealed what he is doing, what he knows he does, when he accused Brett of making up so many stories that now Brett can't tell what was true and what wasn't. That's what Eric has done. He no longer knows the real details because he's made up so much shit.
@Ze TheGame everyone knows Bret didn't draw like Hogan, Austin, the Rock or Savage, but what is this absolute myth that Michaels was drawing back then, either? Michaels finally got kinda hot during 97', and then just as quickly dropped the belt (rightfully so) to Stone Cold, and disappeared for like 3 years. His title run in 96' and anything up until his heel run a year later were generally box office disasters.
Ze TheGame
Exactly! I mean I believe the guy who paid someone top dollar who couldn’t draw any money. Eric gave Bret every opportunity to succeed in WCW and it’s all Bret’s fault for failing. Right off the bat they booked him to immediately to take advantage of coming off the biggest storyline in wrestling after the Montreal screw job. He came in red hot but it’s Bret’s fault that he didn’t make it by being a special referee in the Hogan and Sting match and it’s Bret’s fault that only Nash, Hall and Hogan ran the show backstage. WCW was a failure because of Bischoff. They had so much talent from top guys to the mid card. Not only did they have the huge names from WWF’s past but they had new talent that had to go to the WWE to be recognized. WCW had everything they would ever need to succeed except competent leadership. When you have top names like Hogan, Macho, Hart, Sting, Flair, etc to maim event and the mid card has Jericho, Guerrero, Benoit, Mysterio, etc and you still fail it speaks volumes that Eric is a fucking liar and is rewriting history to cover up his absolute incompetence as a promoter. He’s trying to bury Bret here because Bret has called him out for being an idiot and little Eric’s feelings got hurt.
Bischoff calls Hart a liar, but his best friend is Hulk Hogan. Bret has been tearing Bischoff to shreds for years. I guess this is his receipt.
Travis McDonald yes bret is a liar
Where do i begin? What a load of shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet ppl believe eric's dream. Eric, you remember all these meetings but forget how much you paid Bret hart? hahahaha. Ok then! Eric, Bret wasnt a draw, yet you paid him TOP DOLLAR cash! You mentioned him with Hogan, savage, flair (BTW flair couldnt draw for shit. he was all southern draw. Nobody in Canada gave a shit, nor did anyone over sea's, or most of america. sorry but that's fact) in same sentence. You're all over map on this one.
Hogan came to WWF in 1993, so was flair and in 1992 when they where on top, DIDNT DRAW! As Bruce Prichard said, nobody cared to be quiet frank. WHATS THAT ABOUT DRAWING POWER? They where already on way down in all kinds of numbers, WWF and wrestling that is because of steroid scandal. In 1993, Hogan couldn't pick up viewing numbers or house show numbers or ppv buys as CHAMP, you know the #1 guy! Fact was, he was behind Bret in popularity at that time. Bret was most IMPACT and profitable wrestler in ALL of north america at this time.
So Bret wasn't a star, yet...every1 knew his name, was all over tv's, media. Had a #1 song about him in Germany, top Canadian, wwf biggest draw outside of america, won everything in wwf, made MILLION's and was handed #1 heel in 1997 a long with most popular wrestler in wwf 3 outta 6 years he was champ. Yet, can't draw, not a star power? WTF is eric talking about???? Buddy, you dont like Bret, thats fine but at least be HONEST and real in your podcast. You are contradicting yourself, dumbass. Listen, if Bret wasnt that big... he wouldnt be able to get no where near that cash and his name wouldnt be top 5 of all time in his ERA. Oh is Bret going to have fun with this one...
Oh now HINDSIGHT he was signed for WCW Thunder. Anybody who knows and was close to wrestling and Bret... knows youre flat out, FULL OF SHIT esp on this one! Dont even try and pretend, now, that's why u picked Bret Hart! Maybe the ppl who dont know the in details, but you aint fooling the one's who know!
