WWE Hall of Famer and former WCW President Eric Bischoff took on an episode of his 83 weeks podcast, where he talked about a number of topics including Ted Turner’s impact on pro wrestling.
Bischoff said, “I just can’t imagine what wrestling today would look like had it not been for Ted Turner’s support. And this is one of those things — you can sit down and think about it, and it’ll take you to a rabbit hole that is fun and hard to get out of. But if you use your imagination and think, just from a purely business point of view. Forget about talent and all that, just purely business perspective. Had Ted not supported — financially and every other way — WCW, we would not have a Monday Night Wars. It wouldn’t have existed flat out. Had there been no Monday Night Wars, there’s a chance there’s no professional wrestling on television. At least not to the extent that we see now.”
“The Monday Night Wars catapulted WWE out of a slow, declining business, which they were. Just take your emotions out of it and look at the math. And if you look at the trajectory of WWE’s business over the course — again, we talked about it coming out of this steroid trial, they were losing ground. They were not a hot property. I remember distinctly a lot of conversations at the NAPTI convention for example, when you’re talking to general managers and program directors, and advertising executives. Who back in 1992, ’93 when I was participating in those events, and talking to people outside of the wrestling business who were in the entertainment business, television, specifically, and advertising — WWE was recognized as a ‘Yeah, it’s reasonably successful but a dying proposition.’”
On how WCW would have closed sooner if there was no nWo:
“That conversation I had with Hulk Hogan wouldn’t have been for Ric Flair, because Hulk [Hogan] didn’t have — he didn’t know me. He couldn’t have any confidence in me, and nor should he have at that point. I was learning on the job. I still had training wheels on. I was dependent on other people when it came to creative at that point. But Ric solved that problem for WCW and for me, and was largely responsible for Hogan coming over.”
“And I think it’s safe to say that had Hogan not come over, had the nWo not happened, I don’t think WCW would have been around by 1996 or 1997. I think it would have been done. There was so much pressure on — and even Ted Turner himself, with all of the support that he gave us over the years, back in 1993 or [’94] when he fired Bill Watts, made it clear to all of us through Bill Shaw that, ‘Either this company turns around and makes a profit, or I’m going to pull the plug.’ Well, had it not been for Hulk Hogan, I think that plug would have been pulled, probably by ’95 or ’96.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
