Eric Bischoff On If He Ever Pitched Stories As RAW GM, Why Bret Hart Vs. Hulk Hogan Didn’t Happen In WCW

On a recent episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff answered fan questions including if he ever pitched stories while RAW GM, and why Bret Hart vs. Hulk Hogan in WCW never happened. Some highlights are below.

On if he ever pitched creative while RAW GM: “When I was general manger of RAW my role was to pretend I was the general manager of RAW. I was strictly an on-camera opportunity for me. It’s one that I’m really grateful for because I had a blast doing it. It was the best decision probably one of the best decisions I’ve made in my wrestling career to be honest. But, I was not involved in any creative process, pitch meetings. I showed up about 11 o’clock in the morning about two o’clock in the afternoon I’d get a list of the segments that I was in or the dialogue that went along with it and then I would just wait till about the end towards teh end of the day usually about 530 or 6 before I would start thinking about it because I knew it would change. I didn’t want to kind of get myself ready for a scene and dialogue that I knew was going to change anyway because I wanted to keep my head clear so that once I focused on what I was doing I didn’t get myself confused once I got out there live. So, I’d wait till about 530 in the afternoon and then I’d get my final supposedly final draft of what we were going to do script wise. But, once it got to that point the scene was pretty well set there may be some minor variations in the dialogue, but once I got that I go find a corner to hide in where I wouldn’t be distracted kind of put myself into that scene and into that dialogue and kind of visualize it in my head and go do it and then I go home. That was it.”

On if he ever underestimated a story: “The NWO idea. When that idea started taking shape in my head a couple of years before we actually did it and when I say taking shape in my head I mean there were fragments of ideas that were kind of floating around in the back of my mind. Whenever I was on a treadmill or away from the business or out doing something physical I would start thinking about some some of those random fragmented ideas and that was the case with the NWO and then when Scott Hall became available Kevin Nash became available all of a sudden it was kind of a desperate fragments of ideas started coming together and forming a picture. Now, I thought it was a pretty good idea. I thought when Scott came in and Kevin came in I went ‘aha’ here’s my opportunity. Again, not knowing at the time that Hulk would be the third man and all that. I understood it was going to be Sting we all know that. I knew it was a good idea. I didn’t have a clue not a clue what it would ultimately end up being.”

On why fans never got Hulk Hogan vs. Bret Hart in WCW: “I’ve mentioned before and with all due respect to Bret because I try really hard not to be negative. Look, Bret Hart amazing performer in a class all of his own when it comes to in-ring performance and his technical abilities. I loved watching Bret Hart matches I still do because of the level of almost perfection that he had in some ways in the ring. But, when Bret got to WCW he had gone through a lot. The Montreal Screwjob thing had much more of an impact on him than most people know and maybe even more than he’s willing to admit at this point in time. But, there was no rush. It wasn’t that I don’t want to suggest it because of that I didn’t book Hogan right away with Bret. No. It’s because when I brought Bret in it was because of Thunder. It was because Ted Turner was determined to bring in Thunder. I knew to avoid the dilution of the product that I could see coming I had to separate the rosters so that you didn’t have talent crossing over constantly because now you’ve got five hours of prime time wrestling on a week. It’s just no way to sustain that from a creative perspective.”

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