83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff

[SomethingSavage]

There are no TNA-centric episodes just yet. The only one that mentions anything specific about TNA is the Q&A episode. It's a breezy, quick listen at around the hour & a half mark.

Truth be told, the AWA show and the two covering his first year in the WWE are among the best. You're missing some fun stories if you choose to skip out on them completely based on the subject matter, although I don't fault anyone for feeling burned out by any WWE topics by this point.

The Starrcade episodes are all enjoyable, for the most part. And I dug Havoc 98. Pretty much everything post-Pillman is a quality listen. Pre-Pillman, you could skip all of them except the Dusty episode (for the amazing Hogan run-in on the last half hour) and the Jericho one.

[El-P]

My interest in 00's WWE is sub-zero. So there. I guess the AWA stuff can be interesting but the AWA back then was such a dying mess already.

Gonna check those Starrcade episodes and HH 98 first then. Thanks !

[SomethingSavage]

No worries. To be fair, the AWA episode is less about the promotion itself or its happenings and much more about Eric's introduction to the business and Verne.

It's essentially the Bischoff origin story, with a few fun stops along the way. I totally understand if that holds zero interest to you, but I was pleasantly surprised.

[blueminister]

Yeah the AWA episode is solid gold and Bischoff's great radio in general. The only episode I wouldn't recommend is Pillman, oddly enough --  it's the only time I've thought Bischoff was being purposefully evasive and sandbagging the conversation with intent. (ex: "There's absolutely 100% no way Hogan demanded Pillman be brought back for Uncensored 1996." "What's the real story with Pillman being advertised, then?" "I don't remember.")

[El-P]

I listened to the HH98 episode and getting into Starrcade 94 and I enjoy it a lot. I'm glad the talk on this thread made me reconsider, I'm very positively surprised with Bischoff and how genuine he comes off (including him giving Meltz more credit than Prichard usually does). Maybe the fact it seems to be lighter on CT's stuff that I dislike helps too. I'm definitely gonna check more of this.

[The Thread Killer]

On 12/31/2018 at 7:23 PM, SomethingSavage said:

It was cool to hear Eric talk about his time in TNA for a change. I kind of wish they'd go the Prichard route and take a couple of episodes to really dive into the subject, to be honest.

I get the impression that they are not going to do a TNA episode for a couple reasons.  Bischoff has said in the past that there is still ongoing litigation between himself and Dixie Carter regarding his time in TNA...I believe if I am not mistaken that he left TNA being owed a fairly sizable amount of money.  I am pretty sure he is suing Dixie Carter and Panda Energy for that money, so he can't comment about TNA too much while the lawsuit is going on.

Secondly, I distinctly remember him saying that he doesn't have anything positive at all to say about the business side of TNA or his time there, but he really liked the talent and many of the people who worked there behind the scenes, so he doesn't want to speak ill of the company while they are still functioning.  It's one thing for him to dish dirt on WCW since that company is dead and buried, but I know he has said he doesn't want anything he says about TNA to reflect negatively on the guys who still work there.

[SomethingSavage]

Yeah, I've heard something similar to that, now that you mention it.

Even with those restrictions, I'd be interested in hearing his thoughts on some of the decisions & changes during his tenure. We already got a little bit of that - with him talking about it always being his goal to approach storylines like television seasons, with longer arcs & whatnot.

I get it though. It'd be kind of hard for him to tiptoe around Conrad's criticisms of Aces & Eights or the Anti-Christ Jeff Hardy stuff if Bischoff could only really serve up half-answers in his own defense (without really pointing fingers or listing names).

So yeah. It's a shame. Because I'm a fan of that TNA 2011-2012 time frame, and I'd love to hear more about it.

[The Thread Killer]

On 12/27/2018 at 11:35 AM, SomethingSavage said:

While I'm speculating though, you can kind of get the sense that Eric only barely tolerated Jimmy Hart most of the time. He has openly bashed Jimmy's dated look & his animated personality A LOT. And Eric almost seems to go out of his way to mention it with every show he's on - which, again, is a lot.

It's interesting you mentioned that earlier this week.  The Jimmy Hart topic really came to a head during this week's show, covering Starrcade 95.

It was a good show, although I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I did the other shows they did on the various Starrcade PPV's.  Interestingly, Conrad himself says during the close of this episode that he has been getting feedback from the fans that 83 Weeks seems to have really "hit their stride" with the recent Starrcade themed shows, and as I mentioned earlier in this thread, I couldn't agree more.  I've been a listener since day one, and the quality really has continued to build.  I think Conrad and Eric are much more comfortable with each other now, they know each other's patterns and shtick to the point where they are now really firing on all cylinders.  This whole series on the Starrcade shows from 94-98 have been outstanding.

