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Interviews
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: The first of a series of questions pushing for answers on Bret Hart's lackluster run in WCW - "Montreal was a life-threatening wound" Nov 7, 2009 - 12:05:10 PM
On Monday, September 14, PWTorch editor Wade Keller interviewed former WCW President Eric Bischoff an exclusive multi-hour "Torch Talk" interview covering a variety of controversial subjects from the Monday Night War period, his days on WWE TV, his 2006 autobiography, and the "Rise & Fall of WCW" DVD.
The following is the latest installment of part four of the exclusive five-hour "Torch Talk" with former WCW President Eric Bischoff. This fourth part of the series picks up in the midst of a discussion about Bischoff's oft-criticized decision to put the first-ever Hulk Hogan vs. Goldberg match on free Nitro with just four day's notice. Part 4(a) of our daily Q&As will be published here at PWTorch.com, which is unprecedented with our VIP-exclusive "Torch Talk" series.
To both READ and LISTEN to the entire interview, you'll want to become a VIP member, which also includes instant access to our newsmaking multi-hour in-depth hard-hitting "Torch Talks" with other top WCW players such as Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, X-Pac, Vince Russo, Ed Ferrara, Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and others (ALL AVAILABLE AT THIS LINK FOR VIP MEMBERS). To subscribe right now and be the first to read the entire Bischoff "Torch Talk" and have VIP-only access to the audio, click here. The first audio segment and transcript installment is now available for VIP members.
We present today's latest question and answer from Part 4(a). Tune in tomorrow for the next series of Q&A's from part 4.
Wade Keller: How about Bret Hart. Bret Hart's acquired and I think politics cut the legs out from under him. That's my point of view. But that's just my point of view. You focused in your book on Bret not seeming to have his heart in the business because of the Montreal Screwjob. And, in fact, Bret backed up what you said in his book years later, saying: "I was hurt, vulnerable, changed. I had lost faith in the world." But, to me, WCW could have been a place Bret could have had a soft landing and got to renew his love for wrestling and kind of helped him through a tough time. But instead it was just such a mismash of politics and chaos that it drove him into greater despair. Bret Hart also wrote: "The ratings war was essentially over. I was the greatest weapon Eric had at the time and why he never deployed me, I'll never know." With that as a set-up, do you look at Bret as a weapon that you never deployed or that internal politics destroyed before you had a chance to.
Eric Bischoff: No, I don't. Although I don't stay in touch with Bret, if I saw him today I'd give him a hug and embrace him as one of the really cool people I've had the good fortune to do business with. I really like Bret. I think we're, in some respects away the business, very similar people. He likes Western history. He likes reading about Native Americans. He's a history buff. I like him. I really like Bret. Now that said, Bret was broken when he came to WCW. I've written about it. I would say it to his face. He came to WCW a shadow of his former self. Between what happened in Montreal and the death of his brother, if there would have been no politics, you've gotta feel it and you've gotta want it, you've gotta push for it. You've gotta make the audience want to get behind you. Bret had a tough time even getting to the building. I'm not saying there wasn't politics working against him. I'm not saying I wasn't guilty of not coming up with the right perfect way to use Bret. But I was working with wet gun powder. He just wasn't there emotionally, professionally, he just wasn't committed. He just didn't want it. He was so consumed. By the way, I think he still is with the Montreal thing. You can imagine it back then ten years ago. It was an open wound. It wasn't even a minor wound. It was a life-threatening wound.
MORE TO COME TOMORROW WITH KELLER PUSHING HARDER FOR BISCHOFF TO ADMIT WCW'S ERRORS IN HANDLING HART'S RUN...
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AND NEW FOR 2009! Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?
