On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff talked about whether things would’ve been better if Bret Hart had Owen in WCW.
Bret joined WWE in 1997, but Owen still had time left on his WWE deal and couldn’t get out of it. Owen tragically passed away less than two years later. He said,
“Undoubtedly, and I’m so affirmed in that because I met Bret Hart at the airport. Immediately after Owen was announced to have passed, Bret was in midair at that point in time when he was on his way to Los Angeles. To meet me, or I was there, I was at the airport to meet Bret on that flight. It was a later night flight that he got in around 10, or 11, or whatever it was. And I know, I didn’t know that Air Canada was able to find a way to reach the captain. On the flight, the Bret Hart was on, on his way to LA to meet me, I didn’t know that happened. This was long before cell phones and wire, you know, Wifi on your plane, the ability to pay whatever taxes, and none of that existed. So I went to the airport, knowing what had happened, knowing that Bret was or believing that Bret was going to come off the plane and not know. So I had to prepare myself to be the one to tell him, just giving you the context. Bret got off the plane. And the minute I laid eyes on there was very there was hardly anybody at the airport that night. Again, it was a later night flight in the terminal. And I spotted Bret from, you know, halfway across the terminal. And I could tell you already knew. And from that point forward, that was a heavy bag to carry. That was some heavy luggage that Bret carried with him all the time. So you asked me if you think it would have been different, and it absolutely would have been different. I don’t know how only Bret can answer that. But I know how bad the situation was and how much it hurt. Bret, only common sense would suggest that not having that baggage. Things would have been different. Right? So yeah, I’m 100% sure things would have been different.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to GlobalForceEntertainment.com for the transcription.