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Eric Bischoff

May 04, 2023

Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and subsequently, the on-screen General Manager of WWE's Raw brand. Bischoff has also worked with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) where he served as Executive Producer of Impact Wrestling. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.

Eric Bischoff
Bischoff in 2011
Birth nameEric Aaron Bischoff
Born (1955-05-27) May 27, 1955 (age 67)[1]
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Kimberly Bowman
​
​
(m. 1979; div. 1982)​

Loree Bischoff
​
(m. 1984)​
Children2; including Garett Bischoff
Websitewww.ericbischoff.com
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Eric Bischoff
Billed height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[2]
Billed weight195 lb (88 kg)[2]
Billed fromDetroit, Michigan[2]
Debut1986

With an amateur background in martial arts, Bischoff also sporadically performed as an in-ring competitor, becoming a one-time WCW Hardcore Champion[3] and headlining the 1998 Road Wild pay-per-view event, teaming with "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan against Diamond Dallas Page and Jay Leno. He wrote an autobiography, titled Controversy Creates Cash, which was released in 2006 under WWE Books,[4] and a second book, titled Grateful, which was released in 2022.

Professional wrestling career

American Wrestling Association (1986–1991)

Bischoff started in wrestling working for the Minneapolis, Minnesota based American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1986 under the ownership of Verne Gagne. In 1989, Bischoff would become an on-air interviewer and host of the AWA until the company folded in 1991. Bischoff at first worked in the sales department on the AWA's syndicated programming, and became an on-air personality virtually by accident and at the last minute. Larry Nelson, whom at the time was employed by the AWA as an announcer, was arrested under suspicion of a DUI.[5] Because of Nelson's sudden unavailability, Verne Gagne and his son, Greg opted to recruit Bischoff (who initially had no desire to be in front of the camera) to fill-in on the interviews. Bischoff believed they thought he would be a good replacement due to his immediate availability in the television studio, and the fact that he was already wearing a suit and tie.

During the gradual demise of the AWA, the company was unable to meet payroll, and Bischoff auditioned for an announcer's position with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1990, but was not hired.

In his autobiography Controversy Creates Cash, Bischoff mentions working in his office during his time in the AWA when he'd heard a legitimate fight outside of his door. He said he'd looked up just in time to see wrestler The Sheik's head come breaking through the wall. He said despite this, the Sheik continued the fight while a stunned Bischoff looked on.

World Championship Wrestling (1991–2001)

Arrival and ascent to power (1991–1996)

In 1991, Bischoff joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a C-show announcer, debuting at The Great American Bash. As an announcer, Bischoff reported to producer Tony Schiavone and WCW's Vice President of Broadcasting, Jim Ross. In 1993, after WCW Vice President of Wrestling Operations Bill Watts resigned from the company, Bischoff went to TBS executive and WCW President Bill Shaw and WCW Executive Vice President Bob Dhue to apply for the job of Executive Producer. Ross and Schiavone seemed to be the two top candidates, however, Bischoff was hired in Watts' place.[6] Schiavone remained a producer and commentator until the company's demise, but Ross was granted his release from WCW and went to work for the WWF.[7] Initially, Bischoff and Dhue worked together as partners, but frequently clashed over the direction of the company.

In 1994, Bischoff was promoted from Executive Producer to Senior Vice President, putting him in charge of everything WCW. Dhue resigned, as did event manager Don Sandefeur and junior vice president Jim Barnett. Bischoff convinced Turner executives to better finance WCW in order to compete with the WWF. He moved WCW production to Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. Hulk Hogan, who was filming a show called Thunder in Paradise at Disney-MGM Studios, was approached by Bischoff and Ric Flair and signed to a contract with WCW. He also invested money in production values and increased the number of WCW pay-per-views (first seven a year, then 10, and then once a month). He also started a weekly live program on TNT, WCW Monday Nitro, that went directly against WWF's flagship Monday Night Raw. Bischoff remained an announcer on Nitro, regularly spoiling Raw results (as the latter show was not always aired live) to boost ratings. This created what became known amongst fans as the Monday Night Wars, as both WCW and WWF fought for viewers and in the process kick-started a new level of mainstream popularity for pro wrestling. The changes paid off, and in 1995, WCW turned a profit for the first time in the company's history. By 1997, Bischoff's official job title was President of World Championship Wrestling.

New World Order (1996–1998)

Main article: New World Order (professional wrestling)

In 1996, Bischoff signed WWF superstar Scott Hall, better known at the time as "Razor Ramon". Two weeks later on Nitro, Hall was joined by Kevin Nash, most previously known as "Diesel" in the WWF, to become "The Outsiders". Bischoff intentionally depicted the duo as WWF rebels who were not under contract to WCW. To avoid legal action by the WWF, Bischoff in a worked interview at The Great American Bash, asked point blank if they worked for the WWF, which both Hall and Nash denied. The Outsiders expanded and became the New World Order (nWo) when perennial fan-favorite Hulk Hogan aligned himself with the Outsiders in July 1996.

The nWo was depicted as a rival company engaging in a "hostile takeover" of WCW. Week to week, the angle grew more complex, with a mixture of main-eventers, mid-carders, executives, referees, managers, and announcers involved in various subplots related to the onscreen "WCW vs nWo" power-struggle. Led by the nWo storyline, WCW overtook the WWF as the number one wrestling promotion in America with Nitro defeating Raw in the ratings by a wide margin for 83 consecutive weeks. During this era, Bischoff moved from his role as commentator and joined the nWo as a manager. His television character, dubbed "Eazy E" by Hall ("Sleazy E" by the WCW commentators), became a dictator and egomaniac as the nWo boss. In the summer of 1998, Bischoff hosted a Tonight Show like segment on WCW programming with Miss Elizabeth. Ted DiBiase has said in shoot interviews that Bischoff originally hired DiBiase to be the spokesperson and financial backer for the nWo, but when the nWo was getting to be a more prominent storyline, Bischoff replaced DiBiase as nWo spokesperson.

Downfall of WCW (1998–1999)

When the WWF rebranded their product as "WWF Attitude" and began to focus on new superstars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and The Rock, and made owner/longtime announcer Vince McMahon into a character, this eventually resulted in a ratings turnaround for WWF. On April 13, 1998, WWF ended WCW's year and a half run on top of the ratings war. Despite losing in the ratings to WWF, WCW continued to post strong ratings, attendance, and PPV buyrates throughout 1998. In 1998 WCW built one of its first homegrown superstars in Bill Goldberg, and gave him the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on July 6, 1998 at the Georgia Dome in front of 39,919 people on Nitro.

In early 1999, Bischoff promoted Kevin Nash to head booker. Despite Goldberg drawing at the box office and doing three shows in December and January that did nearly a $1 million gate, the decision was made to end Goldberg's undefeated streak and put the belt on Nash. On the January 4 Nitro, at the Georgia Dome, Nash dropped the title to Hogan in a match that became known as the Fingerpoke of Doom, and the nWo was rebranded. By March ratings began dropping, and WCW began experiencing an endless streak of ratings losses.

Throughout 1999, Bischoff reverted to focusing on aging WCW stars such as Hogan, Diamond Dallas Page, Randy Savage, Sting, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Nash, Ric Flair, and Sid Vicious. In an effort to improve ratings, WCW also began to focus heavily on several celebrities such as Master P., Chad Brock, Megadeth, Dennis Rodman, and Kiss. One of the last deals Bischoff structured was a deal with the members of the rock band Kiss to have their own wrestling character known as The Kiss Demon.

By late 1999, WCW began losing around $5 million a month. Attendance, PPV buys and ratings were down significantly. On September 10, 1999, the decision was made to relieve Bischoff of power.

Replacement (1999–2000)

On September 10, 1999, Bischoff was relieved of his management position with WCW by Turner Sports chief Harvey Schiller. The job title "President of WCW" was eliminated. He was replaced with WCW Vice President of Strategic Planning Bill Busch, who was named Senior Vice President (handling the creative of the company with Brad Siegel handling the day to day operations). One of Busch's first acts in charge was the additions of former WWF head writer Vince Russo and his colleague Ed Ferrara (both of whom had worked on Raw when the show began to overtake Nitro in the ratings) to head up WCW's creative direction.[8]

In April 2000, Bischoff returned as an on-air character alongside Vince Russo to lead the heel faction The New Blood; Bischoff also worked on writing the shows with Russo during this time. Bischoff's last on-camera role in WCW was in July 2000 at the Bash at the Beach 2000 pay-per-view when Russo did a worked-shoot promo on Hulk Hogan.

Attempted purchase of WCW (2001)

On January 11, 2001 with WCW facing major financial woes, Siegel accepted Bischoff's offer to purchase the company.[9] Bischoff and Fusient briefly withdrew their offer when the WWF made an inquiry on WCW (due to the terms of a settlement, WWF had a right to bid on WCW's properties, should they ever be up for liquidation). When then-WWF broadcaster Viacom objected (fearing a WWF-owned show on a competing network), the Bischoff-Fusient consortium signed a new letter of intent.

