Dangerous Incorporated
11-22-2006, 09:14 PM
Eric Bischoff Monday Night Mayhem Interview Recap (A One-Night WCW Reunion)
The former Vice President of World Championship Wrestling, the author of "Controversy Creates Cash," & a New York Times best-selling author, Eric Bischoff, was the special guest on this past week's live edition (11/20/06) of Monday Night Mayhem (w/The Big Mosh, Blade, & special guest co-host, Scott Hudson), which can be heard in streaming audio every week (and live at 9PM ET/8PM CT every Monday night) exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network.
The Big Mosh, Blade, & Scott welcomed Eric to the program for the first time in Mayhem history. Wrestling fans throughout the world have been wondering for the past 24-36 hours why Bischoff was not on RAW this past Monday night, or how he could have been in two places at one time. Rest assured, Eric wanted to get the record straight to start this interview: "I am a multi-talented, very diverse personality. It is easy for me to be in two places at once, so no one should be worried about that."
This past Monday night did see a former WCW Nitro announcer reunite with his boss -- two of the major players in the on & off-camera success of World Championship Wrestling, Eric Bischoff & Scott Hudson. Eric felt "very warm, fuzzy, & weepy" at the opportunity to be a part of this interview, and Hudson concurred with an "it's about time." The last time that the both of these gentlemen were together were as Scott coined it "the dying days of WCW, when everyone was hoping the deal with Fusient Media Ventures would go through." Five & a half years fans -- at Thanksgiving time, anything is possible -- including a nice reunion!
Eric has been run through the mill by a lot of his fellow colleagues & former players in WCW & the WWE, but Scott has no problems praising the work that not Eric has done in the WWE, as "a great performer on-camera," but for what he did in World Championship Wrestling as "a terrific administrator." Hudson continued his point by saying that "when Bischoff took over WCW, he had to bridge a gap between old-school wrestling promoters & the gap to where we are at then -- the newer generation of talent." Scott can vouch for the kind of job Eric did to try and make both parties as happy as possible. He feels that's why Bischoff got the heat he did receive, not because of his overall tenure in the company. "Eric's criticism is bullsh*t, because he was a CEO, not a wrestling promoter. Some of the talent did not appreciate that, and the decisions he had to make in that role."
The evidence is clearly seen in Bischoff's book, "Controversy Creates Cash" -- Eric does not have a good taste in his mouth for the "dirt-sheet writers" & some parts of the internet, and he wished to use his time at The Mayhem to echo those sentiments again. He strongly believes that "those individuals do more to hurt the business than help it." But believe it or not, how Eric met Scott back in the days of WCW Saturday Night (which was taped at Center Stage in Atlanta, GA), was because Hudson himself used to work for one of the "800 lines" back & those very same news sources in the day himself! Bischoff did think though that Scott was "one of the most objective, analytical, pro-business writers in his day," and he still respects that about him to this day, and was one of the main factors in him getting a shot at being an announcer for World Championship Wrestling.
The interview itself officially kicked into will gear, with Mosh asking the first question of if WCW had not fallen to the waist-side & would have still been around today (either as a WWE entity or its own company), how would it have evolved from 2001 to now? Eric feels that "it's too hard to say." With the merger of AOL & Time Warner and the WWE purchasing World Championship Wrestling, things went one way, when it could have gone another. "It is what it is, and whatever happened did happen -- perhaps for a good reason." He does believe that if the ill-fated merger did not go down, that "with a very good degree of certainty" that things would have down in a different method & fashion when it comes to history.
Bischoff is extremely overwhelmed at the response of newer wrestling fans that have purchased the book, and based on that, Mosh asked Eric what is the main point he wanted to drive home to those particular viewers of today's "sports-entertainment." Eric also wished to state for the record, that he did have some initial reservations about writing this book, both for the hardcore fan & the "newbie" fan, based on the fact that he felt his story was not "commercially interesting, and that the book-buying audience would not appreciate as much as something else." He is proud of the "loyal" wrestling crowd that not only has gone out & purchased his book, but other wrestling products (DVD's, books, CD's, internet purchases, etc). "They are much like Nascar fans, or Green Bay Packer fans, who have a deep appreciation in the history of the sport and where it has gone today." It's also important that fans (especially the newer audience) have a well-balanced viewpoint & understanding of the story between the WWE & WCW, "The Monday Night Wars."