It's becoming more and more clear what "triggers" Eric Bischoff when it comes to Dave Meltzer.  (Unlike with Prichard, where everything about Meltzer sets him off. ) Bischoff clearly doesn't mind or even dispute when Meltzer reports on things like buyrates, TV ratings, or even some aspects of WCW business that have been made public.  In a lot of cases, Eric Bischoff will openly agree with something Conrad tells him Meltzer reported, or in some cases, even his match reviews. What consistently drives Bischoff up a tree is when Meltzer inaccurately (according to him) reports something about the inner workings of WCW, especially as it pertains to their corporate dealings. 

For example, in this episode Eric goes bonkers when Conrad reads a Meltzer report that claims one of the reasons WCW finally turned a profit for the first time in 1995 is because Hulk Hogan's contract wasn't billed to WCW, it was billed to another part of the Turner Organization. (Either Turner Sports or Turner Home Entertainment, I forget which.)  You can tell that Eric Bischoff is very proud of the work he did turning WCW around from a money loser in 1993 to turning a profit in 1995, and you can tell he takes it personally that Meltzer is reporting what Bischoff claims is untrue information that basically takes credit for the turnaround from him, or at the very least mitigates a lot of it. 

Bischoff re-tells a story he has told before (you can tell how proud he is of it) about how the head of Turner Finance had bet him a dollar that WCW would NEVER turn a profit.  The catch is, if Eric can turn a profit, this Turner executive has to get down on one knee and give Eric the dollar at the WCW Christmas Party, in front of everybody.  (This story is also covered in depth in the Nitro book by Guy Evans.) Just an aside - you have to admit that this story confirms the narrative that the Turner organization had no faith in WCW.  When the head of the financial department and one of your top executives is willing to make a public bet that you'll never make money - what the hell kind of message did that send to WCW employees?

Interestingly, I had always heard the narrative pushed by Meltzer that Hogan's contract didn't come out of WCW's budget.  Eric Bischoff claims that just because some talents had contracts with Turner (and later AOL Time/Warner) that doesn't mean the money wasn't taken out of WCW's operating budget.  He claims this is public information and can easily be verified.  If anything, Bischoff claims the opposite - that the Turner organization used to dump expenses on WCW, the logic being that since WCW was a money losing operation anyhow, and a part of the overall organization that had no prestige, why shouldn't they be used to cover up or eat fiscal shortfalls?  He doesn't discuss that all in this episode specifically, but it is something he has said repeatedly over the course of this show and it is a narrative put forth in the Nitro book by Guy Evans as well.

Bischoff also goes nuts at the statement made by Meltzer (read by Conrad) that Eric used to watch WWF Raw while he was live on the air in the WCW broadcast booth and that the fans could see him doing it.  Eric freely admits that he had guys watching Raw in the truck, and they would report to him about Raw spoilers he could give on the air, but more importantly they would tell them when Raw was going to commercial break.  Eric claims they would try and counter-program Raw commercial breaks to keep fans from switching the channel back, but there is no way he could have actually sat and watched Raw himself at the desk while he was calling Nitro live on the air.

Some other topics discussed on this episode...

• Specifically they talk about why Starrcade was never the WCW equivalent of Wrestlemania in Eric Bischoff's mind.  Conrad complains that Starrcade feels like "just another PPV" at this point and Eric confirms that to him, it was.  That has always been a sore spot with a lot of old school JCP/WCW fans for sure, and Bischoff totally confirms that theory.
• At the end of the episode they also touch on how this particular show was on a Wednesday (?!) and how that may have hurt the buyrate.  (I believe this Starrcade was the second lowest rated PPV in the history of WCW, even including the Russo years.) 
• They discussed the arrival of Madusa and get into the infamous WWF Women's Title being dumped into the trash. 
• They also discuss Mark Madden being fired from the WCW hotline for apparently talking about how Hogan was getting booed in WCW and also talking about UFC on the WCW hotline.  Eric talks about how Madden had a habit of "going into business for himself." 
• They talk about the infamous WWF "Billionaire Ted" skits, and what Bischoff thought about them, what the talent thought of them and what Ted Turner himself thought of them.
• They talk about Hulk Hogan briefly - how Hogan was getting booed and knew it and how he and Eric felt about that.  They talk about why Hulk Hogan wasn't on this show.  They also talk about the Kathleen Kennedy sexual assault allegations made against Hogan around this time, Hogan's counter-suit, and Bischoff's feelings about the whole thing.

