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ERIC BISCHOFF - FAQ
What did he do for WCW?
His official title was "President of WCW" but what he actual did switched
from day to day. His main duties were to dictated the overall direction of
WCW, did most of the booking, oversaw day to day operations, signed
wrestlers, negotiated contracts, and mostly had all the same powers Vince
McMahon has in the WWF.
The one thing Bischoff doesn't have that McMahon has is that he can be fired
at anytime and was. On September 1999 Bischoff was fired as WCW President
and replaced by the team of Bill Busch, Vince Russo, and Ed Ferrera.
He returned to WCW in April 2000 but his job duties were not the same as
before. Bischoff mostly was only involved in the creative process of WCW
with Vince Russo and he left a few months after.
How long did he work for WCW?
His first broadcast as an announcer was at Great American Bash 1991 which is
considered by smart fans as being the worst pay per view ever.
After Bill Wats was fired/quit by WCW owners in 1993, Eric Bischoff went to
them and asked for the job. At first he was mainly just a puppet for the
bigger WTBS executives and ran the company by using as little money as they
could. When that didn't work out Bischoff went on a spending spree by
signing Hulk Hogan in 1994 and much more talent from WWF afterwards. After
the Hogan signing their was an immediate rise in revenues so Bischoff was
rewarded and given the title of Vice President of WCW. Soon after that
Bischoff started WCW Nitro in 1995.
Bischoff was again promoted to a higher position as President of WCW during
some time in the middle of 1997 to sometime in 1999 but it is hard to know
the exact time since no major changes took place. He remained President of
WCW until September 1999 when he was fired after revenues took a dive.
He then returned in April 2000 as the creative minds of WCW with Vince Russo
but left a few months after when Vince Russo took control of all the
bookings and Bischoff felt he wasn't given enough power.
What does "on the fly" booking mean?
One of Bischoff's creative strategies was to use "on the fly" booking,
meaning that the matches booked are not decided until the night of the show
(for television shows) and then finishes are not decided until the night of
the show. (for pay per views). Since WCW's roster was so big at the time it was very easy to use "on the
fly" booking rather than taking up time to plan out the card. But using "on
the fly" booking over and over does begin to grow old and continuity from
show to show never happens and the result is that the fans get bored which
they did.
Who thought of Nitro?
Eric Bischoff and Ted Turner. Turner wanted a wrestling show on Monday
Nights but Bischoff thought of the format, original template, and name of
the show.
What's with the lawnmower jokes?
In his early wrestling career Bischoff worked for Verne Gagne and his AWA in
it's ending years. Bischoff's job was mainly the name as a gopher. He got
coffee, ran errands, and actually mowed Gagne's lawn. As a result of
Bischoff's work Gagne promoted him to be an announcer and eventually gave
him power of the company before it's close.
What's with the AWA jokes in general?
When Eric Bischoff took control of the AWA in 1990 the company was already
in very bad shape but Bischoff's control was considered a big disaster. He
created the Team Challenge Series which resulted in so little fans coming to
the shows that they had to start filming in a studio without a crowd. Larry
Zbyszko was the final AWA World Champion under Bischoff and was signed away
by WCW while still the champion. That final move shut down AWA for good and
it filed for bankruptcy soon after.
Is he really a black belt?
Yes. Bischoff is an actual martial artist and holds black belts in several
disciplines.
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