Last week, WWE introduced a new Interview show with John Bradshaw Layfield called "Legends with JBL". The first guest that JBL had been none other than Vince McMahon's former archrival Eric Bischoff. When Eric was announced as the guest, I figured that he signed a deal with WWE to have a working relationship that includes a DVD (Maybe even an HOF Induction).
I was looking forward to seeing what Bischoff would talk about, and I was not disappointed. JBL gives Eric a great introduction as he gives him credit in a roundabout way for the creation of Stone Cold Steve Austin, DX, etc because of the opposition that he gave to Vince McMahon.
Origins:
In part 1, JBL goes into the idea that the Attitude Era and the Monday Night War might have never taken place had Eric Bischoff gotten hired by the WWE. In the Interview, WWE reveals Eric Bischoff's past when he tried out as an announcer/interviewer for the WWF at that time in 1990. They showed clips of Bischoff being instructed by Vince to sell the viewers a broom.
I remember finding this still image of Bischoff trying out as an announcer on Facebook and led me to think that this moment might have planted the seeds for his competitive nature in the Monday Night Wars. Not to make a big deal about it, but just a coincidence. Eric says that he 'desperately needed the job, but wasn't ready'. Of course, he never got the job and the rest was history.
Next, they discuss Eric's beginnings. Bischoff talks about how he was a fan of wrestling as a child growing up in Minnesota. He was even on the High School Wrestling Team. I had no idea Eric's history of wrestling went that far.
He talked about growing up watching the likes of Bruno Sammartino. Eric talks about how he first met Verne Gagne when he was on the amateur wrestling team in high school. Eric's amateur career would come to an end with a knee injury during his Senior year in 1973. Verne would resurface in Eric's life and played an important part of his career when he gave him his start in the AWA.
Bischoff's amateur days were over, but he still had kickboxing to fall back on. This opened the door for a friendship with Sonny Onoo, the man that Eric hired to be a manager in WCW.
Like everybody else, Eric mentions how Verne Gagne was behind the times and could not see the future of the business like Vince McMahon. This out of touch mindset is what ruined the AWA. The twilight years of the AWA drew strong similarities to WCW in their dying years.
Vince McMahon in the 80's "Killing the Business":
Eric Bischoff said that he had no desire of being an Announcer for the AWA. He said that Verne pretty much threw him in that role against his will. Eric said that he had no real desire to do it, but he was a guy that they needed at the time.
By his own admission, Bischoff says that he was not very good. He says that it was only supposed to be a short-time gig, but he stuck around longer because the guys that they hired were worse than him. Basically, he was the lead voice by default.
JBL transitions into the perception of Vince in the 80's. Layfield shares his own personal experience about working in Texas and in Europe, and the perception at the time was that Vince was "killing the business". He wonders if Verne felt the same way. Bischoff says that Verne did and so did he, because Eric was so close to Gagne that his opinion meant a lot to him.
Eric said that he took Verne's word as 'gospel' and he heard many negative things about Vince. However, Eric doesn't feel that way himself after getting to know Vince and working with him. JBL says that Vince wasn't killing THE Business, but he was killing THEIR Business.
Ted Turner:
JBL goes into the detailed and complex history of Vince buying Crockett promotions, selling it back to him, the failed SuperClash PPV, AWA going out of business and Bischoff going broke to the point where his car was towed from his garage. Given that history, JBL asks Bischoff if he and Ted Turner had the common goal of taking down the "bad guy from New York" and driving him out of business.
Eric says "No, not at all". He claims to not know much about the wheelings and dealings between promotions and Vince's dealings with TBS until the last few years. He said that it never came up except for when Ted asked him how they could compete with Vince McMahon's Monday Night RAW.
Jim Herd:
JBL and Eric briefly go into the subject of Jim Herd. Bischoff briefly talks about Herd's terrible business ideas and lack of creativity, because he lacked experience in the wrestling industry. Jim is a very despised figure in wrestling history. Jim was a regional manager at Pizza Hut that had no clue what he was doing as a booker for WCW. Others including Ric Flair have shared their displeasure of Jim Herd.
Bill Watts:
The Interview transitions from Jim Herd to Bill Watts. After things did not work out with Jim Herd, WCW hired Bill Watts. Things went from one level of awful to a whole new level of terrible. Both Herd and Watts are controversial figures. JBL asked Eric if he liked Bill Watts. Bischoff instantly said, "No, I didn't like him on a personal level".
Eric called Bill Watts a "bully" and did not like the way that he treated people. Both men would mention the fact that Watts was fired after making racist remarks in an interview.
