During the latest edition of his “83 Weeks” podcast, Eric Bischoff commented on the infamous Jeff Hardy vs. Sting match at TNA Victory Road 2011, how people reacted to it backstage, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On when he first realized Jeff Hardy couldn’t compete: “Once I got close to Jeff, if it was obvious he was fucked up. Whoever the agent was, he says he’s fucked up, and he’s too fucked up to work. Then it became, who’s calling this? Because it wasn’t my job. I was the executive producer of the television show, and I technically had no authority whatsoever and no official role in the pay-per-view unless I was a talent or was asked for input on creative. So, I was just kind of standing there waiting for someone to make a decision and no decisions are being made. Now Jeff is making his way out to the ring.”
On being the one to make the decision on how to handle the situation: “There was no captain of the ship in Gorilla. Dixie [Carter] was there, and it was my exchange with Dixie that was the catalyst for me to say fuck it, nobody else is gonna do anything. The bell is gonna ring, and it can’t go down like this. I don’t want to make it sound like I’m putting myself over or I cared so much about Sting…..it was the show. I was concerned about the show. I didn’t want Sting going out there and trying to have a match with a guy who was completely fucking wasted. I wasn’t worried about Sting getting hurt. Sting was able to take care of himself. But the match would’ve been the shits, and I didn’t want Sting to be in that position. Sting didn’t know, and he had no idea Jeff was gonna show up fucked up.”
On having to make a decision on the fly on his way to the ring: “I literally walked through the curtain not knowing what I was gonna do……there were two things that were crossing my mind. My first instinct was because I was a heel, I thought I might – and this is gonna sound like tough guy shit, but my daughter could’ve knocked out Jeff Hardy at that point – just go out and knock him out. Drop him, have the referee call the match, disqualification. By the time I walked through the curtain and got halfway down the aisle, I realized that wouldn’t work because of the no DQ thing. So, I started to improv the story and laying out a promo. What I was trying to do was buy time to figure out how to communicate to Jeff, the referee, and Sting. So, I did what I did. I told Jeff to take his finish. I went to Sting, and that’s where it got a little creative because I was trying to talk to Sting at the same time I was trying to cut a promo and trying to hide it all to make it look like it was part of the show. That was it.”
On the backstage reaction to the situation: “The overwhelming fog that settled in backstage was disappointment for Sting. I think everybody put themselves in his shoes because it was a horrible position for Sting to have been in at that stage of his career and at his level of stardom. It was embarrassing and undeserved. I think it reflected a lack of professionalism within the entire TNA organization from top to bottom. I think people were genuinely sad for Jeff. Despite the fact he did something very stupid and selfish, people liked Jeff. They had a lot of respect for Jeff. I think it was disappointment for Sting, and sadness for Jeff. It was just really sad more than anything.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
