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JG's Retro Column: Eric Bischoff, WCW, and What Could Have Been

By James Guttman
Jun 21, 2007 - 12:25 PM

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Originally Published: March 26th, 2004

It's been three years since the final edition of WCW Nitro. Three Christmases, three birthdays, and three New Years since Shane McMahon stepped into Panama City and purchased World Championship Wrestling right from under his father's nose. In some ways, it seems like yesterday. In others, it seems like ages ago.

WWE recently put out a DVD chronicling the battle between Ted Turner's "rasslin'" and Vince McMahon's empire. It's a funny thing about that Monday Night Wars DVD. As you watch it, you see moods change. As the story unfolds and the tide shifts, all those interviewed seem to go through a metamorphosis.

Eric Bischoff is a prime example. If you watch back, you'll see Eric begin the story with a glow in his eyes and a smile on his face. He relishes in the stories of WCW like your dad telling you how far he walked to school each morning. There's a gleam in his eyes that transcends anything you see him do on Raw. It's not a character. It's real.

The thing about Bischoff is that he had a bond with World Championship Wrestling. We could debate all day about his indiscretions while running the place. Did he offer big money contracts to those that weren't worth the cost of the paper? Yes. Did he use his position to rub elbows with celebrities? Sure. All these things may be true, but at the end of the day, no one could deny the fact that WCW is what made Eric Bischoff a name we know.

Bisch may not have loved the WCW that many fans loved. He wasn't a traditionalist and probably looks down on the days before TNT plastered the product in prime time. He loved the WCW that he felt was his. Sort of like the fast food restaurant Assistant Manager that marches around with a sense of ownership when the real manager isn't there, Easy E considered himself the top dog of Atlanta. When you consider that down at WCW Headquarters, the real manager didn't show up too much, it only makes sense.

For that, and that alone, Eric Bischoff felt a bond to the company. Vince McMahon lead the WWF and Bischoff lead WCW. To him, they were equals. In good times, he looked at the company with the same sense of pride that McMahon looked at his. To Eric, there was no difference. The way he speaks of WCW on the DVD shows that. It was his, no matter what anyone said.

For Vince McMahon, WCW wasn't like that. World Championship Wrestling represented the enemy. It was the company that practiced predatory practices on his. They gave away his show results. They stole his stars. They plundered his audience. As Gorilla Monsoon would say, "there was no love lost" between Vinnie Mac and the Atlanta company.

The Monday Night War ended on the day that Vince McMahon stepped in and purchased WCW. With Eric Bischoff's deal all but done, television clearance fell through and the Bisch's backers backed out. The DVD shows Eric's face drop as he discusses it. In a sense, you feel for him. This would have been his chance to really be at the helm of the ship. Everything he did would be money in his pocket, not someone else's. Bisch wouldn't have to pretend to be the top dog. He actually would be.

Instead, it was Vince taking the company. Now a shell of its former self, WCW had pretty much deteriorated into nothingness. That didn't change the memories that it drummed up. It's like having an ex-girlfriend that you broke up with badly. From that moment on, any girl with the same name as that ex gets an immediate negative check in your mind. This may not have been the same World Championship Wrestling that pummeled Titan, but the name was the same. It seemed obvisous that McMahon didn't feel he owed them anything.

In his in-ring promo that night, Vince said that he would just shut down WCW. It was meant to be a scripted attention grabber, meant to build up the excitement when his son took control and resurrected it. Ironically, the resurrection didn't really happen. Three years later, there is no WCW and Vince McMahon is recreating his own company wars, complete with drafts and lotteries.

One thing remains unchanged, though. Eric Bischoff is at the head of one of the companies, focused on the success of his show. He may pretend to be in charge, but there's still another man in the big office. This time around, Bisch is working for Vince McMahon.

I can't help but wonder what things would have been like if Eric actually did get to buy the promotion. But hey, I'm just thinking out loud. As I said earlier, that was a long time ago. To Eric Bischoff, though, I'm sure it feels like yesterday.

Hear Eric Bischoff's 65 MINUTE shoot interview with James Guttman right now on... ClubWWI.com