Eric Bischoff On Curt Hennig’s Legacy, His Matches With Nick Bockwinkel, Hennig’s Struggles In WCW

In a recent edition of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff discussed Curt Hennig’s legacy, his classic matches with Nick Bockwinkel, and much more. You can read Eric Bischoff’s comments below.

Eric Bischoff on Curt Hennig’s classic matches with Nick Bockwinkel: “I think, at least for me as a fan before I got into the industry, Curt’s matches with Nick Bockwinkel I think to this day, that match will hold up to the any of the great matches you want to choose from when it comes to psychology and storytelling in the ring. That match, anybody that’s in the industry today, you’d have something to learn from going back and watching Curt Hennig and Nick Bockwinkel. Curt was so freaking good and he learned so quickly and was such a natural and phenomenal performer with natural charisma, but he was still greener than goose shit at that point. I don’t know this as a fact, but I think it’s a safe bet that Nick would’ve called that match. I think that match, or those matches with Nick and Curt, as far as storytelling and psychology, as good as it gets.”

On sensing Hennig’s struggles late in his WCW run: “I think by this point, the injuries, the pain, the addiction, the frustration, the realization that he probably saw the end of his career much sooner than he wanted to see it coming – all of those had something to do with it to one degree or another in terms of his lifestyle and what he was doing to himself. But it was starting to become more and more evident. Curt wasn’t the same guy. Curt, I think more than anybody I can think of right now, really loved life. He loved to hunt, he loved to fish, he loved his family, he loved to laugh and make other people laugh. That was the Curt I still remember when I think about him. But by 1999 or 2000, that wasn’t the same Curt. He wasn’t as happy as he had been. He didn’t have that same type of bounce in his step when he walked through the locker room. He seemed like a fraction of his former self, and he didn’t seem to be having as much fun.”

On Hennig’s legacy and how he’ll remember him: “By his smile. He was just always having fun. He was always trying to make somebody else laugh. It may have been at my expense or someone else’s expense. Not everybody laughed, but most people did. I think making people laugh was one of the things that motivated Curt. I think what he really loved to do was make people laugh. That’s how he kept himself up and how he kept himself entertained is by entertaining everybody else. That’s what I remember about him. He had this mischievous laugh and his smile was contagious. That’s what I remember, man. Just a really fun person to be around.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.