On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff was asked about the backstage reaction to Ric Flair taking the WCW World Title to WWF in 1991 — and revealed he had no idea any of it was happening. You can check out his comments below:
On how little he knew:
“What’s weird about this in terms of my timeline is that prior to getting to Turner, I think it was June of ’91, I had zero — Ric Flair, WCW, absolutely not on my radar. We just didn’t get it. I think NWA actually got on TV right about the time I had already moved away from Minnesota. I think I was living in Chicago at the time, and right around then I remember seeing NWA advertised. I remember thinking, what is that? I figured it out quickly.”
On being out of the loop entirely:
“But in terms of knowing what was going on politically, or storyline-wise, or even talent-wise — absolutely not on my radar until I got to Turner. Then I was kind of immersed in it and had to learn a little bit.”
On the 30 seconds he spent with Flair:
“I met Ric for the very first time at my very first TV taping in Anderson, South Carolina. Ric was back stretching, and it was his last day before he was going to leave. I met Ric. It lasted 30 seconds. Introduced myself. He was very gracious, looked up, shook my hand. I went about my business, he went about his, and he was gone.”
On not having a firsthand read on the story:
“So the politics of it all — I wasn’t watching WWF at the time, not closely. So I didn’t really know the story when I got to WCW. I only learned of it after getting there. I didn’t really have a firsthand impression of it as it was happening, because I wasn’t really aware of it.”
On having to survive the “What?” chant as an on-screen character:
“I had to overcome them when I first got to WWE as a character. Everybody loved ‘what’ at you, just to try to throw you off your promo and see if they could get you to break character. It was a fun time.”
On what the chant actually revealed:
“I think probably not the first time, but it was a real clear example of the audience realising that they’re a really big part of the show — like they should be getting a check if they do their job properly. Because a really great audience can make a mediocre show feel like a big deal at home when you’re watching on television. Conversely, a dead crowd can make what should be a great show feel flatter than piss on a plate. The crowd is so important.”