Eric Bischoff On If Ted Turner Should Be In The WWE Hall Of Fame
From Stu Hart to many of the Von Erichs to the Harlem Heat, it's clear that performing in the WWE isn't a prerequisite for being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Thus, it's not outside the realm of possibilities that former WCW owner Ted Turner could one day be enshrined in WWE's Hall of Fame. Eric Bischoff discussed the likelihood of that happening on his 83 Weeks podcast that took place before being fired by WWE.
"That has come up before and I am not 100 percent sure about this but I do believe there has been an attempt to reach out to Ted to see if he would be interested in that," Bischoff revealed. "I think he should. Whatever the Hall of Fame means to somebody, again, the word genius means something different to different people. Whether someone deserves, I don't know if deserves is a fair word, but whether somebody should be in the Hall of Fame I guess depends on your perspective.
"My perspective is that anybody that has had a significant impact on the industry, or is responsible in any small or large part for the industry having grown to the extent that it has in the last 30 or 40 years probably should be in the Hall of Fame or at least recognized in some way, shape, or form. I think ceratinly it could be argued had it not been for Ted Turner and his commitment for sports entertainment/professional wrestling, whatever you choose to call it, but had it not been for that commitment for the opportunity for WCW back in the late 80s, early 90s to be a place for great talent to learn and to evolve and to end up working with the WWF as a result. I think when you look at someone's overall impact on the industry and the contributions they had made and look, not all of them were great, there have been some dark moments in WCW and I'm sure from WWE's point of view there were some more dark moments than others. But I think it would be hard for anybody to argue that Ted Turner's commitment to the industry is one of the things that has helped us to get to where we are today.
"Had it not been for the competition that WCW provided the WWE at a critical time in the mid-90s when sports entertainment was teetering a bit as far as popularity. Had it not been for that competition that reenergized it and grew the business to a level up to that point nobody would have dreamed, I am not sure we would be where we are today, but I am sure it is fair to say we wouldn't have been. That reason alone I would think Ted Turner should get a nod.
"Turner is now 80 years old and recently revealed that he's suffering from dementia. He has receded from the public spotlight so Bischoff believes if he is one day inducted, Turner likely wouldn't be there in person to accept.
"I don't talk to Ted, but I have a friend who does and Ted is not making any public appearances anymore. Every once in a while you would catch him doing a magazine interview but that is a very controlled type of environment so I doubt we will ever see Ted travel into the WWE Hall of Fame anytime soon," said Bischoff.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.