Becoming the Boss:
After Bill Watts was fired, Ted Turner made the decision to promote Eric Bischoff from third string announcer behind Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone to becoming their Boss. Ted said that he wanted to move away from the Southern stigma that WCW carried for years.
Eric said that it was the right place at the right time.
Jim Ross:
JBL mentioned how Jim Ross has told others that Eric fired him, but Bischoff denies the claim. Eric says that he didn't fire JR, because JR wanted to go.
Expanding WCW (Signing Hogan, Savage, etc):
Eric Bischoff discussed his expansion of WCW to compete with WWE. When Eric took over, he cut costs at every corner. WCW was losing money from the time that Turner purchased the company, and Eric's cost cutting helped WCW make a profit. People always like to make the claim that all Eric did was "Use Ted's money". Part of that may be true, but Eric did his part by eliminating things that were costing the company financially.
When it comes to using Ted's money, Eric freely used Turner's checkbook to pull Vince's stars away from him. Bischoff poached names like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. During the Interview, JBL said Hulk Hogan's name like it was no big deal. I guess there is a time and there is a place to say it, especially when you are not on live WWE Television. JBL also brings up the Lex Luger signing. Eric was not in favor of bringing Lex back, because of his previous experience with Luger was unpleasant. However, Sting pitched over and over for Eric to sign Luger, and he finally did.
Eric talked about how he brought in those names to change the landscape of the company. JBL brings up how Arn Anderson has said that Eric did not make stars but stole stars. Perfect examples were the aforementioned Hogan and Savage. Eric admits that other than Goldberg and a small number of others, he did not organically create stars. (Yet people seem to only give Vince a hard time about that) Hall and Nash were originally in WCW but returned after becoming stars in the WWF.
The Debut of Nitro:
Eric says the reason why the first episode of Nitro was at the Mall of America was because
Firing Steve Austin:
Bischoff opens up about the firing of Steve Austin. JBL brings up how Austin said on his Podcast that if he were Eric, he would have fired himself as well. Eric said that Steve needed a change, because of his attitude, injuries and the signing of Hogan. I think that we all know the rest of the story.
Other missed talent:
Besides Steve Austin, Triple H and Mick Foley spent time in WCW. Eric says that he felt that Foley was a liability to the company.
Glass Ceiling/Cruiserweights:
The Interview transitions into the topic of the Cruiserweight Division. JBL asks Eric if that was a catch 22 for a guy to be labeled a Cruiserweight then he gets stuck in that spot. Eric said that he implemented the Cruiserweight Division because he wanted to create an alternative from the heavyweights in the Main Event. JBL mentions how the WWF tried with the Light heavyweight Division and admits that they failed miserably. Eric blows his own horn about how he "made" Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and others before they joined WWE.
JBL mentions the "glass ceiling" that everyone knows about with the Cruiserweights. Eric says that he assumes that Jericho, Eddie, and Rey would have made the main event, but he doesn't know when that time would have come. To give my personal take, I think they would have been stuck in the Mid-Card level for the rest of their careers if they stayed in WCW. The writing was on the wall because Eric was too busy catering to the Veterans (Hogan & Friends). Jericho would say the same thing in various interviews as well as in his books.
Monday Night Wars:
JBL brings up the NWO and the War with Vince McMahon & WWF. He says that the NWO and the Austin vs McMahon storylines were the greatest angles ever. Eric mentions that he got the idea from Japan and how he knew that WWF would not get pulled off the air because of the crazy things they were doing at the time. He talks about how that is the way that society was, and the WWF programming was widely accepted.
They talk about bringing in Bret Hart after the Montreal Screwjob. Eric says that he did not need Bret to bring the WWF Title, because he was not permitted to do that (Especially after what happened with Madusa). JBL also asks why Eric decided to wait to bring Bret on Television. Bischoff says that he wanted to have Bret Hart as a centerpiece for WCW Thunder (The B Show). As we all know, things did not end well for Bret in WCW. He was a shell of who he was in WWF.
Rise of Attitude:
On a brighter note, JBL talks about how Vince brought in Mike Tyson for WrestleMania XIV and the rise of the Attitude Era. Eric says that he was not worried, because WCW was still winning the war. Bischoff says that one day he was taking flying lessons. When he got the call that was bringing in Mike Tyson, he knew it would be big.
WrestleMania 13 did the lowest buy rate in Wrestlemania history, and the next year it tripled the amount with over 700,000. That was a sign of things to come as an Austin vs McMahon match headlined RAW to knock Nitro off of the throne for the first time in 2 years. 2 weeks later, DX invades Nitro. JBL asks why there was no response. Bischoff says nobody knew that it was going to happen. Eric did not have a response and admits that WWF was coming after them with everything. Even after the first loss, WCW was still competitive.
