Eric Bischoff recently reflected on Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan’s notorious SummerSlam 2005 match, noting that at the time he lost respect for Michaels because of it. The match is noteworthy for Michaels supposedly overselling Hogan to the point of comedy during the event, which was apparently owing to the fact that the planned rivalry was changed to a single encounter that Hogan would win at Hogan’s request. Bischoff stated that he lost all respect for Michaels as a result of the match and explained why. Here are the highlights:
His reaction to the match:
“I lost all respect for Shawn Michaels. Look, it was pretty clear, I mean, there was an issue between Hulk and Shawn Michaels. There was a lack of respect, I think there. Perhaps some jealousy on Shawn’s part that, ‘Here’s this Hulk Hogan. He’s still here, he’s still the guy.’ I don’t know. I wasn’t close to Shawn at that point.”
The notion that Michaels was doing it because Hogan had the feud changed to put him over:
“I get that. Deal with it after the show’s over. Deal with it next week when you get back to the office. Do whatever you need to do, but don’t — don’t go into business for yourself, and that’s exactly what Shawn did. He was doing it to prove a point, he was doing it to embarrass Hogan. And I just lost all respect for Shawn Michaels that night. I was pissed. And not because it was Hulk Hogan. [It’s the] f**king main event of a PPV. You’re going into business for yourself because your feelings are hurt or you’re jealous, or you pissed off? Don’t be a bitch. Go out and do your job. Be a pro and deal with it after the fact.”
Whether he thinks Hogan and Michaels are on good terms now:
“Oh, I think so. I doubt that they break bread together, or hang out together or anything like that. But you know in fairness, Shawn has really turned his life around. I mean, the Shawn Michaels that you would meet today would probably be just as disappointed in himself for doing what he did as I was. Shawn’s a different cat.
“And Hulk doesn’t hold grudges. It’s so funny — I hear people talk about Hulk Hogan like they really know him, and they don’t. And there’s this narrative about what kind of person Hulk is. He’s one of the most generous and one of the most forgiving people you’ll ever meet. He doesn’t want to carry any negative baggage around, especially when it’s negative baggage that doesn’t matter to anyone anymore. I mean, it’s silliness in a way. It’s like having a grudge against somebody that you went to school with in the sixth grade because he took your lunch money twice. It’s f**king stupid. And I think that Hulk is probably in that frame of mind. And I think Sean is too so I would imagine if they cross paths they would probably sit down and have a wonderful dinner together or whatever.”
You can listen to the complete podcast below:
(h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription)