However, the new head of Turner Broadcasting, Jamie Kellner then canceled all WCW programming due to losing money for several years from its television networks. WCW lost $60 million in 2000 alone.[10] Kellner believed that wrestling did not fit the demographics of either TBS or TNT and would not be favorable enough to get the "right" advertisers to buy airtime (even though Thunder was the highest-rated show on TBS at the time).[11][12] In the book NITRO: The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW by Guy Evans, it is said that a key condition in WCW's purchase deal with Fusient was that Fusient wanted control over time slots on TNT and TBS networks, regardless of whether these slots would show WCW programming or not. This influenced Kellner's decision to ultimately cancel WCW programming.[13] With no network on which to air its programming, WCW was of little value to Fusient, whose offer depended on being able to continue to air WCW programming on the Turner networks. Bischoff stated that "it made absolutely no sense for us to do the deal under those circumstances."[14] With WCW programming canceled (and Viacom subsequently no longer objecting), the company's key assets (tape library, trademarks, and selected contracts) were purchased by the WWF in March 2001 for a substantially lower price (approximately US$3.5 million) than what had been offered.

Post-WCW endeavors (2001–2002)

Bischoff briefly served as President of Matrats, a youth-based wrestling company.[15]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2007)

General Manager of Raw (2002–2005)

 
Bischoff during his time with WWE.

In 2002, Bischoff was hired by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, formerly WWF) to be the general manager of Raw. Although primarily an on-screen role, Bischoff had a wide range of contacts within WWE to whom he could pitch creative ideas.[16] He debuted as the first Raw general manager on the July 15 episode of Raw. He resurrected his characteristic brand of smarminess with the general manager position, again playing the arrogant heel character he had employed as the nWo boss in WCW. During his debut on Raw he told the audience about how he was president of WCW, creator of the nWo and how he forced Vince McMahon to change the ways he does business.[17] Bischoff is in second place of the longest reigns as general manager in WWE history, with three years in total. Former rival and former general manager of SmackDown Theodore Long surpassed Bischoff's record with a combined number of six years. Bischoff's wrestling innovations in WWE included the "Raw Roulette" and the Elimination Chamber, as well as feuds with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shane McMahon, John Cena, SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon, and former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) owner Paul Heyman. At Taboo Tuesday Bischoff had his head shaved after failing to beat his (kayfabe) nephew Eugene. Bischoff then began a face turn after his head got shaved. He favored face wrestlers such as Randy Orton, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. Bischoff subsequently took a vacation after allowing Randy Orton's team to become General Managers for up to four weeks with every member being the general manager once a week.

Bischoff began favoring heels again after then-WWE Champion John Cena, who was drafted to Raw in June 2005, refused to participate in Bischoff's vendetta against an impending ECW revival.[18] As a result, Bischoff "declared war" on Cena (citing disdain for Cena's rapping and "thug nature") and made wrestlers such as Chris Jericho and Christian try to take away the WWE Championship from Cena. In November, Bischoff aligned himself with Kurt Angle. Following several months of Raw and SmackDown! invasions, Bischoff lost to SmackDown! general manager Theodore Long at Survivor Series after The Boogeyman helped Long beat Bischoff.

On the December 5 episode of Raw, Bischoff was (kayfabe) "fired" as general manager, when Cena body slammed him and Vince McMahon tossed him into a garbage truck - following a "trial" where his history of unscrupulous actions were listed - and had him driven out of the arena. Bischoff then sat out the remainder of the year and spent the start of 2006 writing a book that would become Controversy Creates Cash. Bischoff was against writing a wrestling book initially, as he believes "most are bitter, self-serving revisionist history at best—and monuments to bullshit at their worst."[19]

Sporadic appearances and departure (2006–2007)

On September 25, 2006, Bischoff appeared on WWE television for the first time in close to a year, and after being brought into the ring by Jonathan Coachman, he proceeded to promote his recently finished book Controversy Creates Ca$h (ISBN 1-4165-2729-X), giving a worked shoot on McMahon and WWE. During his segment, Bischoff stated, "Without Monday Nitro there would be no Monday Night Raw...without the nWo there would be no DX...and without Eric Bischoff there would be no Mr. McMahon". After this statement, Bischoff's microphone was immediately cut off, Jonathon Coachman's music played and he was escorted from the arena by security.

A few days later John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) conducted a four-part interview with Bischoff, further discussing his book on WWE.com. During the interview, Bischoff discussed various topics, such as his true feelings towards Lex Luger, his thoughts on ECW promoter Paul Heyman, his decision of giving Kevin Nash booking power, and his overall reaction to the Monday Night Wars. The book was released on October 17, 2006 and became a New York Times best seller.

Bischoff was chosen as the special guest referee for the D-Generation X (DX) versus Rated-RKO match at Cyber Sunday on November 5, with 60% of the vote. He then cheated DX out of the win, leaving Randy Orton and Edge the victors. The next night on Raw, Bischoff was reinstated as General Manager for one night only. During his time as the General Manager on Raw, he restarted matches if he did not like the outcome. He also got revenge on Maria for her statement made in his trial the year before by making her face Umaga, forced John Cena to "take the night off," and banned DX from the building. He restarted the match between Jeff Hardy and Johnny Nitro for the WWE Intercontinental Championship after Hardy won by disqualification. Bischoff restarted that match as a No Disqualification match, and Nitro took advantage of that using Melina to distract Hardy and striking him with the title belt. At the end of the show, DX interfered in the main event when Bischoff tried to help Edge and Randy Orton win the World Tag Team Championship, and forced him to be humiliated by "Big Dick Johnson" as revenge for costing them their match the night before.

On March 5, 2007, Bischoff made a brief appearance on Raw in Phoenix, Arizona to give Vince McMahon his thoughts on the WrestleMania 23 match against Donald Trump. In August 2007, Bischoff's WWE contract expired.[20] On December 10, 2007, Bischoff appeared on Raw for its 15th Anniversary Special, and was confronted by Chris Jericho, the man whom he fired on Raw on August 22, 2005.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010–2014)

Immortal (2010–2012)

Main article: Immortal (professional wrestling)

In October 2009, Bischoff helped negotiate a deal among Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Hulk Hogan, and himself.[21] He premiered alongside Hogan on the January 4, 2010, episode of TNA Impact! as part of an alliance to take over and rebuild the franchise. Behind the scenes, he was also appointed TNA executive producer.[22]

 
Bischoff at a TNA event in July 2010.

Despite being a heel when dealing with the likes of Jeff Jarrett, Mick Foley and Abyss,[23][24] Bischoff refereed his first TNA match at Against All Odds, favoring the face challenger Samoa Joe over the heel champion A.J. Styles in a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, as part of the storyline, Bischoff punched out Styles' manager Ric Flair, after he interfered in the match, but the distraction led to Styles retaining his belt.[25] On the March 15 episode of Impact! Bischoff attempted to shave Mick Foley bald as a punishment for trying to help Jeff Jarrett in a handicap match the previous week, but was shaved bald himself, when Foley turned the tables on him.[26] At Lockdown Bischoff turned face by helping Team Hogan defeat Team Flair in the Lethal Lockdown match.[27] The next months Bischoff worked with Hogan, Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe against Sting and Kevin Nash, who claimed that they knew that Bischoff and Hogan were up to something.[28] During this time Abyss turned on Hogan and went on a rampage, which included attacking the TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam to the point that he was forced to vacate the title, all the while claiming that he was controlled by some entity, that was coming to TNA.[29][30][31] After he manhandled TNA president Dixie Carter on the October 7 episode of Impact!, Bischoff presented Carter with the paperwork that would have Abyss fired after his match with Rob Van Dam at Bound for Glory, which she then proceeded to sign.[32]

At Bound for Glory Bischoff turned heel with Hogan, as the two of them helped Jeff Hardy win the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Bischoff, Hogan and Hardy then aligned themselves with Abyss and Jeff Jarrett.[33] On the following episode of Impact! it was revealed that Bischoff had tricked Carter and the paperwork she had signed a week earlier, were not to release Abyss, but to turn the company over to him and Hogan. Meanwhile, Bischoff's and Hogan's new stable, now known as Immortal, formed an alliance with Ric Flair's Fortune.[34] On the November 4 episode of Impact!, Bischoff took part in his first match in TNA, challenging the concussed Mr. Anderson to earn his shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, only for Matt Morgan to take his spot and beat Bischoff to become the number one contender.[35] Dixie Carter returned on the November 25 episode of Reaction, informing Hogan and Bischoff that a judge had filed an injunction against the two on her behalf over not having signatory authority, indefinitely suspending Hogan from TNA.[36] On January 31, 2011, at the tapings of the February 3 episode of Impact!, Fortune turned on Immortal, explaining that they were not going to let TNA suffer the same fate as WCW.[37][38] Hogan, having won the court battle against Dixie Carter, returned to TNA on the March 3 episode of Impact!, declaring himself as the new owner of the promotion.[39]

