Eric Bischoff gave his thoughts on various topics on the latest episode of his 83 Weeks Podcast.
During it, Bischoff talked about whether he was interested in bringing Taz to WCW, using Vampiro, and more. Here are the highlights:
On whether WCW was interested in bringing in Taz:
“Not by me. No. Again. There was nobody in ECW that was on my radar because I didn’t watch it and I wasn’t following it. So what I say, there was nobody on my radar. No disrespect to them, but I really didn’t watch the product. So. No, not for me. No. Did Terry Taylor have a thought about Taz? Kevin Sullivan? Because Kevin and Terry, I think we’re far more familiar and followed the product and had friends there and relationships there. So they very well could have had thoughts or plans for Taz that just never made it to my desk.”
On whether he brought in Vampiro:
“Well, no, he wasn’t on my radar. I didn’t bring him in. I didn’t scout him. That would have come probably from Kevin Sullivan, more than likely. But once Kevin brought him to me, I saw tape. I saw eight by ten to get an idea of where he would fit. But that would have been a Kevin Sullivan hire.”
On having confidence in Stevie Ray in 1998:
“Stevie was a great performer in the ring, and he was intimidating as hell to look at and believable and credible. The flaw in his game was his promo ability. The reason that Booker was always out in front of that team and on the mic. And one of the reasons that Booker T became so successful after he hung up his boots, so to speak, was because he was so good on the mic. And Stevie didn’t have that talent. So within the NWA, that was easily camouflaged. So you have all the assets that Stevie brought to the table without having to worry about whether or not he could carry a promo. It was just a great fit.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.