All language subtitles for biography_wwe_legends_s03e01_nwo

Let's do a little sound check. Can you
tell us who you are and what your

relation is to this particular story?

My name is Eric Aaron, A -A -R -O -N,
Bischoff, date of birth 5 -27 -1955.

And I'm here to talk about the NWO
because I created it.

In many ways, the NWO was kind of a
proof of concept for the entertainment

business, that you can put the villain,
the bad guy, in the protagonist's role.

Starting in the 90s, it was a brand -new
feeling where the regular,

boring, good -guy hero from the 80s was
no longer compelling.

These guys are disgusting.

Oh no!

People like bad guys.

Shows like Sopranos, shows like Breaking
Bad, shows like The Wire where the

featured protagonist in these shows are
bad people.

And that's how the NWO was. But they
were the ones being cheered.

All of a sudden, it was kind of
liberating for the fans who had been

line to all of a sudden cheer for the
bad guy.

Let's get back to you.

All right, we have seen the end of
Hulkamania.

One of the reasons that people find
something interesting,

sometimes attractive, you know, a good
villain.

Is they see themselves.

I'm the man.

I am God.

Driving in the fast lane.

Foot down, accelerate.

If he.

I think professional wrestling, like
anything else, you watch it, you enjoy

becomes a part of your regular viewing
habits and maybe even a part of your

life.

Yes, it's physical, it's dynamic, it's
risky, but more

than all that, it's psychology, it's
storytelling, it's like any other form

entertainment. When a story is really
good, when the psychology behind a story

is good, it seems like real life.

It is funny, like any other form of
storytelling, it really always comes

a good guy and a bad guy.

Historically, most people want to be the
good guy.

But that's not what the NWO was all
about. The NWO turned that idea on its

head.

It was a turning point in a lot of ways.

It became cool to be a bad guy.

Welcome back to World Championship
Wrestling.

I'm Eric Bischoff and this is the WCW
Magazine.

I got hired in WCW as a backup
announcer.

Hello everybody!

And from the studios of World
Championship Wrestling, this is... WCW

tank.

WCW's ratings were dismal.

It will be Sting taking on The Prisoner.

The show looked horrible. They were
giving tickets away.

Obviously, we had a little bit of a
technical difficulty here.

WCW couldn't draw flies if they rolled
in cow manure.

Even when you got somewhat of a crowd,
they weren't really invested.

They were taking the tickets because
they were free, but most of them weren't

really into any of the stories or
characters, so you can't possibly get a

reaction.

that you can go, oh, they really like
that, so maybe we should do more of that

and less of this, because you're dealing
with an artificial crowd for the most

part.

Ted Turner, who, by the way, was the
only fan of WCW and Turner Broadcasting,

came down to WCW and essentially said,
here's the deal.

This is WCW's last shot.

If this company can't turn itself around
in a relatively short period of time,

Ted is going to pull the plug.

It wasn't long after that that I was
made a vice president.

I began to have more influence over
creative.

As we go forward now, we needed somebody
to attract national advertisers. We

needed a bigger, broader appeal of a
star in our company.

Hulk Hogan had left WWE.

This is the beginning of a new era for
world championship wrestling.

Hulk Hogan, five -time World Wrestling
Federation champ, all of a sudden back

the professional ranks, but this time
with WCW. Hulk Hogan transformed what

professional wrestling was in the eyes
of not only the public and the viewing

audience, but advertisers.

and television executives.

And that's what WCW needed in 1994.

Well, you know something, Mean Gene? I
told you Hulkamania was going to run

in the WCW, brother.

Look at all the Hulkamaniacs. Can you
hear them, Mean Gene?

The reason I went to WCW is basically
Vince and I had a

different opinion on where my career was
at.

I felt that my run definitely wasn't
over.

It was like a fresh start. It had a
little bit of a weird feel to it.

I was so used to those big live crowds
every Monday and Thursday, you know, so

it didn't take long, you know, to get in
Eric's ear and explain to him that we

really need to be competitive and
anything less than that and I'd have

gone.

Welcome to the Japan Super Show 3. I'm
Eric Bishop.

67 ,000 people on hand here at the Tokyo
Dome.

Tremendous lineup.

In 1993 -94, I started doing business
with a company called New Japan Pro

Wrestling.

When I first went to Japan, I saw such a
contrast.

WWE's live event business was in the
tank. It was in the toilet.

WCWs couldn't even find the toilet.

Whereas in Japan, they were putting 60
or 80 ,000 people

in the Tokyo Dome.

So I thought, okay, how do I migrate
some of the elements that I saw working

Japan?

I think what the Japanese did so much
better than anybody in the US at that

was suspending disbelief.

If you can consistently do things that
make the audience forget that

everything is scripted, that's the sweet
spot.

Something is going to happen that's
going to make the audience say to

themselves, either subconsciously or...

to someone watching with them.

Hey, look, I know all that stuff's
scripted, but that, that wasn't supposed

happen.

You people, you know who I am.

You're never going to see another bad
guy like me, Chico.

Say hello to Razor Ramon.

He means nothing. I'm going to show you
just how bad

the bad guy can be.

I remember going to Vince and asking
him, what can I do to improve my work?

I said, is it my microphone skills that
need enhancement?

Is it my ring work?

And he said, absolutely not. I'm very
pleased with your performance.

I said, well, I'm curious because my pay
has plateaued compared to the guys who

preceded me. And I'm wondering what I
need to do to make that big money like

these guys who went before me.

And he just kind of went, hmm.

And I was summoned to the office for
meetings after that.

And we couldn't really come to any kind
of agreement.

And I ended up giving my notice.

Nobody cares where you come from, Chico.

They only care where you're going.

Like about a week later, Kevin asked for
his notice.

Two reasons.

More money and less dates.

For three years that I had been there,
we had a no -cannabis rule.

Scott and I weren't going to take a piss
test if they were going to administer

one. So we smoked on the way to the
garden.

We had like an Astrovan, something
horrible.

And we drove into the city.

And we knew going to Turner that we
would not be back in the garden. That

the significance of the garden.

We just got lost in the emotion of it
because it was over.

I felt like, wow, chapter completed.

This chapter is done.

Now I'm going to go to WCW and see
what's waiting for me there.

in Macon, Georgia, Eric Bischoff pissed
me off at the airport.