Draw power? Bret was biggest star outside of America in his era, ask Vince or JR who have publicly said this how many times? Oh wait they're lying, lets listen to Eric B who cant even get his facts straight. BTW, the tickets bought and merch are TRUE indicators. Austin, Rock, Hogan, Cena are all bigger then Bret in America, but he's legit top 5! Who the hell saved WWF in days of fans leaving? Bret Hart. Who woulda been that champion and guy who could take wwf outta dark days in usa and go everywhere else and make money? Hogan and flair couldnt draw in those days in WWF and WCW where they wrestled in empty chairs and wwf still wrestled in full arena's for PPV and packed whatever taping event they had whichever size. Dont get it twisted that Hogan was drawing huge in WCW. Its a roster that draws... bookers, why do u think he couldnt draw in 1992-1993 in wwf when he came back? IN LATE 96 nwo was a cool faction, new look in wrestling...perfect take credit! But notice in cpl years that ended faaaaaaaaaaaast? But I thought Hogan drew? why did WCW sink? why did they lose to WWF in ratings all of a sudden, but they had biggest star ever hogan? Becuz its not one guy team, he needs bookers and great talent around him. Oh and dont go after Bret on wcw sink, you didnt let him wrestle anyone big or start a rivalry or push him to #1 to even say he couldnt draw in those days! So its just like austin and rock in wwf they had great roster backing em up but eventually in 2002 numbers started slipping and by 2004 it went right down. Not because rock and austin are not stars or cant draw.. it just became stale entertainment and nothing new to look forward too. Like any league you got stars but you def need talent around to make it fun and exciting with rivalry. Bret wrestled in era's with Bashiton booger, al montoya, eric bradford, sparky plug, skip, dean douglas, whalem murssy etc... Bret cant wrestle himself, he needs another top dog to start rivalry with. Imagine if he was pushed with savage, flair, hogan, warrior, jake snake, ric rude, mr perfect etc... he coulda been huge too wrestling great talent makes you big. Bret did it on his own because that was his only shot, vince seen that outta him! Hogan knew, dont wrestle bret or he'll be booed outta park, he wasnt the man after 1992. Thats fact, jack! No one can deny it. Hogan coulda helped wwf and helped push Bret to newer heights.. but meh he wanted yokozuna, that worked out well, that drew huuuuge lol!!!
Bret WAS a star, made million's... had legion of fans everywhere. #1 selling book, top canadian, top selling WWE dvd. Lead wwf 4 different years in merch sales. Shawn loves to brag about his 1996 merch lead, mean while Bret was out for 6 months, fuck i hope you made most shawn!!! and when wrestling went to Canada he was THE biggest thing. Not even Austin, Hogan or rock and Goldberg could get over VS Bret Hart...neither in UK, Germany or south Africa etc... and you cant fight it because youtube or GOOGLE is your fucking friend in case you "forget" as u like to say in this podcast.
You didnt let Bret Hart vs Hogan happen but once on a silly b.s. match that ended up them being "friends" you coulda had a rivalry, started a feud made/tried for millions off a match Hogan bulked at in WWF years earlier, which he prolly did again in WCW, thats why we didnt see it. But u let Hogan run ur show in WCW and u got what u deserved. Bankrupt!!! BTW since Hogan is draw by himself, what happened to wcw...while he was top guy? Why did u sink? exactly! Wow is this complete fucking joke of a podcast by you. Conrad is cool. BTW, wtf was Bret Hart in WCW anyways? Good, bad, good, bad, mid card, heavy weight champ, us champ, referee, HUH???????? Yeah thats YOUR mind set! Your ego is upset because Bret has said numerous times, youre full of shit and back stabbing POS. This podcast proves all lies you make up. I love when you pretend to tell us what u think now... Best Line. Bret Hart wasn't a draw...but i paid him top dollar just under Hogan. Thats an idiot, folks.
Ill leave it as.. if Bret wasnt a big star, why are we talking about him? why does his name sell? why does have he have millions of followers? We are talking about him right now, because...HE WAS A FUCKING STAR! Not a Konan....
@Chris Terry
The proof is with bret himself he's buries everyone he ever worked with he's a bitter washed up mark for himself he always blames everyone but best for his mistakes if you believe bret he never did anything wrong but if you listen to anyone who was there and seen what happened they'll tell you brets a liar
@@surgeoforange3107 bro you wrote "Hogan came to WWF in 1993." First of all he went to WCW in 1994
@@surgeoforange3107 what you're doing is spreading bullshit propaganda like a pedantic school boy.
So, Bret didn't come up with the body armor hidden under the hockey jersey spot against Goldberg, right Eric? The same spot where you suggested Hogan come to the ring and lay both guys out with a chair?
WarriorSmurf Bret said in an RF shoot that Kevin Nash came up with the idea.
StuUngar spot on
Conrad is always so well prepared for these with the numbers.
