Cornette and Bischoff would actually get along and just slam Russo because they both dislike Russo far more than each other..That sit down show proved that.
Hey "Bro", I'm gonna wear a SF Giants jersey instead of my Yankees jersey. Russo put more thought into his baseball jersey's than he did with his WCW matches and angles.
My coworker asked for a favor, wanted to switch schedules with me for a few days. Told her I'd think about it, then at the last minute sent her an email: "that finish doesn't work for me, brother".
I just want to say thanks to our amazing host Conrad Thompson, he calls out all his interviews and lets us "the stupid public" know what is true and what's being embellished. This is why the interviews are so well received by we the wrestling fans. Keep up the great work Conrad!
Some Hogan haters needs to write a book ( i hate hogan cuz iam a moron ) . Assholes he lost to kidman 3 times . Vampiro . The wall . Mike awosome In only 2 month . What do you want him to Do !!! Lose every day !
@@Aizenborgman Mark Madden did write a book where he went about manipulating facts to make it look like Hogan was responsible for WCW going out of business.
I agree. Although they should make Russo the hero, for helping Booker get to the title, which I doubt they will portray properly. They made Russo look like a moron on the Brawl for All episode and tried to make the viewer feel sympathy for JBL. Come on. 🤦♂️
When Bischoff returned to join Russo on camera as the team that would be running WCW they should have had Bischoff as Russo's on camera nemesis and play off their real life problems...Wrestlers could have lined up and take sides kind of like Russo & Jarrett vs Bischoff & Hogan weekly drama played out on Nitro....
Joseph Carrino Go back and watch it, that’s what they were originally presenting. Russo vs Bischoff.... but because we gotta swerve everyone all the time. The first thing they did was act like adversaries and then they hugged. They swerved us all bro!!! They took the story of Russo vs Eric each having groups of wrestlers on their sides feuding and eventually they joined forces to help the younger guys and hotShotted it in less than 5 mins. Typical Russo shit.
Bischoff is so REAL👍👍Even tho he had his low points and his Go-To guys which he admits he still kept it 100 as much as possible. Vince Russo was TRASH and the start of the ending of WCW but like Bischoff said, that Aol merger started it. This is a MUST LISTEN. Salute to Bischoff and that Interviewer is GREAT also
Eric Bischoff - 'Ask Bully Ray how often I would beat the table in TNA creative meetings'. Also Eric Bischoff - 'I was not involved with creative in TNA' Okay Eric.
Eric Bischoff is a legend he still doesn't the credit he deserve.Probably one best on screen personalities in wrestling industry ever . Really a huge fan of this guy loved his work back 2003
New to this series after listening to STW like a madman. Glad that Eric loosened up with Conrad after some uncomfortable tension in the first episode. Conrad is really fantastic imo. excited to hear more!
This is and has to be the best episode of 83 recorded yet.! This is my 3rd time going back and listening to it.! Add-A-Mania running wild..... But for content like this, i dont mind a few hundred adds....!
" he never thought about the next week". After hearing russo on bash at the beach I think this is very true and therefore why russo wasnt best for long term planning. Russo and mcmahon needed each other but Russo said himself he was pissed off he wasnt getting credit fir hus creative. Too many egos in the ring and in the back.
I think Russo had some interesting ideas. But yes long term planning was not his thing. Neither was it Eric's. He ran the NWO into tge ground and wasted the only great long term angle (Sting vs Hollywood Hogan). And these days neither WWE or AEW can put together a 3 month or 6 month angle. So while the criticism of Russo is valid, who the fuck was good at it? I guess the Russo/Ferrara/McMahon triumverant waa good at it for a few years. That's it.
Not sure where this little rich fat fanboy gets the nerve to talk crazy to these guys. Not sure why so many of these wrestlers, promoters, bookers, etc. NEED Conrad on their podcasts.
@@Dirkified14 That's true but Eric had stories that spanned weeks. Russo didn't. Most of Russo's finishes were good finishes for a specific night, not for an extended amount of time unless Vince McMahon and his team were present. A lot Bischoff's stories post NWO weren't great but his finishes were always horrid. Russo couldn't even give Eric great finishes to Eric's stories even if he tried. They cancel each other out.
Dirkified14 one thing I’ll always give Eric though is he at least didn’t always put himself over in feuds. Russo booked himself like Goldberg, I can’t recall him ever losing a match
I think the New Blood Angle got super stale in the month leading up to BATB. But besides that I was super interested in the angle the first month or two. I really think this angle/time period is underrated
@@danielrierson6683He’s not meant to be heel imo. Yes he got “Goldberg sucks” chants and “$oldberg” signs but people were still cheering like crazy when they heard his music or seen his signature moves
This was the era that I tuned-out on WCW, the Jerry Springer/Howard Stern crash TV bullshit, from the enormous heights of '97/'98 to this is garbage is shocking. Amazingly Vinny Ru brags about how good this PPV was and that no one can touch him in writing, he is dellusional, as said by Stevie Ray & Bruce P. Tony S said in the Greed 2001 Episode that the whole thing was a work, Vinny Ru basically says that everyone was in on it; who knows where the truth lies.
I'll take RUSSO w FERRERA 99' Crash TV over f'n JJJJAAAYYYY LENO! RODMAN/MALONE and a boring ass Goldberg streak where that charecter NEVER grows or evolves even subtly..(not bill's fault) Along w after FINALLY separating the NWO so there could be a baby face group that could fued w Hogan's group therefore in a sense it would let WCW get settled and established as a Big Deal again rather than being NWO's bitches. Instead they ADD EVEN more jobbers for NWO w 20 people in it. As a fan you know there is absolutely no end in sight for this 'arc' as Eric would say. Right B4 RUSSO/FERRERA 3 mo. run,. WCW was just like watching the same episode you saw 18 MOS. ago.
@Mopar21277: The Hogan defamation of character case was thrown out because Hogan and Bischoff told two different stories, yet Russo is the liar according to most. Also for the record, Nitro throughout 1999 was absolutely painful to watch until Russo/Ferrara got there. For the first half of the year, the only saving graces were Ric Flair, Disco Inferno, Ernest Miller and Norman Smiley.
Mopar21277 Agreed even as a kid and a loyal fan to both company's I couldn't take it anymore. It's amazing how different 1998 and 1999 wcw is to 2000 wcw. 2000 wcw made those years look like gold.
Bischoff not understanding how you construct a 3 act story should surprise no-one really. For the record: It establishes characters and have something happen to them in act one, raise the stakes and build towards the high-spot in act two, pay it off early in act 3 and then follow through on the aftermath. The 3 act structure ladies and gentlemen.
It seems like conrad is not accepting the way the events transpired,as told by someone who ran the fkn company at the time...like he WANTS Eric to be wrong.anyone else kinda get that vibe from this podcast conversation?
