Eric Bischoff Addresses Greg Gagne Taking Credit for NWO Idea & Bringing Hulk Hogan to WCW, Why He Fired Gagne

On the latest edition of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff talked about why he fired Greg Gagne from WCW and addressed Gagne taking credit for the NWO and for bringing Hulk Hogan to WCW. Highlights are below.

On why he brought Greg Gagne in to WCW in the first place: “I brought Greg Gagne in, number one. I had really hoped that Greg was going to work out in WCW, and he could have easily worked out. Greg was, and probably still is in some respects, a very, very knowledgable guy. And one of the things that I think Greg was, and possibly could still be, although the industry has changed so much since Greg was really involved in it, he’s a great teacher, especially when it comes to psychology. I go back to Verne [Gagne], and you look at a lot of the great talent that came out of Minneapolis, a lot of them, I’m talking about announcers, I’m talking about wrestlers, myself included, [Hulk] Hogan, you name it. Curt Hennig. Rick Rude. So many top, top talents came through Minneapolis, and out of Minneapolis originally. And a lot of the ones that really became successful owe a lot of their success to Verne Gagne. He could be tough to work with, he was stubborn, he only saw things one way, sound familiar? He was very rigid in his approach to things, but when it came to psychology, I think he was one of the best ever, maybe.”

“And Greg, clearly, having grown up in the business around Verne, and with Verne, was a beneficiary of that. And Greg could be a great teacher.”

On hearing evil Vince McMahon stories from the Gagnes: “Greg also could be his own worst enemy. And I think when Verne went out of business, and the AWA folded, there was a bitterness in Greg. I think Greg always believed that he should of, ya know, and I remember hearing this story, and I’ll give you an example. When I went to work with AWA, and I had finally gotten to the point where Greg, and Verne, and others would open up to me on what was going on in the industry and how evil Vince McMahon was and how Vince was trying to put the AWA and all the smaller territories out of business, I mean I heard all of the horrible Vince McMahon stories you could possibly hear. As a young man, a young kid really, young man but in wrestling experience I was a kid, I was very impressionable, I believed all of that stuff. There was so much bitterness in Greg because I think he really believed he should have been, he should have followed in his father’s footsteps, he should have been the head of his own territory.”

On why he fired Greg Gagne from WCW: “When he got to WCW, he was grateful for the job because he needed a gig, but it didn’t take long before I heard conversations, and I heard them from Bill Shaw, my boss, said Eric, you need to know something, thing Greg Gagne’s not doing you any favors, he’s trying to get meetings with me, and when I do have a conversation with him over the phone, he’s pulling the rug out from underneath you, behind your back. And I got so hot about that, number one I thought he was my friend, it hurt me personally, that a guy, A I thought was a good friend, Greg, and I, and Verne had been hunting together, we just did a lot of things together outside of the wrestling business. I go out of my way, I get him a job in WCW, not just because he was my friend, he was my friend who had value, and then to have him go behind my back and stab me in my back, and try to pull the rug out from underneath me, at that point, I got pissed, and I fired him, and that’s why I fired him.”

On Greg Gagne taking credit for the NWO and for bringing Hulk Hogan to WCW: “And to this day, I hear these interviews that he’s done, I mean I’ve seen some of them, and it makes my head explode, ya know, where he takes credit for the NWO. What the fuck? He wasn’t even there. It was two years after he got fired. He takes credit for bringing Hulk Hogan in. I got news for you, Greg, if you’re listening to this. One of the reasons Hulk Hogan wanted to make sure Ric Flair was in the fold was because he didn’t trust Greg Gagne. He wouldn’t have come to WCW if Greg Gagne would have had any real influence. I had to assure Hulk that Greg wasn’t going to have any influence, because Hulk knew him better than I did, or he knew him in a way differently than I did, him meaning Greg. To do this day, he still has those issues, he won’t let go of it, and it’s unfortunate.”

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