10 Fascinating WWE WrestleMania 12 Facts

3. Marc Mero Left WCW After Meeting With Bischoff Three Weeks Before WrestleMania

Wrestlemania 12
WWE

Moments after Helmsley did the honors for Warrior, a familiar face popped up in a backstage interview. It was WCW's Johnny B. Badd, repackaged as "Wildman" Marc Mero. Just days earlier, Badd had dropped the company's Television title to Lex Luger, the switch taking place a week after Mero's contract expired.

Mero had butted heads with Bischoff over a number of issues in those preceding days, and reached out to McMahon to see if WWE was interested. McMahon was, and the two hashed out a verbal offer.

On Monday, March 11, just 20 days before WrestleMania, Mero (already having agreed to McMahon's deal, the first guaranteed contract in WWE history) met with Bischoff at an airport to discuss the contract Bischoff had previously offered him. Mero and the WCW VP couldn't find any common ground, and the head-to-head ended on rough terms. Days later, Mero flew to Stamford with wife Rena in tow, and signed his WWE contract.

Contributor
Contributor

Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.