It's easy to hate on Eric Bischoff, but what he accomplished deserves respect. In the modern era, hes the only guy to take a wrestling promotion head-to-head against the WWE and win. In fact, he won for 84 consecutive weeks, and even in the times before and slightly after, the WCW was a healthy company. He forced WWE to take risks, and elevated competition between the two powerhouse wrestling promotions. We as fans came out winners. Bischoff, then WCW President, convinced Turner executives to pump more money into the product, giving them a production value matching WWE. He also convinced Hulk Hogan to come over, and later Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. These three would form the base of the most popular stable in wrestling history, the New World Order. In what became a WCW versus NWO storyline, just about every on-screen persona chose a side, and as a result this overlying concept dominated the company for years. But his biggest downfall was rallying the company around aging stars, when the competition was developing younger superstars left and right. It became hard for Bischoff to develop intriguing storylines around guys whod done it all. Bill Goldberg was the only new star, and it just wasnt enough to compete with the WWE. Bischoff was a guy who had some incredible ideas, capitalized on them, and perhaps rested on them for too long. None of that takes away from what he accomplished, however. We can list his failed projects, but thats pointless. The guy did what he did, and he left an unforgettable mark on the industry. Thats all that needs to be said about Eric Bischoff, and thats why hes on this list.