One of the main reasons Eric did decide to write the book, in addition to putting his own life-story out there, was to dispel a lot of the myths that have been recently discussed about WCW (such as the company's untimely demise, or the condition of the wrestling business). "For better or for worse, it gives an opportunity for the reader to hear someone's side of the story who was on the front lines, and who saw this firsthand vs. three degrees of separation, or someone who is writing their website from San Jose, CA, based on the reliance of second or third-hand information."
Scott filled The Mayhem audience with the fact that there were some higher-up than himself in WCW that did not even know what was going on in some respects. In reading the book, the audience has come to see how much micro-management Eric was under & faced with in his dealings with TBS & Time Warner. Bischoff admitted this was not as much stress, but frustration, especially with how quickly things changed from 1995 to 1995, from more of an entrepreneur-type running of things to more of a corporate motif. "It was more frustration than fear, more frustration than anxiety." Towards the end of his run, for example, he was faced with decisions such as going to T.W. suits who "did not know what day of the week WCW Monday Night Nitro was on."
Was there any chance of him walking away? Eric did not feel it would have been easy to walk away, as there was "no place to walk to." His professional life had been about the pro-wrestling business, and he would not have dreamt that there would have been a chance for him in the WWE at the time, especially when the war between the two companies was raging. What kept Bischoff going? A one-on-one question asked by Scott to Eric directly. Want to know the candid answer? Well, the response may take some of you aback, but you have to head on over to www.MondayNightMayhem.com for the full answer!
"Everybody was more worried about their stock options and fitting into the new Time Warner corporate structure than worrying about WCW & other divisions of Turner Broadcasting." Bischoff believed that these "obstacles" would have eventually went away, and things could have gone back to the way they were beforehand. "I was too naive & too inexperienced to the art of how things were really going down."
Another thing that has been bantered about for many years amongst not only wrestling fans & the internet is the "disorganization" that WCW Monday Nitro experienced, especially towards the end of the company's run -- where vignettes/matches would not be planned until the last minute, and even when the show was on the air live how the rest of the show would be written as the program was progressing. The Mayhem Crew (and Scott) gave Eric an opportunity to clear any confusion about this, and take the fans what a typical day was like in a regular Nitro telecast. Eric went on to say that "one of the reasons why Nitro was as successful as it was, is because of the spontaneous combustion." Going back to the introduction of "The Total Package" Lex Luger on the first telecast at The Mall Of America was the "anything can happen" style of programming, which is difficult for a production/telecast to achieve once, let alone on a consistent basis. "Nitro was the kind of show that you had to tune in to find out what was going to happen next. We were 'must-see-TV' before the real 'must-see-TV.'"
The lack of things being scripted down to the last sentence made the show come off really well for the listening audience, and along with most fans, Eric feels that today's product is so well-produced & so well-scripted that the art of unpredictability does get lost. He also wished to add (in a joking fashion, of course) that "there are as many last-minute changes on WWE Monday RAW as there was on any edition of Nitro."
Scott wished to chime in with his takes that the "overproduced" portion of WCW came in when Vince Russo took over -- not in the very beginning of the Nitro era. "It was well-written television & well put-together wrestling."
Blade chimed in with something that is on the hearts & minds of a lot of the wrestling world...Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The question was posed to Eric if TNA has any of those "must watch" qualities that can draw back some of the wrestling audience from several years back, or even a newer audience -- and if he sees TNA as any sort of competition to the WWE just yet. He does watch the show from time-to-time, and does see them doing a great job in some things. The challenge they face from a "creative point" is to try and separate themselves by doing things that have not been done, or have not been done in a few years, which is difficult, simply because "most of the stones have been unturned." There are not as many options as there were back then that are available now.
