[1997-12-15-WCW-Nitro] Eric Bischoff and Bret Hart

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Gene has JJ Dillon in the ring, who has returned from his injury. Bischoff has thrown quite a few stipulations into the Starrcade match thinking the Zbyszko match would be cancelled but JJ keeps agreeing to every request. Bischoff insists on Kevin Nash as referee for Starrcade, which is hilarious. Then he suggests Syxx. JJ finally agrees to pick one of Bischoff's guys as long as Dillon can pick which one. Bischoff is okay with that. And with that, we have the Nitro debut of Bret Hart to a huge pop (and horrible entrance music!). He has a smile on his face and seems to be trying to make the most of a new environment.

 

Bret puts over being in Ric Flair country and says he would be honored to be the referee for Eric Bischoff vs Larry Zbyszko. They talk about a $7.5 million a year deal Bischoff negotiated for him, which is hilarious. Bret says win if you can, but don't look to me for any help, because no one knows like him what it's like to get screwed over by a referee. He tells Bischoff he's on his own and Bischoff isn't too happy about that.

 

Bischoff talks about weekends off, but Starrcade is on a weekend.

 

This was the great way they came up with to debut the hottest guy in wrestling. This.

[Strummer]

I can remember people online swearing that not even WCW could screw this up. I was hoping too. It's funny because I don't remember a lot of negative feedback to this. Everybody wanted this to be great and successful so much. I would say on the whole the net at this time was still firmly pro WCW although that would be changing at the beginning part of the next year

[Kevin Ridge]

Bischoff wants Nash to referee but that could stop him from being able to wrestle at Starrcade. Eric also mentions Syxx but he's got a bum neck. Dillon agrees to actually pick a NWO guy. Oh JJ! It's Bret Hart and that music is bad! I didn't like Bret debuting as a referee in Bischoff/Larry match but he does manage to tie things into being screwed by a referee previously and he will not be helping anyone.

[soup23]

We get the big debut of Bret as a ref for Bischoff vs. Larry Z and the overall narrative of whether he is or isnt NWO. He feels like a hot guy here coming out to a huge reaction and tells Bischoff he will have to do things himself in the match. I still dont know if I would have placed him in this role right off the bat.

[El-P]

Awful debut for Bret. I'm sorry but he doesn't look like that big of a deal. Guest referee during the Larry Z vs Bischoff match. Fuck. Bret should have come out, cut a venimous promo about the WWF, dragging them in the dirt, then turn his attention to little Shawn's big friends here, Hall & Nash, that he made stars himself in the past, and Hulk Hogan whe fled in 1993 instead of facing him like a man, and that he would be at the Starrcade to ensure no one was gonna get screwed, and that if there was anything left of Hall, Nash & Hogan after that point, he would take the reminder of the nWo down piece by piece, not for WCW, but for himself. And then you have months of programs, throw in a big Flair feud and a big Savage feud at some point, and you're set. And you book fucking Nitros and one or two PPV in Canada. Meanwhile, you try Sting on top and you build Goldy so you get to something nice and easy for Starrca de the following year. It was so basic and easy.

[PeteF3]

"We've been talking for two seconds, I'm already BORED." --Darrell Hammond-as-Chris Matthews on one of SNL's Hardball sketches.

 

Possibly the most underwhelming debut in wrestling history. Every single thing about this segment is off--Dillon and Bischoff have *no* chemistry and while I'm a Mean Gene defender, he talks all over everyone all throughout this. The negotiating over the guest ref just isn't that interesting no matter who they go with because you know this match is going to be filled with gaga bullshit no matter what. And then Bret comes down to horrible entrance music with no fanfare and says nothing. As much as I've complained about the lack of creativity in WCW lately, it's only just now that it feels conceivable that the wheels could actually come flying off this promotion.