However, on the May 12 episode of the newly renamed Impact Wrestling, Immortal lost control of the program to Mick Foley, who revealed himself as the Network consultant, who had been causing problems for Immortal ever since Bischoff and Hogan took over the company, however, this angle was aborted just three weeks later, when Foley left the promotion.[40][41] Also in May, Bischoff declared war on the X Division, after the legitimate firing of Jay Lethal, and on the May 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, wrestled his second TNA match, when he teamed with Matt Hardy in a tag team match, where they defeated Generation Me (Jeremy and Max Buck).[42][43] The storyline concluded on August 11, when the Network gave the division back to the original X Division wrestlers, after the success of Destination X, which saw Immortal's Abyss lose the X Division Championship to Brian Kendrick.[44] On October 6, it was reported that Bischoff had signed a contract extension with TNA.[45] On October 16 at Bound for Glory, after losing control of TNA back to Dixie Carter, Hogan turned on the rest of Immortal by saving Sting from a beatdown at the hands of its members.[46] Sting had won the match when referee Jackson James, who had earlier in the event been revealed as Bischoff's real-life son Garett Bischoff, reluctantly called the ring bell for a submission, which led to Eric hitting his son with a steel chair following the match, starting a rivalry between the two.[46] On April 15, 2012 at Lockdown, Eric and Garett captained opposing teams in the annual Lethal Lockdown match. Garett won the match for his team by pinning Eric, forcing his father out of TNA in the process.[47]

Backstage roles, lawsuit and departure (2012–2014)

After Lockdown, Bischoff did not appear on Impact Wrestling and focused on his backstage roles. In October 2013, Bischoff was sent home by TNA to sit out the remainder of his contract, which expired in early 2014. In May 2015, Bischoff, his son Garett, and his business partner Jason Hervey sued TNA for unpaid salary.[48] During an interview in August 2016, when Bischoff was asked what went wrong with the company he said: "I try to put them both out of my mind so I couldn't tell you. No comment. I'm in the middle of a lawsuit with them so I can't really comment." When asked about positive memories during his time with TNA he stated that he did not have any.[49] In 2019, Bischoff said of his TNA run, "For the most part, it is very regrettable" and "looking back, I wished I wouldn't have done it, with one or two exceptions."[50]

Sporadic WWE appearances (2016–present)

Bischoff inducted Diamond Dallas Page into the WWE Hall of Fame.[51] On the 25th Anniversary of Raw on January 22, 2018, Bischoff made a guest appearance on the show, during a segment with other former Raw general managers and on July 22, 2019 on the Raw Reunion.[52]

In June 2019, WWE announced that Bischoff would be the executive director of SmackDown, and part of Bischoff's role is to act as an intermediary between WWE and Fox executives due to his background in the television industry,[53][54] but he was replaced on October 15 by Bruce Prichard,[55] and with immediate effect he had left the company.[56] Bryan Alvarez reported that he heard "zero good things" about Bischoff and that Bischoff did not know the product nor the wrestlers.[57] According to Fox, Bischoff was released since "[s]ignificant promises were made that we don't feel were upheld".[58]

In March 2020, Bischoff reflected on his WWE departure, stating "I knew about six weeks in, eight weeks in, it just wasn't going to work out. [...] I knew I wasn't fitting and it wasn't a secret. [...] It just wasn't right. [...] I had to fit in the system and I wasn't able to do it in the timeline it needed to be done".[59] In June 2020, Bischoff further reflected on his departure by saying "it was on me" and backs his profession by blaming his failure to adapt to the new job for why his tenure was so short and described the problem as being more of a "chemistry issue" than anything else. Bischoff also pointed out that he had little creative control over SmackDown but was more of an overseer for Vince, who has the most say in the company's creative direction.[60]

On April 6, 2021, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.[61] He also appeared on the December 27 episode of Raw, as the officiator for the renewal of The Miz and Maryse's vows,[62] and on the January 21, 2022 episode of SmackDown, during a backstage segment with Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville.[63]

All Elite Wrestling (2020–2021)

Bischoff appeared on TNT for the first time since 2000 on August 5, 2020 when he appeared on AEW Dynamite to moderate a debate between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy. He referred to his appearance as a cameo and he has not signed with the promotion.[64] However, Bischoff would later return to Dynamite on October 28, 2020 to ask Jericho and MJF questions during a "town hall meeting," provoking the two wrestlers and setting up a match at Full Gear.[65][66] He again appeared on Dynamite on March 3, 2021 as part of an Inner Circle press conference.[67] On May 28, 2021, Bischoff returned to Dynamite to host a party for the Inner Circle.[68][69] During the event, members of the Inner Circle were ambushed by MJF and others in The Pinnacle.[69][70][71]

Television production career

Bischoff, with actor Jason Hervey, ran his own production company, Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment, which primarily produced reality TV shows, through 2017. They produced a live Girls Gone Wild pay-per-view event from Florida in 2003 with WWE and another pay-per-view about the Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally in 2004. They also executive produced the VH1 reality shows Scott Baio Is 45...and Single, Scott Baio Is 46...and Pregnant, I Want To Be a Hilton, and Confessions of a Teen Idol, along with the CMT show Billy Ray Cyrus...Home At Last. Bischoff-Hervey Productions also produced a wrestling reality show called Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling in which ten celebrities were trained to wrestle and one celebrity is voted off weekly. Bischoff also appeared as one of the "judges" on the show. In November 2009, Bischoff helped produce Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin tour to Australia. Bischoff, also had a show in development with Food Network called "Food Fight" where pro wrestlers take on celebrity chefs in cooking and then tag-team with them in a wrestling match. In January 2013, Bischoff and Hervey produced the television series Hardcore Pawn: Chicago.

Video game production career

In 2013, along with partners Jason Hervey and Ike McFadden, Bischoff formed the online gaming company MX Digital.[72] The company develops and distributes online and mobile celebrity-themed games in Europe and North America. Among the company's first released games were Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania, which debuted on SkyVegas in November 2012.[73] Their next game, The Hoff, featuring actor-singer David Hasselhoff, was released widely in Europe in February 2013.[74][75]

In early 2014, his online-gaming company announced a deal with actor Dan Aykroyd to launch a Blues Brothers online casino game in Europe.[76] Later that year, MX Digital launched their games on Facebook, under the moniker "MX Casino". Slot-machine-style games playable upon launch as a Facebook app included "socialized" versions of Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania, as well as a similarly Facebook-friendly version of The Hoff. Also debuting in October of that year were a batch of new celebrity-themed games, this time starring the likes of Dennis Rodman, James Dean and Chuck Norris.[77]

Personal life

Before getting into professional wrestling, Bischoff had a number of occupations. He acted in a training video for bank employees regarding fair lending practices, owned a successful landscape construction company, worked as a veterinary assistant, competed as a professional kickboxer, and ran a butcher shop, where he sold meat via van delivery. Hulk Hogan would famously refer to this time in his life during his heel promo at the end of the 1996 WCW pay-per-view event Bash at the Beach in Daytona Beach, Florida, saying, "If it wasn't for Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff would still be selling meat from a truck in Minneapolis."[78]

Bischoff has homes in Cody, Wyoming; Scottsdale, Arizona; Stamford, Connecticut; and Los Angeles, California with his wife, Loree (married since 1984). He has two children: son Garett (born April 20, 1984); and daughter Montanna (born November 7, 1985).[79] Garett, under the ring name Jackson James, made his debut for TNA Wrestling on November 7, 2010, as a referee at Turning Point, before later becoming a wrestler under his real name.[80]

On May 5, 2011, Eric Bischoff announced that he was starting a brewing company in Cody, Wyoming. Their first beverage, called Buffalo Bill Cody Beer, featured the tag line "The Spirit of the Wild West".[81]

On July 27, 2016, Bischoff premiered his first podcast show, Bischoff on Wrestling, on MLW Radio. After October 17, 2017, he quit the show due to being shortchanged on money. In April 2018, Bischoff returned to podcasting with 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff alongside co-host, Conrad Thompson.

