Bischoff has stated that his goal was to be different than WWF. He didn’t want to try and match them at what they did, so he decided to target a different market than WWF was targeting at that time. WWF was geared more toward children with outlandish characters, whereas WCW shifted directions and began using real names and targeted an older demographic.

With that in mind, here are some occasions when WCW’s realism blurred the lines between entertainment and reality, for some viewers.

#3 The Outsiders invade WCW

Scott Hall showed up unannounced on WCW television. He was wearing street clothes (although you should never wear that much denim on the streets) and his famous “you know who I am” promo felt like something real was unfolding before our eyes. Also keep in mind, in 1996, fans were not as aware of the scripted nature of professional wrestling, as they are today.

Scott Hall and Kevin Nash kept showing up, no longer going by the colorful gimmicks they had in WWF (Razor Ramon and Diesel), but now they were going by their real names. Bischoff was able to orchestrate one of the most realistic storylines in professional wrestling history with the “Outsiders” invading WCW.

Eventually, the nWo program led to the infamous backstage attack on Nitro in which the members of the nWo attacked WCW wrestlers with a level of violence and realism that had not been seen before.

Fans watching at home who lived in the local area actually called 911. Here is Eric Bischoff’s account from his podcast about the incident:

-Eric Bischoff, 83 Weeks Podcast

Transcript via WrestlingInc.com

#2 Eric Bischoff fires referee, Randy Anderson

At Souled Out 1997, bad guy referee Nick Patrick was knocked out and there was no one to make the count for the Steiners. That’s when WCW ref, Randy Anderson came rushing in from the crowd to make the count, awarding the titles to the Steiner Brothers.

The problem for Anderson?

He just helped the Steiner Brothers take the titles from the nWo team of the Outsiders. There would be a penalty to pay. The next night on Nitro, Eric Bischoff fired Randy Anderson in egregious fashion.

The following week, Anderson showed up with his family begging for his job back. In what some consider to be one of the most entertaining segments in WCW history, Bischoff asked Anderson’s children to tell their father that he is still fired.

An Executive Call

The day after Anderson’s on-air “termination”, Bischoff received a call from an executive at Turner Broadcasting asking why Turner’s Human Resources department was flooded with calls about Bischoff unfairly terminating an employee the previous night.

At first, Bischoff was confused, he explained on a recent episode of his podcast, because he had not actually fired anyone. As it turned out, members of Randy Anderson’s church were watching Nitro and were horrified to see the public humiliation of their fellow worshiper, who had just finished a battle with testicular cancer.

#3 Using Ric Flair’s real-life hatred for Bischoff as part of a story

Ric Flair played an integral part in bringing Hulk Hogan on board with WCW. Flair knew he would be giving up his role as the face of the franchise once the Hulkster was running wild, but he put his ego aside and still helped arrange a meeting between Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan.

Flair had issues with booking decisions and how the Horsemen were relegated to a B squad stable next to the nWo. The real insult came during the infamous speech Bischoff gave to the locker room in which he told the roster that only three of them had ever drawn any money, and that list did not include Ric Flair.

Ric Flair was scheduled to be at a taping a Thunder on April 9, 1998. Flair insisted that he had given them advanced notice that he would not be there. WCW, however, didn’t get the memo, as they were forced to improvise while Flair attended his sons’ AAU Championship Tournament.

Eric Bischoff and WCW filed a lawsuit against Flair for not making his appearance. He wasn’t seen again on WCW television until September of that year, when he made his epic return. The night saw him reform the Horsemen and tear into Eric Bischoff.

The real emotions involved in this promo helped make this one of the very best of Flair’s legendary career. It didn’t stop with that one promo; the feud lasted for months and led to even more classic promos.

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