From the AWA to WCW and from WWE to even TNA, Eric Bischoff has made tremendous contributions to the sport of wrestling. He helped create the nWo and brought Cruiserweight wrestlers to showcase their skills. Being in and around the business since 1989, Bischoff is also one of the most polarizing executive figures in this era of wrestling. Some see him as a visionary, others as a hack. According to fans, he’s either a shrewd businessman or he just had the power of Ted Turner’s checkbook.
Despite recent events, there’s no mistaking that Bischoff was at one point ridiculously successful, both as a character and in real life. But instead of looking at the best of Mr. B, let’s check out the worst. Here are 5 Worst Things Eric Bischoff Has Done In Character and 5 As Head Of WCW.
10 In Character - Was Behind The nWO
Behind the scenes, Eric Bischoff was one of, if not the guiding force behind the nWo. On camera though, Ted DiBiase was sort of playing that role. That all changed when Roddy Piper confronted the announcer, and it was revealed that Bischoff was secretly running the show and the mastermind behind the New World Order.
9 Head Of WCW - Feuded With Ric Flair
It became part of the show, because why not, but the heat between Eric Bischoff and Ric Flair was very real. All the Nature Boy wanted to do was see his boy Reid wrestle. It becomes a he said / he said scenario from that point on.
Flair claims he asked for the night off months prior, Bischoff contends that Flair couldn’t have known that Reid was going to be in the finals when Flair asked for off. Bischoff also contends that no wrestler was allowed to do whatever they wanted and threatened to sue Nature Boy into bankruptcy. The whole ordeal cost Flair a year of his career.
8 In Character - Fired Randy Anderson
One of the great parts about the entire nWo angle was that there were some people who had no idea what was real and what was part of the show. At the first Souled Out, referee Randy Anderson played a pivotal role for WCW and helped the Steiners beat the Outsiders. Bischoff fired him for his insubordination. Anderson came out with his wife and young kids to plead for his job. While this was storyline, The real executives at Time Warner thought that Bischoff had actually fired the guy.
7 Head Of WCW - Let Havoc 98 Run Off The Rails
Never mind the complete debacle of hiring the Ultimate Warrior and letting him ramble for twelve hours at a time. Don’t even worry about bearing witness to one of the worst matches in WCW history. The real problem with Halloween Havoc 1998, was Bischoff playing a game of chicken with the cable companies. If you watch it now on the WWE network, you won’t see it. But back then PPV, providers only allowed two hours and change for your event. Since the main event of the evening, Goldberg and DDP started around that time, the feed was automatically cut forcing WCW to refund a ton of customers and show the match on free TV on Nitro.
6 In Character - Forced Himself On Linda / Stephanie
In WWE, Bischoff was cast as a smarmy, lecherous, evil general manager. Every so often, he would be booked to be all of those things at once. One time, he broke into Vince McMahon’s home and forced himself on Linda.
If that wasn’t completely creeptastic for you, then how about this - one Smackdown Halloween party, the Raw GM invaded the show, dressed in a Mr. McMahon mask and then he forced himself onto Stephanie, now just think about who would approve this bit.
5 Head Of WCW - Greenlit Blood Runs Cold
In a way, Bischoff killed his own idea for “Blood Runs Cold” when he created the nWo. After seemingly years promoting these Mortal Kombat style characters, the very real and (pardon the pun), very cool New World Order kind of wiped out all of the silly “eighties” or “Memphis” style characters that Bischoff was helping to formulate leaving Glacier, Wrath, and Mortis...um...out in the...cold.
4 In Character - “Did I Just Say 3 Minutes?”
For several months, Bischoff had been trying to entertain the Raw crowds with all sorts of matches and gimmicks (like HLA). But after a few moments, Bischoff would send in the 3 Minute Warning to decimate whoever who was in the ring. This also led to the infamous Smackdown invasion, in which Bischoff disguised as an elderly priest sabotaged the supposed wedding of Billy and Chuck.
3 Head Of WCW - Stopping The DX Invasion
The Monday Night Wars, both companies happened to have been in close proximity to one another. The WWE, via DX fired a shot across the bow and headed over to the Norfolk Scope to rally the WCW fans to their cause. It was and still is one of Raw’s most memorable moments, but it could have been Nitro’s had Bischoff listened to a few people. As the story goes, DX tried to get into the building but the gates kept closing on them at every turn. Had they been allowed in, DX would not have only “invaded WCW” on pretape, but they would have invaded Nitro and TNT.
2 In Character - Threatening Vince McMahon
Perhaps on both accounts, the real Bischoff and the Bischoff character made a bad move when he appeared in the WCW ring, lying on his motorcycle challenging Vince McMahon.
Besides seeming completely petty, had McMahon actually answered the challenge (which according to Bruce Prichard, they checked out the legalities of appearing), he would have mauled Easy E, killing any credibility Bischoff had.
1 Head Of WCW - Non-Profit PPVs
No matter how Eric Bischoff might want to try and spin having Road Wild as a way to introduce WCW to new viewers, the guy still gave away a huge live gate in the middle of a motorcycle festival. The WCW event was an afterthought to all of the attendees and the only name any of the layman fans knew was Hulk Hogan. They booed big stars like Harlem Heat and couldn’t care less about Cruiserweights. Outdoor shows always have a different feel to them, but these events sacrificed a live gate to indulge Bischoff’s love of motorcycles with the Grand Prairie country.