Everything You DIDN’T KNOW About WCW’s Final Days

9. Eric Bischoff Was Still Fighting For A Better WCW

This entry could also be titled ‘Too Little, Too Late’.

Just as many school pupils “cram” for tests instead of revising thoroughly, Bischoff spent the last few months of WCW’s existence vainly attempting to turn it into a professional working environment that looked more appealing to fans and prospective buyers. He appeared to have learned from his mistakes - i.e. enabling his mega-rich crew of main event talent to do whatever they wanted because he had created an environment in which upward mobility was virtually impossible - and set about laying down the law.

In the months before WCW died, Bischoff was unhappy about the literal state of his roster. Desperate to tidy his house before the valuation process, he asked more than one wrestler to sweep their gut under the carpet. He told many of them individually to cut weight and get themselves into more telegenic shape.

In one specific example of this clean-up operation, Dave Meltzer reported in the February 26, 2001 issue of the Observer that Bischoff ordered Dustin Rhodes to stop wearing the black Mr. Perfect-style singlet he wore that month. It didn’t flatter him, but you could at least see where Dustin was coming from: he was synonymous with Goldust, and had endured the classic “wrestler gets confused for child molester” debacle as ‘Seven’. This new attire was his rather unimaginative way of trying to be a wrestler all over again.

This report is quite incredible, since an overweight and bedraggled Paul ‘The Giant’ Wight had taken to smoking cigarettes live on TV as recently as 1998.