And, you know, I've never met Eric, and
I'm handsomely paid by them, and, you

know, blah, blah, blah, here we go. And
I'm a little skeptical. I mean, I've

just left the biggest show there is. I
was just in Madison Square Garden the

night before.

And now here we go to Macon, Georgia.

All due respect to residents of Macon,
but it ain't New York City. The program

you already love is now getting bigger.

One of the things that I wanted to do,
to make our show different than the WWE

show. I wanted Nitro to feel gritty.

I wanted it to feel live.

Welcome back live to the first hour of
this edition of WCW Monday Nitro on TNT.

Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbysko.

And we are taking a look at the mauler,
completely mauled, his opponent, Steve

Dahl. Well, you know, Steve Dahl was
trying to get an offensive going.

Wait a minute.

What the hell is going on here?

It's a lot easier sometimes. You get a
lot more real reaction, honest reaction,

by surprising as many people as you can
that are on camera. Which is why when I

had Scott Hall walk down through the
crowd, nobody's seen that before,

the match in the middle of a match on
live television, nobody had ever seen

before. I didn't even tell the two guys
in the match.

They had no idea what was going on.

And instead of hitting the ring and
beating these guys up, I just went right

the microphone, right to the hard camera
and did my interview.

And they stopped wrestling.

And it became real.

Like, what are you doing, Scott? What
are you doing?

You people, you know who I am.

But you don't know why I'm here.

All of that created that sense of
believability and allowed for the

of disbelief that really launched the
NWO.

You want to go to war?

You want a war?

You're going to get one.

I'm watching Scott Hall come into the
ring.

Holy crap.

This is good stuff.

You know, I caught myself.

You know, watching it like, oh, my God,
you know, what's he doing here? And I

went, oh, my God, I knew he was coming,
but I got locked into the moment with

him.

The only reason it worked was because
I'm a WWE guy. I'm Razor. I'm Razor.

I was just in Madison Square Garden the
night before.

People thought Vince sent me there.

I knew then that it was working.

I have such a good time last week that I
came back for more.

It became clear to me that the more I
could get the audience to ask questions,

the more engaged they were.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

Okay.

Okay, tough guy.

I got a little, no.

I got a big surprise for you next week.

That created questions.

Who is it?

Who could it possibly be?

Scott Hall was a surprise. It was a
shock. The way he came down was a shock.

we're teasing who his big buddy was
going to be. That was designed

to get the audience to start asking
questions and debate amongst themselves.

Where is it?

The big surprise.

I mean, I heard a lot of talk, but
where's the walk?

Even though we were heelish, we were so
much cooler than everybody

else on the show.

The measuring stick just changed around
here, buddy. You're looking at it.

There was also that sentiment in the
90s. Who wouldn't want to...

punch their boss in the face or, you
know, powerbomb their boss off of a

onto a table, as Kevin Nash did to Eric
Bischoff.

They were involved in these segments
where they were jumping other wrestlers

from behind. They were bullying the
commentary team. They were doing all of

these outside -the -ring things to get
under WCW's skin.

We tossed around some ideas, and I was
thinking, like,

how about aluminum baseball bats?

Like, right before we went out, Eric
said, do not bring the bats to the rink.

And I went, okay.

Like, that means bring the bats to the
rink.

We went off the air with the Charlotte
cops coming underneath the rope

and unbuttoning their holsters and
putting their hands on their firearms.

I don't think anybody had ever seen that
in professional wrestling before.

Ladies and gentlemen, never before have
we seen or witnessed anything like this.

The Outsiders hit the ring, and they are
hammering away!

See ya, buddy!

Woo!

The first thing the NWO did, and the
storyline did, was they kind of changed

rules of engagement of pro wrestling.
The way that they drew up the storyline

was to make it blur the lines between
what was real and what was not.

For the last several weeks, since May
27th, as a matter of fact, we've had a

number of, let's just call them
interruptions on Nitro.

Hall and Nash together, when they came
to WCW, they were known as the

That was the first name that anyone gave
them. Even before they were starting to

call them by their real names, Scott
Hall and Kevin Nash, they were referred

as the Outsiders.

But what they're asking for is a match.

You want a match? You want a war? You
want it inside of the ring? You're going

to get it. They want a match against
WWE's top stars, and they say three.

There's only two of them at that time.
There's only Hall and Nash.

So there was that implication that
there's going to be a surprise third

You know, you tell billionaire Ted to
break out the money and get anybody he

because the big man and the medium
-sized man and our

surprise buddy.

are going to carve them.

From that point forward, the evolution
of that story was all about who's the

third man.

I've got to know who that third man is.
Why can't we know it? We've talked about

that before. That was all intentional
and by design.

However, I had no idea that it was going
to have the impact that ultimately

it had.

Go get the rabbits.

Early 96, Hulk had been with us for a
little over a year.

Initially, there was all kinds of
enthusiasm.

Ticker tape parade at Disney.

A lot of media.

Got a lot of coverage in the press.

All very positive.

Wrestling fans initially were really
excited.

But after about a year, it kind of
seemed like fans were just...

I don't know. It was kind of like a
bender done that.

And it just got me thinking. I wonder if
Hulk would consider shifting

gears and turning heel.

I felt a little bit of a lag.

So I started disappearing, doing movies
and different stuff, trying to give the

fans a break from my stuff.

When Eric first came to me with this, I
said no.

He looked at me and he said, brother,
until you walk a mile in my red and

boots, you'll never really understand
this character.

I've been training and praying in my
prayers to eat my vitamins. And

I go, man, the people are training in
the parking lots, posing in the gyms.

women are getting better shaped.

Hulk had two very young kids. I think
they were still in grade school or

high at the time.

Their whole lives, Daddy has been this
red and yellow hero and this character

that everybody loved.

And Hulk Hogan, the character, was doing
make -a -wish appearances.

It meant a lot to Hulk.

I was concerned about a lot of the kids
because I had so many things along those

years, being Hulk Hogan, that, oh my
gosh, I grew up without a father. If it

wasn't for you, I'd have never made it,
or I'd quit doing drugs because of you.

My childhood was horrible, except I
believed in you, and I was like, ooh,

this is going to be tough.

It's not like he could go back and
become that red and yellow character the

next week.

