[1997-03-03-WCW-Nitro] Eric Bischoff and Harvey Schiller

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Eric Bischoff finally gets a dose of humility. He is confronted by his boss, Harvey Schiller (President of Turner Sports) and the crowd senses where this is going and they are excited. He tells him that effective immediately, he's suspended. He has no more financial responsibilities and can sign no more contracts. He's done. Bischoff pleads with him and there we go! One thing I am impressed with so far in 1997 is that at this point, they were still giving the babyface side some victories. The NWO was strong and won most of the time for sure, yes, but it wasn't as one-sided as some may think, at least not at this point.

[soup23]

Agree with your point on the babyfaces Loss. LIke I said in the Outsiders Superbrawl tag, I think they were booked too weak around this time which surprised me even if it did lead to some great Bischoff moments. This was good use of an authority figure one upping Bischoff and Gene is at his antagonizing self.

[ajtroma]

It was rumored that Big Ted was going to appear on this Nitro but I guess was too busy smoking weed so Shiller took his spot.

 

Zbyszko's line of "take away his credit card" made me chuckle.

[Kevin Ridge]

Took long enough for Turner to get involved but Schiller shows up to confront Bischoff. I think it’s a nice moment to have a big shot like Schiller get involved but I don’t see how good this can be long term for a non-wrestling personality to be part of this. Bischoff gets suspended. A victory for WCW.

[El-P]

Eric was great here, just obnoxious as hell then acted like a kid caught up doing bad things yet still acting defensive. So sleazy. Bischoff deserves a ton of credit for playing the evil authority figure one year before Vince, it's almost always forgotten these days. Nice touch to have a real big gun from Turner sport show up, although Eric had to repeat the same sentence twice at one point before Schiller got the cue. Good segment, and yes, it was not yet totally one-sided and frustrating, WCW was not completely bullied at this point.

[PeteF3]

Agreed on all the babyface stuff here--Nitro is even more compelling because any given week could end with either side standing tall. Bischoff makes the Uncensored main event official. Bischoff is wonderfully obnoxious here, particularly as he basks in the cheers of the fans unaware that they're popping for Harvey Schiller. Great crowd, who pick up exactly on where this is going. And a great location to shoot the angle, too.