During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, former WCW President Eric Bischoff said the incident during the 1998 NBA Playoffs between Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone was done as a way to promote their WCW match at Bash at the Beach.
For those who didn’t see it, we’ve posted a video of the incident below. Bischoff told TMZ Sports the following,
“Now, what I said to Dennis, not to Karl was, ‘Hey Dennis, if anything were to happen off court while there’s a timeout, while there’s no gameplay … so that the feud between Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman is real, on a kind of a 360-degree basis, not just what happens on our TV show,’ that wouldn’t piss me off at all.
I chuckled like a little kid because it accomplished so much. As a wrestling producer, to be able to create a moment … that played out on a platform so huge as the NBA playoffs was really satisfying.
I certainly didn’t expect Dennis to skip practice and participate in Nitro. That decision was all Dennis.”
Hollywood Hogan teamed with Dennis Rodman against Karl Malone and Diamond Dallas Page at the 1998 Bash at the Beach pay-per-view event. Hogan and Rodman wound up winning the match.
