Eric Bischoff Reveals How He Would Have Booked The Final WCW Nitro

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff revealed how he would have approached booking the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro on its 25th anniversary. He would have had the Ric Flair and Sting match mirror their very first encounter beat for beat as the emotional centerpiece. You can check out some highlights below:

On his goal for the show:

“I think the way I would approach it before I started thinking about matches is, what do I want it to be remembered as? What do I want when it’s over and done? If people describe the show to somebody, how did that show make them feel? How did you enjoy the matches? But when a show was over, how did the show in its entirety make you feel? And hopefully the audience would have felt closer to the brand.”

On keeping nostalgia:

“So what I would try to do is theme the show to, I don’t want to say be nostalgic, but throughout, from the very beginning, throughout all 12 episodes or 12 segments, if that’s what it was, I would try to find a way to connect a current storyline or wrestling talent to some kind of theme or time. It could be as obvious or not as using somebody’s finish in a match that is an homage to Tully Blanchard, for example. So some little connective tissue throughout each one of the matches that brought you back to an iconic moment, or match and/or promo memory of something that’s significant happened throughout WCW’s window. That’s what I would work backwards from.”

On Flair vs. Sting:

“Let’s say you decided you’re going to have Flair and Sting on the very last Nitro, maybe go back to the very first match and lay the last match out exactly, move for move, beat for beat, the way you laid out the first match. So literally have a mirror image, not only bookending the wrestling talent, but you’re actually bookending the match itself. I think that would be fun.”

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