In a recent episode of the “83 Weeks” podcast, Eric Bischoff revealed that he had been in communication with TNA Wrestling in 2002 before assuming his role as General Manager of WWE RAW. Below are some key points from his remarkable conversation:
On TNA’s initial contact in 2002, Bischoff said: “In the very beginning, before TNA even launched, it was Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett who spearheaded it all. They both contacted me, I clearly remember it because I was on the road travelling between Phoenix and Las Vegas. I was living in Phoenix at that time and was heading to Vegas for a meeting. This memorable call happened during my drive, I was worried about my cell network coverage so I had to stop on the roadside to continue the call which lasted around 20 or 30 minutes.”
Drawing on what he could remember from the conversation, Bischoff said: “The Jarretts briefly discussed their vision, it was quite some time ago so I might miss out on some details for which I apologize, especially to Jeff. What I distinctly remember is, they mentioned they were planning on doing weekly pay-per-view events without any TV coverage. Unfortunately, I couldn’t grasp this concept, and that made me hesitate.”
He continued, “Although appreciative of the call and their proposal, I respectfully informed them that I was preoccupied with other commitments and I wouldn’t be able to devote time to their venture. Honestly, I couldn’t comprehend their revenue model, solely based on pay-per-view, even though it was just priced at .99. Sometime later, I found that Jay Hassman, a former colleague who created the cat’s a logo for WCW, was involved. Despite acknowledging that the opportunity could be good, I decided to step back because my focus lied elsewhere at the moment.” You can hear more in the embedded excerpt from the ’83 Weeks’ podcast.