20 Wrestling Facts You Probably Didn't Know
17. Eric Bischoff Wasn't Ever Supposed To Be On TV
Former real life WCW President and on-air Horrible Boss Eric Bischoff was never supposed to be a TV personality.
He was working for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association in sales in the eighties when their regular announcer, the late Larry Nelson, had had one of his lost weekend moments, landing in jail for driving while under the influence. Suddenly short an on-air interviewer, Verne Gagne cast around for a replacement until someone pointed out that the Ken Doll in marketing had just had a pitch meeting and had worn a shirt, tie and blazer to work that day.
By his own admission, Bischoff was terrible oat the job for a long time, but they couldn't immediately find someone else, so they stuck with him. When he joined WCW after the AWA fell apart, it was as an on-air guy, not a suit, and that's the Eric Bischoff who finagled his way into control of the company.
You know what that means? Had Larry Nelson not got wasted and ended up sleeping it off in a jail cell, the Monday Night War might never have started. Without the sudden competition, the WWF might well have stuck in their mid-nineties rut of complacency for years to come.
No Attitude Era, Montreal, or Mr. McMahon; no 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, no second big boom in wrestling. Thanks, Larry. Rest in power.