The following is a reprint of the Torch Newsletter "Special Report" coverage of Eric Bischoff's appearance on TSN's "Off the Record" from five years ago this week.

-Jason Powell, Torch assistant editor

* * *

Torch Newsletter Archive
By Wade Keller, Torch editor
Special Report: Bischoff on "Off the Record"
Originally published: Pro Wrestling Torch Weekly newsletter #488
Cover dated: Apr. 4, 1998

SPECIAL REPORT

Bischoff talks about Bret Hart
WCW president Eric Bischoff appeared on TSN (Canada's cable sports channel) and sat in the same chair Vince McMahon sat in a few weeks earlier. The following are more key excerpts of the interview, taped Mar. 6, airing Mar. 18.

-Said the host: "Hulk Hogan was not supposed to be the leader of the NWO, correct? It was supposed to be Luger, but at the last minute Hogan said, 'I want that.' Is that correct?" Said Bischoff: "No, that's not true at all." Said the host: "I haven't said a lot of things so far that are true."

Said Bischoff: "No, but you're not that far off, but there's more to it than that. Luger was going to be, he was considered to be the surprise third person in the NWO, but that was a little predictable. Truth be known, until about four days before the event, it was going to be Sting. That was the choice. Hogan was doing a movie out in Los Angeles. He was on the set. I hadn't really talked to him much. We had been shipping tapes out to him so he could kind of keep aware of what was going on within the shows. He saw what was happening. He liked what he saw. I flew out to spend a couple of days with him and he said, 'Hey, what about me?' He and I had talked several months before that and he thought it was time for him to take a different role. It was just a good opportunity."

-Said the host: "One of the problems that Vince McMahon is having in the WWF is he is having trouble controlling his guys. Shawn Michaels is a trouble-maker in most people's estimation. How about Hogan? Word is he won't job to Sting unless you give him a motor cycle. Word is he won't lose to guys unless they are his pals." Bischoff said: "That is absolutely ridiculous. That's ridiculous. Right now I think Hulk Hogan is as professional as anybody I know and more professional than most. He probably cares about the business more than most people that I know and he's one of the least selfish people that I work with. That perception of him is totally false."

-On why Bret Hart isn't in the NWO, Bischoff said: "Bret Hart is a nice guy. Bret Hart cares about this business. Bret Hart is not the kind of guy, I don't think his personality would fit in the NWO. When I look at the NWO, I look at it a little bit like a movie. You cast it kind of like a movie. There is a certain personality that fits. Although I have a tremendous amount of respect for Bret, his personality doesn't fit." Said the host: "What are you going to do with Bret?"

Bischoff said: "I don't know yet." Said the host: "It's tough. I'm not surprised that you don't know exactly what to do with him, because I've gotten the feeling you don't know what to do with him." Said Bischoff: "I know what I'm going to do with him. The question is when am I going to do it with him. One of the hardest things we're faced with when you have a deep talent roster like this, the tendency is to hurry up and rush everything because you can. I can match this guy and this guy and make a fortune on pay-per-view. The problem with that is at the end of 12 months, you've done it all. And you haven't told any stories. And you've got nowhere else to go. The key for us to be successful is to be able to maintain momentum. I think Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan are going to make a tremendous amount of money together by the end of this year."

Said the host: "Are you going to play the Canadian angle?" Bischoff said: "It's boring." Said the host: "It worked pretty well over there." Said Bischoff: "Not really, otherwise Bret would still be there."

-On whether Hulk Hogan is too old, Bischoff said: "Not at all. Hulk Hogan is still the most recognized star in our industry. Hulk Hogan still draws more money than anybody in this industry. I think Hulk Hogan is going to be a force within wrestling for a long, long time."

-Said the host: "Give us an idea of what you would have done with Bret Hart if he would have carried the belt from Montreal and the Survivor Series without having had it taken away. Vince admits to lying to Bret to get the belt away. Would you have put him on with the belt on Nitro the following night."

Bischoff said: "No, absolutely not. I told Bret when I met him in Los Angeles a couple of months before he came to WCW, Bret asked me, 'What should I do as far as the title situation?' I said, 'Bret, don't worry about it. If you lose, you lose. It's not going to diminish you when you come to WCW. You are a star, you are Bret Hart, you've been in this business for 2 years. The fact that you don't come over here with the belt does not diminish you whatsoever.' It wasn't a prerequisite."

Said the host: "Why? You did it with Alundra Blaze." Bischoff said: "Different situation, different time, and I wasn't in the midst of a lawsuit at the time. I wouldn't have taken the risk. There would have been no gain and Bret Hart didn't need that. I think it would have tainted Bret Hart to have done that. It would have cheapened him. Bret Hart is a guy with a tremendous amount of integrity and he has built up a lot of respect from a lot of fans over the years. For him to pull a cheap stunt like that, I think, would have diminished him in his own fans' eyes. I wouldn't have taken that risk with him, litigation notwithstanding."