The way Conrad talks to Eric is amazing
Regarding WCW numbers.. Bischoff : "I don't know where those numbers came from, and neither do you" best response ever lmao
The assertion that Bret wasn't drawing for Vince in 96/97 has always bothered me. WWF numbers were down as a whole - Shawn's run with the belt had tanked yet he remained untouchable. And even if Bret had underperformed at the box office, he was responsible for getting Stone Cold - the biggest draw in history - to the top table.
The Wrestle Wrant Exactly. The company was in the midst of the steroid trial so ppl werent feeling wrestling as a whole in 93-94,and lets not forget Hogan refusing to do business so you have a champion who’s supposed to be your next guy but he cant get the rub from the guy leaving (which is ironic come 97). I just hate how ppl act like Shawn’s reign was doing the biggest numbers.
Lol I love how Eric throws a fit about Bret lying and conflating 2 stories, but when Conrad asks Eric directly, he doesn't recall, or doesn't remember. Then how tf do you know he's lying if you don't remember??
....... Are you kidding?
Because there are some things you know you would remember if they did in fact happen. I don't know where I was on January 22nd, 2003, but I know I wasn't wrestling a moose.
Bret was way over than hogan, hbk in my country. I'm from India and back in the mid 90's bret's name was in the mouth of every kid in India.
Lol Bret might've been over there but here in the states where it really matter hulk waz king bret really never draw a dime anywheres
bret was big in the UK aswell.
Yeah same here in Sweden! We love Bret. Same with Jake The Snake and Ultimate Warrior!
I knew literally no one who cheered Hogan over them.
John Cook Im curious about the Warrior in the UK?
Bret has always talked up the reception he received when he fought Davey.
Ive seen that PPV numerous times and its clear to me that Davey got the biggest reaction of the night and Warrior was a close second.
@@Tad1945 germany too...US fans have no clue how big bret really was over here
(WCW wouldnt know what to do with a bret heart) that is unbelievably accurate.
People can say what ever they want about Vince but the man knows the business better then any other. He's a genius.
Except for when he put Bret or HBK with the title and then he began his 83 weeks.
Or we just supposed to believe what WWE says vs what we actually remember?
Eric: Bret wasn’t a draw.
Also Eric: Hey Bret! I will pay you 2.8 million dollars.
Yes, I agree. I love how Conrad & Eric say none of the contract at the start. Saying Bret is lying. But let's go back to how much he actually signed Bret to. The Exact amount Bret said he offered him? But Bret lied... none of this never happened. Come on. One thing even Vince says there was a bidding war with Bret. But they have the right to their opinion. & Their "Facts" But when Bret's story never has changes in 20 plus years. I know who's story I'm going with.
Bischoff had 2 year run of success and thats it. He was terrible in wwf and tna. Bret Hart is a star worldwide still and had a great career. BRET HART LEGEND.
Exactly. WCW wasn’t built or drawing on Bret. He was an after thought there. I watched those episodes when they aired and it always -ALWAYS- looked like Bret had an I don’t care attitude each time on TV. Maybe that is his character, but he was boring. Period. As far as Eric, he was mostly a talent on wwe and in TNA. I don’t know how much control he had at either.
Yeah Bret wasn't a draw and that's why you spend an entire podcast talking about him....
They have an entire podcast on doink the clown too don't mean he was ever a draw Bret Hart is the biggest Bret Hart fan he blames everyone else for anything that ever happened brets full of shit there's a reason everyone in the business buries him
... I’ve seen this comment a few times. Listening about Bret for FREE is one thing, going out and buying tickets to see/ hear about him would mean he’s a DRAW (back in the day terms) that’s what he means when he says draw, he doesn’t draw people to pay for his Shit or to come see him. A podcast is free anyone can search this Shit up
To say Bret Hart didn't draw is by far the dumbest thing I have ever heard..Bret was a huge draw over seas and in Canada..and when he was heel doing the anti American thing he was the most hated man in wrestling...so for Bret not to be a draw is a flat out joke..
Killer Joe That is bs..
In wcw he wasn’t no one paid to come and see him because imo he wasn’t used properly if they had good programmes and story lines with him against great wrestlers that they did have he would of done good but just like vince said wcw wouldn’t no what to do with a Bret Hart
Fact is Brett was white hot when he came to WCW. The Montreal Screw Job 20+ yrs later is still one of the top 10 angles/storylines in wrestling history and whoever was on creative dropped the ball without coming up with something to take advantage of that as soon as it was possible. I actually believe Brett when he says he was put on the shelf at Hogan's request because it makes no sense otherwise to miss such an opportunity.
