Eric Bischoff is undeniably a vitally important figure in pro wrestling history. As the mastermind behind WCW’s greatest successes, he was the only promoter to really give Vince McMahon a run for his money on a national scale (and beat the pants off him both in popularity and originality for a good long stretch). He may be out of the business in any official capacity, but he’s still around, keeping abreast of what’s happening in wrestling and making his opinions known.
It would seem like the man who is often back and better than ever would be a fantastic pick to one day go into the WWE Hall of Fame, if not an outright lock to one day receive the honor, but it seems he might be conflicted as to whether he should accept. Bischoff was a guest on Sean Waltman’s AfterBuzz TV show on Wednesday, and got asked by Waltman about how he would feel if WWE wanted to induct him into the Hall of Fame.
“This is hard to talk about for me. But I’ll do my best and keep it short, or try. I have two answers for that. Obviously it’s always great to be recognized by your peers, right? I would be lying if I said that wouldn’t be important to me. It wouldn’t be true. But I will say that I’m not sure I’m comfortable with it either. That’s because it’s my own personal belief, and this doesn’t have anything to do with me, this is just the way I feel about things.
“I am a peripheral character, and I’ve said this before. If the WWE decided to add an executive wing to the hall of fame for people on the business side of the business were recognized, then hell yeah! I think I should be there. In fact I think there should be a statue of me there, because I think in many respects I’m responsible, at least partially, for the success of what the WWE has become today … I think as an executive yeah, I’d love to be recognized for that. But to be in the same Hall of Fame with guys like Roddy Piper and Ric Flair and all the guys that are in there that spent years learning their craft inside the ring, I don’t feel like I’m in that neighborhood, bro. It feels a little weird to me.”
I think wrestling fans can definitely understand where he’s coming from, but there’s a definite precedent for executives to be in the Hall of Fame. There may not be a specific wing (or a physical location of the Hall where a wing would actually exist), but Vincent J. McMahon is already in there, and Bill Watts was certainly inducted more for his role as a booker than a wrestler (at least … I’m pretty sure that’s how that works).
WWE also introduced the “Legacy Wing” for historic icons like Georg Hackenschmidt and Farmer Burns and whatnot, so an executive branch would provide some much-needed checks and balances for the Hall of Fame.
You can watch the full interview with Bischoff below.
