WWE might not even exist without legend's star power, Eric Bischoff says
Eric Bischoff defeated WWE for 83 consecutive weeks in the television ratings when WCW Nitro battled RAW in the Monday Night Wars in the 1990s. In a recent interview, a former World Championship Wrestling executive gave his thoughts on Hulk Hogan's role in WWE's success.
Hogan became a household name while working for McMahon's WWE as a babyface in the 1980s. In 1994, he joined WCW and became known as one of wrestling's greatest bad guys thanks to his involvement in the nWo storyline.
Bischoff said on Wrestling Life Online that he views Hogan as a bigger wrestling star than Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. He also speculated whether WWE would still exist had it not been for The Hulkster:
"You can look at The Rock and you can say, arguably, and defensively, biggest star in the history of the wrestling business, but if you really are thinking about it, would The Rock have ever happened if Hulkamania never happened?" Bischoff asked. "Would the WWE, the way we see it today, even exist had Hulk Hogan not been the right guy at the right place at the right time?" [29:28 – 29:54]
In the same interview, Bischoff fired back at Bret Hart over comments the former WCW star has made over the years.
Eric Bischoff on Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon's relationship
In the 1980s, Hulk Hogan was instrumental in helping WrestleMania become an annual extravaganza under Vince McMahon's creative leadership. He even headlined eight of the first nine WrestleMania shows between 1985 and 1993.
According to Eric Bischoff, Hogan and McMahon are unlikely to admit they needed each other to succeed.
"It was Vince's vision and single-minded obsession to achieve a specific goal that allowed Hulk Hogan to create Hulkamania, but you couldn't have created it without Hulk Hogan because there was nobody else like him at the time. That's that symbiotic kind of relationship those two are gonna go to their graves with. Neither one of them are ever going to acknowledge that they couldn't have done it without the other," said Eric Bischoff. [29:57 – 30:22]
Hogan's contributions to the wrestling business have been recognized with two WWE Hall of Fame inductions. He joined the company's illustrious group of legends as an individual in 2005 and as a member of the nWo in the 2020 class.
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Please credit Wrestling Life Online and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.