Once you make this decision, once you
pull the trigger and the bullet leaves

barrel, you're not putting it back in
for a long, long time.

A former five -time world champion, the
6 '7". As we go forward now

into the bash at the beach.

Which is going to be the big reveal of
who the third man was.

Later on, ladies and gentlemen, we will
have this big six -man main event. Who

is the third man? We are still not sure.
You will find out by calling your cable

operator.

Had the story pretty much laid out
exactly the way it played out.

But instead of Hulk Hogan, it was
originally going to be Stick.

At the time, Sting was the biggest hero
in WCW.

I wanted Sting to turn heel.

Ladies and gentlemen, the most popular
wrestler of 1994, as voted by you, the

fans, this is Sting!

Sting finally got comfortable with it.

Then I get a phone call one day.

It's from Hulk Hogan.

Hulk said, so?

He curls his lips up.

So, who's the third man?

Eric was thinking about putting Sting in
there.

Once I saw, you know, Scott Show, Big
Kev, Powerbomb, Eric off the stage, I

went, oh boy.

When I turn heel, this is going to
either destroy my career or this is

be the greatest thing that ever happened
in wrestling.

So much has been said, written, and
talked about.

So many unexpected occurrences have
happened over the past couple of weeks.

day comes.

Bash at the Beach pay -per -view, July
of 96.

I was not 100 % sure that Hulk was going
to follow through.

At 5 .30, we still didn't know if he was
in or out.

You know, we're doing this who's the
third man thing, this big angle at the

at the Beach. We're going to launch the
NWO.

Now we go to the ring. Hulk is still not
there.

And we still don't know if Hulk agrees
or not.

Because in his contract, he has approval
over what his character does.

And he's been a hero to millions his
whole career.

We're looking at Bishop going, what's
up? And he goes, well, listen, if it's

Hulk, we're going to send Sting.

All due respect to Sting, it wouldn't
have worked.

WCW picks their top three, and it's Lex
Luger, thing and the macho man

three against two the way i like it i'll
tell you what i'm still seeing that bad

intentions going on this whole hand has
not been dealt the hand has not been

dealt brother it's just hall and nash
there's no third person the commentary

team is trying to sell this as what's
going on where is the third person is

third person even in the match you know
who is this third person they have said

the third man As the WWE team starts to
get the better a little bit upon

that, Hulk Hogan comes out.

It was just crazy when I came

out. I wanted that natural reaction from
the fans.

How could our hero stab us in the heart?

I could feel the audience.

Here comes their hero.

Everybody was certain he was there to
defend the honor of WCW.

And then, the leg drop.

Oh, my God. What the hell is going on?
Oh, my God.

Are you kidding me?

Unbelievable, brother.

I remember Scott looking at him going,
whatever you do, man, make sure the

referee counts three.

And the first thing he does is picks up
the referee and throws him out of the

ring.

And Scott has to do the count.

If you look back at it, there's never a
count at the match of us actually

beating them.

I mean, those little details are
priceless.

See those little youngsters with the
tears rolling down their face right now?

A career of a lifetime.

It's right down the drain, kid.

It was such an abrupt change of energy.

Incredible. What a show. Everyone is
shocked, Tony.

Look at the ring.

The most incredible scene.

Ladies, I don't know where we're going.

He has slept with the devil.

I'm thinking, oh my gosh, I've just
completely lost this audience.

This is the worst idea in the history of
ideas.

I'm going to burn in wrestling hell for
this.

There you go. That's right. I never
thought I'd see people throwing debris

Hulk Hogan.

This was not supposed to happen.

Huh. Heard that before, right? Not
supposed to happen.

Me, Gene, the first thing you need to do
is to tell these people to shut up if

you want to hear what I got to say.

But when I was in the ring, you know,
cutting the promo with Scott and Kevin,

and Gene, and they started throwing the
stuff.

I felt the building rumbling. I said, oh
man, we might have a riot in here.

I don't want to downplay the fact that
I'm really, really, really relieved.

Because I was not 100 % sure that Hulk
was going to follow through.

But once he got to the building and we
talked, I knew, okay, it's on.

I'm talking through his interview one
last time. I'm saying, and when you're

finally done and you said everything
you're going to say, you grab that

microphone and you say, and this is the
new world order of professional

wrestling. You can call this the new
world order of wrestling, brother.

These two men right here.

As soon as I said that, I went, wow,
that's cool.

NWO, New World Order.

I knew that if I turned into a bad guy
and I said the training, the prayers,

vitamins and everything I did for all
you kids and the Make -A -Wish kids, I

it for the money.

You know, I knew it would light the
people up so much.

It would reignite their interest in Hulk
Hogan. I had no idea it was Scott and

Kevin.

as two big lead horses with me, how the
whole business would flip in an instant.

Hulk Hogan is turned heel.

We know who the third man is.

We know they refer to themselves as the
New World Order.

And it was a beautiful thing. It was
spontaneous combustion of the best tide,

right? Happened in the moment.

Well, guess what didn't happen while all
those great things were happening in

the moment? We had no plan.

We've got to come up with a logo.

We've got to come up with merchandise.

We've got to come up with a look and an
identity for this new faction.

So we're scrambling.

We went to the Disney MGM design team
because we were there on location, and

they came to me with about eight or ten
different ideas for logos and graphics

and color combinations and things.

And one of them was the NWO kind of
graffiti logo.

And I went, that's the one.

All right, I'm good to go. I don't mind
sharing the wealth, pillaging. Well, I

think it did take a while for Scott and
Kevin and I to click.

When we first started out, none of us
liked each other. Hulk Hogan and the

Brotherhood, the Outsiders.

Scott and Kevin had to reel me in.

I'm going to ask you something while
we're going to go.

He was doing the brother, brother, hey,
brother, you know, let me tell you

something. He was still doing that.
We're like, no, man.

We're not doing that.

Ready? Go.

We don't care how you used to do it
around here.

We don't care what you think works.

Because, Chico, look at your track
record.

It ain't been working.

It's N -W -O.

Learn to love.

Yeah, I play the block. My concert
played a lot. Go hard or go home. That's

block model.

And if the cops follow, he rap on my
seatbelt.

Hope you boys get the message like an
email.

You want the details?

I can't do that.