-On Bret's departure from the WWF: "I don't know their side of the story. I never really asked Bret how it went down as far as the conversation with him and Vince. I didn't really think it was any of my business and I didn't care, to be quite honest with you. Bret called me, said he was available, I knew he was frustrated, we had talked on the phone several months before he made the call to me and let me know he wanted to come over. I knew he wasn't happy. He didn't like the creative and strategic direction of the company. I was expecting the call."

-Said the host: "Were you always interested in Bret Hart?" Bischoff said: "Yeah. Well, no, I really wasn't until the last year and a half when I got to know him that I became really interested in him. He's a really interesting guy. He's a nice guy and he's someone I think I can work with for a long time."

-Said the host: "If you are going to continue to thrive, you're going to need young stars. Where is the future for WCW?" Bischoff said: "The Giant is only 24 years old. You look at guys like Rey Misterio Jr., Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, [42 year old] Diamond Dallas Page."

Said the host: "Those are light-weights, though, right now." Said Bischoff: "I don't think Dallas Page is a light weight. Chris Benoit can certainly wrestle in any category, as can Jericho. There is a distinction, even if you watch some of our shows from the last couple of weeks, we are mixing some of the smaller guys with some of the bigger guys because the audience wants athletic ability. They want a very dynamic show. They don't want just big guys lumbering around slugging each other. Those guys provide that. That's where I think the company is going, that's where I think the business is going in the future. There are always going to be the big stars, physically big stars, but you are going to see more and more personalities that fit into the cruiserweight category."

-Said the host: "How much longer can the NWO last. It's been going a while." Bischoff said: "Yeah, I know, I've been hearing that question for the last two years. I think it's going to go for a long, long time. I mean, in Japan it's huge. In Mexico it's huge. I don't really think it's ever going to go away. I don't look at the NWO as a wrestling angle. I look at it as a separate organization. And that's how we're building it."

-Said the host: "Why are you here today?" Bischoff said: "A number of reasons. I saw the Vince McMahon transcript and it was fraught with so much b.s. There were so many lies and distortions that I thought it was necessary for at least my own peace of mind to try to clarify things a little bit and let people know there is another side to the story. Vince McMahon is a great salesman, he's a great con artist, but he has a lot of hot air."

-Said the host: "What bothered you most about Vince McMahon on Off the Record?" Bischoff said: "Nothing really bothered me, no one thing bothered me. It was kind of like Chinese water torture reading through that transcript and seeing the lies and distortions and the perception he's trying to create. It's nothing new, it's nothing that I haven't heard before or seen before. But it amazes me he continues with it. Because most people who are intelligent who know about this industry see through him like a glass of water."

The host interrupted: "Careful, because there are a lot of WWF fans in this country. You are going to insult them if they're not seeing through Vince McMahon." Bischoff said: "Not at all. Hopefully there are people out there…" The host interrupted: "McMahon is winning the ratings war on TSN. Barely, but he's been here longer." Said the host: "Also, he would say this is a place where there is an even playing field. You don't own the network." Bischoff said: "How can it be an even playing field if he's been in the market for 20 years and I've been here for a year."

Said the host: "But you don't own a network in this country. So you put your product on TSN and it's viewers' opportunity to choose." Bischoff said: "It's viewer's opportunity to choose in the United States as well. The fact that we're on our own network doesn't influence a viewer's decision to watch television. That's ridiculous. Did you hear what you just asked me?" Said the host: "You don't think there's an advantage to owning a network where you can go down the hall from your office in Atlanta and deal with the network that carries you and know that you're owned by the same people?" Said Bischoff: "Absolutely, that is an advantage, but it has nothing to do with the viewers' decision to watch."

Said the host: "But it has something to do with you getting your product out to the viewer." Bischoff said: "You put the product out there whether you own the network you're on or you don't. If the viewers like it, they watch it. If they don't, they don't. Owning the network doesn't have anything to do with that." Said the host: "In this country, they like both products right now and it will be interesting if you and I have this conversation a year from now where the WWF and WCW would be."

-On Jeff Jarrett: "Highly overrated."

-On Marc Mero: "Talented guy. Fairly frustrated at this point in his career."

-On Undertaker: "I don't know him. As a character, I think he's been very successful."

-On Arn Anderson: "A heck of a guy. Proud to know him. Proud to work with him."

-On Ted Turner: "A real nice guy [said with artificially high inflection and laughter]. Really happy to work with Uncle Ted!" The host said: "How hands-on is he?" Bischoff said: "I see Ted maybe twice a year. I feel guilty even calling him Ted because that implies I know him better than I do."

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE FLASHBACK: Kane character debuts 18 yrs. ago today in first-ever Hell in a Cell match - Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

HIAC FLASHBACK: Kane beats Undertaker in HIAC match 5 yrs. ago today, plus Randy Orton vs. Sheamus for WWE Title

ROH FLASHBACK: The aftermath of Joe vs. Kobashi 10 years ago today