Eric Bischoff On The Importance Of The Steve Austin-Mr. McMahon Feud In Wrestling History

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff talked about Steve Austin-Mr. McMahon feud, its importance in wrestling history, and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On if the Steve Austin-Mr. McMahon feud is the most prolific in history: “Certainly one of the most meaningful ones. I think it — everybody has opinions, and a lot of them are valid. They’re just different perspectives. There’s no right or wrong, it’s just different perspectives. You’re looking at different moments in time from different angles, and consequently you see things differently. But I think there was one moment, there was one creative decision, there was one point in time when everything kind of fell into place. So much so that it almost looked like it was by design, but I think a lot of it was just default. Good luck with the timing and things like that.

“But when they brought in (Mike) Tyson and set up the Tyson-Austin-McMahon feud, used Tyson to do that? That flashpoint. That moment in time. That story, that angle, that moment probably had more to do with the success we see in WWE today than anything else you could point to. Anything else you can point to. That one moment, that decision. Because that really in my opinion was the moment that WWE abandoned their previous business model, the teen and pre-teen model. That moment was the manifestation of a speech I believe that Vince McMahon gave in November, talking about the new direction of WWE and the new type of storytelling. Which, he was foreshadowing the Attitude Era, which was a reaction to Nitro. But the way they did it and the way that story was created, the way it was executed in particular — that story has more to do with the success of WWE today than any other single moment that I can think of.”

On Vince living out his dream as Mr. McMahon: “Yeah, you think after all that time behind the desk pretending he was a color commentator, and you know, ‘Golly, gee, I can’t believe he did that!’ And now to be able to come out and be who he really is, or was. The Mr. McMahon character was Vince McMahon with the volume turned up. How many times have we talked about that? Stone Cold Steve Austin is Steve Williams with the volume turned up. You know, it’s — when you find those characters that resonate and all you have to do is allow them to be themselves but bigger and louder? That’s so much fun. And that’s where Vince McMahon was. He was probably having more fun in those few moments when he first came out as Mr. McMahon than he probably had in his entire career up to that point.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.