10 Things We Learned From Eric Bischoff’s Podcast: New World Order
5. His Superstitions Stopped Him Rehearsing The Nash Powerbomb
One of the more prevalent views to come out of the first episode is that Bischoff took a ton of inspiration from Verne Gagne's work in the AWA. Having cut his teeth there, Eric admired the way Verne approached television. The wily old veteran liked his announcers to react organically, and he didn't overproduce.
That stuck with Bischoff in WCW, and it's why he chose not to rehearse the Powerbomb spot with Kevin Nash before the Great American Bash.
Admitting to being a superstitious man at times, Eric told Thompson that he'd rather get hurt doing a spot live than end up injured during a run through. Although that does make sense, it was also a massive risk for an untrained commentator to bump through a table live on pay-per-view without any prior preparation.
Bisch trusted Nash explicitly, and knew he'd take care of him. They'd been friends for years, stretching back to Kevin's first turn in WCW, and Eric was confident they could pull the spot off without a hitch. He was right: they did.