RECAP AND REVIEW: 83 Weeks Q&A on meeting with Russo, name-dropping Ted Turner, Bullet Club, WCW tape library and more

Written Podcast Recap: 83 Weeks – Q&A

Release Date: November 5th, 2018

Recap by: Jeff Rush, PWPodcasts.com Assistant Editor

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Bischoff comes out hot on Vince Russo. First question is from Russo – why won’t Bischoff meet with him face to face? Eric calls him a delusional, lying POS. He says he got burned by him twice, in WCW and in TNA. There will not be a third time. He goes further saying Russo is as good as dead to him and that he doesn’t debate dead guys.

David Arquette had the second question which was simply WHY??? Obviously, that’s in regards to putting the title on him. Bischoff talks up Ready 2 Rumble as though it was a big time film while saying it was a stunt to promote the film.

Eric says he wasn’t always recognized in the real world back in 1996 but that being out with Hogan, Hall or Nash would offer some perks, mostly free beers at the hotel bar.

Eric never imagined Ted Turner would ask him what it would take to be competitive and says asking for “prime time” was simply blurted out. He says it was the simplest, most powerful response he ever had to a question based on the results. He adds it was the only face-to-face meeting he ever had with Turner.

Based in recognition, Eric feels Virgil’s salary was justified. He then kind of weirdly craps on people who work at FedEx before seemingly catching himself quickly. He says $109K/year might seem like a lot of you work at FedEx before quickly adding “or any other normal job.”

Conrad shows off his prowess for mid-90’s WWF while Eric is facetiously guessing at who the fifth man would be based on the rumors that have driven him nuts about Mabel and British Bulldog at one time being considered to be the third and fourth man. He says it would need to be someone who fit well with the black and white color code of the NWO. Conrad instantly says “Ah, Abe “Knuckleball” Schwartz.”

Eric sells a broom!

Eric tells a great story about making a pitch on a TV project in the mid-00’s. The guy he was pitching didn’t know him and wanted to know his TV credentials. Eric asked if a call from Ted Turner would suffice. The guy instantly bit and said yes. Eric didn’t know if he could actually get Ted to do it. He scrambled a bit and was able to make it happen.

Hulk and Brutus have recently made up. Eric still hates him.

If Eric could change one thing about his TNA run, he instantly says “not doing it.” He takes it back and reflects on all the opportunities it presented his son. Eric continues that he went to TNA as a favor to Hulk, as Hogan wasn’t going to do it without Bischoff.

We hear a lot about Eric trying to talk Garrett out of pursuing a career in wrestling. He says it was different ten years ago and if he was the same age now, he’d have many more opportunities.

If he could’ve purchased the AWA in 1990 and Hogan, Flair, and Savage were unavailable, who would he want as the face of the company? Curt Hennig is the instant answer.

The best part of working with WWE was the people. Everyone he still knows in wrestling are people that happen to work for WWE.

Eric would not have had the same success in WCW without the NWO.

Eric is still caught off guard by Conrad’s “Roll tide” catchphrase after all this time.

Eric plugs the hell out of the WCW Nitro book, per usual. It goes further in this episode as Eric says he realized the Fusient/WCW deal may have been internally sabotaged from reading the book.

Bischoff discusses patching things up with Ric Flair. He says he thought their problems were behind them more than once before realizing they still had heat. He was on the phone with his wife talking about a real estate deal when Flair attacked him from behind, throwing punches at his head.

The one thing Eric would change about the current WWE product in terms of production is making it not look so perfect, more gritty and spontaneous.

If Eric we’re to put together a three man booking committee today comprised of anyone living or dead he says 1. Dusty Rhodes 2. Al Snow 3. Scott Hall. Conrad counters 1. Dusty 2. Pat Patterson 3. Paul Heyman

Eric is asked for his thoughts on the Bullet Club and it seems like he’s not really up on them, saying it was originally cast well with guys like Cody and the Bucks. He gets a smile out of the nod to the NWO they give.

Eric feels starting his own promotion is not a good idea.

Eric would absolutely return to WWE under the right circumstances, but feels his on-camera days are behind him. He again speaks glowingly of his time there.

Bischoff jokes that he thinks every morning about having been WCW hardcore champion but then instantly recalls it was Terry Funk he beat for the title.

Eric feels his greatest achievement in wrestling is changing the way it was perceived in the mid-90’s. He then tells a funny story about running into a closet wrestling fan who went from “oh, I used to watch that years ago” to “Why did this happen on last week’s show” very quickly.

Says the addition of the Nitro Girls caused instant problems for him, due to shenanigans.

Eric was aware of ECW in the 90’s but never watched it.

When asked why he didn’t purchase the WCW tape library when it was available, Eric says no one knew at the time that over the top streaming services would one day be available. Additionally, he didn’t have a ton of money at the time and would’ve had a difficult time scraping it together based on the unknown return it would’ve provided an investor.

Jericho’s departure was disappointing to Eric. He tried hard to keep him, but says it wasn’t a bitter pill.

Hulk once told Eric during a moment at the peak of their WCW that as good as they had things at that moment, it could all go away in an instant. It was jarring to Eric at the time and he’s never forgotten it.

Asked what he would’ve done if he’d acquired the Undertaker, Eric says it would’ve been a challenge as he wouldn’t have been able to actually be the Undertaker.

Playing a hypothetical, Eric says he probably would’ve brought Mark Calloway in to be part of the WCW side in the war against the NWO since he had a history there.

Boiling his problems in TNA down to one person not named Carter, Eric points to Dean Broadhead. Eric says he was duplicitous. He says Dean was always trying to impress you. All conversations pointed to his time in the military, dropping napalm on villagers in Vietnam. He would even casually polish a gun during meetings.

Next week’s episode covers Eric’s first year in WWE.

Review: This was a nice surprise. The stories about boasting Ted Turner as a reference before scrambling to actually a make it happen, and pitching Ted on the concept of running in prime time were worth it alone. There were tons of little sidebars as well that made a simple Q&A edition of this show far exceed expectations. Worth the listen. Rating: 8/10

You can catch Jeff, along with PWPodcasts.com contributors Caitlin Lavelle and Joe Aguinaldo each week on The Pull Apart: The Pro Wrestling Podcast Podcast. To enjoy a ton more VIP content, visit PWTorch.com.

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