The Brett Hart story got bigger once TH-cam got popular. No1 cared about this story arc back in let’s say 1999 or 2000
Only person that was white hot was Vince McMahon.
@@user-su1xk3mv2b I did and hart fans did. He was doing talk shows about it and the legal proceedings.
Not true he couldn't wrestle for WCW till January 98 but since he sucks at real promos not scripted ones they couldn't just give him a mic n let him talk. Sorry but he wasn't no scott hall or Kevin Nash on the MIC
@@josephmatthews7698 Where in Canada? Wasn't a thing in the states or he wasn't doing any of the big talk shows back then. Certainly wasn't Oprah or anything like Dateline, Primetime live, or 20/20.
I was a teen then and wasn't watching WWF or WCW I had no idea who he was. Even the Simpsons episode he was in that sounds like the same voice who does Duffman and his name is so generic "Hitman". No one gave a shit about the Lonesome Dove prequel other than old people
I got into WWF in 99 and I still had no clue who he was until much later. I only knew who HBK was from being a hidden character in the games and being commissioner. The kids at school were talking nWo and I remember the shirts around 96 until around 98 ish. WWF takes over for sure as a teen back then in 99.
That's what annoys me about all this revisionism by WWE and the IWC.
As a little kid I didn't watch WWF/WCW in the 80s but I knew who Hulk Hogan was, I knew Sting, I knew Ric Flair, I knew Macho. In the 90s when it got big I knew of nWo, Hall, Nash. Then SCSA/Goldberg. Finally I started watching.
Bret/HBK were big in the same way any WWE champ not named Brock Lesnar, John Cena, or the Rock after 2008 is. They are big internally and everyone who doesn't watch wrestling or E! had no idea who they are.
It's why when I watched "Wrestling with Shadows" I truly wonder what the hell the documentary was going to be about had the screwjob not happened? Bret was not that big a guy and was the documentary just going to be about him staying in WWF had he stayed or him leaving without issue to WCW had he left? Either don't seem like anything you'd make into a documentary. If you're going to do lesser know guys, like say "Beyond the Mat" does then they need to be doing interesting stuff like a 55 yr old broken down Terry Funk doing moonsaults at ECW or Jake the Snake being a drug addict.
If Montreal was a work then Bret is a legend if it's a shoot then him and HBK need to suck down their pride and admit those two leaving in late 97/early 98 was the best thing that could have happened to WWF and all the evidence and history from those who lived it point to that.
Fuck WWE revisionists, Fuck Melzter, Fuck the IWC.
Sorry to hear that Bischoff got amnesia
Lol
Remembering day to day events 20 years ago may a little difficult.
Looking forward to next week's show. I love how Conrad won't pull punches. Great interviewing style, keep it up!
Conrad is an obese mouth breathing smart mark who has done nothing but make money for the people who really have done stuff in the business. Brian last is much better as is Kevin Nash's host. The episodes where Conrad is gone are always better. You could literally replace Conrad with anyone and people would still care because they want to hear from bischoff and prichard and others. Replace Conrad with literally anyone and the shows are as good or better.
"So Curt Hawkins...... I mean Brett Hart" was THEE funniest thing I've heard in a while. Laughed so hard
You can't call someone a liar and you say " I can't remember "
Hey Bischoff, Who are you to doubt Bret Hart? I don't believe a lot of what was said in this podcast. It's not just what Bret Hart has said about what happened behind the scenes, it's lots of other guys too who have similar things to say about Eric Bischoff and this time period. Bischoff feels like an executive who lies through his teeth to avoid admitting anything that could be used in a lawsuit.
Even some of his teeth aren't real just like his total denial on most subjects.
Would’ve been a draw if you would’ve just had Bret vs Hogan. Hogan scared of Bret because he makes his wrestling look mediocre
Hogan will still outdraw Bret any day if the week. Hogan always was cooler and a bigger draw that Hart
RC DR3 EVERYONE wanted to see Brett Vs. Hogan. Except Hulk Hogan.
You need top guys to put you over in order to be a top guy.. Hogan held so many potential top guys down. As much as he did for the business, he also fucked it over massively.
See that statement about hogan being scared of Bret because Bret would make his wrestling look mediocre never really made sense to me. Not saying that your wrong for saying it as that may very well have been the case to Hogan’s mind.
