On the latest edition of his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff took aim at Billy Corgan and the National Wrestling Alliance, shooting down the promotion’s resurrection.
During a conversation about his dealings with the NWA when he was charged with overseeing WCW, the outspoken personality had this to say about Billy Corgan’s endeavours to restore the company to its former glory.
“The whole NWA – sorry Billy Corgan, Nick Aldis. Nick, I love you. Billy, I wish you nothing but the best, but this whole resurrect the NWA thing was a mistake just because that NWA title has been drugged through the sewage for so many years.”
Since it’s re-launch, the National Wrestling Alliance has been a bona-fide hit with fans everywhere. Doing away with the spectacle and razzmatazz of other products, the focus has been solely on traditional wrestling of the past.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7yPs6hZf_A
While Eric Bischoff’s take on the NWA will not be a popular one with fans of the company, the conversation spilled over to when the mastermind took the reigns of WCW with the presence of the NWA still lurking in the shadows:
“It was such a cluster f**k. Certain people felt strongly that the NWA had value. I was not one of them, partly because I just had no exposure to it. NWA was not on my radar. It didn’t exist in my mind. I didn’t understand it – why people were so desperate to hold onto this craziness. There was such a cloud over the intellectual property surrounding that belt, and there still is.”
Having had his say on the NWA, attention turned to the deep financial pit World Championship Wrestling were in when Eric stepped into the breach thanks to terrible business decisions:
“WCW had been corkscrewing into the sewer for so long, that this was a crescendo of chaos. It was just as bad as it’s ever been. It takes a year or more to turn things around, and unfortunately – or fortunately – this show was right in the middle of it. The creative sucked, the strategy sucked, everything about WCW was as bad as it could possibly have been.
Now, there was talent but talent is a separate issue. There were some great things to talk about from a talent perspective, but from a branding and a marketing and creative perspective, this is about as low as it can be.”
The rest of the interview covered Dustin Rhodes, Steve Austin and WCW Halloween Havoc 1993 as well as the steps Bischoff took in order to save the company from financial ruin.
Eric Bischoff was last seen on television during last Wednesday AEW Dynamite where he chaired the Town Hall Meeting between MJF and The Inner Circle.
If you would like to listen to the rest of the interview then you can subscribe to 83 Weeks now.
Credit for the interview: 83 Weeks
h/t for the transcription: Wrestling Inc.