During the latest edition of his “After 83 Weeks” podcast, Eric Bischoff commented on the nWo (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan, and Sean Waltman) being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On his reaction to the nWo being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame: “About fucking time. I mean common, the nWo, and this is always hard for me to talk about because I get sick of hearing myself say some of this stuff because I’ve said it so many times, so I can only imagine how other people who are on the receiving end of it take it, and I try to find different ways to make my point so it doesn’t sound like I’m saying the same thing over and over again, and I just run out of ways to say it. The nWo is, the storyline, the angle, the moment that that storyline was conceived and as it became executed, was probably one of the most important periods in professional wrestling, in this industry, in the last 30 years. I think the nWo storyline, look, the Monday Night Wars had already started. That fuse was already lit. But, when the nWo evolved, and came to be, that wick, that fuse that was already lit, hit nitroglycerine and it exploded the business in a way, other than what Vince McMahon and WWF at the time did by launching WrestleMania and bringing a lot of mainstream attention to the industry when they did, but other than that period of time, there was nothing that’s been more significant to the wrestling industry than the nWo storyline. And I’m not saying that because that was something that I created and was part of, I’m saying it because it’s true. If you go back and look at the last 20 years, 25 years, of our industry’s history, and look at where the industry was prior to the nWo, and look at where it is subsequent to the nWo, the nWo was a catalyst. That peak, that change in the industry, the change in the presentation. everything that we did that made the nWo as successful as it is today, forget about as successful as it was back then, it’s still successful today. It’s one of the top selling merchandise items in WWE licensing catalog. It’s still there. You can’t go to a wrestling event anywhere in the world and not see nWo merchandise. That’s what’s obvious. But what’s not so obvious to wrestling fans who just don’t dig into the the business of it, the business of it is that Monday Night War, the nWo, WWE’s reaction to it, which was the Attitude Era, right, and Generation DX or whatever the hell they call it, that was an offshoot, that was a reaction to something that we did that only elevated the business even more. And I think it’s that competition and the elevation of the business to the degree that it was elevated, to the extent that it was elevated, is the reason why you have a publicly held corporation in WWE. I don’t think WWE could have gone public without the success that was created during he Monday Night Wars. And had they not gone public, they wouldn’t have had the resources to do many of the things they’re doing today, including their streaming platform. And I know I’m reaching a little deep here, and it’s going to come off like I’m gonna break my arm trying to pat myself on the back, and that’s not it, but if you just look at it objectively, just look at the facts, look at where the business was prior to the nWo and look at where it is subsequent to that, and look at all the things the Monday Night Wars created, and I think you’d have to agree. Now it’s great to see Hulk, and Scott, Hulk and Kevin Nash, and Waltman, these are all close friends of mine. Hulk is my best friend to this day. And Scott and Kevin and Sean are very close friends of mine. Could not be happier for them. But it’s about friggin’ time.”
On if he should be inducted as part of the nWo, as Sean Waltman recently said: “Should, on what basis should somebody go in? It’s a completely subjective process. Whoever, I don’t even know who chooses, or how people are chosen to go into the Hall of Fame, but whatever it is, it’s very subjective. There’s reasons behind it, there’s feelings behind it, there’s emotion behind it, there’s facts behind it, and I have no idea how those choices are made. I don’t think anybody should be in the Hall of Fame. That’s nice of him to say, but he’s not calling the shots, so it really doesn’t matter. I wish he was. That’d be great. I’d like to hang out with my buddies at WrestleMania, that’d be wonderful, but I don’t worry about that. I knew as soon as I saw that, I go, ‘Oh my gosh, my Twitter feed is going to be overloaded with comments about this, I’m going to be dealing with it now for weeks.’ But I love those guys. Those four guys, especially Hulk, these are guys that I have deep affection for, and respect for, so I couldn’t be happier.”
On if he will induct the nWo into the Hall of Fame: “Not that I know of, but I’m a pretty spontaneous guy so if I get the call at the last minute, I’ll swing by wherever they’re gonna be in Tampa and I’m sure I can spit out a good induction.”
On if he will be at the Hall of Fame ceremony to see the nWo get inducted: “That’s in April, it all depends on what’s going on.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