Scott jumped back in to ask if the wrestling fan has seen the last of the "overarching" storylines (original DX run, Austin vs. McMahon), with one feud being the "umbrella" for the rest of the particular show/brand, the one that helps get the big ratings as the end result. Eric said that "for now" that is going to be the case, as the wrestling business has "used as many colors as it can possibly use to paint the final picture to the viewers." Bischoff does see the business "going back to the future," to a presentation of what was seen in the early '80's -- with more "over-the-top" characters & storylines. Now even though he is not a fan of that, "there is nothing left to do." He sees a more "general entertainment approach" & the pushing to the side of a larger amount of the overdone edgy/reality-based storylines as the wave of the coming months & years. When it's time to bring that back, "it will seem fresh."
Eric also wished to address one of The Big Mosh's final topics in the interview, that of Kurt Angle & his signing with TNA: whether or not his decision was the best professional decision for his career. Bischoff did work with Kurt in his tenure in the WWE, but was obviously not in the room when Vince McMahon & Angle had their final meeting, and when the actual final decision was made for Kurt to be granted an early release from his contract. "There's two sides to every story, sometimes even three -- with the truth lying in the middle." Having respect for both Vince & Kurt, he sees Angle's decision as good for Kurt if he wished to work a lighter, less hectic schedule and make necessary changes he saw fit in his personal life. Eric does feel that there might come a time, whether it be six months or a year from now, that Kurt might wish he retracted or rephrased some of his statements he has made publicly, especially recent ones. "Hopefully, both Kurt & the WWE come out of this just fine, and go from here."
Bischoff would love to see the rumored match of The Big Show vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 23 in Detroit, MI -- especially since that feud originally happened in WCW. Realistically, he is proud of how the two worked together back then, but he does not see it (if it does happen) as a rekindling of a feud that started in World Championship Wrestling with an added WWE twist. "That was a different Hulk Hogan character, a different Paul Wight character, a different time, & a different environment." Will the match itself happen? "I don't know. I would not know what to bet on. It's too early to tell. If the situation is right for both guys, there's a good chance it would happen then." He still speaks to both Hogan (every day or every other day) & Paul (who he classified is being "tired and is hurting"), but also did wish to add that despite a wrestler (in general) possibly wanting to take some time off for 30 or 60 days to rest up or do other things creatively, you miss the roar of the crowd, and that can even help some injuries heel faster.
The former Vice President of World Championship Wrestling, the author of "Controversy Creates Cash," & a New York Times best-selling author, Eric Bischoff, was the special guest on this past week's live edition (11/20/06) of Monday Night Mayhem (w/The Big Mosh, Blade, & special guest co-host, Scott Hudson), which can be heard in streaming audio every week (and live at 9PM ET/8PM CT every Monday night) exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network.
The Big Mosh, Blade, & Scott welcomed Eric to the program for the first time in Mayhem history. Wrestling fans throughout the world have been wondering for the past 24-36 hours why Bischoff was not on RAW this past Monday night, or how he could have been in two places at one time. Rest assured, Eric wanted to get the record straight to start this interview: "I am a multi-talented, very diverse personality. It is easy for me to be in two places at once, so no one should be worried about that."
This past Monday night did see a former WCW Nitro announcer reunite with his boss -- two of the major players in the on & off-camera success of World Championship Wrestling, Eric Bischoff & Scott Hudson. Eric felt "very warm, fuzzy, & weepy" at the opportunity to be a part of this interview, and Hudson concurred with an "it's about time." The last time that the both of these gentlemen were together were as Scott coined it "the dying days of WCW, when everyone was hoping the deal with Fusient Media Ventures would go through." Five & a half years fans -- at Thanksgiving time, anything is possible -- including a nice reunion!
Eric has been run through the mill by a lot of his fellow colleagues & former players in WCW & the WWE, but Scott has no problems praising the work that not Eric has done in the WWE, as "a great performer on-camera," but for what he did in World Championship Wrestling as "a terrific administrator." Hudson continued his point by saying that "when Bischoff took over WCW, he had to bridge a gap between old-school wrestling promoters & the gap to where we are at then -- the newer generation of talent." Scott can vouch for the kind of job Eric did to try and make both parties as happy as possible. He feels that's why Bischoff got the heat he did receive, not because of his overall tenure in the company. "Eric's criticism is bullsh*t, because he was a CEO, not a wrestling promoter. Some of the talent did not appreciate that, and the decisions he had to make in that role."
