10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Eric Bischoff

2. He Was Right To Fire Steve Austin

Eric Bischoff Stephanie Kiss
WWE.com

Watch any WWE produced retrospective on Texas' premier beer-guzzling rattlesnake and you'll hear the same old story. Eric Bischoff, blinded by his own arrogance, let the promising Austin go like the bumbling fool he is, allowing the (rapidly receding) Hollywood Blonde to fall straight into Vince McMahon's hands, where he promptly turned him into the hottest star the industry had ever seen.

It's a myth retold more times than Christmas, one carefully tuned to serve the dual purposes of aggrandising McMahon's genius whilst reiterating Bischoff's post-truth reputation as a lucky buffoon. But was Easy E really extremely idiotic to send Austin his P45? And would McMahon have dealt with him any differently?

Perhaps not. Making the case for his defence, Bischoff pointed out that 'Stunning' Steve was not only "perennially injured", but had a bad attitude to boot. The suggestion Austin could go on to replace Hulk Hogan at the summit of wrestling's ziggurat wasn't on Eric's mind, but neither was it on that of the rest of the business. Why else would WWE retool him as 'The Ringmaster' following the glimpses of promise he demonstrated in ECW?

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.