Tell this clown to match up like Pity
Pat.

You ain't an OG, and you don't know me.

Yeah, you brought on a like you old B.
I've been thinking you better than give

me his name.

You ain't got to be Rihanna, baby. You
feel the rain. You got some youngins in

the hood that'll splinter like a
cantaloupe.

It's only business.

Here's a guy that's a generation older
than these younger guys.

I could feel the vibe, man. I can tell.

It just took us a while to go, okay,
everybody's cool.

He just basically sat down and he goes,
where are you guys getting this from?

Like the whole for life.

That was one of Mac 10 songs during that
time. They were robbing a burger place.

And one dude says, man, I've been
wanting to do this for life.

And we just put NWO for life.

Because it's NWO for life.

Once they learned to trust me and
figured out how to mold me to fit in,

those two guys did it, that that's where
those promos came from.

The following announcement has been paid
for by the New World Order.

And there you see the outsiders.

They're in the control room now.

Hold on, what do we got here? What's
that do?

Oh!

Fade to black.

Wait a second. Oh, shouldn't have bought
that cheap TV.

Wait, they are completely hijacking this
program.

In storyline, the NWO's goal was to take
over.

It ended up really happening in
practice.

And what I mean by that is the NWO kind
of took over WCW shows in the sense that

they were the featured act.

My trolley presents, yo, here's the NWO.

Ready or not, here we come.

One of the advantages that I saw in
doing live television is that you can

the viewer into the arena and reveal
things that they've never

seen before.

These guys are disgusting.

And because they were seeing it for the
first time, well, this must be real

because I've never seen this before.

Security trying to put a stop to this
here.

One of those that stands out was at
Disney. It was in 96.

We had this big scene at the end of the
show where the NWO kind of attacked

everybody backstage.

Kevin Nash in particular grabbed little
Ray Mysterio, picked him up, and lawn

darted him. Oh, no!

Laid waste to everybody, destroyed
equipment.

It was a chaotic scene.

All I can say is that we need to listen
and look in because we have some serious

injuries, maybe career -ending injuries
here.

All of a sudden, we hear sirens.

The hell?

Cops are showing up.

Fire trucks are showing up.

A couple ambulances showed up. It's
like, what? Somebody got hurt really bad

here.

And evidently, some of the people in the
local area around Disney MGM Studios

saw what was going on live and decided
they needed to call 911.

And that's another moment where you go,
oh.

Yep, this is working.

They're buying it.

Hi,

I'm Sean Waltman.

In the original NWO, I was called Six
and Sixpock.

The man you're looking at right now, he
was formerly the 1 -2 -3 kid when he was

with the WWF. And we do know he was
released from that...

Vince basically told me, look, I'd like
you to stay, but if you stay, you're

going to have to start from scratch.

This was his exact words. He said, or if
you can get a better deal for you and

your family and you want to go work for
that billionaire, I'll give you a week

to think about it. Let me know.

I heard Nitro's the hottest show going
today. I thought I'd come check it out.

You know what I mean?

It was a hard decision, but I knew it
was the one I had to make.

I wanted to be a part of it because it
was automatically being a part of the

storyline in the business.

The MWO was the catalyst that started
the biggest boom period in pro wrestling

history.

It was the coolest thing on television.

The MWO, to me, was like a big street
gang, just trying to take over by any

means possible.

I mean, I remember one time we, they
only showed it on television once

apparently it was a bit too much.

You know, we ran the Steiner brothers
off the road and crashed their car.

Right. Check both.

Proceed when clear.

I was holding the camera, filming
everything.

And we kept bumping, like Kev was
driving and he kept bumping them. Get

again. Get him!

He just never knew what was going to
happen. We ran through everyone for what

seemed like forever.

To the point where all the WCW guys were
like, what the f*** is going on?

It was too much for a lot of people.

Putting the world title on Hulk Hogan
versus the Giant was a super easy

decision.

There was just this extra F

-U to having Hulk Hogan, who betrayed
millions of people around the world,

betrayed WCW, and now Hulk Hogan.

has WCW's greatest prize.

Oh,

that's spray paint.

Oh, my God. They're going to spray
paint. I cannot believe this. This is

unbelievable. Somebody needs to go in
there right now. They are straight.

No longer was this just a group causing
disruption behind the scenes. This is a

group whose leader, Hulk Hogan, is now
the WCW champion, and it took things to

whole different level.

When Hollywood Hogan won the WCW title
from the Giant at Hog Wilds, if that was

not an indication that this storyline
was here to stay, for a long period of

time, that was it. You know, you're
putting the title, the number one most

important thing really in the company
and the promotion is the world title.

You're putting it on a guy from the NWO.
Well, I can see that the Dungeon of

Doom and the Four Horsemen are now
together.

Here comes the giant. Look out, NWO.
Thank God for the

giant.

Never thought we would hear it.

The giant is going to have...

If someone who represents WCW is going
to join the NWO, then who couldn't join

the NWO?

Whether you like it or you don't, it's
the best thing going today.

It showed the unpredictability of who
could join the NWO, who could become a

part of it, and that deeper feeling that
was going on in the storyline of you

just didn't know who was going to join
next. There was almost a paranoia with

fans about, well, if this guy is in the
NWO, than anyone could be. You know

what? Maybe it's time to dig in. Maybe
now we start to fight.

As the on -camera talent, I was doing
everything I could to stop this MWO

from happening.

It has got to stop. It is going to stop.
It's going to stop now because this

company is not going to tolerate it. Not
at the corporate level, not at the

level here that all of us... In order
for this to grow and continue to grow,

need, like, less parameters.

The idea is suggested that I become the

secret weapon of the NWO.

Now, on face value, that makes no sense.

But if you think about it, who better?

Who better to defect?

Now!

Now that everybody realizes!

who everybody's working for.

I mean, my God, this guy here was the
foundation

of the WCW.

Now he works for the NWO.

So in the beginning, it seemed like Eric
was like the Turner exec, head of WCW,

trying to fend off the NWO.

Eric was like Palpatine.

Only through me can you achieve a power
greater than any Jedi.

Thought he was like the leader of the
Senate. Ended up being the Sith Lord.

You're the Sith Lord.

Eric Bischoff is revealed as the
mastermind behind the NWO.

It was a brilliant stroke because...