The reason it doesn’t make sense to me is that Bret could wrestle a paper bag and make that paper bag look like amazing (hyperbole and exaggeration on the example I freely admit) but Bret could go out there and have a fantastic match with anyone and walk out afterwards with both guys looking really good. Hogan should have jumped at the chance to work with Bret... that’s basically a Win/Win situation for both guys in my opinion and from your lead in it seems to also be yours as well.
@ no question! Hogan was definitely the one with the higher name recognition of the two. Which is why a feud between the two could only have helped both of them.
Hogan would have looked awesome because Bret could make anyone look awesome, and Bret would have benefited from working a feud with Hogan due to Hulk’s name recognition. And WCW would have made a ton of money off it... it would have been a no-lose scenario.
Alas this is NOT what happened.
I don't like the way Eric buries Hart in this. WCW dropped the ball.
Where do i begin? What a load of shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet ppl believe eric's dream. Eric, you remember all these meetings but forget how much you paid Bret hart? hahahaha. Ok then! Eric, Bret wasnt a draw, yet you paid him TOP DOLLAR cash! You mentioned him with Hogan, savage, flair (BTW flair couldnt draw for shit. he was all southern draw. Nobody in Canada gave a shit, nor did anyone over sea's, or most of america. sorry but that's fact) in same sentence. You're all over map on this one.
Hogan came to WWF in 1993, so was flair and in 1992 when they where on top, DIDNT DRAW! As Bruce Prichard said, nobody cared to be quiet frank. WHATS THAT ABOUT DRAWING POWER? They where already on way down in all kinds of numbers, WWF and wrestling that is because of steroid scandal. In 1993, Hogan couldn't pick up viewing numbers or house show numbers or ppv buys as CHAMP, you know the #1 guy! Fact was, he was behind Bret in popularity at that time. Bret was most IMPACT and profitable wrestler in ALL of north america at this time.
So Bret wasn't a star, yet...every1 knew his name, was all over tv's, media. Had a #1 song about him in Germany, top Canadian, wwf biggest draw outside of america, won everything in wwf, made MILLION's and was handed #1 heel in 1997 a long with most popular wrestler in wwf 3 outta 6 years he was champ. Yet, can't draw, not a star power? WTF is eric talking about???? Buddy, you dont like Bret, thats fine but at least be HONEST and real in your podcast. You are contradicting yourself, dumbass. Listen, if Bret wasnt that big... he wouldnt be able to get no where near that cash and his name wouldnt be top 5 of all time in his ERA. Oh is Bret going to have fun with this one...
Oh now HINDSIGHT he was signed for WCW Thunder. Anybody who knows and was close to wrestling and Bret... knows youre flat out, FULL OF SHIT esp on this one! Dont even try and pretend, now, that's why u picked Bret Hart! Maybe the ppl who dont know the in details, but you aint fooling the one's who know!
Draw power? Bret was biggest star outside of America in his era, ask Vince or JR who have publicly said this how many times? Oh wait they're lying, lets listen to Eric B who cant even get his facts straight. BTW, the tickets bought and merch are TRUE indicators. Austin, Rock, Hogan, Cena are all bigger then Bret in America, but he's legit top 5! Who the hell saved WWF in days of fans leaving? Bret Hart. Who woulda been that champion and guy who could take wwf outta dark days in usa and go everywhere else and make money? Hogan and flair couldnt draw in those days in WWF and WCW where they wrestled in empty chairs and wwf still wrestled in full arena's for PPV and packed whatever taping event they had whichever size. Dont get it twisted that Hogan was drawing huge in WCW. Its a roster that draws... bookers, why do u think he couldnt draw in 1992-1993 in wwf when he came back? IN LATE 96 nwo was a cool faction, new look in wrestling...perfect take credit! But notice in cpl years that ended faaaaaaaaaaaast? But I thought Hogan drew? why did WCW sink? why did they lose to WWF in ratings all of a sudden, but they had biggest star ever hogan? Becuz its not one guy team, he needs bookers and great talent around him. Oh and dont go after Bret on wcw sink, you didnt let him wrestle anyone big or start a rivalry or push him to #1 to even say he couldnt draw in those days! So its just like austin and rock in wwf they had great roster backing em up but eventually in 2002 numbers started slipping and by 2004 it went right down. Not because rock and austin are not stars or cant draw.. it just became stale entertainment and nothing new to look forward too. Like any league you got stars but you def need talent around to make it fun and exciting with rivalry. Bret wrestled in era's with Bashiton booger, al montoya, eric bradford, sparky plug, skip, dean douglas, whalem murssy etc... Bret cant wrestle himself, he needs another top dog to start rivalry with. Imagine if he was pushed with savage, flair, hogan, warrior, jake snake, ric rude, mr perfect etc... he coulda been huge too wrestling great talent makes you big. Bret did it on his own because that was his only shot, vince seen that outta him! Hogan knew, dont wrestle bret or he'll be booed outta park, he wasnt the man after 1992. Thats fact, jack! No one can deny it. Hogan coulda helped wwf and helped push Bret to newer heights.. but meh he wanted yokozuna, that worked out well, that drew huuuuge lol!!!