They review the show match by match, and only when they did that did I realize - I never saw this PPV.  At first I couldn't figure out why, because during the entire Monday Night War I used to see every WCW and WWF PPV, up until 1999 when I gave up on WCW altogether. (Ironically, I gave up when Russo came over, even though I wasn't totally aware of it at the time.)  But I never saw this show.  It wasn't until they covered the fact that for some reason they held the show on a Wednesday that I realized why I must have missed it.  We didn't consistently get Nitro here in the Toronto area, so I pretty much depending on WCW Saturday Night and the PPV listings on TV.  If it wasn't on Sunday I wouldn't have been looking for it. The match reviews are good, if unremarkable.  Both Conrad and Eric lost their shit over how good the Eddy Guerrero/Shinjiro Otani match was.  They really gushed over it, so I checked out the Match Discussion Database here at PWO and the consensus seems to be a lot less enthusiastic. They talk a lot about the whole concept of the New Japan vs. WCW theme, where it failed, where it worked, how it worked, etc.

There are two things that got discussed during this show that I thought were especially noteworthy.

Firstly, as SomethingSavage mentions earlier in this thread and as I alluded to at the start - Bischoff finally goes on the record about how much he disliked dealing with Jimmy Hart, and why, which is alternatively funny and interesting to hear.

However unless I am missing my guess, the one part of this show which will have people talking is when they discuss Missy Hyatt leaving WCW and her subsequent lawsuit.  Eric Bischoff doesn't come across great during this segment.  Basically, the story is that in 1995, Missy Hyatt was the only female manager in WCW (although Bischoff can't remember if Terri Runnels was still there then or not.) Bischoff claims that Missy quite liked having this particular position, until the day Sherri Martel was brought back.  Bischoff admits he didn't warn Missy that Sherri was coming in, and the minute Sherri walked into the dressing room Missy walked up to Bischoff and freaked out on him (reportedly out of insecurity and jealousy) so he sent her home.  Bischoff claims that at a public dinner later that night which included over 30 WCW employess and their families, (including Bischoff's wife and two young children) Missy Hyatt showed up again and started freaking out on him, so he sent her home for good...resulting in the lawsuit.  This is all pretty much public record. 

Conrad mentions that in her lawsuit, Missy Hyatt alleged being groped by a WCW employee and Bischoff openly admits that he was the one she accused. Eric Bischoff claims that when she sued WCW, Missy Hyatt claimed that Eric had grabbed her breast during that final confrontation at the Marriott restaurant.  Bischoff is clearly still offended by that accusation (both the suggestion that it happened at all, and that he would do such a thing in front of his wife and kids.)  Eric Bischoff proceeds to claim he would never do that because he never found Missy Hyatt attractive due to her "horse face."  He also makes some snide comments about everybody knowing what eventually became of Missy Hyatt in the industry (I assume alluding to her porno career) and that "she had been passed around more than a joint at a Grateful Dead Concert."

Not a good look for Eric Bischoff there. 

I can only guess how I'd react if somebody sued me and publicly claimed I had groped them.  With all apologies to the "#MeToo" movement, I'm not sure I'd put a ton of stock in any accusations made by Missy Hyatt either, based on her history.  She does have a well documented history of sordid sexual relationships with many wrestlers which she herself has put out for public consumption in various Shoot Interviews and Podcast appearances.  She also has a history of making some rather odd claims.  (One of my personal favorites is from New Jack.  He claims they were involved in a sexual relationship, and one night she called him panicking and claiming her car had been stolen.  He drove over to her house to discover that her car was parked in the driveway.)  Bottom line is, there are countless wacky Missy Hyatt stories out there and as I said, she has freely put many of them out there herself.

However. if I was Eric Bischoff I would have probably gone with the old standby answer of "that was a lawsuit and I'm not legally at liberty to discuss it, as per the terms of the settlement."  Calling a woman a horse face and making comments about her sexual history just isn't appropriate in this day and age, regardless of who you're talking about.

One thing that annoyed me however, was Conrad getting all righteously indignant with Eric for saying those things.  Eric shouldn't have said them, but I can't really take anything Conrad Thompson says about appropriate behavior and sexually based comments at all seriously - considering pretty much every episode of "What Happened When" with he and Tony Schiavone is wall-to-wall sex jokes.  Apparently in Conrad's world, calling Missy Hyatt a horse face is totally inappropriate but making jokes about Nikita Koloff's wife dying of cancer is no big deal.  Eric comes off badly here but Conrad comes off as a fucking hypocrite.  When Steven "Grimmas" Graham gets morally offended by sexist talk I take it as sincere and well intentioned. When Conrad Thompson does it, it's totally out of character, insincere and being done either to cover his own ass, or for an effect I can't even fathom.  Bottom line is, I didn't much care for the whole thing and I think everybody comes off badly in that particular segment of the show.

Overall, I still thought this was a pretty good episode of 83 Weeks, but it will be interesting if the "IWC" chooses to use this particular episode as fuel for their outrage machine.  One never knows.

