Eric Bischoff Says That Billy Corgan Resurrecting The NWA Was "A Mistake"

During the 83 Weeks Podcast, Eric Bischoff talked about Halloween Havoc 1993 on the eve of NXT doing their first version of the pay-per-view last Tuesday. Bischoff also talked about how during that time, WCW was hemorrhaging cash and struggling to survive as a company. He said that the product was so bad that it was at one of its lowest points in the company's history.

"WCW had been corkscrewing into the sewer for so long, that this was a crescendo of chaos," Bischoff said. "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."

Bischoff continued on to say that WCW was losing tons of money doing house shows. He talked about being the one to make them cut out house shows completely until they built up their company and storylines better for people to take an interest and turn in a profit for the company.

"I am not a math guy," Bischoff said. "But even I would look at the numbers and go, 'wait a minute, if you go out 10 times and you lose $1000 each time you go out the door, then why does going out the door 25 times make that prospect anymore appealing?' They kept coming up with these plans to increase house shows and there was absolutely no logic to it whatsoever.

"It finally got to the point where I stood up and said, 'This is crazy; you guys are not thinking clearly. We should shut down our house shows and not even do another one. We'll do T.V. and we'll do pay per views, not do another house show until we build up some demand for the product.' That made me a really unpopular cat inside of the WCW offices with a number of people."

Bischoff also mentioned that on the show, there was a mix up between the NWA title being involved in this show and WCW. He also talked about the current resurrection of the NWA, and gave his thoughts on Billy Corgan's company.

"It was such a cluster f***," Bischoff said. "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.

"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. This was WCW right in the middle of it. I didn't understand it then. It was such a cluster."

Bischoff also mentioned Dustin Rhodes and how awesome his match with Steve Austin was on this show. He mentioned how his father Dusty was the booker during this time, but never felt like Dustin was handed anything outright.

"I never got the impression that Dusty was force feeding Dustin," Bischoff said. "Dustin deserved the opportunities that he got – he was that good. Dustin had the talent and a ton of potential. There's no question that Dustin clearly had a good handle on psychology. Looking back on it today, I could objectively say I'm sure Dustin had some advantages, but it wasn't overt. Dustin went on to prove the fact that Dusty was right about him."

Bischoff also talked about 'Spin the Wheel, Make a Deal' at Halloween Havoc. He said they dropped it because it sucked and he didn't like it. He also said that the wheel is a factor in why he hates gimmick matches so much today.

"No, it was predetermined," Bischoff said. "I think I'm scarred for life. I think I hate gimmick matches because of things like Spin the Wheel, Make a Deal and the incessant never-ending desire and need by producers to keep coming up with variations of stupid gimmick matches. Texas Death Match? I get it. I just hated it."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.