The Monday Night Wars have been over for almost two decades, now but the fans haven’t forgotten about all of the big things that happened during that era.
Back in the day WCW went head to head with WWE, and for a while WCW won the ratings war. Eric Bischoff was a man who would do anything to get eyes on WCW, and at one point he even challenged Vince McMahon to a fight.
Bischoff went on TV and invited Vince McMahon to fight him at a WCW event, but in the end nothing ever came of it.
The former Raw General Manager recently spoke to Busted Open Radio about the challenge, and he noted that the only person he asked to look out for him was Big Show.
“I had never met Vince at the time. To me, he was just a big guy who lifted weights. I’ve been around guys like that my whole life, so I wasn’t intimidated by Vince. When I came out and challenged him, right or wrong, I wrestled in high school, I did kick boxing, I had a black belt, I grew up in Detroit and fought on ESPN kickboxing before it was MMA. The idea of getting into a fight, win or lose, didn’t intimidate me. My approach to it was, ‘I got enough skill sets. I’m not going to get knocked out in the first 30 seconds. I thought win-lose or draw, if he comes out and beats my ass, it would be great TV.’ Winning or losing didn’t matter to me. Getting Vince to come to the ring and getting him to do it is what mattered. Hulk Hogan said ‘Brother, you don’t wanna do that. He’s gonna show up and kick your ass.’ I told our head of security that if anybody from WWF showed up, escort them to the dressing rooms, accommodate them in any way. The only person that I pulled aside in case anything went wrong was Big Show. I said if it gets ugly, do me a favor and jump in there. It has to get that bad though. Otherwise, let it go.”
Times have certainly changed, and nowadays Bischoff is on great terms with WWE. He’ll be appearing on the Raw 25th anniversary show this week, and he had nothing but praise for the show’s ability to stay on the air for 25 years.
“To see a bunch of friends I’ve known for many years and have a lot of respect for… To see some great friends, to see some great action and to be a part of the event is… I mean, by any measuring stick you wanna use, name another show you know that’s been on the air 52 weeks a year for 25 years. There is none. Period. End of conversation. To be part of such a successful television juggernaut… it’s fascinating, exciting and I can’t wait to be part of it.”