Bret WAS a star, made million's... had legion of fans everywhere. #1 selling book, top canadian, top selling WWE dvd. Lead wwf 4 different years in merch sales. Shawn loves to brag about his 1996 merch lead, mean while Bret was out for 6 months, fuck i hope you made most shawn!!! and when wrestling went to Canada he was THE biggest thing. Not even Austin, Hogan or rock and Goldberg could get over VS Bret Hart...neither in UK, Germany or south Africa etc... and you cant fight it because youtube or GOOGLE is your fucking friend in case you "forget" as u like to say in this podcast.
You didnt let Bret Hart vs Hogan happen but once on a silly b.s. match that ended up them being "friends" you coulda had a rivalry, started a feud made/tried for millions off a match Hogan bulked at in WWF years earlier, which he prolly did again in WCW, thats why we didnt see it. But u let Hogan run ur show in WCW and u got what u deserved. Bankrupt!!! BTW since Hogan is draw by himself, what happened to wcw...while he was top guy? Why did u sink? exactly! Wow is this complete fucking joke of a podcast by you. Conrad is cool. BTW, wtf was Bret Hart in WCW anyways? Good, bad, good, bad, mid card, heavy weight champ, us champ, referee, HUH???????? Yeah thats YOUR mind set! Your ego is upset because Bret has said numerous times, youre full of shit and back stabbing POS. This podcast proves all lies you make up. I love when you pretend to tell us what u think now... Best Line. Bret Hart wasn't a draw...but i paid him top dollar just under Hogan. Thats an idiot, folks.
Ill leave it as.. if Bret wasnt a big star, why are we talking about him? why does his name sell? why does have he have millions of followers? We are talking about him right now, because...HE WAS A FUCKING STAR! Not a Konan....
If Bret "wasn't a draw" then why on earth did they pay all that money for him. Almost as if the agenda really was to hurt Vinnie McMahon.
I dont like Eric, but Bret is pretty into himself. Its pretty annoying.
I don’t blame Eric though. Bret dogged the shit out of him a few years back and even called him a maggot and dumb.. but then said right after that he likes Eric. I love Bret but he goes after everybody and seems very bitter. Eric as a man I’m sure was just like fuck this guy I’m gonna air out my side of Bret being a difficult asshole. All that said I believe Bret more than Eric.
@@ngonzoak Did Bret say anything not true about Bitchoff? All Eric does here is lie, its pathetic
Bret got buried by the Hogan machine behind closed doors, he could've got over huge after the screw job. They should've did a sit down interview, discussing his last days at WWF. Have that interview on a week to week basis. Then set up his first angle. That would've got Bret over with the wcw audience.
Doubtful he wasn't that big when he left.
He even tried to do a shoot with MadTv and that failed as well.
@@darthbigred22 I wouldn't say it was bret wasn't that big... He was, imo. I'd say that there was no shortage of top talent in this time period and loosing one more or less was no biggie
The contradictions and B.S. by Bischoff just piles up as the interview goes on. He claims Bret never drew money, the $2 M contract was just "being at the right place at the right time", then says "we didn't have a plan for Bret because it happened so quickly", yet they clearly setup a feud with Hogan at the conclusion of SC97. Later, "I wasn't part of the booking, I was the president...", but clearly remembers that Hogan was never at a booking meeting. Also notice when asked about specifics, he claims not to remember but then goes on a diatribe about all the inner workings and random incidents unrelated to the question. Meanwhile, Bret's story has remained consistent and accurate in every detail for 2o years.
Its interesting how Eric remembers much more about things that make him look good or favorable.
And he "Can't recall" things that make him look bad or silly.
So like everyone else in the wrestling business...
Needs upper level talent for Thunder....since all of the upper level talent there are tied up in the nWo. Then when Bret gets there, puts him in a convoluted back and forth with the nWo....yep.
