Eric Bischoff On How The NWO Affected WWE, If He Was Contacted About Their HOF Induction
Perhaps Eric Bischoff's greatest wrestling idea in WCW was forming the NWO. The group defined WCW during The Monday Night Wars and even had a short run in WWE.
The NWO will be inducted into the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame and Bischoff talked about the stable's legacy when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.
"I'm not objective, but I also think it's fair for any reasonable person to say? the NWO angle changed the wrestling industry more than anything that's happened since the first WrestleMania," stated Bischoff. "To suggest otherwise I think is being foolish. Had their not been the NWO, there wouldn't have been the Wars and there would have not been an Attitude Era. Had not any of the above happened, I doubt WWE would have been able to become a public company.
"Who knows where the wrestling business would be had there not been the NWO? Had it not been for the NWO, we wouldn't be seeing the success that we're seeing across the board today. It really comes down to the Monday Night Wars as they rose the genre to its peak in terms of mainstream awareness and buy-in. Had it not been for that period of time, we wouldn't be watching what we're watching today."
The members being inducted as part of the NWO are Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman aka Syxx. Waltman said that The Big Show and Bischoff should also be inducted in as part of the group and Bischoff was asked if he was ever contacted for the group's induction.
"No. I was surprised they announced it this early as they usually announce it a little later in the year. But no, I haven't spoken to anybody. I didn't even know it until I read it online the next day," revealed Bischoff.
Bischoff's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired on a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. During the interview, Bischoff discussed the importance of television ratings, how ratings were calculated, why AEW should be concerned about their ratings dropping, if he could see FOX moving SmackDown to another night and more. You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.