Bischoff is a longtime fan of Vermont-based jamband Phish and collects live recordings of their concerts.[82]

Legacy

Bischoff is one of the most polarizing and controversial figures in professional wrestling history. He was instrumental in the creation of the New World Order, which played a major role in WCW's success and peak during the Monday Night Wars.[83] Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider wrote: "His place in history is this and it will always be this - he's the only person to come along and kick Vince McMahon hard enough that he forced WWF's product to evolve and get better. No matter whether he won the ratings for 83 weeks or one week, his legacy is that he made pro wrestling change for the better in the mid-1990s."[84] However, R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez, the authors of the book titled The Death of WCW, were critical of many of the decisions Bischoff made as head of WCW and believe that he contributed to the decline of the company.[85] Despite their criticisms, Reynolds attributes the death of the company to have been the result of decisions made by Jamie Kellner.[86][87]

Although critical of the time that they spent working together in WCW and TNA,[88][89] Vince Russo said Bischoff has "contributed [to professional wrestling] in a tremendous way ... dating all the way back to his early days at the AWA".[90] AEW promoter Tony Khan credits Bischoff with paving the way for his promotion, stating: "I wouldn't be here and there would not be an AEW without [Bischoff] and there would not be wrestling on TNT right now without [him]."[91] WWE describes Bischoff as a "pioneer behind the scenes in sports-entertainment, as well as an incredibly entertaining performer in front of the camera", further stating that he achieved "success everywhere he went in the business".[2]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2021 Rhodes To The Top Himself

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ . Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on May 20, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "Eric Bischoff". WWE. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Oliver, Earl. "WCW - World Championship Wrestling WCW Hardcore Title History". Solie. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
  4. ^ "Eric Bischoff reveals his favourite nWo memory". Wrestling World. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  5. ^ . Archived from the original on June 11, 2010.
  6. ^ Foley, Mick. Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.237)
  7. ^ Foley, Mick. Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.238)
  8. ^ Mooneyham, Mike (September 1999). . The Wrestling Gospel. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009.
  9. ^ "WCW sold to Fusient Media Ventures Eric Bischoff firmly in charge again". SLAM! Wrestling. January 11, 2001. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eric Bischoff.
  • Official website
  • 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff on Westwood One Podcast Network
  • Eric Bischoff at IMDb  
  • Eric Bischoff on WWE.com
  • at the Wayback Machine (archived March 3, 2016)
  • at the Wayback Machine (archived April 28, 1999)
  • Eric Bischoff's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database
Preceded by
Inaugural
 WCW Nitro lead announcer
1995–1996 		Succeeded by

May 04, 2023
eric, bischoff, eric, aaron, bischoff, born, 1955, american, television, producer, professional, wrestling, booker, performer, best, known, serving, executive, producer, later, senior, vice, president, world, championship, wrestling, subsequently, screen, gene. Eric Aaron Bischoff born May 27 1955 is an American television producer professional wrestling booker and performer He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling WCW and subsequently the on screen General Manager of WWE s Raw brand Bischoff has also worked with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling TNA where he served as Executive Producer of Impact Wrestling He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 Eric BischoffBischoff in 2011Birth nameEric Aaron BischoffBorn 1955 05 27 May 27 1955 age 67 1 Detroit Michigan U S Spouse s Kimberly Bowman m 1979 div 1982 wbr Loree Bischoff m 1984 wbr Children2 including Garett BischoffWebsitewww wbr ericbischoff wbr comProfessional wrestling careerRing name s Eric BischoffBilled height5 ft 10 in 178 cm 2 Billed weight195 lb 88 kg 2 Billed fromDetroit Michigan 2 Debut1986With an amateur background in martial arts Bischoff also sporadically performed as an in ring competitor becoming a one time WCW Hardcore Champion 3 and headlining the 1998 Road Wild pay per view event teaming with Hollywood Hulk Hogan against Diamond Dallas Page and Jay Leno He wrote an autobiography titled Controversy Creates Cash which was released in 2006 under WWE Books 4 and a second book titled Grateful which was released in 2022 Contents 1 Professional wrestling career 1 1 American Wrestling Association 1986 1991 1 2 World Championship Wrestling 1991 2001 1 2 1 Arrival and ascent to power 1991 1996 1 2 2 New World Order 1996 1998 1 2 3 Downfall of WCW 1998 1999 1 2 4 Replacement 1999 2000 1 2 5 Attempted purchase of WCW 2001 1 3 Post WCW endeavors 2001 2002 1 4 World Wrestling Entertainment 2002 2007 1 4 1 General Manager of Raw 2002 2005 1 4 2 Sporadic appearances and departure 2006 2007 1 5 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 2010 2014 1 5 1 Immortal 2010 2012 1 5 2 Backstage roles lawsuit and departure 2012 2014 1 6 Sporadic WWE appearances 2016 present 1 7 All Elite Wrestling 2020 2021 2 Television production career 3 Video game production career 4 Personal life 5 Legacy 6 Filmography 6 1 Television 7 Championships and accomplishments 8 References 9 External linksProfessional wrestling career EditAmerican Wrestling Association 1986 1991 Edit Bischoff started in wrestling working for the Minneapolis Minnesota based American Wrestling Association AWA in 1986 under the ownership of Verne Gagne In 1989 Bischoff would become an on air interviewer and host of the AWA until the company folded in 1991 Bischoff at first worked in the sales department on the AWA s syndicated programming and became an on air personality virtually by accident and at the last minute Larry Nelson whom at the time was employed by the AWA as an announcer was arrested under suspicion of a DUI 5 Because of Nelson s sudden unavailability Verne Gagne and his son Greg opted to recruit Bischoff who initially had no desire to be in front of the camera to fill in on the interviews Bischoff believed they thought he would be a good replacement due to his immediate availability in the television studio and the fact that he was already wearing a suit and tie During the gradual demise of the AWA the company was unable to meet payroll and Bischoff auditioned for an announcer s position with the World Wrestling Federation WWF in 1990 but was not hired In his autobiography Controversy Creates Cash Bischoff mentions working in his office during his time in the AWA when he d heard a legitimate fight outside of his door He said he d looked up just in time to see wrestler The Sheik s head come breaking through the wall He said despite this the Sheik continued the fight while a stunned Bischoff looked on World Championship Wrestling 1991 2001 Edit Arrival and ascent to power 1991 1996 Edit In 1991 Bischoff joined World Championship Wrestling WCW as a C show announcer debuting at The Great American Bash As an announcer Bischoff reported to producer Tony Schiavone and WCW s Vice President of Broadcasting Jim Ross In 1993 after WCW Vice President of Wrestling Operations Bill Watts resigned from the company Bischoff went to TBS executive and WCW President Bill Shaw and WCW Executive Vice President Bob Dhue to apply for the job of Executive Producer Ross and Schiavone seemed to be the two top candidates however Bischoff was hired in Watts place 6 Schiavone remained a producer and commentator until the company s demise but Ross was granted his release from WCW and went to work for the WWF 7 Initially Bischoff and Dhue worked together as partners but frequently clashed over the direction of the company In 1994 Bischoff was promoted from Executive Producer to Senior Vice President putting him in charge of everything WCW Dhue resigned as did event manager Don Sandefeur and junior vice president Jim Barnett Bischoff convinced Turner executives to better finance WCW in order to compete with the WWF He moved WCW production to Disney MGM Studios in Orlando Florida Hulk Hogan who was filming a show called Thunder in Paradise at Disney MGM Studios was approached by Bischoff and Ric Flair and signed to a contract with WCW He also invested money in production values and increased the number of WCW pay per views first seven a year then 10 and then once a month He also started a weekly live program on TNT WCW Monday Nitro that went directly against WWF s flagship Monday Night Raw Bischoff remained an announcer on Nitro regularly spoiling Raw results as the latter show was not always aired live to boost ratings This created what became known amongst fans as the Monday Night Wars as both WCW and WWF fought for viewers and in the process kick started a new level of mainstream popularity for pro wrestling The changes paid off and in 1995 WCW turned a profit for the first time in the company s history By 1997 Bischoff s official job title was President of World Championship Wrestling New World Order 1996 1998 Edit Main article New World Order professional wrestling In 1996 Bischoff signed WWF superstar Scott Hall better known at the time as Razor Ramon Two weeks later on Nitro Hall was joined by Kevin Nash most previously known as Diesel in the WWF to become The Outsiders Bischoff intentionally depicted the duo as WWF rebels who were not under contract to WCW To avoid legal action by the WWF Bischoff in a worked interview at The Great American Bash asked point blank if they worked for the WWF which both Hall and Nash denied The Outsiders expanded and became the New World Order nWo when perennial fan favorite Hulk Hogan aligned himself with the Outsiders in July 1996 The nWo was depicted as a rival company engaging in a hostile takeover of WCW Week to week the angle grew more complex with a mixture of main eventers mid carders executives referees managers and announcers involved in various subplots related to the onscreen WCW vs nWo power struggle Led by the nWo storyline WCW overtook the WWF as the number one wrestling promotion in America with Nitro defeating Raw in the ratings by a wide margin for 83 consecutive weeks During this era Bischoff moved from his role as commentator and joined the nWo as a manager His television character dubbed Eazy E by Hall Sleazy E by the WCW commentators became a dictator and egomaniac as the nWo boss In the summer of 1998 Bischoff hosted a Tonight Show like segment on WCW programming with Miss Elizabeth Ted DiBiase has said in shoot interviews that Bischoff originally hired DiBiase to be the spokesperson and financial backer for the nWo but when the nWo was getting to be a more prominent storyline Bischoff replaced DiBiase as nWo spokesperson Downfall of WCW 1998 1999 Edit When the WWF rebranded their product as WWF Attitude and began to focus on new superstars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin Mick Foley and The Rock and made owner longtime announcer Vince McMahon into a character this eventually resulted in a ratings turnaround for WWF On April 13 1998 WWF ended WCW s year and a half run on top of the ratings war Despite losing in the ratings to WWF WCW continued to post strong ratings attendance and PPV buyrates throughout 1998 In 1998 WCW built one of its first homegrown superstars in Bill Goldberg and gave him the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on July 6 1998 at the Georgia Dome in front of 39 919 people on Nitro In early 1999 Bischoff promoted Kevin Nash to head booker Despite Goldberg drawing at the box office and doing three shows in December and January that did nearly a 1 million gate the decision was made to end Goldberg s undefeated streak and put the belt on Nash On the January 4 Nitro at the Georgia Dome Nash dropped the title to Hogan in a match that became known as the Fingerpoke of Doom and the nWo was rebranded By March ratings began dropping and WCW began experiencing an endless streak of ratings losses Throughout 1999 Bischoff reverted to focusing on aging WCW stars such as Hogan Diamond Dallas Page Randy Savage Sting Rowdy Roddy Piper Nash Ric Flair and Sid Vicious In an effort to improve ratings WCW also began to focus heavily on several celebrities such as Master P Chad Brock Megadeth Dennis Rodman and Kiss One of the last deals Bischoff structured was a deal with the members of the rock band Kiss to have their own wrestling character known as The Kiss Demon By late 1999 WCW began losing around 5 million a month Attendance PPV buys and ratings were down significantly On September 10 1999 the decision was made to relieve Bischoff of power Replacement 1999 2000 Edit On September 10 1999 Bischoff was relieved of his management position with WCW by Turner Sports chief Harvey Schiller The job title President of WCW was eliminated He was replaced with WCW Vice President of Strategic Planning Bill Busch who was named Senior Vice President handling the creative of the company with Brad Siegel handling the day to day operations One of Busch s first acts in charge was the additions of former WWF head writer Vince Russo and his colleague Ed Ferrara both of whom had worked on Raw when the show began to overtake Nitro in the ratings to head up WCW s creative direction 8 In April 2000 Bischoff returned as an on air character alongside Vince Russo to lead the heel faction The New Blood Bischoff also worked on writing the shows with Russo during this time Bischoff s last on camera role in WCW was in July 2000 at the Bash at the Beach 2000 pay per view when Russo did a worked shoot promo on Hulk Hogan Attempted purchase of WCW 2001 Edit On January 11 2001 with WCW facing major financial woes Siegel accepted Bischoff s offer to purchase the company 9 Bischoff and Fusient briefly withdrew their offer when the WWF made an inquiry on WCW due to the terms of a settlement WWF had a right to bid on WCW s properties should they ever be up for liquidation When then WWF broadcaster Viacom objected fearing a WWF owned show on a competing network the Bischoff Fusient consortium signed a new letter of intent However the new head of Turner Broadcasting Jamie Kellner then canceled all WCW programming due to losing money for several years from its television networks WCW lost 60 million in 2000 alone 10 Kellner believed that wrestling did not fit the demographics of either TBS or TNT and would not be favorable enough to get the right advertisers to buy airtime even though Thunder was the highest rated show on TBS at the time 11 12 In the book NITRO The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner s WCW by Guy Evans it is said that a key condition in WCW s purchase deal with Fusient was that Fusient wanted control over time slots on TNT and TBS networks