Patrick Zipperer facts that confirm that Bischoff is either liar, or a complete moron. I don’t think he’s a moron.
Lol, yeah...such lazy and boring storytelling. It made absolutely no sense to put him in the N.W.O and could of had "Legend climbs the ladder" type angle hyping up matches against Sting and Hogan but instead of any type of thought out long driven storyline they go the easy and lazy route. I blame Bret just as much for even agreeing with going in the NWO.
Bret would've been the top guy in WCW if he'd have brought the WWE title with him like Ric Flair did when he went to WWF.
Not so. Flair’s situation in walking out with Big Gold was different. Madusa was a partial precedent for the rationale behind Montreal.
Doubtful Bret was going to the company with all the guys who were bigger than him when they all worked together the first time. What did he expect?
@@darthbigred22 I’m sure he didn’t expect that shit. He could’ve had classics with Eddie, Dean, Jericho I believe was there, midcard guys his size, DDP, etc. He could’ve had a solid run. But had he left WWE as the champion he would’ve had a better run. Eric knew the way he left WWE he had no leverage
You guys need to advertise this better. Im just now watching these. Amazing stories. I love it. Keep em coming! I want to buy a shirt too. Does he still call you if you buy one?
Bischoff takes forever to get to the point in his answers starting with one of the very first questions about Brett asking for 3-mill. He rambles on almost to the point where you forget what the question even was.
That's his plan just like Mike Pence.
Eric is becoming as delusional as Hulk Hogan
If anyone thought biscoff wasn't the king of BS, here's your proof, any episode of 83 weeks
He was there, you weren't
Read Bret Hart book he threw in the towel when he went to WCW
@@dmanentertament125
Lol that book is full of lies and bull shit he's a bitter old man who bought into his own gimmick and found out he wasn't as important as he thought he was
@@jessieb9384 Bret compared himself to Beatlemania in his book, what BS. I actually agree with what Eric says here, no way would he offer Bret more money than his buddy Hogan was getting. Also, Eric is right, he was making himself sound like Elvis, or actually, as I stated above the Beatles. Ugh.
Joseph Delledonne
Theres a few details i believe eric on here. But the overall interview is Eric either not remembering or making excuses for how they used bret. Which was ridiculous lol. Nash doesnt even like bret but hes in charge of brets bookings lol. Laughable.
This new podcast is seriously good. Not sure how you expect us to choose between the poll choices. They're all great! To hard to choose! Great job Eric and Conrad!
conrad is good- asks good questions... doesn't eff around, like many do, softly. thanks
Really enjoying the "I don't recall" Podcast! Great stuff!
People still miss WCW. It was a legendary wrestling organization and only worthy rival of the WWE.
WWE Didn't Exist When WCW Was In Business...
@@84slaughter
The WWF has existed for decades Vince bought the WWWF from his father in the late 70's or early 80's and started buying out the other territories
ecw was a better promotion than either
Until Hogan arrived. Then it was a downward spiral mixed with a clown show.
@@supremeworld87 - No.
This is definitely the best 83 episode ever.
Great podcast can’t wait for next week’s episode 👍
I'd really like to hear more details on this plan that Eric had for NWO NITRO and WCW THUNDER. Was Nitro going to feature matches like Savage vs Hall? Was WCW going to have it's own champion? I just don't see how it would have worked.
That’s because it was never the plan. This is just a cop out because he can’t explain just how bad he fucked up bret in wcw
Even with a "broken hand" he could've came in to surprise people and build a killer storyline
Totally different then the fed but I loved wcw for that reason
Gonna disagree with Eric on him saying Bret didn't get over and it was Bret's fault. I thought he was over. He always got the pop in WCW. If you consider him not being over, maybe you should blame yourself or creative or whoever wrote his forever fence straddling position for the entirety of his time there. He was nWo, no he wasn't, yes he was, was he a good guy, was he a bad guy - it swapped every other week so no fan could ever really commit 100% to booing or cheering and maybe that turned into apathy (what you would consider "not getting over") but that's hardly his fault. And before you call me a Hart fanboy, I think the guy's a whiny prick, but I also remember growing up watching this and I've watched it repeatedly as an adult to affirm my memories. One of the best technical wrestlers, yeah, kind of boring routine matches, of course, promos were forgettable but I'll give the guy his due. He was over, you're wrong, Eric.
Looks like I have 5 hours of Podcasts to listen to, this and the latest episode of What Happened When...
