Eric Bischoff Reflects On How Randy Savage Would Have Been Less Effective as The nWo’s Third Man

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff talked about his belief that Randy Savage in the third man role at Bash at the Beach 1996 would have achieved only a fraction of what the nWo angle ultimately became.

Bash at the Beach 1996 took place on July 7, 1996, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Hulk Hogan’s heel turn that night, forming the nWo alongside Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, is widely regarded as one of the most significant moments in history due to it changing the business. You can check out some highlights below:

On the Gap Between Hogan & Savage:

“Hogan turning was such a monster move that it brought back people who had given up watching wrestling a long time ago. ‘Hulk Hogan’s a bad guy?’ Boom, they’re back. . They sampled the product because of the magnitude of the news outside of the wrestling community as it existed at that time, right? It was such a big move that people who had long left any contact with the wrestling community heard about it and went, ‘What?’ Sampled the product and stuck with it, because it was that damn good. Nobody else would have had that impact. Not Randy, not Ric Flair, nobody.”

On Hogan’s Name Power Being the Draw:

“There was only one person at that time that could have turned in such a way to get the attention of people who had given up on the sport a long time ago and get them to be fans again. As much as I love Randy and as valuable as Randy was, Randy in that role would probably have only achieved 10 or 20% of what the nWo ultimately went on to become.”

On Whether Savage Could Have Worked As the Third Man:

“If it were going to be for the nWo, that s**t wouldn’t have worked… Certainly if he was going to be in that Hulk Hogan spot, he would have had to really embrace an entirely different persona to the Savage character, and I just don’t think he would have been comfortable doing it.”

On Savage: 

“Randy was willing to take chances. Certainly willing to take chances, he was pretty fearless in a lot of ways. But when it came to his character, we all know kind of how paranoid he was? All of a sudden now we are asking him to let go of a part of his identity. There is a reason I avoided that conversation, and I do not think it would have been well received had I attempted it for Savage to take the Hogan spot.”

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