Eric Bischoff Recalls Working With Steve Austin During WWE's Ruthless Aggression Era

When the topic of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is brought up, Eric Bischoff usually isn't the first person to come to mind. However, in addition to Bischoff being the one to fire Austin from WCW, the two also worked together for a stretch in 2003. This includes the "Redneck Triathalon" at WWE Bad Blood and their time as co-GMs of "WWE Raw." Speaking on a "Locked & Loaded" fan Q&A episode, Bischoff shared his thoughts on working with Austin during that period.

"As far as physical interaction, actually doing something other than running my mouth, the stuff I did with Steve was so much fun," Bischoff said. "That was the best storyline [or] angle. It really wasn't a match — it was just Steve kicking my ass for four or five minutes, but it was the most fun I've ever had in a situation like that."

Bischoff recalled one of the benefits of working with Austin was that he was one of the only performers in WWE at the time who wasn't "scripted to death." Austin would get handed a script, would quickly look it over, and would go out and do things the way Austin wanted to do them. Since he knew Austin wouldn't be going by the script, Bischoff said he didn't spend much time looking at it either.

"Improv is hard," Bischoff continued. "Anybody that's actually tried to study it, or do it, or take classes in it knows that, especially in the beginning, it's really awkward. And for somebody to be so good at it like Steve Austin was ... makes it so easy for whoever he's working with. In this case, it was me. It was a blast."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Locked & Loaded" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.