14 Things We Learned From Eric Bischoff On Legends With JBL (Part 2)

7. Goldberg Vs. Hogan On Nitro And The Halloween Havoc 1998 Debacle

On July 6,1998 WCW presented Nitro form a sold out Georgia Dome, attracting over 40,000 fans for a showdown between US Champion Goldberg and Hollywood Hulk Hogan. JBL calls Goldberg's victory one of the 'greatest moments in sports entertainment' but did Bischoff not think about putting it on PPV? 'Sure'. So why didn't he? His formula for success was giving away PPV quality matches on Nitro for free. That's what got them to the dance in the first place and he knew with WWE getting as hot as they were that they needed to regain market share and make some noise. They couldn't do that with PPV so gave it away on free TV instead. What they did put on PPV was Goldberg versus DDP, at Halloween Havoc, but that overran and people who bought the show didn't get to see its conclusion, meaning they had to air it the next night on Nitro. Bischoff says that they basically lost control of the timing because several matches went long. JBL calls it a disaster.