To follow up on this news item, Eric Bischoff was interviewed by JBL on WWE.com to talk about his new book Controversy Creates Cash, and share some tidbits about what readers can find in it. Some highlights of the interview, which has been posted on WWE.com in four segments:
– When he first became head of WCW, he didn’t have an open checkbook right away, and had to prove he could turn a profit in an failing division of a big public company…
– Lex Luger wasn’t worth a dime, but the controversy created by his signing was what helped launch Nitro on the way to kicking WWE’s ass. In fact, WCW paid Luger less than he was making in the WWF or WCW before that.
– WCW might not have had better wrestling than the WWF, but they grew the overall wrestling audience to include people who didn’t just care about good matches, but creative storylines and drama.
– He admits to having made mistakes — for example, overpaying some wrestlers, underutilizing some talent, etc. The merger with AOL and forcing of Ted Turner out of the picture was the big problem, though, and at that point, WCW no longer fit the landscape of the company, and no one could have saved WCW.
– On Vince Russo: “You guys created that monster … he is a jackass.”
– On Paul Heyman: “One of the things he did extremely well was paint me and … Vince McMahon as the big guys trying to put the little guy out of the business … which wasn’t true.”
– Heyman was one of the most creative people he ever worked around; in some respects he had a better feel for the business than anyone; “I don’t think he has any integrity” — Heyman lies a lot, but Bischoff gets along with him and he’s fun to be around.
– On Jim Ross: “He didn’t have a feel for where the business needed to go from my perspective [although] he had a feel for the wrestling business overall.”
– WCW had a reputation of a southern, small, regional, second-grade promotion, which is what it was since Turner bought it from Jim Crockett … advertisers wanted nothing to do with them — so ideas like partnering with Disney, etc., were out of the box from a wrestling industry perspective (something JR wouldn’t have gotten).
– WCW had to partner with Disney — no one was buying tickets to their shows, which they were producing four at a time in order to have content to air on TV. Co-branding with Disney allowed them to hold events in front of “sober” people who – fans or note – were paying attention to what went on in the ring.
– On giving Kevin Nash booking power: It wasn’t a matter of playing favorites. The decision “might be high on the list of things I wished I wouldn’t have done.” He said he was burnt out creatively, and the people around him weren’t any better, so due to his respect for Nash, he gave him the book. He respects Nash to this day, and “when his head’s in the game” and he cares, he’s very creative. He might not have been the hardest worker/best performer, but “if I was in the same situation, I might do it again, I donno.”
– Was he playing favorites with DDP, who held the title many times? They were close friends, yes, but he could count on him and trusted him. “I could trust him with mine or my children’s life,” he said. DDP was good in the transition/short term, even though he was never a Rock or Austin (or JBL – ha!).
– He said he kept turning down chance to write the book because he didn’t think the story was that interesting, and every wrestling book is bitter and finger-pointing, and he didn’t want to write that book — “it’s already been done.” But he Googled his name and saw how inaccurate his Wikipedia bio was (wrong birthday, etc.), and figured he should just clear the air.
– Who killed WCW? He thinks the AOL/TW merger killed WCW, and that if Ted Turner was still there, WCW would still be around. “We controlled the vast amount of revenue generated by the business at the time,” but it’s hard to say if WCW’d be on top today, since there are so many factors.
– There were opportunities to do major things when they needed to do them —- for example they could have had a special on NBC, but people who “didn’t know what they were doing” took those opportunities away.
– His biggest mistake was “getting too close to talent.” Between friendships as well as negative relationships that resulted from being too close, it was the “single largest mistake wish I could have done differently.”
– JBL asked him about his WWE debut at The Meadowlands, which was “shocking” and since so many people hated him/his character, was anyone not professional? Bischoff said that everyone in the company was a professional as well as a dedicated, talented person.
– Now he owns a production company w/Jason Hervey that does reality shows and is about to introduce an energy drink with WWE.
– Why buy the book? It’s about the business of wrestling from his point of view … from a time that “I think was the height of the industry…”
Definitely a good interview, and worth the watch.