Russo didn't kill off WCW, nor did Hogan or even Bishoff... WCW was killed off by AOL management... they didn't want wrestling on TBS even tho it was the leading all times ratings getting on TBS even in 2001 when WWF was kicking them in the balls they were getting 3.0 and 4.0 ratings. AOL never wanted wrestling they had been talking about killing it before the merger and when they pushed Ted out they finally had the ability to kill it and they did. No matter how bad WCW was the people running it never killed it off it was the people at Tuner and AOL who ended WCW.....
WCW died because it was losing disgusting amounts of money and its ratings, while still strong for the network, were three points lower than they had been just two years earlier. They were getting low 2's in 2001. If the merger happened in 1998 WCW would've never been sold, anyone who disagrees with that is out of their mind.
You are a fool and prove it with your lack of understanding of what really happened besides what WCW did in ratings or whatever... The AOL/Time Warner merger killed WCW the suits running them didn't wanted to be in the wrasslin business. So they sold it for the lowest price they could... which was Vince McMahon who only wanted the WCW library and the trademarks.... again you are a fool but hopefully you can come back from this and possibly be banned from internet access FOREVER 👋😃🖕.........................
Other than his petty gripes with Vince Russo (which I have some quirks with for the record) I think Eric deep down is a good dude. I enjoyed listening to his stories from his trip to North Korea in 1995. He seems to be the type of guy you can have a beer with while watching a ballgame.
I think all his haters, both in & out of the business, don't realize that Eric was most knowledgeable about the corporate & tv aspects of the business. Not the booking or wrestling side.
Bats 1986 Really? Ultimate Deletion was better then that graveyard bull shit lol. Come on dude. Ultimate Deletion had a story and had people intrigued.
Graveyard Match between Sting and Vampiro had a great Story. I personal like the Feud between These two. First Brothers in Pain then Enemys. Great Matches with the dark Character of Vampiro with Fire, Blood, Cell, Graveyard, Suprises and spooky Elements.
@@pandoblier There was no blood it was "red liquid" and there was no rivalry it was vamp beating up sting on tv and sting squashing vamp in the matches it was dumb I was actually alive and watching live as it happened it was dumb
@@jordanwillett8456 Of Course it was no real Blood.... The Feud was not perfect. They could handled it better. But the more Crow Sting like Character the anti Hero - could have a great Feud against his dark villian. The problem was that they fixed Vampiros Gimmick not well and later he becomes a Joke. The Potential was there. Two dark Souls against each other. They ruined it with shit Booking like everythin else at the Time.
Haha I think it's 100% true that Russo has 2 great ideas out of every 50 that pop into his head. And it only works when you've got someone like Vince McMahon to filter out the garbage.
@Anonymous Anonymous I hate Vince Russo and I hate Vince McMahon, but not enough to pretend neither have ever had a decent idea. and I'm with you, wrestling has been horseshit for 20 years and that's what I haven't watched in 20 years.
Yeah, a little ribbing is ok but damn, I actually came off thinking Bischoff was the more reasonable of the two by the end. Who doesn't freaking make mistakes? He's owned up to him, sure bust his chops a bit but this was overboard. "Man in the Arena" really applies here, Meltzer and Conrad can criticize all they want but they're on the sidelines, not ever charged with making any decisions or being responsible for them.
He's trying to draw compelling responses out of Eric for your entertainment. It's not being a know it all wrestling fan, it's being a great interviewer. He's presenting the general mainstream narrative that most wrestling fans have of these events and offering the opportunity to Eric to rebuke it. It's why the show is great.
Wow it's been 3 years since ALL IN? And look at the amazing thing All Elite Wrestling has become in such a short amount of time. 2 network shows. 2 TH-cam shows. Multiple growing Vlogs. And a roster that ANY COMPANY would KILL For. Congrats AEW. You are AEWSOME.
It was like a lot of things from the Russo era: a shred of a good idea buried under 10 feet of BS, and horribly executed. Now, give that setup to two guys like Taker and AJ who can execute it, coupled with WWE's production team and it comes out much, much better.
Conrad should have heavily referenced Russo's kayfabe commentaries account of Bash at the Beach 2000 and presented Bischoff with it. Maybe I missed something.
Russo also said that he came up with the Montreal Screwjob finish when he didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if he is trying to take credit for Bischoff's idea.
I don't know I mean without the transcript of that interview it's hard to even describe it. Russo was even more moronic and nonsensical trying to explain this event than usual. He obviously left parts of that story out either because it makes him look worse or that he never actually filled out those parts of the story in real time in 00.
1:24:20 Fair point about Russo, but I'd say essentially the same about Bischoff. But instead of being a magazine writer, Bischoff was a door-to-door used steak knives salesman who conned his way into being the third-string WCW announcer, who then conned his way into beating out a superior Jim Ross for the WCW EP role, who then conned his way into being WCW President where he carelessly overpaid literally everyone on the roster using a naive billionaire's money in an attempt to quickly take down WWF, which of course was never going to happen because Vince actually understood that high ratings don't mean shit if your payroll is so inflated that you have to pull in ratings in the 4s just to turn a profit. This dude gave aging ex-WCW jobbers Nash and Hall favored nations clauses, paid a part-time manager like Sonny Ono more than what 80% of WWF wrestlers were making at the time, and managed to develop a mere 3 stars during his entire tenure, only one of which was intentional (The Giant). I'm not sure who was worse, Russo or Bischoff, but I do know that Bischoff, unlike Russo, claimed that TNA had only a few stars and has been very vocal about the fact that he didn't think AJ Styles or really any original TNA guys were legitimate main-event talents.
Right ? Great analysis. Both Russo and Bischoff are pieces of shit ones a smelly long turd and the other is wet sloppy diarreha. Both suck and cant admit it. but now its so obvious that they that both suck, that they are now saying yeah i suck "but" insert generic reason why they sucked which usually is because of someone else. What pieces of shit. Bischoff ruined TNA it has his finger prints all over it like going head to head hiring EX-WWF talent who TNA overpaid, stifle home grown talent like joe or A.J who bischoff said weren't stars and bam wcw 2.0. Oh yeah and him and Hulk all over every segment on t.v such pieces of garbage both of them.
After listening to a few 83 Weeks episodes, a few things become pretty clear... 1. When the shit hits the fan, make chicken salad. 2. Context is king. 3. Eric absolutely LOVES Dave Meltzer!
No Conrad. You’re saying he tried to deny being responsible for anything. He takes credit for the rise of the nwo and the ratings on the way up. He just wasn’t responsible for even the slightest thing that went wrong.
Because in the meeting Vince was able to control the situation with everybody in the WCW company involving the ppv. Where if Eric was there he could of kept Vince in check and Vince couldn't do anything with the ppv whatsoever. So that's why it matters that Eric telling Vince not to start the meeting is a big deal!
Bischoff continually talks about not being good at finishes but God damn, does every single match have to have a screwy finish, a run in, a clusterfuck, etc? Why can't we just have a fucking wrestling match where wrestler A either pins or submits wrestler B after a 10-15 min match? I mean holy fuck, every single match WCW had at this point, even before this point, was screwy finish after screwy finish. That's all they could do.
