On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff spoke about him and his wife being involved in the latest A&E Documentary about Randy Savage. Bischoff talked about when his footage was shot and why he wasn’t happy that they were both involved after seeing the release of it.
“I’m embarrassed that I was a part of that as well,” Bischoff said. “So people understand and know, both me [and my wife] shot those segments while I was still working for WWE and both of us were still living in Stanford a year and a half ago. I’ve been involved in so many WWE projects, and I hope to continue to be involved.
“Had I known what this biography was going to be, neither my wife nor I would have participated. Had I known that they were going to put Bubba the f***ing Love Sponge in this thing, I would’ve said thank you but no thank you. I’m embarrassed too [to be involved in it] by the way.”
Bischoff had the opposite sentiment for the Brian Pillman Sr. Dark Side of the Ring episode on VICE. The former WCW President said it was much better than the Savage documentary and felt good after watching it.
“For people to understand why I went off the way I did on the Randy Savage A&E documentary, I just felt like there was a lot of dirt for the sake of dirt,” Bischoff said. “Sensationalism for the sake of sensationalism. The exact opposite happened on VICE with the Brian Pillman episode. There were a lot of negative things that were apart of Brian Pillman’s documentary but the way it was presented it didn’t feel like they were trying to bury Brian Pillamn’s legacy.
“A lot of people that were involved in that had a direct relationship with Brian, they told a story but did it respectfully. They didn’t do it just to bury somebody and at the end of the documentary I felt good about Brian Pillman’s story as sad as it was. I had to think in my own mind if Brians watching this right now, if Brian could’ve been involved in this decision making process and edited that final edit, what would Brian would’ve changed and I think he wouldn’t have changed anything. I felt hopeful at the end of it, that’s the direct opposite of how I felt when I saw the A&E Randy Savage documentary.”
A key component of the Pillman documentary was his son, Brian Pillman Jr., who currently works for AEW. Bischoff talked about first time meeting him, saying that he gave some advice and is happy to see where he’s ended up in his career.
“I met Brian Pillman Jr. about 4 years ago,” Bischoff said. “I remember thinking to myself, I hate to say this, but I was afraid for Pillman Jr. I know what he’s trying to do, I know why he’s trying to do it, I admire him for trying to do it but unless you have a really solid foundation underneath you, the entertainment business once you commit to it for a career, is an amazingly challenging journey. You have to be mentally and emotionally prepared and have a good foundation. To come out of a dysfunctional family, having lost your father at such a young age and then trying to follow in his footsteps, which is hard for anybody under the best of circumstances. It’s incredibly hard in the professional wrestling industry to follow in your fathers footsteps particularly when your father casts such a large shadow as Brian Pillman Sr. did.
“I was afraid for him, I think I gave him my phone number and said ‘If you ever need anything, if you just want to talk, don’t hesitate to call me.’ I never heard from him, I kind of went ahead with my business and didn’t see him again for a long time. Now to see this and to see how far he’s come, as a performer in the ring, I think he’s really come a long way and he’s got a ton of potential but beyond that, I’m really hoping that he continues his journey, succeeds in his journey and rises to the level he’s capable of rising too as a performer and a talent and come out of it healthy. That would be the best tribute to his fathers legacy. Stay healthy and not make the same mistakes his father made.”
