Hulk Hogan on Who Killed WCW: Eric Bischoff Was Facing an Unwinnable Battle Against Higher-Ups
“Who Killed WCW?” by Vice TV, is a documentary television series that explores the whys and hows of WCW’s downfall, which was competing with Vince McMahon’s then-WWF during the Monday Night War.
While the series features several interviews with key personalities involved both on-screen and backstage, such as Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Bret Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Bill Goldberg, and more, an important figure is missing from the series. And that is Hulk Hogan, who not only was instrumental in boosting WCW’s popularity, but also ushered in a new era and was essentially the main character of the promotion by turning heel and completely reinventing his persona by joining the New World Order.
While we did not get to see Hogan’s take on who killed WCW, he has still weighed in on the popular debate that’s ongoing in the wrestling world. Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Hogan said that it’s not as flashy as people may think.
“It’s not the flashiest story, but I can tell you what killed WCW,” the Hulkster said. “There was no way WCW was going to survive, not under those circumstances.”
According to Hogan, it was all because of corporate politics:
“So many people knock Eric, but there was an opposition he was dealing with from the higher-ups in the company. He just wasn’t going to win that battle. These were executives who had no idea what wrestling was all about, and they had no interest in learning. They wanted more traditional programming. They didn’t want rasslin’ in their high-brow portfolio. They weren’t interested, and nothing else mattered," Hulk Hogan revealed.
Even in the show, Bischoff and other producers who worked in WCW mentioned that there was a lot of pushback from other departments at Turner Broadcasting System, who did not understand wrestling and simply didn’t want to do anything to do with the product.
So there could be some truth to what Hogan has said, and while all the other reasons that are frequently mentioned regarding the death of WCW could also be contributing factors, it was perhaps the pressure from the powers that be that was the biggest reason behind the promotion’s demise.
The fourth and final episode of “Who Killed WCW?” is set to air on June 26 on Vice TV.