Years ago, before this podcast was ever recorded, I actually got into a long back n' forth on Twitter with Meltzer. Because I know how business is done, and I was calling him out on the Bret Hart contract thing (heard at the very beginning of this episode), and how a company just doesn't make $million offers without some sort of paper trail. I kept telling Meltzer the contract/offer didn't exist, or it was his job as a journalist to find the documentation. (the actual contract, a release of funds statement, and/or a letter of intent, etc.) I went back n' forth with him about, until the point he just blocked me. Because he just blocks people when they prove him wrong. And NOW Meltzer is saying he saw the contract?? Why didn't Meltzer ever tell me that when we were communicating? I honestly think Dave stole that from our conversation to make himself more believable. And guess what... said documentation has still never been uncovered, so Dave was just lying, and I gave him the tools, unfortunately, to make his lie a little more believable. So, I can understand why Eric had resentment for Meltzer. There's clearly something wrong with Dave, and now everyone is starting to see through it, but to have that guy crawling around your business would drive anyone nuts, I think
@53:53 Tell the fat guy to call down If I was Russo I'd say well sure those WCW ideas were bad what about these ideas I was involved with in WWF: 1. D'Lo Brown needing a chest protector which he then used to enhance the damage of his frog splash attack 2. Val Venis being saved from being emasculated by John Wayne Bobbit and of course shrinkage 3. Sable power bombing Marc Mero 4. Jackie "accidentally" losing her top twice 5. Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack all speaking to each other in the same promo 6. Bossman's feud with Al Snow and his even better feud with Big Show (casket drag/making his mom reveal he's a bastard) 7. Gangrel and Brood literally entering from Hell 8. Taker being I guess right below Satan and then worse revealing the dark power he answers to is VKM? That was Fingerpoke of Doom bad 9. Road Warriors/LOD 2000 pushed or attempted suicide angle 10. The Jackal 11. DOA vs Nation 12. The Oddities 13. People bitch about KISS? WWF had Motley Crue and that's how they introduced Test. Neither KISS nor Motley Crue was cool in the late 90s to teens (I was one). Test was their bodyguard and scoop slammed a "fan" for trying to attack the band. If anything KISS wasn't a bad idea since "That 70s show" was a thing by then. 13. Taker attempting to lock SCSA in a meat freezer 14. Kane 15. Rock n Sock connection 16. Bossman and Gangrel being lynched 17. Brood being initiated gangland style into the Ministry 18. Mideon being kidnapped and satanically turned to serve Taker 19. Don't Piss me off Double J attacking women 20. Defeating Al Snow and Head by attaching "Head and Shoulders" to Head in order to pin Head. So while I get slamming Russo for some things we did like that dumb shit on the other side. As to why one company made it work and the other didn't who knows? But a lot of that list stuck to the wall there was more hits than misses. More insane a lot of it was played straight up and not for laughs.
Eric's speech about different perspectives on the truth at 1:33:09 is a great commentary on storytelling and how we consume "insider wrestling stories" in particular. It's cool he has such a firm grasp on it
LOL, Bischoff's booking upon returning was to have Hogan beat Jeff Jarrett, take the belt and walk away while Bischoff told him how great he was on camera, then have a tournament for the title and at the end of it Hogan comes out and beats the last guys in the tournament. Holy hell. And he blames Vince Russo for saying no to this. It's like he's a parody of himself. Meanwhile he has no idea why other wrestlers slapped the shit out of him, call him a maggot, kicked him out of Rick Rude's funeral etc.
You will never convince me that despite the hundreds of stories about “that doesn’t work for me brother“ that Hogan supposedly never abused creative control
It was the constant presence of the threat of its usage that Hogan used to his advantage, not actual itemized use of creative control. In that way, he was able to say he never actually invoked the clause in his contract and appear as if to act on the level.
Even Bischoff, as much as he tries to downplay it, admits that Hogan was a master of backstage politics and was very much a product of the 1980's Wrestling Environment. He was the top dog and remained so for a decade for a reason.
Hogan makes some great points in his leaked tape talking about it the day after the event. He’s sitting there wondering why the whole Kidman feud happened when even he knew Kidman wasn’t going to get pushed after that. I’m surprised he even agreed to do that lol
Honestly I believe it for one reason and one reason only, he's Hulk Hogan. Sure he has creative control,but do you really think he has to use it that much? He's a big enough star that he'll remain in a top spot with or without it for the most part.
late to this podcast. 3rd I've listened to and I'm sold. Legit calling out Bischoff, heating up, sticking to it, finally Bischoff (head held low) "Drinking beer on a couch..."
The same crazy style writing that Conrad and Eric were knocking was extremely sucsessful in WWF during and after Vince Russo's time there. In some cases its execution in WCW was more palatable for my taste. Other than the Hogan debacle at this PPV and the fact that neither Jarret or Booker were over enough to replace Hulk in the title picture, the things being described in this PPV were entertaining. At the time, over the top crazy male fantasy was what pro wrestling had become. It had its pros and cons. Meltzer's opinion on this style of wrestling shouldn't hold special weight.
No it wasn't. The WWF actually had storylines and great characters. When Russo arrived in WCW he brought none of that. Just much of what Eric was describing. The WWF had crazy stuff too but it also had so much more and was actually structured. Russo's stuff in WCW was all over the place with not much structure at all. Rock got a huge push once he started getting insanely over. Jeff Jarrrett never got over like that yet got a huge push anyway. That's just 1 of many examples that shows the difference of Russo in WCW and Russo in th WWF. When he McMahon to filter him and shut down his bullshit ideas he could be great. Without him he was pure chaos.
So why not have Eric explain winning the hardcore title from Terry funk, on the same show Russo beats Flair....those guys really needed to be in the show that much? Pathetic
I have to admit Bischoff has grown on me. I used to think he was a bit of bullshitter and self promoter, but the more I listen to him I actually think he's pretty genuine.
I freaking love hearing this shit from a WCW perspective during these times. A perspective from they man on the other side of the war...because let's be honest y'all, we all were wwf fans..don't hate .and the majority only tuned in to wcw because of Hall and Nash and obviously because of Hogan's turn. Fans would have watched that regardless of brand . That could have happend on South Paw or any other brand, and they would have won the war.. Hogan's first turn and being the third guy with these two guys that we all knew from wwf.. that was must watch. Wresting isnt must watch anymore. I feel sorry for these fans that missed out on that era. And considering how wwe won the war and bought wcw, we all know how wwe won .we all know that story..hearing Eric explain all this, and even having Tony doing his thing...and then we got Bruce on the wwf/e side, and even Corny going on about everything, it's freaking awesome to relive all this shit...thanks boys
Agreed! I was a WWF guy, but when Hall and Nash showed up, i had to see why! I KNEW they weren’t working for WWF because I understood contracts and intellectual property rights, but my state of disbelief was still somewhat suspended. And when Hulk Hogan revealed himself to be the 3rd man-YES!!!! That was MUST-SEE TV!
It's amazing how much Bischoff trashes Russo. The only thing Bischoff ever did was spend Ted Turner's money. Never had a good idea in his life, which is why all his TV projects failed. He also sucked at running WCW. All we ever hear is how horribly run that company was.
Not true... Hogan left with the belt as part of a story. He wasn't on his way out... When Vince got on the mic and cut that unapproved promo Hogan sued his sorry ass and waited out his contact
I need 1 podcast including Jim Cornette, Eric Bischoff & Vince Russo. Conrad could sell it on PPV.
Chris Suburb A podcast? On PPV?
Cornette and Bischoff would actually get along and just slam Russo because they both dislike Russo far more than each other..That sit down show proved that.
It would be a brawl, not a podcast.
DAMMIT CONRAD MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
Chris Suburb Could be good if you want Cornette in jail and Russo either dead or broken.
Bischoff is the classic, " no disrespect but" I'm bout to disrespect the hell out u 😂
kbmvp2408 nyknicks 😂🤣😂🤣
It’s sorta like saying all due respect, you can say anything after you say that, it’s in the Geneva Convention
Like no one else can get away with it, but it's Bischoff so it's cool. 😂
@@Ziki-P talladega nights 🐸👍🏻🐸👍🏻
Which he should with a fckin idiot mark 🙄 like conrad cry baby thompson 😂😂😂
Hey "Bro", I'm gonna wear a SF Giants jersey instead of my Yankees jersey.
Russo put more thought into his baseball jersey's than he did with his WCW matches and angles.
John Nord Husk!
How much can you really do with Double J David Flair and Scott Steiner tho?
Not much but you can do alot with Rey Jr. Booker T Shane Helms El Vampiro Mike Awesome Lance Storm La Parka Bam Bam Bigelow and others
@@RemmySkye lmao yeah you can get a 1.5 rating NEVER DREW A DIME
Husss Husss Husss
Eric with Ted's money made WcW alot of fun for years and made my childhood fun !
Absolutely!
Good for you 👍
These podcasts have made me a much bigger fan of Eric Bischoff than I ever would have guessed possible 20 years ago.
I agree 👍
My coworker asked for a favor, wanted to switch schedules with me for a few days. Told her I'd think about it, then at the last minute sent her an email: "that finish doesn't work for me, brother".
I just want to say thanks to our amazing host Conrad Thompson, he calls out all his interviews and lets us "the stupid public" know what is true and what's being embellished. This is why the interviews are so well received by we the wrestling fans. Keep up the great work Conrad!
Derek Schneider “roll tide “
Richard Cox we love Conrad - roll tide
Hogan needs to write another book entitled: 'This Don't Work for Me, Brother!'
Nazzlover38 “This Don’t Work for Me, Brother... With Creative Control!”
Some Hogan haters needs to write a book ( i hate hogan cuz iam a moron ) . Assholes he lost to kidman 3 times . Vampiro . The wall . Mike awosome In only 2 month . What do you want him to Do !!! Lose every day !
@Nich Hodge ha ha ha 😒 VERY FUNNY 😒
@@lucadepasquale7366 This doesn't work for me Brother..........with control over the finishes to my matches*
@@Aizenborgman Mark Madden did write a book where he went about manipulating facts to make it look like Hogan was responsible for WCW going out of business.
Sitting in back on the couch drinking beer with Hogan.. 🤣🤣🤣 Priceless.
The Bash at the Beach 2000 story should be on the Darkside of Wrestling this story is so mind boggling.
I agree. Although they should make Russo the hero, for helping Booker get to the title, which I doubt they will portray properly. They made Russo look like a moron on the Brawl for All episode and tried to make the viewer feel sympathy for JBL. Come on. 🤦♂️
100%
Darkside of the ring
@@ZakynthosDiamandis They didn't need to make Russo look like a moron. He was perfectly capable of doing that on his own.
That series will randomly do an amazing episode and then give us some jabronis no one has cared about since 1973
I love listening to Eric talk. I feel like I could have a beer with him. He seems very humble due to the lessons he's learned through mistakes.
I agree
He may not have been the greatest pure wrestling mind of all time, but Eric is a smart dude overall.
When Bischoff returned to join Russo on camera as the team that would be running WCW they should have had Bischoff as Russo's on camera nemesis and play off their real life problems...Wrestlers could have lined up and take sides kind of like Russo & Jarrett vs Bischoff & Hogan weekly drama played out on Nitro....
i think that would've been really cool to see and way better than the new blood/millionaire's angle we ended up getting. good idea.
That’s excellent!
why couldn’t someone think of that
it would have been so effortless to get the stories
Shit! I thought this at fourteen years old watching it live.
Joseph Carrino
Go back and watch it, that’s what they were originally presenting.
Russo vs Bischoff.... but because we gotta swerve everyone all the time. The first thing they did was act like adversaries and then they hugged.
They swerved us all bro!!!
They took the story of Russo vs Eric each having groups of wrestlers on their sides feuding and eventually they joined forces to help the younger guys and hotShotted it in less than 5 mins.
Typical Russo shit.
Russo: NewBlood vs Eric: Millionaires Club was of been great
1:21:34
Damn Eric tell us how you really feel about Russo. Cornette would be proud lol
Bischoff is so REAL👍👍Even tho he had his low points and his Go-To guys which he admits he still kept it 100 as much as possible. Vince Russo was TRASH and the start of the ending of WCW but like Bischoff said, that Aol merger started it. This is a MUST LISTEN. Salute to Bischoff and that Interviewer is GREAT also
d smooth bro !
When I first saw Russo’s shit, my thought was: this isn’t the guy who came up with the cool shit in the WWF.
@@HereIsWisdom1318 true
Jrod 87 906 Unless! Vince McMahon actually did send Vince Russo to WCW to destroy it!
Eric Bischoff - 'Ask Bully Ray how often I would beat the table in TNA creative meetings'.
Also Eric Bischoff - 'I was not involved with creative in TNA'
Okay Eric.
He wasn't otherwise the company would have been better
You don't need to be involved in the creative process to be in the meetings. I'm not sure why this is such a hard concept for you to grasp.
@pinkfloyd yes. Again, not sure why this is a difficult concept to grasp.
@pinkfloyd clearly not because you're assuming like a jackass
It was TNA. what do you expect?
I'm still not 💯 convinced this isn't Bruce doing Eric
Daven Watts who is Bruce?
Bruce Prichard
Love your guys podcast it’s calming and relaxing and love listening to the old wrastling tales
Eric Bischoff is a legend he still doesn't the credit he deserve.Probably one best on screen personalities in wrestling industry ever . Really a huge fan of this guy loved his work back 2003
New to this series after listening to STW like a madman. Glad that Eric loosened up with Conrad after some uncomfortable tension in the first episode. Conrad is really fantastic imo. excited to hear more!
Funny, I think Conrad is most useless lump. Fact that he likes Russo, is mind boggling.
This is and has to be the best episode of 83 recorded yet.!
This is my 3rd time going back and listening to it.!
Add-A-Mania running wild..... But for content like this, i dont mind a few hundred adds....!
53:00 Graveyard match, somehow ended up in a river "AND LIT HIM ON FIRE!!!" Lol. That was hilarious
" he never thought about the next week". After hearing russo on bash at the beach I think this is very true and therefore why russo wasnt best for long term planning. Russo and mcmahon needed each other but Russo said himself he was pissed off he wasnt getting credit fir hus creative. Too many egos in the ring and in the back.
I think Russo had some interesting ideas. But yes long term planning was not his thing. Neither was it Eric's. He ran the NWO into tge ground and wasted the only great long term angle (Sting vs Hollywood Hogan). And these days neither WWE or AEW can put together a 3 month or 6 month angle. So while the criticism of Russo is valid, who the fuck was good at it? I guess the Russo/Ferrara/McMahon triumverant waa good at it for a few years. That's it.
Conrad went for the jugular at 1:50:40! Eric's answer to Conrad's question was perfect lmao. I absolutely love this podcast.
I’m not gonna lie, if someone talked to me like that, I would try whatever voodoo magic I can sum up to jump through the camera and beat his ass. Lol
Not sure where this little rich fat fanboy gets the nerve to talk crazy to these guys. Not sure why so many of these wrestlers, promoters, bookers, etc. NEED Conrad on their podcasts.
@@JWickyJr13 I would've had to put hands on him
@@JWickyJr13 Eric makes good money with Conrad. Part of the job
"SO WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THEY FILMED A MATCH IN A FUCKING GRAVEYARD....IN THE DARK!!!"
"Drinking beer on a couch....."
Gold 🤣
“Russo was great at finishes, but not long term stories”
“I had good stories, but I didn’t have anybody good with finishes”
-Eric Bischoff
Not a hater. I’m hella grateful for all Eric brought to the business. But damn does he know how to spin. Especially when it protects himself.
@@Dirkified14
That's true but Eric had stories that spanned weeks. Russo didn't. Most of Russo's finishes were good finishes for a specific night, not for an extended amount of time unless Vince McMahon and his team were present. A lot Bischoff's stories post NWO weren't great but his finishes were always horrid. Russo couldn't even give Eric great finishes to Eric's stories even if he tried. They cancel each other out.
@@pikkon899 You're comparing a douche and a turd sandwich, Pikkon.
Dirkified14 one thing I’ll always give Eric though is he at least didn’t always put himself over in feuds. Russo booked himself like Goldberg, I can’t recall him ever losing a match
Booker T theme is one of the most underrated
It's stock European house music, it existed before WCW used it. It was used in a 'Kids in the Hall' sketch in the early 90s
Can you dig it?
Bischoff vs Meltzer vs Russo vs Cornette in a FATAL 4- WAY w/ Conrad as guest referee. NOW THAT WOULD PUT SOME BUTTS IN THE SEATS!!
only marks but I mean why Meltzer in this. He has never spent one day in the wrestling biz just like the fans?
I think the New Blood Angle got super stale in the month leading up to BATB. But besides that I was super interested in the angle the first month or two. I really think this angle/time period is underrated
Goldberg’s heel turn came about a month or two late lol
@@danielrierson6683He’s not meant to be heel imo. Yes he got “Goldberg sucks” chants and “$oldberg” signs but people were still cheering like crazy when they heard his music or seen his signature moves
This was the era that I tuned-out on WCW, the Jerry Springer/Howard Stern crash TV bullshit, from the enormous heights of '97/'98 to this is garbage is shocking. Amazingly Vinny Ru brags about how good this PPV was and that no one can touch him in writing, he is dellusional, as said by Stevie Ray & Bruce P.
Tony S said in the Greed 2001 Episode that the whole thing was a work, Vinny Ru basically says that everyone was in on it; who knows where the truth lies.
I'll take RUSSO w FERRERA 99' Crash TV over f'n JJJJAAAYYYY LENO! RODMAN/MALONE and a boring ass Goldberg streak where that charecter NEVER grows or evolves even subtly..(not bill's fault)
Along w after FINALLY separating the NWO so there could be a baby face group that could fued w Hogan's group therefore in a sense it would let WCW get settled and established as a
Big Deal again rather than being NWO's bitches.
Instead they ADD EVEN more jobbers for NWO w 20 people in it.
As a fan you know there is absolutely no end in sight for this 'arc' as Eric would say.
Right B4 RUSSO/FERRERA 3 mo. run,. WCW was just like watching the same episode you saw 18 MOS. ago.
@Mopar21277: The Hogan defamation of character case was thrown out because Hogan and Bischoff told two different stories, yet Russo is the liar according to most.
Also for the record, Nitro throughout 1999 was absolutely painful to watch until Russo/Ferrara got there. For the first half of the year, the only saving graces were Ric Flair, Disco Inferno, Ernest Miller and Norman Smiley.
Mopar21277 Agreed even as a kid and a loyal fan to both company's I couldn't take it anymore. It's amazing how different 1998 and 1999 wcw is to 2000 wcw. 2000 wcw made those years look like gold.
Fonk Dupont Well I would rather watch the same shit like you said then the trash of 2000 any day of the week.
I can't believe Dave Meltzer actually thought Mabel was gonna be leader of the nWo. Lol
Ikr 😂😂😂😂😂
This doesn't even sound believable😂😂
No it doesn't lol
He also thinks the Young Bucks are good. He thinks a lot of things.
Dave thinks a lot of things but much like Russo and his ideas,, they should never see the light of day.
52:54 my favorite moment of this episode 😂! “So?”
There needs to be an "I'm a Bischoff guy" and on the back it says "4-life" tee shirt
Stony420 id buy it
I'd defimitely buy it.
Stony420 yes
Stony420 try custom ink
I'd buy that shit.
These are great I love hearing about the behind the scenes of wcw
Holy crap that angle with Hogan showing up at that moment I would have shit my pants back in the day what could have been
Bischoff not understanding how you construct a 3 act story should surprise no-one really. For the record: It establishes characters and have something happen to them in act one, raise the stakes and build towards the high-spot in act two, pay it off early in act 3 and then follow through on the aftermath. The 3 act structure ladies and gentlemen.
You mean Russo.
What are you talking about on this or understand what he means by constructing a story not just a moment
The steel plate angle could have been great. But Goldberg got hurt and then Owen died. Kinda kiboshed the follow-up.
I think Conrad likes to hear himself laugh
he doesnt understand that time warner killed wcw, not anyone else.
These videos needs those segment buttons.
It seems like conrad is not accepting the way the events transpired,as told by someone who ran the fkn company at the time...like he WANTS Eric to be wrong.anyone else kinda get that vibe from this podcast conversation?
Conrad ignorantly believes everything Dave Meltzer says.
Absolutely. He gets offended by Conrad getting shit on, but if you say that Mable was seriously going to be the 3rd man, your opinion is irrelevant
Conrad is a version of chumlee that got fucked up in shipping
Meltzer and Thompson are both dweebs that have no business in this industry so of course they stick together.
It’s all an act. These old dudes still play their old games. The confrontations are staged. They’ll be at autograph signings together smiling.
Just to give context to what a cluster that WCW was in going into Bash at the Beach, the WCW title had been vacated 6 times in the previous 6 months.
Russo didn't kill off WCW, nor did Hogan or even Bishoff... WCW was killed off by AOL management... they didn't want wrestling on TBS even tho it was the leading all times ratings getting on TBS even in 2001 when WWF was kicking them in the balls they were getting 3.0 and 4.0 ratings. AOL never wanted wrestling they had been talking about killing it before the merger and when they pushed Ted out they finally had the ability to kill it and they did. No matter how bad WCW was the people running it never killed it off it was the people at Tuner and AOL who ended WCW.....
WCW died because it was losing disgusting amounts of money and its ratings, while still strong for the network, were three points lower than they had been just two years earlier. They were getting low 2's in 2001. If the merger happened in 1998 WCW would've never been sold, anyone who disagrees with that is out of their mind.
You are a fool and prove it with your lack of understanding of what really happened besides what WCW did in ratings or whatever... The AOL/Time Warner merger killed WCW the suits running them didn't wanted to be in the wrasslin business. So they sold it for the lowest price they could... which was Vince McMahon who only wanted the WCW library and the trademarks.... again you are a fool but hopefully you can come back from this and possibly be banned from internet access FOREVER 👋😃🖕.........................
Wrestling popularity goes in cycles. Back then it was so popular even non die hard fans were watching.
Exactly
@@CursedLemonand everything that you described was mostly caused by the interference that time Turner and then with the aol merger created.
Glad to see Eric coming out of his shell a little bit more.
Finally, it came out on TH-cam
Joseph Burns why didn't you listen to it on MLW then? Obviously you waited too
Fun Fact. Hogan defeated Billy Kidman at Great American Bash 2000 to be No1 contender.
LOL
Why?
I remember feud between him and Billy Kidman. He could have jobbed for him. That was totally uncalled for.
“Where i keep my private airplane”
Lol what was the point in adding that line in there Eric? We get it. You’re rich.
He's a pilot. Sounds like he'd have a little plane even if he wasn't rich. It's a hobby
Watching this now I wish Conrad would have just been quiet sometimes, its about Bischoff's point of view, not someone who wasn't present.
We need Russo, Bischoff, and Brad Siegel In one shoot
And Tony Schiavone to provide a "boots on the ground" perspective and call them out on their bs.
I might be tripping, but it seems like Easy-E's speech got a little "Jamesoned" there at the end. And thats a good thing. Lol.
JonnyUtah 801 I’m just glad he’s learned to have more fun doing this show. The first episode was very uptight.
i jumped on board a little bit late but damn this show is awesome! i listen to the podcast usually when im grinding in games like the division etc
Other than his petty gripes with Vince Russo (which I have some quirks with for the record) I think Eric deep down is a good dude. I enjoyed listening to his stories from his trip to North Korea in 1995. He seems to be the type of guy you can have a beer with while watching a ballgame.
I think all his haters, both in & out of the business, don't realize that Eric was most knowledgeable about the corporate & tv aspects of the business. Not the booking or wrestling side.
To think in 2000 we laughed at that graveyard match but in 2018 we applaud the ultimate deletion 😆
Bats 1986 Really? Ultimate Deletion was better then that graveyard bull shit lol. Come on dude. Ultimate Deletion had a story and had people intrigued.
Graveyard Match between Sting and Vampiro had a great Story. I personal like the Feud between These two. First Brothers in Pain then Enemys. Great Matches with the dark Character of Vampiro with Fire, Blood, Cell, Graveyard, Suprises and spooky Elements.
The graveyard match sucked turds because you couldn't even see wtf was going on. All the Matt Hardy stuff was shot so you could see what was going on.
@@pandoblier
There was no blood it was "red liquid" and there was no rivalry it was vamp beating up sting on tv and sting squashing vamp in the matches it was dumb I was actually alive and watching live as it happened it was dumb
@@jordanwillett8456 Of Course it was no real Blood....
The Feud was not perfect. They could handled it better. But the more Crow Sting like Character the anti Hero - could have a great Feud against his dark villian. The problem was that they fixed Vampiros Gimmick not well and later he becomes a Joke. The Potential was there. Two dark Souls against each other. They ruined it with shit Booking like everythin else at the Time.
"Everything Russo does is dark." well... the guy did book the Ministry of Darkness.
Haha I think it's 100% true that Russo has 2 great ideas out of every 50 that pop into his head. And it only works when you've got someone like Vince McMahon to filter out the garbage.
@Anonymous Anonymous I hate Vince Russo and I hate Vince McMahon, but not enough to pretend neither have ever had a decent idea. and I'm with you, wrestling has been horseshit for 20 years and that's what I haven't watched in 20 years.
@Anonymous Anonymous that's very kind of you haha I hope someday I can stop smoking.
Is it just me or is Bash at the Beach had more shell shocking moments then any other PPV.
Anyone else feel like conrad is that typical wrestling fan that thinks and believes he knows everything about the business.
Yeah, a little ribbing is ok but damn, I actually came off thinking Bischoff was the more reasonable of the two by the end. Who doesn't freaking make mistakes? He's owned up to him, sure bust his chops a bit but this was overboard. "Man in the Arena" really applies here, Meltzer and Conrad can criticize all they want but they're on the sidelines, not ever charged with making any decisions or being responsible for them.
Yeah...that's the appeal of the show?
the bloke is a fan of Meltzer so he is definitely a mark. But I don't mind him he seems like a good person
He's trying to draw compelling responses out of Eric for your entertainment. It's not being a know it all wrestling fan, it's being a great interviewer. He's presenting the general mainstream narrative that most wrestling fans have of these events and offering the opportunity to Eric to rebuke it. It's why the show is great.
@@Jukeboxster Meltzer knows so much for a guy who's never been involved in any wrestling organization lol.
Wow it's been 3 years since ALL IN?
And look at the amazing thing All Elite Wrestling has become in such a short amount of time.
2 network shows.
2 TH-cam shows.
Multiple growing Vlogs.
And a roster that ANY COMPANY would KILL For.
Congrats AEW. You are AEWSOME.
This comment didn't age well...
And an ever shrinking audience due to terrible booking & management. Lol
“tHaT dOeSn’T wOrK FoR mE bRoThEr”
This sounds like a confession of how Hogan was able to work himself into another lawsuit
These podcasts are great.
Wonder if the pre-taped graveyard match was an inspiration for the bone yard match at WM 20 years later.
Definitely was.
It was like a lot of things from the Russo era: a shred of a good idea buried under 10 feet of BS, and horribly executed. Now, give that setup to two guys like Taker and AJ who can execute it, coupled with WWE's production team and it comes out much, much better.
Conrad should have heavily referenced Russo's kayfabe commentaries account of Bash at the Beach 2000 and presented Bischoff with it. Maybe I missed something.
Russo also said that he came up with the Montreal Screwjob finish when he didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if he is trying to take credit for Bischoff's idea.
I don't know I mean without the transcript of that interview it's hard to even describe it. Russo was even more moronic and nonsensical trying to explain this event than usual. He obviously left parts of that story out either because it makes him look worse or that he never actually filled out those parts of the story in real time in 00.
I love how Eric becomes more noticeably intoxicated as the show goes on. Hilarious.
TheBloodyCobbler yeah, he can’t hold his booze like Bruce haha
mharris1270 nah, they do it over Skype. Just like with Bruce.
mharris1270 also, Bruce drinks. Ever hear a can popping on STW? It’s Bruce with a beer. Conrad even calls it out by saying “it’s Miller Time!”
@mharris1270 coOl StOrY
1:24:20 Fair point about Russo, but I'd say essentially the same about Bischoff. But instead of being a magazine writer, Bischoff was a door-to-door used steak knives salesman who conned his way into being the third-string WCW announcer, who then conned his way into beating out a superior Jim Ross for the WCW EP role, who then conned his way into being WCW President where he carelessly overpaid literally everyone on the roster using a naive billionaire's money in an attempt to quickly take down WWF, which of course was never going to happen because Vince actually understood that high ratings don't mean shit if your payroll is so inflated that you have to pull in ratings in the 4s just to turn a profit.
This dude gave aging ex-WCW jobbers Nash and Hall favored nations clauses, paid a part-time manager like Sonny Ono more than what 80% of WWF wrestlers were making at the time, and managed to develop a mere 3 stars during his entire tenure, only one of which was intentional (The Giant).
I'm not sure who was worse, Russo or Bischoff, but I do know that Bischoff, unlike Russo, claimed that TNA had only a few stars and has been very vocal about the fact that he didn't think AJ Styles or really any original TNA guys were legitimate main-event talents.
Right ? Great analysis. Both Russo and Bischoff are pieces of shit ones a smelly long turd and the other is wet sloppy diarreha. Both suck and cant admit it. but now its so obvious that they that both suck, that they are now saying yeah i suck "but" insert generic reason why they sucked which usually is because of someone else. What pieces of shit. Bischoff ruined TNA it has his finger prints all over it like going head to head hiring EX-WWF talent who TNA overpaid, stifle home grown talent like joe or A.J who bischoff said weren't stars and bam wcw 2.0. Oh yeah and him and Hulk all over every segment on t.v such pieces of garbage both of them.
"I dont recall is sort of your gimmick now!" Lmfao 😅😅
After listening to a few 83 Weeks episodes, a few things become pretty clear...
1. When the shit hits the fan, make chicken salad.
2. Context is king.
3. Eric absolutely LOVES Dave Meltzer!
This doesn't work for me brother with Hulk Hogan podcast coming soon.
Awesome topic! Love it!
No wrestler should've had creative control, no matter who they were.
I don't agree, but I understand what you're getting at.
@Austere Greynoize lol damn dude... Not used to people having opinions are ya 😆 😆 😆
@Austere Greynoize someone is LIKE a fragile 12 year old low life
Shut the fuck up, moron
The Eastbound Hyena I agree with your sentiment. I dont agree that some wrestlers should have creative control, but i understand why they do.
These are awesome! Love Easy E and Conrad together 👌
Eric "Hulk's my best friend" Bischoff, haha.
I love when protecting your character and wanting a clear direction for your character is only a bad thing when your name is Hulk Hogan.
Agreed, hulk always gets a bad rap for protecting his character, yet guys like Bret,Austin,Taker & Cena seems to always get a pass.
No Conrad. You’re saying he tried to deny being responsible for anything. He takes credit for the rise of the nwo and the ratings on the way up. He just wasn’t responsible for even the slightest thing that went wrong.
Because in the meeting Vince was able to control the situation with everybody in the WCW company involving the ppv. Where if Eric was there he could of kept Vince in check and Vince couldn't do anything with the ppv whatsoever. So that's why it matters that Eric telling Vince not to start the meeting is a big deal!
This podcast rules!
Bischoff continually talks about not being good at finishes but God damn, does every single match have to have a screwy finish, a run in, a clusterfuck, etc? Why can't we just have a fucking wrestling match where wrestler A either pins or submits wrestler B after a 10-15 min match? I mean holy fuck, every single match WCW had at this point, even before this point, was screwy finish after screwy finish. That's all they could do.
Bro! Awesome episode. Love hearing Russo get buried lol
Why? :(
Hes needed in the business now more than ever
Neil Styles why u hate him
With every word of extraordinary bitterness Bischoff speaks towards Meltzer, I'm more satisfied with where Bischoff is today.
Years ago, before this podcast was ever recorded, I actually got into a long back n' forth on Twitter with Meltzer.
Because I know how business is done, and I was calling him out on the Bret Hart contract thing (heard at the very beginning of this episode), and how a company just doesn't make $million offers without some sort of paper trail.
I kept telling Meltzer the contract/offer didn't exist, or it was his job as a journalist to find the documentation. (the actual contract, a release of funds statement, and/or a letter of intent, etc.)
I went back n' forth with him about, until the point he just blocked me. Because he just blocks people when they prove him wrong.
And NOW Meltzer is saying he saw the contract?? Why didn't Meltzer ever tell me that when we were communicating? I honestly think Dave stole that from our conversation to make himself more believable.
And guess what... said documentation has still never been uncovered, so Dave was just lying, and I gave him the tools, unfortunately, to make his lie a little more believable.
So, I can understand why Eric had resentment for Meltzer. There's clearly something wrong with Dave, and now everyone is starting to see through it, but to have that guy crawling around your business would drive anyone nuts, I think
Eric on takes credit for the best angle in history "that's when he got involved with creative" & nothing else....thats a huge red flag
@53:53
Tell the fat guy to call down
If I was Russo I'd say well sure those WCW ideas were bad what about these ideas I was involved with in WWF:
1. D'Lo Brown needing a chest protector which he then used to enhance the damage of his frog splash attack
2. Val Venis being saved from being emasculated by John Wayne Bobbit and of course shrinkage
3. Sable power bombing Marc Mero
4. Jackie "accidentally" losing her top twice
5. Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack all speaking to each other in the same promo
6. Bossman's feud with Al Snow and his even better feud with Big Show (casket drag/making his mom reveal he's a bastard)
7. Gangrel and Brood literally entering from Hell
8. Taker being I guess right below Satan and then worse revealing the dark power he answers to is VKM? That was Fingerpoke of Doom bad
9. Road Warriors/LOD 2000 pushed or attempted suicide angle
10. The Jackal
11. DOA vs Nation
12. The Oddities
13. People bitch about KISS? WWF had Motley Crue and that's how they introduced Test. Neither KISS nor Motley Crue was cool in the late 90s to teens (I was one). Test was their bodyguard and scoop slammed a "fan" for trying to attack the band. If anything KISS wasn't a bad idea since "That 70s show" was a thing by then.
