Eric Bischoff was president of the WCW when Shawn Michaels was one of the main stars of the WWE in the 1990s. In a recent podcast episode, the former executive explained why he was not interested in hiring The Heartbreak Kid in 1997.
Michaels defeated Bret Hart in Survivor Series 1997 in one of the most fighting controversial of the history of the WWE. After the event, Michaels continued to fight for four months before taking a four -year break from the WWE ring. Hart, meanwhile, joined the WCW and worked for Bischoff.
In the podcast 83 Weeks Bischoff said he would not have wanted Michaels at that time, even if he had been available, instead of Hart. The 69 -year -old cited the attitude and drug problems at that time as the key reasons for his perspective:
“I would have preferred not to have had that experience at that time,” said Bischoff. “Shawn was healthy, like when Scott Hall was sober and clean and really concentrated in his game. It was probably incredible to be close to him and it was a source of knowledge and creativity, but during that period of time he did not need more stress than he already had.” (55:54 – 56:11)
Bischoff clarified that he would with pleasure with Michaels about joining WCW in 1996. However, he did not believe that the twice member of the WWE Hall of Fame would have been a good addition to his roster in 1997.
Eric Bischoff talks about Shawn Michaels's dream fights that the WCW did not program
The presenter of 83 Weeks, Conrad Thompson, speculated on how Shawn Michaels I could have worked with legends such as Eddie Guerrero and Randy Savage on WCW.
Although Eric Bischoff He agreed that the fighting would have been great, he reiterated that Michaels's attitude could have caused problems:
“Of course, you can enter that rabbit burrow if you want, but for me it was as if I could add another layer of chaos to an already chaotic situation with some talent I had at that time. No, thank you. I barely survived what I did!” (58:33 – 58:49)
More than two decades later, Michaels is the main Booker of the WWE NXT brand. It was included in the Hall of Fame in 2011 as an individual and in 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
