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 five of the exclusive five-hour "Torch Talk" with former WCW President Eric Bischoff. Part 5 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 5. Tune in tomorrow for the next series of Q&A's from the Eric Bischoff Torch Talk.

Wade Keller: There was clearly a point where Ric Flair was put on Nitro after he had been off Nitro, or put on a Nitro in a prominent position, where his portrayal was respectful, not disrespectful, because there was no doubt there were times Ric Flair not only perceived disrespect, but a lot of people perceived Flair was being treated as something less than what he meant to fans - a real big chunk of fans. When he was put in respectful positions, without fail, ratings went up. People liked when they saw that. Do you think internally, in the grab for TV time, for perceived importance through your eyes because you were the one who ultimately handed out the next guaranteed contract, that politics devoured Flair because he wasn't as well-equipped for that, that other forces - you can name names or not name names, they're pretty obvious who they'd be - worked hard to undercut Flair becoming part of that top tier clique because he in a sense was a threat to how much of the budget those wrestlers would get or how much TV time those wrestlers would get?

Eric Bischoff: Ah, you know, honestly I don't want to sound like I'm avoiding that question, but you probably have a better [perspective] because talent talked to you and talked to you differently than they talked to me. I can tell you from my point of view, was there politics going on? Clearly. Were there certain people who thought Ric Flair was too old? Sure. Were there people who thought Hulk Hogan was too old? Sure. Were there people who were trying to isolate Hogan and get him out of the company? Absolutely. Were those the same people who were trying to minimize Flair? Absolutely. Those things are true. There's no doubt they were true. But for me personally, you can't put anybody, as we've learned, as I've learned, as we've seen over the years - whether it's Hulk Hogan, whether it's Ric Flair, whether it's Triple H, whether it's Shawn Michaels, whether it's Undertaker - you can't put any of those guys at the top of the heap for an extended period of time without making a change. You've got to cycle them in, you've got to cycle them out. You've got to have an ebb and a flow to creative. You've got to make people go away in order for them to feel fresh again. You've got to create an absence makes the heart grow fonder factor for talent. Otherwise you just completely burn them out.

So I'm just talking about my personal perspective and not somebody else's politics because I can't speak for other people's politics, but for me personally, number one, there was never anything political because they weren't competing for me, they weren't taking my spot, so (laughs) to suggest I was somehow politically motivated is kind of ridiculous in a way. My perception was, and my focus more than perception, my focus was cycling people in, cycling 'em out, making sure when they're cycled in, they're cycled in with the right story at the right time and we're giving these characters a chance to breath as opposed to putting one guy on top forever. I made that mistake with the NWO, quite frankly. To a degree, that's one of the things looking back on it, if I were ever in a position again, which I don't anticipate being and I'm not sure I'd ever want to be, but that was one of the things I would really focus on more was making sure that whoever it was, whether it'd be a Ric Flair type of character, a Hulk Hogan type of character, or whoever, pick a name, I would be sure to try to be much more aware and cognizant of burnout and audience fatigue than I probably was.

MORE TO COME TOMORROW WITH THE FINAL INSTALLMENT OF PART 5 TALKING THE NWO...

CLICK HERE FOR THE MOST RECENT BISCHOFF Q&A SNIPPET FROM PART 5

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