WCW: 6 Innovations Eric Bischoff Did To Change Wrestling

6. Releasing Steve Austin From WCW

This may seem like a bit of a reach, but think about it. If Eric Bischoff didn't release Steve Austin from his WCW contract in early 1995 when Austin had a triceps injury, who knows where Austin would be today and where WWE would be today. Nobody made more of an impact during the Monday Night Wars than Steve Austin. Vince McMahon has said many times that Austin is the biggest superstar in the history of WWE largely because of how big of a star he was when WWE needed it the most. The story goes that Bischoff didn't see Austin as a star. For whatever reason, they never believed in him to be a top guy in the business. Was Bischoff wrong about that? Oh hell yeah. As for Austin, it's fair to say that his WCW release lit a fire under his ass. It made him improve in every aspect of his career. The promos that he was doing in ECW in 1995 after his WCW release were explosive in the sense that he wasn't afraid to say anything or mock anybody whether it was Bischoff or Hulk Hogan. When he was signed by WWE he was the Ringmaster, but at King of the Ring 1996 he delivered the infamous "Austin 3:16" promo and then he became the biggest name in wrestling for several years after that. Bischoff did not intentionally set Austin up for stardom in WWE, but because of his release it certainly opened the floodgates for the Austin 3:16 phenomenon. Incidentally, firing Austin would change wrestling forever.