WCW Downfall:
Eric says that he knew that WCW was in trouble, because of the merger with AOL/Time Warner. They also go into the idea of Eric challenging Vince McMahon to a fight at WCW Slamboree. McMahon never responded. Other topics include the debacle of Halloween Havoc, as well as the decision to make Kevin Nash the booker. As we know, it would pour the gasoline on the flames of the company. Eric would also admit that he regrets not leaving the company in 1998, at the time when WCW's red flags were starting to rise. JBL mentions how the company went from making $300 million a few years prior to Vince buying it for only a little over $4 million including the video library. That company bled money even before Vince Russo arrived.
In the end, JBL compares Eric Bischoff to Tesla because of how both men were geniuses. Tesla was an innovator, but Thomas Edison took a lot of his ideas and put them on a larger platform. The same could be said for Bischoff. Vince took many of Eric's ideas and put them on a larger stage. JBL brings up the Power Plant, and how WWE now has the Performance Center. WCW put guys in motion pictures and now WWE has a division for films. WCW started the idea of reality angles and WWE has used them since. Eric admits that Vince did things on a greater platform, but he still knows where he stands in history.
The Attitude Era was done in a response to what Bischoff was doing in WCW.
In the end, it was fascinating to see WWE give Eric Bischoff the stage for his own Shoot Interview. It was not that much different from the other Interviews that Eric has done, but JBL came across very knowledgeable. I can tell he did his research going into this. I can tell that WWE is paying attention to the trend of reality based Shoot Interviews that have surfaced on YouTube and other places. This will be a nice, new vehicle for them to use in order to drive content for the Network.
I would give this Interview 3 JBL WWE Titles out of 5.
Jim Herd:
JBL and Eric briefly go into the subject of Jim Herd. Bischoff briefly talks about Herd's terrible business ideas and lack of creativity, because he lacked experience in the wrestling industry. Jim is a very despised figure in wrestling history. Jim was a regional manager at Pizza Hut that had no clue what he was doing as a booker for WCW. Others including Ric Flair have shared their displeasure of Jim Herd.
Bill Watts:
The Interview transitions from Jim Herd to Bill Watts. After things did not work out with Jim Herd, WCW hired Bill Watts. Things went from one level of awful to a whole new level of terrible. Both Herd and Watts are controversial figures. JBL asked Eric if he liked Bill Watts. Bischoff instantly said, "No, I didn't like him on a personal level".
Eric called Bill Watts a "bully" and did not like the way that he treated people. Both men would mention the fact that Watts was fired after making racist remarks in an interview.
Becoming the Boss:
After Bill Watts was fired, Ted Turner made the decision to promote Eric Bischoff from third string announcer behind Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone to becoming their Boss. Ted said that he wanted to move away from the Southern stigma that WCW carried for years.
Eric said that it was the right place at the right time.
Jim Ross:
JBL mentioned how Jim Ross has told others that Eric fired him, but Bischoff denies the claim. Eric says that he didn't fire JR, because JR wanted to go.
Expanding WCW (Signing Hogan, Savage, etc):
Eric Bischoff discussed his expansion of WCW to compete with WWE. When Eric took over, he cut costs at every corner. WCW was losing money from the time that Turner purchased the company, and Eric's cost cutting helped WCW make a profit. People always like to make the claim that all Eric did was "Use Ted's money". Part of that may be true, but Eric did his part by eliminating things that were costing the company financially.
When it comes to using Ted's money, Eric freely used Turner's checkbook to pull Vince's stars away from him. Bischoff poached names like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. During the Interview, JBL said Hulk Hogan's name like it was no big deal. I guess there is a time and there is a place to say it, especially when you are not on live WWE Television. JBL also brings up the Lex Luger signing. Eric was not in favor of bringing Lex back, because of his previous experience with Luger was unpleasant. However, Sting pitched over and over for Eric to sign Luger, and he finally did.
Eric talked about how he brought in those names to change the landscape of the company. JBL brings up how Arn Anderson has said that Eric did not make stars but stole stars. Perfect examples were the aforementioned Hogan and Savage. Eric admits that other than Goldberg and a small number of others, he did not organically create stars. (Yet people seem to only give Vince a hard time about that) Hall and Nash were originally in WCW but returned after becoming stars in the WWF.
