10 FIERCEST Online Wrestling Rivalries
9. Dave Meltzer Vs. Eric Bischoff
Dave Meltzer, whenever asked - and he will answer any and all questions on Twitter, without a filter, and is thus probably susceptible to fraud if any Nigerian princes are reading this - is quick to criticise Eric Bischoff's post-'83 Weeks' output.
Bischoff, and fair f*cks really, loathes that this perceived outsider is critical of his life's work.
The crux of the matter stems from the following quote, pulled verbatim from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter dated July 8, 1996 (but printed and dispatched to subscribers on July 4).
"The third member of the heel team for the PPV won't be announced until the night of the show. Speculation is running rampant about who it is. I've been told that the deal was finalized last week for whomever it is. My feeling is that it's Hulk Hogan because a reader was working on the set of the movie Hogan is doing with Roddy Piper and said that Hogan told Piper he was asked to be the third guy and that he probably was going to do it."
WCW Bash At The Beach took place on July 7, 1996. Meltzer correctly predicted the "third man" three days out. Let's reiterate the key, seven words, in bold, in a futile attempt at clarification:
"My feeling is that it's Hulk Hogan."
But Meltzer had also written, in the July 1 Observer:
"Bischoff, Hall and Nash were discussing names this past week with Mabel as the top candidate, Crush being considered for a brief period and then dismissed."
This has delighted Bischoff in recent years. Ignoring the later, correct prediction with a tip of his fedora hat - "Aha, but you said Mabel [cry laugh emoji]!" - he has used this as Exhibit A in his ritual shots at Meltzer's credibility, unaware that it damages his own.
Sadly for the tea-drinking gossip hounds out there, Meltzer and Bischoff shared the same room at Starrcast - but did not come to blows. Per Uncle Dave, were this to escalate, Uncle Eric would have been in no condition to perform. Brutally portraying Easy E as a sad sack, he wrote later on the F4W board:
"We were right next to Eric. Our autograph line never ended the entire time we were out there and had to go overtime. His lines never started. He was a lonely man sitting next to us, making love to his tonic and gin."
Who Would Win: Meltzer is jacked as hell, but Bischoff does taekwondo and kickboxing! Taekwondo that looked positively embarrassing at Starrcade '97!