The NWO is doing all these crazy things.

They're creating chaos backstage and in
the ring. They're bringing baseball

bats. They're attacking people.

How are they getting away with all this
stuff?

Oh, that's why they're getting away with
all this stuff. Eric Bischoff, who is

literally the executive producer of WCW,
has turned, and he's part of the NWO,

and he's allowing them to get away with
all these things.

And as much fun as it was, and it was
very effective from the very beginning

because it was believable.

I didn't think about how it was going to
impact my day -to -day work.

Hello, everybody, and welcome.

NWO Monday Nitro is on the air.

I'm Eric Bischoff.

Now,

all of a sudden, without me realizing it
or paying attention to it, a lot of

people in Turner Broadcasting are
watching Nitro because it's the number

show on cable.

We're kind of a big deal with internal
broadcasting, but I didn't realize it. I

didn't think about it. We have some
business we have to attend to here. For

those of you that weren't able to join
us on pay -per -view last night, major,

major injustice.

Until on an episode of Nitro, in a
scene, I fire a referee

for making a decision that I didn't
approve of.

But under the circumstances, I have no
other choice.

You are hereby terminated.

You're fired. I don't want to hear about
your family problems. I'm telling you,

you are fired.

His name was Randy Anderson.

He went by Pee Wee.

Everybody loved Pee Wee Anderson.

Everybody that he worked with, the
audience loved him.

In real life, Randy had cancer.

And somebody came up with the idea.

It was probably me.

where I fire Randy, and then a couple
weeks later he comes back to the

ring.

Presumably now I've had time to think
about it because Randy has cancer.

What are your kids' names?

Names. What are their names?

This is on live television.

I'll tell you what.

Kids, come on up here.

It's all right, Randy.

It's all right.

Kids, would you do me a favor?

I looked down at his little son, and I
said, tell your daddy.

Tell your daddy he's fired. Get on with
his life.

Do it for a little tiny kid.

God bless us, everyone.

Of course, the kids are crushed.

Randy looks like he's going to break
down and cry. His wife doesn't know what

do.

And he turns around and he walks off as
the crowd is wanting to just fillet me

like a fish because they were so angry
for what I just did.

The next day,

I come to work, get into my office, and
there's a note on my desk from my

assistant that says, Dr. Schiller, who's
my boss, Harvey Schiller, wants to

speak to you immediately.

Well, that never happened.

So evidently what had happened is so
many people in Rome, Georgia, where

was from, were watching that show, got
so angry, reached out to human resources

at Turner Broadcasting to complain about
the fact that I fired Randy Anderson,

who's undergoing cancer treatment, in
front of his children and wife on

television, and I was a disgrace to the
community.

Human Resources immediately calls Harvey
Schiller and is like, what's this

maniac up to?

You can't have an executive firing
people on national television.

We're going to get sued.

But the executives that were watching it
didn't realize it was wrestling.

That's how real our stuff was. And that
line between liver memorex, as they used

to say, is it real, is it not real? It's
that sweet spot that it's a gray area.

created enough of that confusion in a
good way to make people believe that

they were watching was real.

Over a very brief period of time

now, the entire traditional paradigm of
wrestling

storytelling and characters

had been turned upside down.

Bad guys are doing cool things.

And getting cheered.

Whoa.

Cool if you're a bad guy doing cool
things getting cheered.

Not so cool if you're a guy who makes
his living being a good guy, and now

you've got to get that audience behind
you.

Let's just stick with good old family
entertainment wrestling.

I could feel a shift happening in our
business.

I relate to the people, or at least I
try to. You know, there are a lot of

wrestlers that just have a style of
walking into the ring and tunnel vision.

thinking about their opponent and
nothing else, you know, black tights,

boots, let's get down to business kind
of wrestlers, you know.

And me, I like to throw a little bit of
color into it, obviously.

So I'm somebody that everybody can
relate to, hopefully.

They wanted to see something else, a
little bit more cutting edge, a little

more hardcore.

Right around that time, I knew that my
character was going to have to change. I

will walk into this either a loser or a
giant killer. They didn't want Woo

anymore. I mean, that was right around
the corner. I could just feel it coming.

I feel like a giant killer!

I knew I had to change, and I set out to
try to figure out something, some kind

of way to change my character and be a
little bit more...

Cutting edge.

Well,

the problem was the NWO in the mid -90s
was so cool.

The baby faces, you know, that still
painted their faces or the bright red

yellow colors like I did or the neon
colors.

and stuff, that was kind of like, eh.

All right, we'll see you there.

This particular story had way too much
edge on it to try to go back to any

kind of a candy -coated, kiddie, teen,
preteen hero solution to it. That

wasn't going to work anymore.

The audience was way past that formula.

We needed a hero with an edge, with as
much of an edge as the NWO had.

But it had to be somebody with
credibility.

If you want that hero to be a hero
that's going to register in every way,

including financially, it's got to be
somebody that the audience already

believes in.

The NWO really needed a foil.

So what WSW did was they took Sting and
they made him an anti -hero.

I remember having a conversation with
Eric Bischoff.

And I think Kevin might have been there.
I know Scott was there, Scott Hall.

You know, I'm flicking my hair back,
getting ready to go to the ring, and

in the mirror next to me, and he's
putting his face paint on.

At that point, his career, he wore his
hair really short and fried blonde, like

just white blonde, you know.

And he started, he was growing it out.
It was kind of brown. I remember

thinking, well, are you letting your
hair grow out? He goes, yeah.

I said, are you still going to wear,
like, the happy guy tights? He was

like, these neon tights and all that
stuff. He goes, yeah.

Why don't you paint your face white or
something and, you know, wear a trench

coat or something like that, you know.

And I don't know him. I have nothing to
gain by saying this, but that's the way

I like to do business.

If I think it's good for our company,
whether I like you as a person or not,

you're part of the team, here's what I
think, bro.

And I said, you ever see The Crow?

crow covering that soul back to put the
wrong things right and scott's

describing all these different scenes
where the crow would pop up and by the

time he got done i'm looking at sing and
sing's eyes were like this big like

give me more i think it's time you break
on through

to the other side

The Sting character was so mysterious at
that time.

It started out up in the rafters, the
spotlight here and there, and smoke and

mirrors. The dark side of Sting, it is
very scary.

They brought the devil out of him.

This character seems to be gaining a lot
of momentum.

People are really buying into the fact
that blonde, flat -top hair was going

away, and all of a sudden the hair was
dark and it was growing longer.

Don't open your mouth and become Sting
again. Less is more. That's one of the

biggest lessons that I learned at that
particular time.

He didn't speak for, I don't know, nine
months, ten months.

He became like the cool anti -hero.

There was no more heroes. This didn't
exist.

Sting kind of like gave us momentum
because anybody that helped Sting or

that Sting helped or stood by Sting.

It gave him instant credibility and made
him a formidable foe for us.

The long, slow point right at Hollywood
Hulk Hogan.

For years, all I ever heard about Vince
McMahon was a year in advance of what

he's going to do.

Hell, I was lucky to get through week to
week. Oh, I constantly, constantly hear

it. So I thought, okay, here's my shot.

Sting Hogan.

I want the longest build in history.

And that really, I think, started the
American people's obsession or

with the antihero, with the bad guy, as
the protagonist.

That's what we want.

It was obvious so early on that we had
crossed over into mainstream in a way

that I had never experienced.

It became so much bigger than wrestling.
Let's welcome our buddy Hulk Hogan.

What is a sponsor?

NWO.

For the NWO in the 90s, it was a time of
the anti -establishment, and the NWO

was a story that took that to another
level. Hey, you're busting my leg!

The hottest thing in pop culture at that
time was death row.

That's why I would tie my bandana
backwards, like Tupac.

Like, we'll be the cool guys.

Dennis Rodman joined the NWO. Dennis
Rodman went AWOL on Monday and he

to do the wrestling thing. Dennis Rodman
was one of the most popular and

controversial and edgiest NBA players.

That's why you're with the NWO, my
friend. That's right, baby. New world

baby. Favorite memory would probably be
the NWO guys going out to the ring with

Rodman in Chicago smoking cigars and
having Phil Jackson out of his mind.

calling me going, where's Rodman at?

He needs to get back to practice. And I
said, he doesn't want to come back.

He wants to hang out with us. I don't
know what to tell you.

This is entertainment.

And the hair color, the tattoos, the
piercings, the wildness.

Why not? It's a perfect fit.

It felt like there was something more
there.

than your traditional pro wrestling
program.

The bottom line is this is all serious
business, joke man. You crossed the

I didn't cross the line. Let me get your
hat, okay? I'm tired of it.

You know what they say, the old police
say, the bigger they are, the bigger

are.

As we all know how hard it is to become
successful, what I learned is that it's

far more difficult to remain successful.

than it is to become successful.

I'm the man.

I am God.

The Monday Night Wars, it was the

reason for everything in pro wrestling
during the 90s.

You know, Ted Turner wanted to put
lightning in a bottle.

and the only conversation I had with him
is, if you're going to put lightning in

a bottle, you've got to go head -to
-head with Vince.

The NWO with Hollywood at the helm is
just too damn

cool.

It's hard for me sometimes to be as
honest with myself as I'd like to be.

Nitro, Monday Night Raw, we're head -to
-head in competition, too close to call

most weeks from the very beginning.

It wasn't until the NWO story that WCW
and Nitro began to dominate the ratings.

It did so for a year and a half, almost
two years.

That would not have happened had it not
been for the NWO.

That was the goal, was to become the
number one company.

I don't think the goal was ever to put
Vince out of business.

even though we got really, really close.

We are the champions!

We are the champions! I've had a
conversation with Vince where he was

couple weeks away from shutting the
doors.

The number one program in the world,
it's Nitro with World Championship

Wrestling!

I believed from day one when I cut that
promo that this was going to work, that

they were going to cheer for the bad
guys, but I didn't realize how big it

going to get.

It got to the point where the only way
to get destroyed it was the people that

created it.

The battle between good and evil has
begun.

The catalyst for the Monday Night Wars
was the NWO.

The rocket fuel for those wars, Sting
Hogan.

Sting to the rescue for world
championship wrestling.

Do you want him? You got him.

He threw the bat away.

Right here. Let's go.

Right now.

We did a fantastic job of building that
story. It exceeded 12 months. Now hold

on here. Wait a minute.

But that sting, who's that? It's another
one.

It's a sting pest.

I mean, they're everywhere.

Oh!

We were putting so much pressure on ABC
and Monday Night Football that ABC

Network, who had the rights to Monday
Night Football, had to take out an ad to

convince advertisers not to spend their
money with us.

The audience was so invested in that
story.

I knew that the payoff was going to be
fantastic.

The thing that gets me madder than
anything else is all those idiots out

there with those sting masks on.

I was here.

Last week, I'm here this week, and if
Sting had any guts, he'd show

his yellow streak because I would beat
him up. You know, guys, Hogan's lost it.

There's Hogan's nightmare right there.

The payoff was originally going to be
Sting finally, after all of this

time.

Putting a period at the end of the
sentence and walking away with a WCW

You know, that's an image that wrestling
fans, sports fans around the world will

never forget.

Sting, the door swings open. He walks
slowly towards Hollywood Hogan and he

signs the contract, not taking his eyes
off his enemy, off his opponent.

That was the plan for.

Almost the entire 18 months. Sting and
Hogan, the contract has been signed. The

two men will meet for the world title.

Until the night we got to the arena.

Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you to
the biggest night in the history of this

grand sport.

We had a plan all these months and then
suddenly there was a shift.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to
Starrcade 97.

for the heavyweight championship of the
world.

Hulk looked at me and said, not today.

Let's get ready to rumble!

Let's just stick with the original plan.

Deliver what we said we were going to do
and move on from there.

Not this last minute stuff.

I had a problem with it because if
you're going to beat me when I get this

of momentum, this is about making money.

Whenever you beat somebody, you beat
them in a way that they're better off

they're beat than they were before.

And Eric really wasn't sure where we
were going with this thing.

He had creative control.

You can't give a wrestler creative
control.

Can't happen.

Just can't happen.

He doesn't have to do anything he
doesn't want to do.

Despite the fact that Hulk Hogan did
have creative control and he never

exercised it, he never threatened to use
it, he had never implied that he might,

it was like, yeah, it's there, but it's
not.

Except for that night.

And because Hulk wasn't feeling it, he
called an audible and it was a mad

scramble. It got to the point where
there was too much tension. I said,

brother, I'll put him over.

No big deal. We'll figure it out.

Not really sure what we were going to
do, literally, until walking through the

curtain. And even then, it's like, you
know, anything can happen.

That's a cold stare is what that is.

We had to figure out what we were going
to do that night, and we determined and

agreed that the best way to do that was
with a controversial, disputable ending

of the match.

The goal was to give Hogan the quick
count that gave Sting justification

and the right to demand a rematch.

Quick count wasn't a quick count.

When a change that big is made at the
last minute, there's a lot of scrambling

going on.

And there's an opportunity for a lot of
really bad communication as a result of

it. The referee counts one, two, three.
He doesn't kick out.

One, two, three.

The quick count was the last minute
plan. It was the Band -Aid that was put

the original plan.

So he was supposed to kick out. Yeah,
and he didn't kick out.

One, two, three.

I know some timing issues.

We got messed up on some timing.

There were some things that happened
timing -wise.

Watching it from the monitor felt like
watching the Hindenburg.

You know, just like, ah, the humanity.

One, two, three.

I like things to be, I like them to go,
you know, not always as planned.

No one in the building in Washington, D
.C.

thought at that time that it was a fast
count.

But in the storyline, Bret Hart comes
out.

I don't remember Bret Hart being
involved.

I don't remember another referee come
down. I don't remember anything like

ever being talked about. Man, I can't
even remember now sitting here.

Singh eventually wins the title.

He beats Poco.

And it was just a confusing mess of what
happened, and it just felt so

anticlimactic. It was something that
they were building for so long, and they

had built brilliantly.

And then the climax was just kind of a
wet fart.

What a wonderful night that was.

Last night, ladies and gentlemen,
history was made. After 18 months, Sting

returned to the ring. There is a new
World Heavyweight... When

the viewer puts trust

into a product, into characters, into a
brand, and then all those things

disappoint the viewer, there is a loss
of trust.

If you don't deliver on that
anticipation that you've built in the

that the audience has made in your
story, they're pissed at you.

They're disappointed in you, and they
don't trust you anymore.

Nothing in terms of a build -up and a
finish has ever been more of a

disappointment.

I certainly think that it was the
beginning of the end for WCW.

Me and Rodzilla, we be taking over, bro.

In 98, the NWO starts to fracture, and
they become two separate groups. The NWO

Wolfpack is wearing black and red.

Wolfpack in the house!

The NWO Hollywood is wearing black and
white, and now they're warring factions.

So instead of being at war with WW,
they're actually at war with each other.

That was definitely a departure from
what the original idea for the NWO was

supposed to be.

I'm sure you've heard the sad saga of
Kevin Nash losing his little

buddy.

Hey, Kev. Hey, Kev.

You're an embarrassment to me, and I
used to call you my big brother.

You're not half the man Hollywood Hogan
is.

They broke Kevin and Scott up, and no
one wanted to see Kevin and Scott broke

up. That was bull.

The whole split of the NWO was probably
more a

function of frustration.

We're going to humiliate him. We're
going to teach him who the master is.

we're going to choke Simon.

There were a lot of internal,
structural, financial changes being made

midstream.

My budget.

was being gutted.

Didn't understand it. Tried to fight it.
That was my biggest mistake, because I

tried to fight it, because I thought I
could.

We're seeing a man whose life has fallen
apart.

Oh, wait, whoa.

I'd pick fights with people I should
have never picked fights with,

I was just fighting that battle, and
finally I just threw up my hands and

okay, well, we can't do all the stuff we
wanted to do, so what do we do?

Create some internal strife, conflict
within the NWO and have the

NWO have a split.

It was random and it was ineffective.

And it really took the steam out of the
NWO.

Heavyweight champion of the world, Big
Sexy Kevin!

There's actual books that say that I
single -handedly killed WCW.

You? Yeah. Who said that? There's books.

What's the premise?

Because the finger poke of doom.

The what?

They always say the finger poke of doom.

Very tentative look on Hogan's face.

But Nash, ready to go at it.

Taking their time with each other.

Well, the finger point of doom.

Wrong. Makes no sense.

Embarrassing. Let's see if that gets a
reaction from Hollywood here.

Sorry I was a part of it.

Can I please take it back?

I mean, I got no words for it. It was
just completely wrong.

Wrong thing to do.

There's been so many big matches.

What's that about?

What? What?

What's going on here?

What?

The continued BS finishes and just the
way that the NWO was presented, they

weren't giving the fans something
satisfying.

I think the finger point of doom
definitely contributed to the demise.

You know, I mean, if you're going
downhill and, you know, somebody pushes

it makes it even worse.

And Eric would get caught up.

I became pretty distracted.

Some of his business decisions.

They weren't, I don't think, what they
would be now that he knows what he knows

now. You're out of here.

You are fired. He's out of here. End of
story.

We know Eric's really our boss.

Eric Bischoff, president, WCW. But when
Eric forgot that for a short while,

that's when I feel Eric kind of like got
in the cool zone.

Is that Eric Bischoff?

It's a new look, isn't it?

The lines were blurry for all of it.

about that martial arts background.

He's got seven years perfecting his
craft. In his own words, he's a trained

killer. He wants a piece of me?

He wants to get in the ring with me?

Sometimes it was cool for the NWO or
cool for Scott and Kevin or cool for

Hollywood Hogan.

Hollywood Hogan has said that he will
run for the President of the United

in the year 2000.

But it wasn't cool for the business at
hand.

America shall be the richest country,
every child shall have an education, and

we shall make the whole world a peaceful
place to live in.

It wasn't cool for what needed to be
done to compete with Vince.

That's where I feel the guard was
dropped.

I'm just having more and more fun every
time I come out here.

Hey, yo!

Eric becoming a mark for Hall and Nash
at the time. What does that mean, a

Well, it means instead of being their
boss, he becomes a fan. This is a very

disgusting, confusing picture. This is a
joke.

It's a crime is what it is. What I felt
was, man, we need to tighten the ship

up, man. We got to get back to what this
business is all about and not, you

know, sitting up in a suite, you know,
with a bunch of girls from a strip club

drinking wine while WCW is wrestling
down there.

And I never, ever thought it would be
quite this good.

I used to tell the girls to go home and
go down and backstab these guys and beat

them in spray paint and leave them
laying.

You know, but that's just my opinion.

This is life. I like the way you think,
though.

I learned from you that bus last year,
remember?

At the dawn of the Internet age, there
is stunning new evidence of the growing

power of the new medium. Internet
pioneer America Online announced today

buying big, sprawling Time Warner,
creating the world's largest media

conglomerate. There's a possibility for
some friction, but I don't think that's

going to happen. I think we're all
committed to making this thing work and

creating the most exciting.

and socially conscious company that the
world has ever seen.

I want to make an announcement now that
next Monday night at Panama City, very

well, could be the last night of
wrestling on the Turner Networks. It was

matter of time before I, Vince McMahon,
bought my competition.

That's right.

I own WCW. The merger changed their
priorities.

You know, instead of having two really
high -rated shows on TBS and TNT, they

were more interested in movies of the
week, new programming, Turner classics,

and they didn't want wrestling as part
of their portfolio.

Next week, ladies and gentlemen, the
finale of WCW Monday Night Throw on TNT.

I think we might have had half a chance
if there

wasn't the Tom Warner merger.

Welcome to a landmark night in the
industry.

We are done. We are floored.

On the very last telecast of WCW Monday
Night Grove on TNT.

WCW gets sold to WWE for somewhere
between $3 and $4 million.

For the first time ever.

And sports entertainment history, this
broadcast is not only being seen here on

TNN and Cleveland, Ohio, but it's also

being seen across Turner Network
Television.

The landscape of our industry is
changing. What should I do

with WCW?

When we went to the WWE, I think, once
again, just like Hulk Hogan leaving the

WWE, going to WCW, there was a short
little red and yellow run, and then the

NWO thing took over.

I think us coming back to the WWE would
have had the same effect.

Hollywood Hogan, Paul and Nax, the three
men who built the old

WCW, but did more to destroy that.
company, that brand, than

any other entity are now full -fledged
members of the World Wrestling

thanks to Mr.

McMahon.

So we come in.

The Rock challenges me, yes or no, for
WrestleMania.

How do you feel about headlining one
more WrestleMania with The Rock?

Scott and Kevin come down. We beat the
crap out of him.

We take him outside. We put him in an
ambulance. We chain the ambulance. I run

him over with a semi.

I did everything I could.

To get heat on myself and on Scott and
Kevin and have the people boo me out of

the building.

I walk out at WrestleMania 18 and they
cheer me out of the building against The

Rock.

As soon as The Rock starts

punching me, they boo him.

As soon as I block a punch and start
making a comeback, the whole place

Certain babyfaces, and there were a
bunch of them, that were very upset that

were getting cheered, and they all of a
sudden were getting booed.

I think the NWO, in my opinion, came in
too hot and too strong all of a sudden.

Once they saw what happened, at
WrestleMania with me and The Rock.

Flew back to Tampa the next day, got my
red and yellow stuff, flew back to

Montreal.

And I think that was pretty much the end
of the NWO, but ended very quickly.

You're never going to see another bad
guy like me, Tico.

You want a war?

You're going to get one.

Those in the regional pro wrestling
community are sharing their thoughts

wrestler Scott Hall, who died Monday at
the age of 63.

This is weird because this is the first
thing we've done.

Without Scott.

This.

From talking about NWO.

He was my boy.

Still is.

It's funny. I was talking to Sean
Waltman the other day. And I was just

Sometimes it's just like he's not gone.

I think that when it came to Scott and
I, you could tell we were having fun.

Everything else on that show might have
been fake, but it was real.

As far as just the bond.

People know when something's real.

Short film is produced and directed by
the Outsiders. We hope you enjoy it. We

did.

That's all the time we spent together.

Give me a second.

This is like the retired athlete.

They always say when an athlete retires,
if he gets choked up, it's better to

say thank you and walk away.

There's nothing worse than seeing that.

The most impactful moment I've had in
all of

these years happened about maybe five or
six years ago.

I was at a Comic -Con in Phoenix.

And I was actually moderating or hosting
a panel.

What's it feel like to be back in
Phoenix? How long has it been since

been here?

Man, I think one of the last times was
when we did the nitros.

Really? Yeah, that's what Hulk and Jimmy
said too.

I mean, honestly, I think that's one of
the last times for me.

And there was a young lady, her name was
Amanda.

I was her first crush.

She told me that earlier today. She told
me this amazing story

about how when she was a little kid,

She had a tough family situation, and
the only time that she got to spend with

her dad,

I'll say, I start crying every time I
tell this story.

It's funny.

She said the only time she ever had to
really have father -daughter time

was on Monday nights because he worked.

different jobs, and he was an alcoholic.
He had issues.

But on Monday nights, that was father
-daughter time.

They watched Nitro.

Loved the NWO.

And she told me that story.

I was like, oh, God, stop.

There's 1 ,500 people here watching me
cry like a baby.

And that was the end of it. I got away
from that show. It was over. It was

It was a nice story.

And, of course, she finds a way to track
me down.

And she sent my wife an email and really
went into detail about that same story.

And said, look, my mother's no longer
here, my father's no longer here.

I'm getting married.

Would Eric walk me down the aisle?

Of course, I said yes.

I walked her down the aisle.

And that's when I realized that stuff
has a bigger impact on people than you

realize when you're doing it.

When you hear a story about how what we
did actually brought people together and

created bonds, it made it way more
meaningful.

What do you think the legacy of NWO is?

You know who I am, but you don't know
why I'm here. The legacy of the

NWO is innovation.

It's inventing a new way of telling
stories.

This wasn't just a group of people, this
was an idea.

It became a part of pop culture in a way
that we hadn't really seen before.

It is my pleasure to welcome to the WWE
Hall of Fame class of 2020, Hulk Hogan,

Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Sean
Waltman, the NWO.

It really was bigger than I ever dreamed
it would be.

I think one of the most touching things
in my career is the fact that you go out

and you do personal appearances and
you're looking, there's a line of people

80 % of those people got NWO shirts on.

There's a five -year -old kid that walks
up in front of you and he goes like

this.

He's got his NWO shirt on.

You say to yourself, wow, man, this NWO
thing is the life.