WWE legend says Vince McMahon was "embarrassed" after rival threatened to knock him out
Gerald Brisco recently recalled how Eric Bischoff’s attempt to fight Vince McMahon in 1998 left the WWE Chairman feeling “embarrassed.”
Bischoff, WCW’s former Senior Vice President, invited Vince McMahon to face him in a match at WCW Slamboree 1998. McMahon did not appear, so Bischoff instructed the referee to award him the victory via count-out.
Brisco worked for WWE in various backstage roles between 1984 and 2020. Speaking on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, he told Bischoff that McMahon was legitimately annoyed about his challenge.
“Of course, it spread across the production meeting like wildfire, ‘What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? You guys gonna go down there?’ Vince was hot. I mean, he was hot about it. He thought it was embarrassing to him but there was no way, like you say, he was gonna go down there, because what good is it gonna do?” Brisco said.
According to Brisco, Vince McMahon wanted to show up at the event. However, he knew it did not make sense from a business perspective to appear on a competitor’s pay-per-view.
Eric Bischoff made preparations for Vince McMahon’s arrival
Remember when Bischoff challenged McMahon to a match at WCW Slamboree '98 and they made Vince this sweet security ID? http://t.co/t1ir5XEMEr
WCW Slamboree 1998 began with the company’s Head of Security, Doug Dellinger, waiting outside for Vince McMahon. Throughout the pay-per-view, an aerial shot of the arena, known as “Vinnie Mac Cam,” hyped the possible arrival of the WWE Chairman.
Although Eric Bischoff knew McMahon was not going to show up, he still made arrangements backstage in case his rival agreed to the fight.
“I had a dressing room for him, name plate on the door,” Bischoff said. “I instructed Doug Dellinger, our Head of Security, and everybody else on the security team, if they show up, escort them to the room like any other celebrity, provide them with every courtesy that we would anybody else that was a celebrity.”
Bischoff added that Paul Wight was willing to get involved if Vince McMahon showed up to fight him. Wight, known as The Giant in WCW, was told to only interfere if it looked like McMahon was going to inflict “imminent death” on Bischoff.
Please credit Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.