10 Times Wrestlers Secretly LIED To The Locker Room

9. Eric Bischoff & Brian Pillman

AJ Styles Vince Russo
WWE

Eric Bischoff was riding the crest of an unlikely wave as a commercially wobbly 1995 morphed into a transcendent 1996.

September's Monday Nitro launch had initially been thought insane, but WCW had almost instantly made a dent in Monday Night Raw's audience and 'Easy E' had shown no fear in throwing out the tried and tested rules of competition. This included gladly working the wrestlers in the dressing room before accidentally working himself thanks to one of the smartest of the bunch.

A Brian Pillman "Loose Cannon" angle called for Pillman to walk out on a battle with Kevin Dunn due to their supposed real life heat. In an effort to fool anybody passing information off to outsiders, a backstage blow-up between performer and promoter was to follow and conclude with Bischoff completely losing his sh*t with the insane star.

The bit hit all the targets, including one Pillman had secretly set. Bischoff granted him a release for real, allowing him to enjoy a psychotic dalliance with ECW before signing a major money deal with WWE in the summer.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett