10 Best 'Meet The REAL Villain' Moments In Wrestling History

2. Eric Bischoff Joins The New World Order

Shawn Michaels It's Him
WWE

The cool thing about Eric Bischoff being revealed as a member of the New World Order in November 1996 was that the story could believably be told two separate ways.

It was presented as a shocking turn brought about by Roddy Piper forcing the group's hand. He was too tough and indignant to allow audiences to believe it was down to him that a Starrcade '96 match against Hulk Hogan wasn't happening. As WCW head honcho, Bischoff had blamed him for the stalling thanks to his in with Hogan. An in that, for all intents and purposes, could have been recently established.

However, WCW had planted seeds about his involvement for the longest time. Ted Dibiase was a financial backer, but how were the guys constantly getting access? There's wrestling roughshod, and then there's whatever the nWo were permitted to run for months leading to the big reveal.

In one reality, Bischoff really did hop aboard the bandwagon just weeks before the world saw it for themselves. In another equal one, he made the choice to join rather than beat them as soon as he woke up from a brutal Kevin Nash Great American Bash Jackknife back in June.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett