Eric Bischoff Recalls Sting Questioning How Babyfaces Could Work Against The nWo’s Cool Heels

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff recalled an early conversation with Sting about the problem the nWo created. Bischoff spoke about how Sting was concerned that the fans were cheering the bad guys, which led to moment he decided to fully commit to the ‘cool heel’ formula. You can check out some highlights below:

On the Conversation:

“I remember this so specifically because I had a decision to make. And it was such an interesting conversation, because it was with Steve Borden. It was early on, like the second or third week after Scott and Kevin showed up together. The reason I remember it is that when Steve would come to me about the way things were going, they were very interesting conversations. Because there was no emotion in it — there was passion, he cared, but it wasn’t the defensive, push-pull negotiation those conversations usually were.”

On How Sting Looked At It:

“It was very analytical. Steve came to me and said, ‘Eric, the babyfaces, we don’t know how to sell this. What do we do? We kind of turned the psychology upside down overnight. Nobody had a chance to get used to it. One minute, the heels are the bad guys getting popcorn thrown at them; the next minute, people are standing up and cheering them. How do I, as a babyface, make that work in the ring when it turns my psychology 180 degrees?’ He was right, and there was nothing I could say. What am I going to say, ‘No Steve, you’re imagining this. Those people really aren’t cheering those two guys,’ what are you, high? It was what it was.”

On Committing To It:

“That was the moment I committed to the cool heels, fully aware that Sting and a lot of guys like him were uncomfortable with how to perform in this new psychology. We went from barely putting 1,500 people in an arena for a pay-per-view to 20, 30, 40,000. Because the formula worked, so people adapted eventually — but it took a long time. So yeah, I got pushback, and I remember the moment it became acute.”

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