regardless of whether these slots would show WCW programming or not This influenced Kellner s decision to ultimately cancel WCW programming 13 With no network on which to air its programming WCW was of little value to Fusient whose offer depended on being able to continue to air WCW programming on the Turner networks Bischoff stated that it made absolutely no sense for us to do the deal under those circumstances 14 With WCW programming canceled and Viacom subsequently no longer objecting the company s key assets tape library trademarks and selected contracts were purchased by the WWF in March 2001 for a substantially lower price approximately US 3 5 million than what had been offered Post WCW endeavors 2001 2002 Edit Bischoff briefly served as President of Matrats a youth based wrestling company 15 World Wrestling Entertainment 2002 2007 Edit General Manager of Raw 2002 2005 Edit Bischoff during his time with WWE In 2002 Bischoff was hired by World Wrestling Entertainment WWE formerly WWF to be the general manager of Raw Although primarily an on screen role Bischoff had a wide range of contacts within WWE to whom he could pitch creative ideas 16 He debuted as the first Raw general manager on the July 15 episode of Raw He resurrected his characteristic brand of smarminess with the general manager position again playing the arrogant heel character he had employed as the nWo boss in WCW During his debut on Raw he told the audience about how he was president of WCW creator of the nWo and how he forced Vince McMahon to change the ways he does business 17 Bischoff is in second place of the longest reigns as general manager in WWE history with three years in total Former rival and former general manager of SmackDown Theodore Long surpassed Bischoff s record with a combined number of six years Bischoff s wrestling innovations in WWE included the Raw Roulette and the Elimination Chamber as well as feuds with Stone Cold Steve Austin Shane McMahon John Cena SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon and former Extreme Championship Wrestling ECW owner Paul Heyman At Taboo Tuesday Bischoff had his head shaved after failing to beat his kayfabe nephew Eugene Bischoff then began a face turn after his head got shaved He favored face wrestlers such as Randy Orton Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho Bischoff subsequently took a vacation after allowing Randy Orton s team to become General Managers for up to four weeks with every member being the general manager once a week Bischoff began favoring heels again after then WWE Champion John Cena who was drafted to Raw in June 2005 refused to participate in Bischoff s vendetta against an impending ECW revival 18 As a result Bischoff declared war on Cena citing disdain for Cena s rapping and thug nature and made wrestlers such as Chris Jericho and Christian try to take away the WWE Championship from Cena In November Bischoff aligned himself with Kurt Angle Following several months of Raw and SmackDown invasions Bischoff lost to SmackDown general manager Theodore Long at Survivor Series after The Boogeyman helped Long beat Bischoff On the December 5 episode of Raw Bischoff was kayfabe fired as general manager when Cena body slammed him and Vince McMahon tossed him into a garbage truck following a trial where his history of unscrupulous actions were listed and had him driven out of the arena Bischoff then sat out the remainder of the year and spent the start of 2006 writing a book that would become Controversy Creates Cash Bischoff was against writing a wrestling book initially as he believes most are bitter self serving revisionist history at best and monuments to bullshit at their worst 19 Sporadic appearances and departure 2006 2007 Edit On September 25 2006 Bischoff appeared on WWE television for the first time in close to a year and after being brought into the ring by Jonathan Coachman he proceeded to promote his recently finished book Controversy Creates Ca h ISBN 1 4165 2729 X giving a worked shoot on McMahon and WWE During his segment Bischoff stated Without Monday Nitro there would be no Monday Night Raw without the nWo there would be no DX and without Eric Bischoff there would be no Mr McMahon After this statement Bischoff s microphone was immediately cut off Jonathon Coachman s music played and he was escorted from the arena by security A few days later John Bradshaw Layfield JBL conducted a four part interview with Bischoff further discussing his book on WWE com During the interview Bischoff discussed various topics such as his true feelings towards Lex Luger his thoughts on ECW promoter Paul Heyman his decision of giving Kevin Nash booking power and his overall reaction to the Monday Night Wars The book was released on October 17 2006 and became a New York Times best seller Bischoff was chosen as the special guest referee for the D Generation X DX versus Rated RKO match at Cyber Sunday on November 5 with 60 of the vote He then cheated DX out of the win leaving Randy Orton and Edge the victors The next night on Raw Bischoff was reinstated as General Manager for one night only During his time as the General Manager on Raw he restarted matches if he did not like the outcome He also got revenge on Maria for her statement made in his trial the year before by making her face Umaga forced John Cena to take the night off and banned DX from the building He restarted the match between Jeff Hardy and Johnny Nitro for the WWE Intercontinental Championship after Hardy won by disqualification Bischoff restarted that match as a No Disqualification match and Nitro took advantage of that using Melina to distract Hardy and striking him with the title belt At the end of the show DX interfered in the main event when Bischoff tried to help Edge and Randy Orton win the World Tag Team Championship and forced him to be humiliated by Big Dick Johnson as revenge for costing them their match the night before On March 5 2007 Bischoff made a brief appearance on Raw in Phoenix Arizona to give Vince McMahon his thoughts on the WrestleMania 23 match against Donald Trump In August 2007 Bischoff s WWE contract expired 20 On December 10 2007 Bischoff appeared on Raw for its 15th Anniversary Special and was confronted by Chris Jericho the man whom he fired on Raw on August 22 2005 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 2010 2014 Edit Immortal 2010 2012 Edit Main article Immortal professional wrestling In October 2009 Bischoff helped negotiate a deal among Total Nonstop Action Wrestling TNA Hulk Hogan and himself 21 He premiered alongside Hogan on the January 4 2010 episode of TNA Impact as part of an alliance to take over and rebuild the franchise Behind the scenes he was also appointed TNA executive producer 22 Bischoff at a TNA event in July 2010 Despite being a heel when dealing with the likes of Jeff Jarrett Mick Foley and Abyss 23 24 Bischoff refereed his first TNA match at Against All Odds favoring the face challenger Samoa Joe over the heel champion A J Styles in a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship During the match as part of the storyline Bischoff punched out Styles manager Ric Flair after he interfered in the match but the distraction led to Styles retaining his belt 25 On the March 15 episode of Impact Bischoff attempted to shave Mick Foley bald as a punishment for trying to help Jeff Jarrett in a handicap match the previous week but was shaved bald himself when Foley turned the tables on him 26 At Lockdown Bischoff turned face by helping Team Hogan defeat Team Flair in the Lethal Lockdown match 27 The next months Bischoff worked with Hogan Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe against Sting and Kevin Nash who claimed that they knew that Bischoff and Hogan were up to something 28 During this time Abyss turned on Hogan and went on a rampage which included attacking the TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam to the point that he was forced to vacate the title all the while claiming that he was controlled by some entity that was coming to TNA 29 30 31 After he manhandled TNA president Dixie Carter on the October 7 episode of Impact Bischoff presented Carter with the paperwork that would have Abyss fired after his match with Rob Van Dam at Bound for Glory which she then proceeded to sign 32 At Bound for Glory Bischoff turned heel with Hogan as the two of them helped Jeff Hardy win the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship Bischoff Hogan and Hardy then aligned themselves with Abyss and Jeff Jarrett 33 On the following episode of Impact it was revealed that Bischoff had tricked Carter and the paperwork she had signed a week earlier were not to release Abyss but to turn the company over to him and Hogan Meanwhile Bischoff s and Hogan s new stable now known as Immortal formed an alliance with Ric Flair s Fortune 34 On the November 4 episode of Impact Bischoff took part in his first match in TNA challenging the concussed Mr Anderson to earn his shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship only for Matt Morgan to take his spot and beat Bischoff to become the number one contender 35 Dixie Carter returned on the November 25 episode of Reaction informing Hogan and Bischoff that a judge had filed an injunction against the two on her behalf over not having signatory authority indefinitely suspending Hogan from TNA 36 On January 31 2011 at the tapings of the February 3 episode of Impact Fortune turned on Immortal explaining that they were not going to let TNA suffer the same fate as WCW 37 38 Hogan having won the court battle against Dixie Carter returned to TNA on the March 3 episode of Impact declaring himself as the new owner of the promotion 39 However on the May 12 episode of the newly renamed Impact Wrestling Immortal lost control of the program to Mick Foley who revealed himself as the Network consultant who had been causing problems for Immortal ever since Bischoff and Hogan took over the company however this angle was aborted just three weeks later when Foley left the promotion 40 41 Also in May Bischoff declared war on the X Division after the legitimate firing of Jay Lethal and on the May 19 episode of Impact Wrestling wrestled his second TNA match when he teamed with Matt Hardy in a tag team match where they defeated Generation Me Jeremy and Max Buck 42 43 The storyline concluded on August 11 when the Network gave the division back to the original X Division wrestlers after the success of Destination X which saw Immortal s Abyss lose the X Division Championship to Brian Kendrick 44 On October 6 it was reported that Bischoff had signed a contract extension with TNA 45 On October 16 at Bound for Glory after losing control of TNA back to Dixie Carter Hogan turned on the rest of Immortal by saving Sting from a beatdown at the hands of its members 46 Sting had won the match when referee Jackson James who had earlier in the event been revealed as Bischoff s real life son Garett Bischoff reluctantly called the ring bell for a submission which led to Eric hitting his son with a steel chair following the match starting a rivalry between the two 46 On April 15 2012 at Lockdown Eric and Garett captained opposing teams in the annual Lethal Lockdown match Garett won the match for his team by pinning Eric forcing his father out of TNA in the process 47 Backstage roles lawsuit and departure 2012 2014 Edit After Lockdown Bischoff did not appear on Impact Wrestling and focused on his backstage roles In October 2013 Bischoff was sent home by TNA to sit out the remainder of his contract which expired in early 2014 In May 2015 Bischoff his son Garett and his business partner Jason Hervey sued TNA for unpaid salary 48 During an interview in August 2016 when Bischoff was asked what went wrong with the company he said I try to put them both out of my mind so I couldn t tell you No