13. Taker attempting to lock SCSA in a meat freezer
14. Kane
15. Rock n Sock connection
16. Bossman and Gangrel being lynched
17. Brood being initiated gangland style into the Ministry
18. Mideon being kidnapped and satanically turned to serve Taker
19. Don't Piss me off Double J attacking women
20. Defeating Al Snow and Head by attaching "Head and Shoulders" to Head in order to pin Head.
So while I get slamming Russo for some things we did like that dumb shit on the other side. As to why one company made it work and the other didn't who knows? But a lot of that list stuck to the wall there was more hits than misses. More insane a lot of it was played straight up and not for laughs.
Eric's speech about different perspectives on the truth at 1:33:09 is a great commentary on storytelling and how we consume "insider wrestling stories" in particular. It's cool he has such a firm grasp on it
Love this program 🖤🤘
I heard the 3rd member was supposed to be Bill Ding the Evil Architect....
Mick Paul actually it was the invisible man but we couldnt see him.
Rico Salvaje LOL....
I would pay so much for that ppv
I heard the 3rd member was supposed to be classy freddie blassie
@@ricosalvaje8131 I thought that was john cena
LOL, Bischoff's booking upon returning was to have Hogan beat Jeff Jarrett, take the belt and walk away while Bischoff told him how great he was on camera, then have a tournament for the title and at the end of it Hogan comes out and beats the last guys in the tournament. Holy hell. And he blames Vince Russo for saying no to this. It's like he's a parody of himself. Meanwhile he has no idea why other wrestlers slapped the shit out of him, call him a maggot, kicked him out of Rick Rude's funeral etc.
You will never convince me that despite the hundreds of stories about “that doesn’t work for me brother“ that Hogan supposedly never abused creative control
He swears up and down that’s the only time he used it
It was the constant presence of the threat of its usage that Hogan used to his advantage, not actual itemized use of creative control. In that way, he was able to say he never actually invoked the clause in his contract and appear as if to act on the level.
Even Bischoff, as much as he tries to downplay it, admits that Hogan was a master of backstage politics and was very much a product of the 1980's Wrestling Environment. He was the top dog and remained so for a decade for a reason.
Hogan makes some great points in his leaked tape talking about it the day after the event. He’s sitting there wondering why the whole Kidman feud happened when even he knew Kidman wasn’t going to get pushed after that. I’m surprised he even agreed to do that lol
Honestly I believe it for one reason and one reason only, he's Hulk Hogan. Sure he has creative control,but do you really think he has to use it that much? He's a big enough star that he'll remain in a top spot with or without it for the most part.
late to this podcast. 3rd I've listened to and I'm sold.
Legit calling out Bischoff, heating up, sticking to it, finally Bischoff (head held low) "Drinking beer on a couch..."
The same crazy style writing that Conrad and Eric were knocking was extremely sucsessful in WWF during and after Vince Russo's time there. In some cases its execution in WCW was more palatable for my taste. Other than the Hogan debacle at this PPV and the fact that neither Jarret or Booker were over enough to replace Hulk in the title picture, the things being described in this PPV were entertaining. At the time, over the top crazy male fantasy was what pro wrestling had become. It had its pros and cons. Meltzer's opinion on this style of wrestling shouldn't hold special weight.
No it wasn't. The WWF actually had storylines and great characters. When Russo arrived in WCW he brought none of that. Just much of what Eric was describing. The WWF had crazy stuff too but it also had so much more and was actually structured. Russo's stuff in WCW was all over the place with not much structure at all. Rock got a huge push once he started getting insanely over. Jeff Jarrrett never got over like that yet got a huge push anyway. That's just 1 of many examples that shows the difference of Russo in WCW and Russo in th WWF. When he McMahon to filter him and shut down his bullshit ideas he could be great. Without him he was pure chaos.
So why not have Eric explain winning the hardcore title from Terry funk, on the same show Russo beats Flair....those guys really needed to be in the show that much? Pathetic
Bro Bro Bro He Bro'd his way right out of the business Brother!! Oooh yeah!! DIG IT!!!
When'll Conrad Thompson & Eric Bischoff record future episodes of '83 Weeks With Eric Bischoff' the way they did this one, for example?...
Russo's always sucked was in love with Jeff Jarrett slapnuts
Major Guns might be my fav female wrestling name ever
"She's a solid citizen" should be a t-shirt.
Back because I am preparing for the My World podcast on this subject.
Eric is funny as Hell. " Crash TV Bro."
And with your Halloween Havoc plan, let me guess - Hogan would win the match against the heel or heels.
Man I could listen to Bischoff talk about wrestling or other things all day. He seems like a really cool dude and he fucking cracks me up.
I have to admit Bischoff has grown on me. I used to think he was a bit of bullshitter and self promoter, but the more I listen to him I actually think he's pretty genuine.
I freaking love hearing this shit from a WCW perspective during these times. A perspective from they man on the other side of the war...because let's be honest y'all, we all were wwf fans..don't hate .and the majority only tuned in to wcw because of Hall and Nash and obviously because of Hogan's turn. Fans would have watched that regardless of brand . That could have happend on South Paw or any other brand, and they would have won the war.. Hogan's first turn and being the third guy with these two guys that we all knew from wwf.. that was must watch. Wresting isnt must watch anymore. I feel sorry for these fans that missed out on that era. And considering how wwe won the war and bought wcw, we all know how wwe won .we all know that story..hearing Eric explain all this, and even having Tony doing his thing...and then we got Bruce on the wwf/e side, and even Corny going on about everything, it's freaking awesome to relive all this shit...thanks boys
Agreed! I was a WWF guy, but when Hall and Nash showed up, i had to see why! I KNEW they weren’t working for WWF because I understood contracts and intellectual property rights, but my state of disbelief was still somewhat suspended.
And when Hulk Hogan revealed himself to be the 3rd man-YES!!!! That was MUST-SEE TV!
It's amazing how much Bischoff trashes Russo. The only thing Bischoff ever did was spend Ted Turner's money. Never had a good idea in his life, which is why all his TV projects failed. He also sucked at running WCW. All we ever hear is how horribly run that company was.
That's one thing I really hate about Hogan: "I'm on my way out, and I'm taking the belt."
Not true... Hogan left with the belt as part of a story. He wasn't on his way out... When Vince got on the mic and cut that unapproved promo Hogan sued his sorry ass and waited out his contact
Ric Flair did exactly that in the early 90's then walked into WWF and declared himself the TRUE World Champion.
Bischoff is my guy. I freaking love this guy