13. Eric Bischoff Becomes An Executive In WCW, 2nd April 1993
The WWF enjoyed continued success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but was increasingly disturbed by the emergence of Ted Turner's WCW. The southern based wrestling company were trading on the same national basis, with the same business model. Turner had his own network and far more financial (and business) resources than McMahon. Gradually Vince started to see a decline in fortunes, but as much as anything, this was just the natural hangover after the 80s wrestling boom. WCW was on the radar, but wasn't a huge concern ... yet. In the spring of 1993 a man named Eric Bichoff was promoted to the position of Executive Producer. A year later he was made Executive Vice President, essentially meaning he ran WCW. He would prove to be McMahon's greatest ever nemesis, a creative visionary who had the guts to take risks and fight the WWF for dominance. Bischoff additionally had a blank cheque book and was able to sign up a string of acts who Vince McMahon had made famous in the WWF. Overnight, WCW seemingly transformed into the better perceived wrestling company. Bischoff's signing of Hulk Hogan was the biggest statement of intent. He now had the most famous star in the industry and had put Vince on the back foot, as the WWF chairman struggled to find the next big star to take his company forward. The industry had changed. The WWF had been the only player in town for a decade, but now they found themselves on the outside looking in as WCW set about establishing itself as the next wrestling sensation. Bischoff was the biggest factor in this. He knew he could beat Vince, he knew McMahon had turned into the old lazy promoter he had himself dispatched in 1983. Eric had revolutionary ideas, Vince instead turned to traditional ideas. Worse still, McMahon was starting to have problems outside the ring.
