In one of the recent episodes of his podcast “83 Weeks,” Eric Bischoff reminisced about the restrictions he had to navigate while presiding over WCW (World Championship Wrestling). Bischoff humorously recalls,
“You couldn’t utter ‘foreign object.’ The first week we had this person overseeing ‘standards and practices,’ a woman named Terri Tingle, who demanded, ‘I need to view your script a month in advance.’ [laughs] That’s precisely what I did, I chuckled at her proposition. I told her, ‘I’ll provide you with a summary, it’ll contain key points. That’s the best you’re getting.’”
As narrated by Bischoff, Tingle diligently reviewed the scripts and wound up banning the word ‘stupid’ during interviews in the apprehension that it might insult some viewers. Bischoff, in his nonchalant demeanor, continued,
“The very intent is to upset them. That’s the mechanics of the business. She was likely trying to navigate through, intending to exercise maximum control or validate her position. I’m uncertain of her motives, but it was evident that she lacked knowledge of wrestling. That was one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard.”
Despite such limitations, the WCW never shied away from giving bolder and possibly offensive angles a shot, like the ‘Oklahoma’ character belittling Jim Ross’ Bells Palsy.
Another storyline that tested contemporary sensibilities involved Ric Flair getting labeled ‘crazy’ and being dispatched to a mental institution, thereby endorsing damaging stereotypes about mental illness.
Bischoff stayed with the organization until its closure in 2001 and even tried purchasing the WCW in a desperate effort, but his attempts proved futile.
[The article then embeds a YouTube video of Eric Bischoff]