Eric Bischoff discussed Buff Bagwell on a recent episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, and the neck injury Bagwell suffered in 1998. Bischoff also spoke about the decision to turn Bagwell heel after the injury, and more.
You can read some highlights of his comments below:
Bagwell’s neck injury in 1998: “Go back and watch what happened with Damar Hamlin a few weeks ago. That was essentially the vibe in WCW backstage at that point. We didn’t know. It looked horrible in Hamlin’s case, it was horrible. He actually died on the field and was brought back, I guess. But with Buff, we weren’t in fear of his life but we were afraid he was paralyzed from the neck down. Because he was in that particular moment, he was. We didn’t know if he’d ever be able to walk again or even wheel himself around in a wheelchair again. It was very scary.”
Bagwell appearing on TV in a wheelchair: “It was a real moment. That’s sometimes when wrestling is at its best, when it finds perfect harmony between character and story and reality. This was an extreme version of that obviously, and one that clearly wasn’t planned. But I think being able to embrace it and bring it forward in an honest, real way was the right thing to do.”
If turning Bagwell heel was the right decision after the injury: “Nope. Nope. Not going to sugarcoat it. I could try to justify it.. nope with hindsight. You can figure anything out. You can figure a way to make something better in hindsight, but absolutely that would have been a better storyline. There’s nothing I can say, but you’re absolutely right.”
Bagwell being difficult to work with at the end of WCW: “Yeah, not a lot though. It wasn’t like a huge problem, but in the course of a conversation… For example, I would stay in touch with Johnny Lauranaitis who I did bring in from All Japan. Johnny was very much involved with creative in All Japan and I wanted someone. I really was hoping Johnny could bring in a much richer approach to finishes in WCW. That was always like my big challenge at that point. Yes, we would talk about, you know, some of the talent because I was trying to figure out what we were going to do going forward and I occasionally would hear references from Johnny about Marcus, but not in a way that made me go, ‘Oh my God, now what am I going to do with him?’ Just kind of like notes.”