comment I m in the middle of a lawsuit with them so I can t really comment When asked about positive memories during his time with TNA he stated that he did not have any 49 In 2019 Bischoff said of his TNA run For the most part it is very regrettable and looking back I wished I wouldn t have done it with one or two exceptions 50 Sporadic WWE appearances 2016 present Edit Bischoff inducted Diamond Dallas Page into the WWE Hall of Fame 51 On the 25th Anniversary of Raw on January 22 2018 Bischoff made a guest appearance on the show during a segment with other former Raw general managers and on July 22 2019 on the Raw Reunion 52 In June 2019 WWE announced that Bischoff would be the executive director of SmackDown and part of Bischoff s role is to act as an intermediary between WWE and Fox executives due to his background in the television industry 53 54 but he was replaced on October 15 by Bruce Prichard 55 and with immediate effect he had left the company 56 Bryan Alvarez reported that he heard zero good things about Bischoff and that Bischoff did not know the product nor the wrestlers 57 According to Fox Bischoff was released since s ignificant promises were made that we don t feel were upheld 58 In March 2020 Bischoff reflected on his WWE departure stating I knew about six weeks in eight weeks in it just wasn t going to work out I knew I wasn t fitting and it wasn t a secret It just wasn t right I had to fit in the system and I wasn t able to do it in the timeline it needed to be done 59 In June 2020 Bischoff further reflected on his departure by saying it was on me and backs his profession by blaming his failure to adapt to the new job for why his tenure was so short and described the problem as being more of a chemistry issue than anything else Bischoff also pointed out that he had little creative control over SmackDown but was more of an overseer for Vince who has the most say in the company s creative direction 60 On April 6 2021 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame 61 He also appeared on the December 27 episode of Raw as the officiator for the renewal of The Miz and Maryse s vows 62 and on the January 21 2022 episode of SmackDown during a backstage segment with Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville 63 All Elite Wrestling 2020 2021 Edit Bischoff appeared on TNT for the first time since 2000 on August 5 2020 when he appeared on AEW Dynamite to moderate a debate between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy He referred to his appearance as a cameo and he has not signed with the promotion 64 However Bischoff would later return to Dynamite on October 28 2020 to ask Jericho and MJF questions during a town hall meeting provoking the two wrestlers and setting up a match at Full Gear 65 66 He again appeared on Dynamite on March 3 2021 as part of an Inner Circle press conference 67 On May 28 2021 Bischoff returned to Dynamite to host a party for the Inner Circle 68 69 During the event members of the Inner Circle were ambushed by MJF and others in The Pinnacle 69 70 71 Television production career EditBischoff with actor Jason Hervey ran his own production company Bischoff Hervey Entertainment which primarily produced reality TV shows through 2017 They produced a live Girls Gone Wild pay per view event from Florida in 2003 with WWE and another pay per view about the Sturgis South Dakota motorcycle rally in 2004 They also executive produced the VH1 reality shows Scott Baio Is 45 and Single Scott Baio Is 46 and Pregnant I Want To Be a Hilton and Confessions of a Teen Idol along with the CMT show Billy Ray Cyrus Home At Last Bischoff Hervey Productions also produced a wrestling reality show called Hulk Hogan s Celebrity Championship Wrestling in which ten celebrities were trained to wrestle and one celebrity is voted off weekly Bischoff also appeared as one of the judges on the show In November 2009 Bischoff helped produce Hulk Hogan s Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin tour to Australia Bischoff also had a show in development with Food Network called Food Fight where pro wrestlers take on celebrity chefs in cooking and then tag team with them in a wrestling match In January 2013 Bischoff and Hervey produced the television series Hardcore Pawn Chicago Video game production career EditIn 2013 along with partners Jason Hervey and Ike McFadden Bischoff formed the online gaming company MX Digital 72 The company develops and distributes online and mobile celebrity themed games in Europe and North America Among the company s first released games were Hulk Hogan s Hulkamania which debuted on SkyVegas in November 2012 73 Their next game The Hoff featuring actor singer David Hasselhoff was released widely in Europe in February 2013 74 75 In early 2014 his online gaming company announced a deal with actor Dan Aykroyd to launch a Blues Brothers online casino game in Europe 76 Later that year MX Digital launched their games on Facebook under the moniker MX Casino Slot machine style games playable upon launch as a Facebook app included socialized versions of Hulk Hogan s Hulkamania as well as a similarly Facebook friendly version of The Hoff Also debuting in October of that year were a batch of new celebrity themed games this time starring the likes of Dennis Rodman James Dean and Chuck Norris 77 Personal life EditBefore getting into professional wrestling Bischoff had a number of occupations He acted in a training video for bank employees regarding fair lending practices owned a successful landscape construction company worked as a veterinary assistant competed as a professional kickboxer and ran a butcher shop where he sold meat via van delivery Hulk Hogan would famously refer to this time in his life during his heel promo at the end of the 1996 WCW pay per view event Bash at the Beach in Daytona Beach Florida saying If it wasn t for Hulk Hogan Eric Bischoff would still be selling meat from a truck in Minneapolis 78 Bischoff has homes in Cody Wyoming Scottsdale Arizona Stamford Connecticut and Los Angeles California with his wife Loree married since 1984 He has two children son Garett born April 20 1984 and daughter Montanna born November 7 1985 79 Garett under the ring name Jackson James made his debut for TNA Wrestling on November 7 2010 as a referee at Turning Point before later becoming a wrestler under his real name 80 On May 5 2011 Eric Bischoff announced that he was starting a brewing company in Cody Wyoming Their first beverage called Buffalo Bill Cody Beer featured the tag line The Spirit of the Wild West 81 On July 27 2016 Bischoff premiered his first podcast show Bischoff on Wrestling on MLW Radio After October 17 2017 he quit the show due to being shortchanged on money In April 2018 Bischoff returned to podcasting with 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff alongside co host Conrad Thompson Bischoff is a longtime fan of Vermont based jamband Phish and collects live recordings of their concerts 82 Legacy EditBischoff is one of the most polarizing and controversial figures in professional wrestling history He was instrumental in the creation of the New World Order which played a major role in WCW s success and peak during the Monday Night Wars 83 Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider wrote His place in history is this and it will always be this he s the only person to come along and kick Vince McMahon hard enough that he forced WWF s product to evolve and get better No matter whether he won the ratings for 83 weeks or one week his legacy is that he made pro wrestling change for the better in the mid 1990s 84 However R D Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez the authors of the book titled The Death of WCW were critical of many of the decisions Bischoff made as head of WCW and believe that he contributed to the decline of the company 85 Despite their criticisms Reynolds attributes the death of the company to have been the result of decisions made by Jamie Kellner 86 87 Although critical of the time that they spent working together in WCW and TNA 88 89 Vince Russo said Bischoff has contributed to professional wrestling in a tremendous way dating all the way back to his early days at the AWA 90 AEW promoter Tony Khan credits Bischoff with paving the way for his promotion stating I wouldn t be here and there would not be an AEW without Bischoff and there would not be wrestling on TNT right now without him 91 WWE describes Bischoff as a pioneer behind the scenes in sports entertainment as well as an incredibly entertaining performer in front of the camera further stating that he achieved success everywhere he went in the business 2 Filmography EditTelevision Edit Year Title Role Notes2021 Rhodes To The Top HimselfChampionships and accomplishments EditPro Wrestling Illustrated Feud of the Year 1996 vs Vince McMahon 92 Feud of the Year 2002 vs Stephanie McMahon 92 World Championship Wrestling WCW Hardcore Championship 1 time 3 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Gimmick 1996 nWo Feud of the Year 1996 New World Order vs World Championship Wrestling Best Non Wrestler 2005 93 WWE WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2021 References Edit Eric Bischoff Online World of Wrestling Archived from the original on May 20 2020 Retrieved June 7 2018 a b c d Eric Bischoff WWE Retrieved March 24 2021 a b Oliver Earl WCW World Championship Wrestling WCW Hardcore Title History Solie Retrieved July 11 2008 Eric Bischoff reveals his favourite nWo memory Wrestling World Retrieved February 29 2020 Interview Recaps Larry Zbyszko Archived from the original on June 11 2010 Foley Mick Have a Nice Day A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks p 237 Foley Mick Have a Nice Day A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks p 238 Mooneyham Mike September 1999 Vince Russo Joins WCW The Wrestling Gospel Archived from the original on February 4 2009 WCW sold to Fusient Media Ventures Eric Bischoff firmly in charge again SLAM Wrestling January 11 2001 Archived from the original on July 24 2012 Retrieved July 8 2018 Hart Bret March 24 2001 Wrestling monopoly Calgary Sun Archived from the original on December 4 2014 Retrieved December 15 2007 John M Higgins March 19 2001 WCW on the ropes PDF Broadcasting amp Cable Cahners Business Information p 8 Archived PDF from the original on June 28 2020 Retrieved September 22 2018 via World Radio History Jim Rutenberg January 11 2001 Turner to Drop Wrestling Shed Jobs The New York Times Archived from the original on September 22 2018 Retrieved September 22 2018 Evans Guy July 6 2018 NITRO The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner s WCW WCWNitroBook com ISBN 978 0692139172 De La Garza Ed March 21 2001 WCW goes off the air promises exciting finale Monday Raw features ECW talent The Daily Cougar Sports Archived from the original on November 30 2004 1 SLAM Wrestling Article on Matrats Off The Record with Eric Bischoff TSN 3 24 03 I have the best of both worlds right now If I have an idea that I m passionate about that I think will work I can knock on just about anybody s door I want to knock on sit down and have that conversation Johnson Chad 2002 Putting the raw in Raw Wrestling Digest Archived from the original on February 8 2006 The Betrayal WWE May 16 2005 Retrieved September 14 2007 Bischoff E Controversy Creates Cash page 3 World Wrestling Entertainment 2006 Bischoff s WWE Contract Expires Major Vince Spoilers www wrestlezone com August 5 2007 Retrieved June 14 2020 Update Bischoff to join Hogan in TNA WrestleView Retrieved October 27 2009 Keller Wade January 4 2010 KELLER S TNA IMPACT LIVE REPORT 1 4 Jeff Hardy NWO reunion Hulk Hogan TNA Knockout Title match more surprises ongoing coverage PWTorch Retrieved January 5 2010 Wilkenfeld Daniel February 4 2010 WILKENFELD S TNA IMPACT REPORT 2 4 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Spike TV broadcast PWTorch Retrieved February 23 2010 Wilkenfeld Daniel February 18 2010 WILKENFELD S TNA IMPACT REPORT 2 18 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Spike TV broadcast PWTorch Retrieved February 23 2010 Caldwell James February 14 2010 CALDWELL S TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS PPV REPORT 2 14 Ongoing virtual time coverage of A J Styles vs Samoa Joe Nastys vs 3D PWTorch Retrieved February 23 2010 Wilkenfeld Daniel March 15 2010 CALDWELL S TNA IMPACT REPORT 3 15 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Spike TV show A J Styles vs Jeff Hardy PWTorch Retrieved March 16 2010 Caldwell James April 18 2010 Caldwell s TNA Lockdown Results 4 18 Ongoing virtual time coverage of PPV Styles vs The Pope Team Hogan vs Team Flair Angle vs Anderson Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved April 18 2010 Boutwell Josh July 8 2010 Impact Results 7 22 10 WrestleView Archived from the original on July 25 2010 Retrieved October 11 2010 Wilkenfeld Daniel June 24 2010 Wilkenfeld s TNA Impact report 6 24 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Spike TV broadcast Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved October 11 2010 Bishop Matt August 12 2010 TNA s The Whole F n Show Beer Money Machine Guns put on match of year candidate Fortune makes statement Slam Sports Canadian Online Explorer Retrieved October 11 2010 Wilkenfeld Daniel August 19 2010 Wilkenfeld s TNA Impact report 8 19 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Spike TV broadcast Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved October 11 2010 Caldwell James October 7 2010 Caldwell s TNA Impact report 10 7 Ongoing virtual time coverage of live Spike TV show Foley vs Flair battle royal Bound for Glory hype Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved October 11 2010 Caldwell James October 10 2010 Caldwell s TNA Bound for Glory PPV results 10 10 10 Ongoing virtual time coverage of live PPV Angle vs Anderson vs Hardy they reveal Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved October 10 2010 Wilkenfeld Daniel October 14 2010 Wilkenfeld s TNA Impact report 10 14 Complete virtual time coverage of Spike TV s live broadcast Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved October 15 2010 Wilkenfeld Daniel November 4 2010 Wilkenfeld s TNA Impact report 11 4 Complete virtual time coverage of Spike TV broadcast updated Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved May 19 2011 Boutwell Josh November 26 2010 TNA Impact Results 11 25 10 WrestleView Archived from the original on November 27 2010 Retrieved November 26 2010 Martin Adam January 31 2011 Spoilers TNA Impact for this Thursday WrestleView Archived from the original on February 5 2011 Retrieved January 31 2011 Caldwell James February 3 2011 Caldwell s TNA Impact report 2 3 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Impact on Spike TV they reveal TNA World Title match Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved February 3 2011 Caldwell James March 3 2011 Caldwell s TNA Impact report 3 3 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Impact on Spike TV Hogan wedding 3 3 11 reveal Tag Title match retirement match celebrities Pro Wrestling Torch Archived from the original on November 16 2011 Retrieved March 3 2011 Caldwell James May 12 2011 Caldwell s TNA Impact report 5 12 Ongoing virtual time coverage of big reveals final PPV hype battle royal main event Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved May 12 2011 Caldwell James June 2 2011 Caldwell s TNA Impact report 6 2 Complete virtual time coverage of Impact Wrestling on Spike TV Angle amp Morgan vs Jarrett amp Steiner Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved June 11 2011 Baxendell Matt May 5 2011 Bax s TNA Impact report 5 5 Main Eventers Take The Week Off Hype For Next Week s Show Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved May 19 2011 Caldwell James May 19 2011 Caldwell s TNA Impact results 5 19 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Impact Wrestling era Sacrifice fall out and Slammiversary hype Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved May 19 2011 Boutwell Josh August 12 2011 Impact Wrestling Results 8 11 11 WrestleView Archived from the original on August 25 2011 Retrieved August 19 2011 Gerweck Steve October 6 2011 Eric Bischoff also signs new deal with TNA WrestleView Archived from the original on October 10 2011 Retrieved October 6 2011 a b Caldwell James October 16 2011 Caldwell s TNA Bound for Glory PPV results 10 16 Ongoing virtual time coverage of live PPV Angle Roode Hogan Sting Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved October 16 2011 Caldwell James April 15 2012 Caldwell s TNA Lockdown PPV results 4 15 Ongoing virtual time coverage of live PPV Roode Storm main event Angle Hardy Lethal Lockdown opener Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved April 15 2012 Bischoff family and Hervey file suit against TNA Wrestling Observer Newsletter May 20 2015 Retrieved May 21 2015 Ryder Ryan August 4 2016 ERIC BISCHOFF SUING TNA WRESTLING PWInsider com Retrieved August 4 2016 Eric Bischoff Says That Working For TNA Was Very Regrettable And He Wishes He Never Did It Wrestling Inc April 27 2019 Eric Bischoff to induct DDP into Hall of Fame WWE Retrieved June 7 2018 Powell Jason January 23 2018 WWE Raw 25 Hit List Big mistake made by WWE Steve Austin and the McMahon family Roman Reigns vs The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship DX reunion John Cena and Elias Asuka attacks her partners Pro Wrestling Dot Net Retrieved January 23 2018 Paul Heyman Eric Bischoff to run WWE TV programs SI com Retrieved June 27 2019 WWE Names Eric Bischoff And Paul Heyman As New Executive Directors Of RAW And SmackDown wrestlinginc com June 27 2019 Retrieved June 27 2019 Bruce Prichard named Executive Director of SmackDown WWE com October 15 2019 Retrieved October 15 2019 Bruce Prichard Replacing Eric Bischoff As Smackdown Executive Director WebIsJericho com October 15 2019 Retrieved October 15 2019 WWE habria despedido a Eric Bischoff por falta de interes en el producto solowrestling mundodeportivo com October 16 2019 Colohue October 15 2019 I reached out to a contact in Fox Tweet via Twitter Eric Bischoff Details What Led To His WWE Departure After Latest Run www sescoops com March 30 2020 Retrieved June 14 2020 Eric Bischoff Confirms Why He Was Fired by WWE June 9 2020 Retrieved August 11 2021 Melok Bobby March 18 2021 Eric Bischoff to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2021 WWE Retrieved March 18 2021 The Miz welcomes back Eric Bischoff as his wedding officiant Raw Dec 27 2021 WWE December 27 2021 Retrieved January 1 2022 Eric Bischoff Discusses the Importance of WWE s Catering Area January 24 2022 Satin Ryan August 6 2020 Eric Bischoff Refers to Appearance on AEW Dynamite as Just a Cameo Pro Wrestling Sheet Retrieved August 7 2020 Casey Connor October 28 2020 Eric Bischoff Returns to AEW Dynamite Sets Up New Match at AEW Full Gear Comic Book com Retrieved October 28 2020 Gagnon Joshua October 28 2020 MJF Vs Chris Jericho At Full Gear If MJF Wins He Can Join Inner Circle Eric Bischoff Appearance Wrestling Inc Retrieved October 28 2020 411MANIA AEW News Eric Bischoff amp Atsushi Onita Appear on AEW Dynamite Tully amp FTR vs Jurassic Express Highlights Retrieved March 4 2021 Nason Josh May 26 2021 Eric Bischoff To Host Celebration Of The Inner Circle On AEW Dynamite Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online Retrieved September 27 2021 a b Tessier Colin May 29 2021 The Pinnacle Ambushes The Inner Circle After Celebration With Eric Bischoff Mandatory Retrieved September 27 2021 Blanchard Matthew May 29 2021 AEW Dynamite Results The Inner Circle Get Ambushed Ahead Of Stadium Stampede 05 28 The Overtimer Retrieved September 27 2021 AEW Dynamite Results for May 28 2021 All Elite Wrestling May 28 2021 Retrieved September 27 2021 TNA News Eric Bischoff and David Hasselhoff together at last Bischoff Eric 3 14 EasyDoesIt on periscopetv twitter Tonight Interactive Q amp A my thoughts on the JohnCena promo from this RAW Periscope Retrieved June 7 2018 via Twitter TNA News Eric Bischoff and David Hasselhoff together at last prowrestling net Retrieved June 7 2018 Hasselhoff The Hoff Brand Dominates My Life Bloomberg Archived from the original on January 4 2014 MX Digital Partners With the Blues Brothers Brand Dan Aykroyd for Online Games Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved June 7 2018 Harrison Robin October 15 2014 MX Digital launches social casino app on Facebook Gaming Intelligence www gamingintelligence com Retrieved June 8 2018 List This Legends of the Fall No 1 Hulk Hogan amp NWO YouTube September 10 2011 Archived from the original on November 9 2021 Retrieved August 5 2020 Eric s bio EricBischoff com Archived from the original on October 1 2011 Retrieved October 26 2011 Martin Adam November 9 2010 Identity of the new TNA referee Jackson James WrestleView Archived from the original on November 13 2010 Retrieved November 9 2010 Csonka Larry May 5 2011 Eric Bischoff Starts A New Business 411mania Retrieved May 5 2011 Eric Bischoff Conrad Thompson September 10 2019 Bischoff Goes Home 83 Weeks Podcast Megaphone FM Event occurs at 30 25 Archived from the original on November 10 2021 Retrieved November 29 2020 Eric Bischoff On How The NWO Affected WWE If He Was Contacted About Their HOF Induction www wrestlinginc com December 24 2019 Retrieved June 14 2020 Johnson Mike November 27 2020 Eric Bischoff s Place in History Undertaker amp Paul Bearer Hate Watching Pro Wrestling The Gobbledy Gooker s Return and Eric Bischoff s Place in History Pro Wrestling Insider Retrieved May 27 2020 Reynolds R D Alvarez Bryan 2014 The Death of WCW 10th Anniversary Edition of the Bestselling Classic Revised and Expanded ECW Press ISBN 978 1770411753 The Death of WCW Truth Lies and Everything in Between Bleacher Report Retrieved November 1 2022 VINCE RUSSO TAKES ON THE MAN THAT SAYS HE KILLED WCW November 12 2014 Retrieved November 1 2022 Vince Russo Opens Up About Working For Eric Bischoff amp Vince McMahon Fightful Retrieved May 1 2020 Vince Russo Believes It Was A Mistake For TNA To Bring In Bruce Prichard amp Eric Bischoff Into TNA September 9 2015 Retrieved May 22 2021 Vince Russo THEVinceRusso March 18 2021 So I m not asked a million times CONGRATS to EBischoff for being inducted into the WWE HOF Dating all the way back to his early days at the AWA Eric has contributed in a tremendous way to the Wrestling Profession as a whole both behind the scenes and in front Kudos Tweet Retrieved March 25 2021 via Twitter Satin Ryan July 14 2020 Tony Khan And Eric Bischoff Make Amends In Fight For The Fallen Preview Pro Wrestling Sheet Retrieved October 29 2020 a b PWI Awards Pro Wrestling Illustrated Kappa Publishing Group Archived from the original on January 21 2016 Retrieved September 19 2018 Meltzer Dave January 26 2011 Biggest issue of the year The 2011 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Issue Wrestling Observer Newsletter Campbell CA 1 40 ISSN 1083 9593 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eric Bischoff Official website 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff on Westwood One Podcast Network Eric Bischoff at IMDb Eric Bischoff on WWE com TNA profile at the Wayback Machine archived March 3 2016 WCW profile at the Wayback Machine archived April 28 1999 Eric Bischoff s profile at Cagematch net Wrestlingdata com Internet Wrestling DatabasePreceded byInaugural WCW Nitro lead announcer1995 1996 Succeeded byTony Schiavone Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eric Bischoff amp oldid 1149554132, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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