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Mat Memories: Interviewing Eric Bischoff … 30 years later

The unique content that makes up my John Arezzi’s Pro Wrestling Spotlight Podcast each week are the original shows that ran 30 years ago.  The true star of the show are the historic clips of the shoot interviews that were broadcast during an era when it was not commonplace. The Pro Wrestling Spotlight was groundbreaking for that time.

On the new audio and video podcast, 30 years to the week that Eric Bischoff was named the first Executive Producer of WCW, I reached out to ask him if he’d like to come on and discuss that life-changing promotion — and review his first appearance on my show, from February 6, 1993. He agreed, and the result was a very entertaining conversation.

Eric sat with us and listened for the first time to his interview on the show from all those years ago.

During the original segment, which was broadcast on WNYG-AM in Babylon, NY, Bischoff didn’t publicly confirm his appointment to the job, but discussed the changes an Executive Producer would make with the WCW TV shows.

On the same show, Don Laible reported in his weekly “News Capsule” that Bill Watts had been demoted in a company-wide shake up during a meeting held on February 2 of that year.

After hearing the clips from the original show, Bischoff revealed that at the time Watts had already been effectively fired, which was not officially announced until one week later, when reporter Mark Madden faxed a racist and homophobic interview Watts did with Wade Keller in the Pro Wrestling Torch to the powers that be at Turner Broadcasting.

The entire Bischoff interview is fascinating to hear from 30 years ago, as well as his comments now in 2023.

SlamWrestling.net readers have early access to the video version of the podcast here:

 

To hear the entire archives of the Pro Wrestling Spotlight (currently 191 shows covering 1989-1993, with a new show from 30 years ago added weekly), go to patreon.com/johnarezzi.

TOP PHOTO: John Arezzi interviews Eric Bischoff.

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