Eric Bischoff On Being Thrown In Trash By Vince McMahon After RAW GM Firing In 2005, How Idea Came Together

In a recent edition of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff discussed being fired as RAW general manager in 2005, how the idea came together for Vince McMahon throwing him in the trash, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Eric Bischoff on being fired as RAW GM in 2005: “I got notified by Stephanie McMahon that they just decided they were gonna go in a different creative direction. I still had time left on my contract when I got the call from Stephanie, and she just said we’re gonna take it a different direction, and we’re gonna pay you through your contract and you didn’t do anything wrong and there’s no heat. It’s just we need to go in a different direction. And I remember getting that call, and it was interesting. The two times I was terminated – in this case, not really fired or terminated but they just decided not to opt in to a contract extension – both times I was relieved. Stephanie, I think, anticipated me being upset or having some kind of response to the phone call. But I said, ‘Stephanie, I completely understand, and I think it’s time.’

“We had run out of rope as far as this character was concerned, and it started to get very redundant…..the premises of the story were always the same. I was the abusive general manager, I was the snarky little manipulative, power-hungry, abusive boss – that was the narrative. Eventually, whoever it was, would get their hands on me in the ring and beat my ass. And that was great, it worked for three or four years. But after a while, you get tired of doing that as a performer because you know you’re doing the same things essentially over and over and over again. Maybe doing it with different people, the setups may be a little different, but you just run out of room. I wasn’t a wrestler and couldn’t get in the ring and further a story. I was pretty limited.”

On the original script calling for John Cena to throw him in the trash and why he suggested Vince McMahon do it: “I had no idea what the future was gonna hold at this point, and I didn’t even think about it. In my mind, at least, it was the last time I was ever gonna appear in WWE. Someone told me a long time ago, the end of the story always hangs on the beginning of the story – they have to be really well connected. I thought the beginning of my story in WWE didn’t start in WWE, it started in WCW. The reason I ended up in WWE is because of that story in WCW and the animosity and the battle between Vince McMahon and me. I thought if we were gonna end this story, let the end hang on the beginning, and that beginning is Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon. As cool as it would’ve been a moment for John Cena, it wouldn’t have been that valuable for him. John Cena beating the shit out of Eric Bischoff – while that may have satiated the audience’s appetite to see the heel get his comeuppance, it wouldn’t have really ended the story the way the story should’ve ended. I called Vince and said maybe it would be better if it was you that took me off and threw me in the dump truck and drove me out of the arena. That was the beginning of my story in WWE and the end of my story in WWE made more sense. I think it was perfect.”

On how the garbage compactor stunt worked: “They sterilized the hell out of it. If you go back and watch the show, you’ll see at some point there’s a tight shot of that garbage that was in the back of the truck…..they went out and bought a bunch of things, took out all the product, crushed it all up, and put it in the sanitized truck. So, while it looked like garbage, it was stuff that literally just came off the shelf. It was easy. The garbage truck operator did say early to me say, ‘Look, when you go in here, this giant metal compactor is gonna go all the way down. We’re not gonna bring it all the way into the back of the truck like we normally do to pack it full. We’re just gonna close it, we don’t retract. But make sure there’s nothing hanging out. Kind of tuck yourself as far back as you can to avoid any chance of having that giant compactor come down on you or around you.’ So, I did that, and the truck drove off.”

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