The evidence is clearly seen in Bischoff's book, "Controversy Creates Cash" -- Eric does not have a good taste in his mouth for the "dirt-sheet writers" & some parts of the internet, and he wished to use his time at The Mayhem to echo those sentiments again. He strongly believes that "those individuals do more to hurt the business than help it." But believe it or not, how Eric met Scott back in the days of WCW Saturday Night (which was taped at Center Stage in Atlanta, GA), was because Hudson himself used to work for one of the "800 lines" back & those very same news sources in the day himself! Bischoff did think though that Scott was "one of the most objective, analytical, pro-business writers in his day," and he still respects that about him to this day, and was one of the main factors in him getting a shot at being an announcer for World Championship Wrestling.
The interview itself officially kicked into will gear, with Mosh asking the first question of if WCW had not fallen to the waist-side & would have still been around today (either as a WWE entity or its own company), how would it have evolved from 2001 to now? Eric feels that "it's too hard to say." With the merger of AOL & Time Warner and the WWE purchasing World Championship Wrestling, things went one way, when it could have gone another. "It is what it is, and whatever happened did happen -- perhaps for a good reason." He does believe that if the ill-fated merger did not go down, that "with a very good degree of certainty" that things would have down in a different method & fashion when it comes to history.
Bischoff is extremely overwhelmed at the response of newer wrestling fans that have purchased the book, and based on that, Mosh asked Eric what is the main point he wanted to drive home to those particular viewers of today's "sports-entertainment." Eric also wished to state for the record, that he did have some initial reservations about writing this book, both for the hardcore fan & the "newbie" fan, based on the fact that he felt his story was not "commercially interesting, and that the book-buying audience would not appreciate as much as something else." He is proud of the "loyal" wrestling crowd that not only has gone out & purchased his book, but other wrestling products (DVD's, books, CD's, internet purchases, etc). "They are much like Nascar fans, or Green Bay Packer fans, who have a deep appreciation in the history of the sport and where it has gone today." It's also important that fans (especially the newer audience) have a well-balanced viewpoint & understanding of the story between the WWE & WCW, "The Monday Night Wars."
One of the main reasons Eric did decide to write the book, in addition to putting his own life-story out there, was to dispel a lot of the myths that have been recently discussed about WCW (such as the company's untimely demise, or the condition of the wrestling business). "For better or for worse, it gives an opportunity for the reader to hear someone's side of the story who was on the front lines, and who saw this firsthand vs. three degrees of separation, or someone who is writing their website from San Jose, CA, based on the reliance of second or third-hand information."
Scott filled The Mayhem audience with the fact that there were some higher-up than himself in WCW that did not even know what was going on in some respects. In reading the book, the audience has come to see how much micro-management Eric was under & faced with in his dealings with TBS & Time Warner. Bischoff admitted this was not as much stress, but frustration, especially with how quickly things changed from 1995 to 1995, from more of an entrepreneur-type running of things to more of a corporate motif. "It was more frustration than fear, more frustration than anxiety." Towards the end of his run, for example, he was faced with decisions such as going to T.W. suits who "did not know what day of the week WCW Monday Night Nitro was on."
Was there any chance of him walking away? Eric did not feel it would have been easy to walk away, as there was "no place to walk to." His professional life had been about the pro-wrestling business, and he would not have dreamt that there would have been a chance for him in the WWE at the time, especially when the war between the two companies was raging. What kept Bischoff going? A one-on-one question asked by Scott to Eric directly. Want to know the candid answer? Well, the response may take some of you aback, but you have to head on over to www.MondayNightMayhem.com for the full answer!
"Everybody was more worried about their stock options and fitting into the new Time Warner corporate structure than worrying about WCW & other divisions of Turner Broadcasting." Bischoff believed that these "obstacles" would have eventually went away, and things could have gone back to the way they were beforehand. "I was too naive & too inexperienced to the art of how things were really going down."
