10 Things We Learned From Eric Bischoff's Starrcade 1997 Podcast

9. The Reason Why Larry Zbyszko Was Chosen As His Opponent

It's one of the world's eternal questions. What is the meaning of life? What happens after you die? Why was Larry Zbyszko chosen to wrestle Eric Bischoff at Starrcade '97?

The answer is actually pretty logical, not to mention simple. Zbyszko was hand-picked by Bischoff primarily because he lived in Atlanta too and could therefore lead Eric through some training sessions at WCW's Power Plant facility. Aside from that, Bischoff just respected Larry (he'd known him since the AWA days) and knew he could trust him.

Zbyszko, seeing opportunity for a big spot on the largest show of the year, was eager to put a shift in as well. He and Bischoff trained for around three-four nights per week for a solid month in the lead up to Starrcade, and they were determined to make it as entertaining as they could.

Nobody is ever going to be claim Bischoff vs. Zbyszko was an in-ring classic, but it was more about storyline than anything else.