10 Important Innovations WCW Made To The Wrestling Industry

3. Eric Bischoff As The Heel Authority Figure

It seems like every wrestling show in the last 15-20 years has been dominated by a heel authority figure. Whether it's a man or woman, we've seen a lot of different people in the decision making role. They've been owners, COOs, Presidents, General Managers, Commissioners and a bunch of other names. Whatever you want to call them, we've seen that heel authority figure so many times that it has become boring. When the NWO was taking over in WCW in the mid 1990s, it was Eric Bischoff that went from WCW announcer and executive to the guy that was running the show as a heel boss. He made things difficult for the babyfaces while helping out his heel NWO buddies as much he could. Bischoff was great at too. For a guy that was only an announcer before that, he knew how to draw heat and had no problem doing so. Bischoff was one of the best talkers in wrestling during his run as a heel boss. He was so good that even though he talked about wanting to kill WWE, he got hired by WWE a year after WCW closed because Vince McMahon knew how talented he was as an on screen performer. That says a lot about Bischoff not just as an executive, but as a talent too. Vince McMahon may have perfected it and did it better in the long run, but Eric Bischoff was tremendous as the heel leader of the NWO. He did it before Vince too. That's why it was such an innovative thing that we can look back on today and marvel at because of how awesome Bischoff was in that role.