Eric Bischoff recently joined Joey Karni for an episode of The Angle Podcast. During the podcast Bischoff spoke about being inducted in to the WWE Hall of Fame alongside the NWO, and opened up about his relationships with the other members.
“It was kind of like a double whammy,” recalled Bischoff. “It was a double hitter for me because I created that sh*t. Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan. Hulk is one of my best friends for sure. Kevin and I stay in touch. I love Scott, we don’t stay in touch. Scott’s kind of an independent dude. I have nothing but love for Scott. More now than ever, because I know more about him now. I would’ve been happy sitting in the audience watching, if there were an audience. I would’ve lived vicariously through them.”
Bischoff also discussed factions in modern-day wrestling. Bischoff said that they are overdone and that he wouldn’t even attempt to put one together. He also said every faction is now compared to the NWO, which doesn’t help matters.
“I wouldn’t even attempt it,” shared Bischoff. “Everyone’s been trying to recreate the NWO since the NWO. You just can’t man. The good news is the NWO will go down as one of the best storylines/factions in the history of the wrestling business. NWO merchandise is one of the highest selling items in the WWE catalog. The bad news is, every effort that keeps coming along pale in comparison, and I think the only way to overcome that is to just let it rest. Let’s just not have any more factions for a few years so that when one comes along it feels fresh, and not like an attempt to be like the NWO. Everything gets compared to it.”
During the podcast Bischoff also revealed that for the first time in his wrestling career that he has no interest in going back to a full-time position with any wrestling promotion, which may have impacted his time as Executive Director of WWE Friday Night SmackDown. Bischoff said it is time to walk away from the industry, both mentally and emotionally.
“It’s hard to describe,” admitted Bischoff. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. It’s just interesting because I think for the last 6 months or year of my life, maybe a little longer, I’ve finally gone, ‘You know what? That’s in my rearview mirror.’ And I’m going to be really honest with you here, I’ve never had this conversation on a podcast with anybody. Even though I’ve been out of the business as a full-time person, when was the last time I was full time maybe 6 or 7 years ago in 2014.
“I dabbled a little bit. I do a little thing here and a little thing there, still very interested in the business. [I’ve been] doing my podcast, which kind of keeps me connected to the industry. For the last year, year and a half, you know what, if somebody called me today and said, ‘Here’s this huge check, I want you to come in and do this.’ For the first time in 30 or however how many years, I wouldn’t do it. Because it’s that time, to mentally and emotionally walk away from it…”
