Eric Bischoff Talks Losing Respect For JJ Dillon, Shawn Michaels, Brian Pillman

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The Nature Boy Ric Flair recently interviewed former WCW Executive Producer and President, Eric Bischoff, on WOOOOO! Nation. Both discussed the hiring of JJ Dillon, Shawn Michaels never being offered a job and Brian Pillman’s release from WCW:

On hiring JJ Dillon:

“As WCW got bigger, and things started turning around and we started tightening up the ship, so to speak, it became clear that we needed experienced people in the office, in the field, as part of the wrestling side of the equation. Kevin Nash came to me, and for whatever reason and I don’t know why I didn’t ask, he was tight with JJ and he put JJ over to me and told me all of the great things JJ could bring to the table. But he also said, ‘look, this guy got fired, he has a child or children with special needs, and he needs a gig.'”

On when he lost respect for Dillon:

“Dillon said, ‘hey, do you want to know what the guys in WWE are making? I’ve got all the records right here.’ He opened up a folder and there were handwritten notes in there. And not that I’m above playing dirty, because I can and I will to a certain point, but that crossed the line for me. It didn’t feel right. It was wrong. And I said, ‘JJ, I don’t need it, but thanks.’ And that was it.”

On never offering a job to Shawn Michaels:

“It’s not that his name didn’t come up, I knew of Shawn. I was always under the impression that he was happy where he was and he just felt comfortable working for WWE and that he was never really interested in coming over.”

On if Brian Pillman tricked him into releasing him form his WCW contract:

“We agreed that when the time was right that he would come back and he and I had stayed in contact. All while he was gone, he was cutting promos on me and doing all this crazy shit, we stayed in contact. He’d call me once every six months, every three months, or I’d call him and say, ‘okay, time is looking good. Where are you at?’ That’s my side of it. Now, maybe he worked me. Maybe he got exactly what he wanted out of me and the only reason he was talking to me after the fact was to keep me on the hook. I don’t know.”

I've been following wrestling for almost 30 years now, and the metal scene for even longer. And let's just say that all that head-banging has left me with some weird ideas that i will share with you from time to time. Aren't you glad?