10 Wrestling Stories That Blurred Reality
5. Ric Flair Hates Eric Bischoff (1998)
Speaking of real-life animosity.
WCW royalty Ric Flair was taken to task by Eric Bischoff in April 1998 for ditching an episode of Thunder in favour of some family time. Lawsuits happened, and the bad blood between Ric and Eric bubbled over to the point that Flair genuinely hated Bischoff's guts.
The pair would mend fences enough to make a storyline out of it later that year. They worked at Starrcade (with Flair even putting Bischoff over in a short seven-minute brawl) and used their actual hostility as fuel for shoot-style promos on TV beforehand. The feud was WCW's bold attempt to piggy-back the WWF's wildly successful Austin vs. McMahon saga.
It worked too. Fans got a kick out of Ric's OTT antics, wanted to see Bischoff put in his place and could sense that both guys weren't exactly exchanging Christmas cards at the time. Today, Eric and Ric are great friends with mutual respect. That wasn't the case back in '98, but at least they made some cash out of it.