Eric Bischoff Reflects On Why Kevin Sullivan Put WCW World Title On Chris Benoit

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff discussed the infamous “glass ceiling” for smaller wrestlers in WCW and admitted that he was one of the executives who held that belief at the time.

Co-host Conrad Thompson asked if Eddie Guerrero would have ever become world champion in WCW, or if he would have been held down like Dolph Ziggler was in WWE. You can check out some highlights below:

On Wether Guerrero Would’ve Been World Champion In WCW:

“Define eventually. [chuckles] I think eventually — four years later, to be honest, no. I think the culture creatively and — I mean, it’s almost like ideology. It’s a belief in something that isn’t really in this case necessarily defined by a list of rules. Still, there was a general kind of consensus amongst — even disparate personalities. Even you got guys that don’t really get along, don’t hang out, but they pretty much still agree on the basics of the industry. And at that time, there were still too many people — and you know, I was one of them. So not fading any heat here, folks.

“But I think the prevailing instinct, your gut. You don’t have any piece of paper that’s going to tell you you’re right or you’re wrong, you can’t do any research. You can pretend you can, but you can’t. It comes down to instinct. And sometimes your instincts are right on the money, and sometimes they’re not. And I think the prevailing instinct among the people in control. I’m talking about — now obviously, I was the president of the company. But still, let’s be honest. There were people who had a lot of influence, right? Because you’re managing personalities. You have to kind of bring people into the tent so to speak, and you compromise along the way. What do you do, sometimes? And everybody has, and everybody always will, by the way. But at that time, that influence would not — it would have taken them longer than four years to open their eyes, frankly. Mine too.”

On Kevin Sullivan’s Decision To Out the World Title on Chris Benoit:

“I think Kevin saw [Benoit & Guerrero eventually winning the title] coming. And I was thinking, ‘Gosh, I hate to fall on that four-year sword as badly as I did.’ Because I like to think that I would have seen that train coming sooner than four years. But I’m sure Kevin did. Absolutely solid that Kevin did. Because, here’s why I’m [sure]. First of all, because I knew Kevin pretty well. I think I’m capable of making a pretty good guess when it comes to his creative judgment. I spent a lot of time with him.

“But also — you know, I used to be in business with a guy, unbelievable. I’m not going to drop names, but had massive success in the entertainment business as an executive. And he always used to tell me, ‘Eric, bet on greed. When you’re forced to make a decision and try to make a judgment, and you’re kind of looking at who’s doing what and why, look for the greed. And when you find the greed, you’ll know what your next move is.’ And Kevin was a smaller guy. He was one of them. I think from a — I don’t want to say greedy, it’s not why I was tying that in. But deep down inside, I think Kevin more than anything wanted to prove that you don’t have to be 6’6” and 280 [pounds] to be a star. He struggled with it his whole life, professional life, I think that probably had more to do with it than anything. That’s my guess.”

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