Well don't add The Lapsed Fan to that because you'd have 15 hours to listen to. On second thought, listen to them instead.
BIlly Ray do you have the wwe network for wcw's watch alongs?
robert shelton No to be honest I don't have the network, I do have an extremely large Wrestling dvd collection though, I wish I had the network....
BIlly Ray only $9.99 billy
Eric's trying to bury bret on purpose because he's spoken ill of him so often. So much of this was inaccurate. There was no negotiating with Bret in 1996 when he was the hottest free agent? Hall and Nash got favored nations clauses a year into their contracts after they were already signed? what??
I'm confused.. Bret was the hottest free agent in 1996? Not true.. and I say that as a 11 year old at that time that was absorbed in the nWo and WCW. Bret would have made zero difference at that time as Hogan, Hall, and Nash blew everything else out of the water.
Hall and NAsh signed to wcw as soon as their wWF deals ended. Bret was a free agent from the spring to fall of 96. not under any contract.
Michael Shea Well like you say, you were 11 years old at the time so what would you have known about it? Bret was a free agent 2 months before Hall even showed up on WCW TV and 4 months before the nWo even formed.
@@michaelshea5251 are you an idiot? Hogan wasn't even hot at that moment until NWO started and Hall and Nash were definitely under him before NWO. But where you're most stupid is that they were all under contract, not free agents.
Hall and Nash both have verified they did not have the favored nations clause until AFTER they signed with WCW.
There will never ever be another Bret Hart. Nobody like him in the ring before he wrestled nobody like him since. He's beyond a legend. He's like a myth.
hey conrad, if this stuff is true, does that make vince telling bret to go back to wcw and still get that deal *actually* vince calling bret's bluff? this may be the most intriguing wrestling podcast ever.
Or if the screwjob really happened LOL. Bischoff so full of shit
I love this show. Thank you guys so much for doing it
DADDY SAYS ERIC IS A DUM DBAG BUT APPRECIATES HIS SUPPORT.
The implication that Bret leaked to Meltzer for contractual leverage overlooks that Bret has often written of how his perception of Meltzer completely changed after the Montreal Screwjob (you can see it in the forward to "Tributes 2"). Until that point, Bret viewed Meltzer as the enemy...but when the true narrative got out regarding what Vince did, that all changed. He has no reason to lie on that point, and Bischoff has *plenty* of reason to lie RE the history of Bret's negotiations with his company.
I don’t watch wrestling anymore but these podcasts bring up crazy memories... Bret Hart was big as the Hulkster at some point I know that for sure it was in the post hogan era in wwf ... don’t Pew him out of that
I always wish Bret Hart could had been used much stronger in WCW
If he was supposed to be the wcw guy in the WCW vs NWO thing(which sounds great by the way) then why put him on Nitro and in the NWO?
Because fans weren't feeling him much as a face.
They originally had a plan where NWO would do a hostile takeover of Nitro, and it would be called NWO Nitro, and WCW Thunder would be WCW's show. But they did a test run of the "NWO takes over Nitro" idea on the December 22, 1997 episode and the ratings bombed, so they cancelled that plan.
I'd like to hear more of Eric's thoughts on Shania Twain.
Can we PLEASE get a Curt Hennig episode and why one of the greatest wrestlers of that era was relegated to running arm & arm with Vincent as an NWO lackey?? What about why Randy Savage was in an angle where he watches Bischoff make out with Elizabeth?? Or maybe when he stood in front of an office of 85 ppl and said he’d break Ric Flair and his family and that Flair “Never drew one single dime!” ....is that all Bret Hart’s fault too???
Here here!
Did I just hear Eric finally admit to the favored nations clause? Kudos Conrad. I've heard him deny such a thing existed numerous times
Conrad legend 3 podcasts now im in heaven
Michael Gregg he loves Conrad let it be Michael
Listen to Eric's interview with Steve Austin. He says that the first time they met they almost made a deal. Kind of contradicts what he says in this interview.
It's almost like Eric is a liar who refuses to own up to mistakes
He hates Bret that much being in
denial.
Bret was a far superior wrestler then Flair ever was
Can't say enough good things about this podcast. I really find interesting all the business/money/corporate thoughts and notes that Eric brings each week. The stories we all know get told in detail, but it's those stories of the finances and such that really set this podcast apart. Keep doing that!
"Bret Hart came in only because of Thunder. *ONLY.*" - Eric Bischoff
Eric loves to pull out that legacy and tradition stuff when it suits him.
Amazing show, love it!