In one of the recent episodes of “83 Weeks” podcast, Eric Bischoff opened a revealing dialog on the tactics used during the pairing of the cruiserweight talents against the formidable nWo during his tenure at WCW.
Here are the noteworthy moments from the podcast episode:
Eric Bischoff’s thoughts on utilizing cruiserweight talents to strengthen top-tier NWO members: “The essence of it is entirely situational. The question is not ‘What significant contributions did you make last month?’ but rather, ‘What have you accomplished today?’ Part of my everyday tasks involved developing the NWO, breaking past records, enhancing revenues, increasing merchandise sales, and seizing more opportunities.
“However, just as a thought experiment, let’s consider an alternative scenario. Imagine if, for some unforeseen reason, the NWO had not hit their stride. Suppose Hogan decides to call it quits, declaring his villain turn a failure and chooses to either retire or work on a film project. By that juncture, the cruiserweights would have likely begun to amass popularity. They would possess a strong enough fan base to tell an enthralling story with them. Their performances and characters had been sufficiently boosted by the show’s presentation and any associated bookings. They were the second hottest thing on the show, next only to the NWO. In the event of the NWO’s demise, what would be the next logical step? Obviously, the next best counterpart would have been the cruiserweight division. Those guys could potentially have had those opportunities.”
When questioned about the possibility of anyone turning down to follow a cruiserweight match: “No circumstance of such nature ever occurred. While I suspect that some might have contemplated it, no one ever expressed such a sentiment to me. Perhaps they confided in Kevin Sullivan or one of the other agents, but they certainly never approached me with it.”