Another thing that has been bantered about for many years amongst not only wrestling fans & the internet is the "disorganization" that WCW Monday Nitro experienced, especially towards the end of the company's run -- where vignettes/matches would not be planned until the last minute, and even when the show was on the air live how the rest of the show would be written as the program was progressing. The Mayhem Crew (and Scott) gave Eric an opportunity to clear any confusion about this, and take the fans what a typical day was like in a regular Nitro telecast. Eric went on to say that "one of the reasons why Nitro was as successful as it was, is because of the spontaneous combustion." Going back to the introduction of "The Total Package" Lex Luger on the first telecast at The Mall Of America was the "anything can happen" style of programming, which is difficult for a production/telecast to achieve once, let alone on a consistent basis. "Nitro was the kind of show that you had to tune in to find out what was going to happen next. We were 'must-see-TV' before the real 'must-see-TV.'"
The lack of things being scripted down to the last sentence made the show come off really well for the listening audience, and along with most fans, Eric feels that today's product is so well-produced & so well-scripted that the art of unpredictability does get lost. He also wished to add (in a joking fashion, of course) that "there are as many last-minute changes on WWE Monday RAW as there was on any edition of Nitro."
Scott wished to chime in with his takes that the "overproduced" portion of WCW came in when Vince Russo took over -- not in the very beginning of the Nitro era. "It was well-written television & well put-together wrestling."
Blade chimed in with something that is on the hearts & minds of a lot of the wrestling world...Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The question was posed to Eric if TNA has any of those "must watch" qualities that can draw back some of the wrestling audience from several years back, or even a newer audience -- and if he sees TNA as any sort of competition to the WWE just yet. He does watch the show from time-to-time, and does see them doing a great job in some things. The challenge they face from a "creative point" is to try and separate themselves by doing things that have not been done, or have not been done in a few years, which is difficult, simply because "most of the stones have been unturned." There are not as many options as there were back then that are available now.
Scott jumped back in to ask if the wrestling fan has seen the last of the "overarching" storylines (original DX run, Austin vs. McMahon), with one feud being the "umbrella" for the rest of the particular show/brand, the one that helps get the big ratings as the end result. Eric said that "for now" that is going to be the case, as the wrestling business has "used as many colors as it can possibly use to paint the final picture to the viewers." Bischoff does see the business "going back to the future," to a presentation of what was seen in the early '80's -- with more "over-the-top" characters & storylines. Now even though he is not a fan of that, "there is nothing left to do." He sees a more "general entertainment approach" & the pushing to the side of a larger amount of the overdone edgy/reality-based storylines as the wave of the coming months & years. When it's time to bring that back, "it will seem fresh."
Eric also wished to address one of The Big Mosh's final topics in the interview, that of Kurt Angle & his signing with TNA: whether or not his decision was the best professional decision for his career. Bischoff did work with Kurt in his tenure in the WWE, but was obviously not in the room when Vince McMahon & Angle had their final meeting, and when the actual final decision was made for Kurt to be granted an early release from his contract. "There's two sides to every story, sometimes even three -- with the truth lying in the middle." Having respect for both Vince & Kurt, he sees Angle's decision as good for Kurt if he wished to work a lighter, less hectic schedule and make necessary changes he saw fit in his personal life. Eric does feel that there might come a time, whether it be six months or a year from now, that Kurt might wish he retracted or rephrased some of his statements he has made publicly, especially recent ones. "Hopefully, both Kurt & the WWE come out of this just fine, and go from here."
Bischoff would love to see the rumored match of The Big Show vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 23 in Detroit, MI -- especially since that feud originally happened in WCW. Realistically, he is proud of how the two worked together back then, but he does not see it (if it does happen) as a rekindling of a feud that started in World Championship Wrestling with an added WWE twist. "That was a different Hulk Hogan character, a different Paul Wight character, a different time, & a different environment." Will the match itself happen? "I don't know. I would not know what to bet on. It's too early to tell. If the situation is right for both guys, there's a good chance it would happen then." He still speaks to both Hogan (every day or every other day) & Paul (who he classified is being "tired and is hurting"), but also did wish to add that despite a wrestler (in general) possibly wanting to take some time off for 30 or 60 days to rest up or do other things creatively, you miss the roar of the crowd, and that can even help some injuries heel faster.