Eric Bischoff Opens Up About Scott Hall's Influence On The NWO

During the latest episode of the 83 Weeks Podcast, former WCW President Eric Bischoff spoke about the passing of Scott Hall a few weeks back at the age of 63.

Having such a close and storied relationship with Hall, Bischoff went into detail on the impact Hall had on the creation of the nWo and what his debut in WCW meant for the company.

"More than agree with it," Bischoff said, regarding Scott Hall being the catalyst of the success of the nWo. "What was really interesting for me during the beginning of the nWo, Hulk Hogan wasn't originally in my plans to be the third man, Sting was. Hulk and I have never really talked about this but when Hulk was in his movie trailer in California making Santa with Muscles and was watching a tape of Scott Hall making his way down and then Kevin Nash showing up.

"You'd have to be not paying very close attention to notice that there was something special happening. What was really fascinating was not only did Hulk Hogan throw his hand in the ring and say 'okay, I'm ready to turn heel,' even though previously a year before he turned it down as elegantly as he could while throwing me out of his house. When Hulk saw that magic and that magic was Scott Hall and then Kevin and the vibe, Hulk Hogan came to the table in a whole different frame of mind.

"Prior to that moment when Hulk threw his name in the hat and said we were going to go with it and even shortly thereafter, Hulk Hogan was used to being the shot caller. Everything revolved around Hulk and in the case of the nWo, Scott and in particular Kevin, Hulk realized that hey, these guys have something special and I'm either going to get that rub and this is going to work or I'm going to come out and be the same or different version of the Hulk Hogan character that everybody was familiar with.

"Hulk took a lot of cues from Scott and Kevin, a lot from Scott and I think Kevin took a lot from Scott. Scott had so much charisma and such a feel, you can't even articulate it. I'm sure Kevin and I know Hulk was looking at Scott as the guy who set the tone and brought the vibe that both Kevin and Hulk were able to tap into and it was that combination that became so successful."

Adding to the group of professional wrestlers to show their love for Scott Hall, The Undertaker commented on Hall's passing, highlighting how gifted of a worker Hall was. The Deadman also credited Hall for showing him the ropes during their time together in Japan.

Continuing to talk about Scott Hall's impact on the nWo and WCW, Eric Bischoff also mentioned how giving Scott Hall was to talent, including The Icon Sting. Bischoff detailed how great of a mind Hall had and what impact he played on the legendary career of Sting.

"At its core it was Scott, he had so much charisma, he couldn't give too much of it away," Bischoff said. "Some people need to be careful of how much of a rub they give to others... When I said earlier, Scott was one of the most generous people I ever met, it's kind of what I mean. He wanted everybody around him to get over, he wanted them to get over maybe more than he wanted himself to get over. He was that comfortable with himself and he was so giving creatively. Sting, the crow character that we're watching in AEW, that was Scott Hall's mind.

"That was Scott Hall describing that character in such great detail and it was so vivid when Scott first shared his vision for that character for Sting and how Sting would interpret that character and present it. We all sat back and I did, I was a fly on the wall and just shut my mouth and listened because it was so cool. Sting's eyes were as big as silver dollars, Hulk and Kevin and everybody got so excited about it. That's what I mean about being generous, being creatively generous, which is rare in the wrestling business."

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