The Debut of Nitro:
Eric says the reason why the first episode of Nitro was at the Mall of America was because
Firing Steve Austin:
Bischoff opens up about the firing of Steve Austin. JBL brings up how Austin said on his Podcast that if he were Eric, he would have fired himself as well. Eric said that Steve needed a change, because of his attitude, injuries and the signing of Hogan. I think that we all know the rest of the story.
Other missed talent:
Besides Steve Austin, Triple H and Mick Foley spent time in WCW. Eric says that he felt that Foley was a liability to the company.
Glass Ceiling/Cruiserweights:
The Interview transitions into the topic of the Cruiserweight Division. JBL asks Eric if that was a catch 22 for a guy to be labeled a Cruiserweight then he gets stuck in that spot. Eric said that he implemented the Cruiserweight Division because he wanted to create an alternative from the heavyweights in the Main Event. JBL mentions how the WWF tried with the Light heavyweight Division and admits that they failed miserably. Eric blows his own horn about how he "made" Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and others before they joined WWE.
JBL mentions the "glass ceiling" that everyone knows about with the Cruiserweights. Eric says that he assumes that Jericho, Eddie, and Rey would have made the main event, but he doesn't know when that time would have come. To give my personal take, I think they would have been stuck in the Mid-Card level for the rest of their careers if they stayed in WCW. The writing was on the wall because Eric was too busy catering to the Veterans (Hogan & Friends). Jericho would say the same thing in various interviews as well as in his books.
Monday Night Wars:
JBL brings up the NWO and the War with Vince McMahon & WWF. He says that the NWO and the Austin vs McMahon storylines were the greatest angles ever. Eric mentions that he got the idea from Japan and how he knew that WWF would not get pulled off the air because of the crazy things they were doing at the time. He talks about how that is the way that society was, and the WWF programming was widely accepted.
They talk about bringing in Bret Hart after the Montreal Screwjob. Eric says that he did not need Bret to bring the WWF Title, because he was not permitted to do that (Especially after what happened with Madusa). JBL also asks why Eric decided to wait to bring Bret on Television. Bischoff says that he wanted to have Bret Hart as a centerpiece for WCW Thunder (The B Show). As we all know, things did not end well for Bret in WCW. He was a shell of who he was in WWF.
Rise of Attitude:
On a brighter note, JBL talks about how Vince brought in Mike Tyson for WrestleMania XIV and the rise of the Attitude Era. Eric says that he was not worried, because WCW was still winning the war. Bischoff says that one day he was taking flying lessons. When he got the call that was bringing in Mike Tyson, he knew it would be big.
WrestleMania 13 did the lowest buy rate in Wrestlemania history, and the next year it tripled the amount with over 700,000. That was a sign of things to come as an Austin vs McMahon match headlined RAW to knock Nitro off of the throne for the first time in 2 years. 2 weeks later, DX invades Nitro. JBL asks why there was no response. Bischoff says nobody knew that it was going to happen. Eric did not have a response and admits that WWF was coming after them with everything. Even after the first loss, WCW was still competitive.
WCW Downfall:
Eric says that he knew that WCW was in trouble, because of the merger with AOL/Time Warner. They also go into the idea of Eric challenging Vince McMahon to a fight at WCW Slamboree. McMahon never responded. Other topics include the debacle of Halloween Havoc, as well as the decision to make Kevin Nash the booker. As we know, it would pour the gasoline on the flames of the company. Eric would also admit that he regrets not leaving the company in 1998, at the time when WCW's red flags were starting to rise. JBL mentions how the company went from making $300 million a few years prior to Vince buying it for only a little over $4 million including the video library. That company bled money even before Vince Russo arrived.
In the end, JBL compares Eric Bischoff to Tesla because of how both men were geniuses. Tesla was an innovator, but Thomas Edison took a lot of his ideas and put them on a larger platform. The same could be said for Bischoff. Vince took many of Eric's ideas and put them on a larger stage. JBL brings up the Power Plant, and how WWE now has the Performance Center. WCW put guys in motion pictures and now WWE has a division for films. WCW started the idea of reality angles and WWE has used them since. Eric admits that Vince did things on a greater platform, but he still knows where he stands in history.
The Attitude Era was done in a response to what Bischoff was doing in WCW.
In the end, it was fascinating to see WWE give Eric Bischoff the stage for his own Shoot Interview. It was not that much different from the other Interviews that Eric has done, but JBL came across very knowledgeable. I can tell he did his research going into this. I can tell that WWE is paying attention to the trend of reality based Shoot Interviews that have surfaced on YouTube and other places. This will be a nice, new vehicle for them to use in order to drive content for the Network.
I would give this Interview 3 JBL WWE Titles out of 5.
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