 

[The Thread Killer]

On 1/2/2019 at 10:32 AM, El-P said:

I listened to the HH98 episode and getting into Starrcade 94 and I enjoy it a lot. I'm glad the talk on this thread made me reconsider, I'm very positively surprised with Bischoff and how genuine he comes off (including him giving Meltz more credit than Prichard usually does). Maybe the fact it seems to be lighter on CT's stuff that I dislike helps too. I'm definitely gonna check more of this.

I'm glad you are checking these shows out, El-P.  I know you were a lot like me (except you're more French) in that you enjoyed the Something to Wrestle podcast format when it was being done right.  I knew if you gave these shows a chance you'd find them entertaining and maybe even more informative than STW because Eric is more willing to admit when he was wrong, and dishes a lot more details.  I have been pleasantly surprised at how personable Eric comes across on this show.  (Except when discussing Missy Hyatt.)

[SomethingSavage]

Yeah. The Starrcade 95 episode was the most lackluster show they've put out in months, but that doesn't mean it was a bad one by any means. There just wasn't a lot of noteworthy stuff there.

I did enjoy hearing Eric's thoughts about a few of the matches though. I feel like he doesn't always dive deep on the analysis stuff, but he went out of his way here to discuss things like egregious blading, the importance of properly selling a finish, etc. That was a highlight for me.

You covered most of the high notes in that detailed review, but you're absolutely right. The Jimmy Hart talk hit its apex here. I could feel it simmering for weeks & weeks, and it had reached a point where Eric seemed like he was tired of tip-toeing around the issue. (To his credit, he really did start off rather reserved on the subject.)

But it makes total sense. On every level imaginable, Eric and Jimmy appear to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. Eric is laid back. Jimmy is high-strung. Eric is passive and hands-off. Jimmy is a go-getter. And Eric voices his frustrations fairly well.

Just on the basis of their personalities, you could understand how they'd naturally clash. But then factor in the idea that Bischoff was pushing for an edgier, more realistic product at the time Jimmy is bouncing off the walls & being 70s/80s wrestling manager. Compound that with Eric just letting shit fly, but Jimmy raising issues with all the little details of how things appear on TV. They're just two very different people with very different approaches to the business.

Regarding the Missy stuff, I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it. I'm not a guy who's easily offended by much of anything. I have a high tolerance for that type of stuff. But I couldn't help but cringe when Eric went as hard as he did in response to Conrad's line of questioning on Missy. That was harsh.

Don't get me wrong though. The insults alone wouldn't shake me. But it's all about the context. I felt almost embarrassed or ashamed for Eric as I heard him say those things, because it sounded like a poor decision being made in the moment.

If Eric makes those same remarks to Conrad sitting at a bar somewhere, then I may laugh & nod along. No joke. But blasting it out there on a popular podcast platform was just... Not the best look.

I'm not too bothered by it though. Eric isn't a guy that's going to get hung up on any kind of backlash anyway. And, to be perfectly fair, I at least applaud his bold honesty. Because I truly do believe he feels that way, and he held nothing back.

It would seem slightly hypocritical to bash Bischoff for bullshitting but then be outraged when I don't 100% agree with his honesty, too. The good with the bad & all that...

So yeah. I'm in full agreement that the quality of this show has far surpassed Bruce Prichard's for awhile now. But I don't ever really expect it to supplant Bruce's show in popularity or anything. There's something to be said for the strength of the WWF and the mainstream appeal of all those personalities, shows, and memories that come along with it.

Beyond that, Bruce is still an entertaining storyteller when he cares to be. His impressions and his shtick can grow old & redundant real fast, but a large portion of people still eat that shit up.

Bischoff's pod is pumping out the better show. I just don't know that I have faith in people to find it and stick with it. The business speak and some of the understated elements that we find fascinating or enjoy could feasibly leave some fans feeling bored or wondering when he'll start doing impressions. It is what it is, ya know.

[flyonthewall2983]

I get the feeling I'm going to appreciate this thread more and more, than actually listening to the show. Not a knock on either guy, but the kind of confrontational tone the show takes could get on my nerves very easily.

[El-P]

On 1/4/2019 at 1:26 PM, The Thread Killer said:

I'm glad you are checking these shows out, El-P.  I know you were a lot like me (except you're more French) in that you enjoyed the Something to Wrestle podcast format when it was being done right.  I knew if you gave these shows a chance you'd find them entertaining and maybe even more informative than STW because Eric is more willing to admit when he was wrong, and dishes a lot more details.  I have been pleasantly surprised at how personable Eric comes across on this show.  (Except when discussing Missy Hyatt.)

Yep, glad I did, and the pimping posts including yours on this thread have really motivated me to do so.

Of course at times you can just feel Eric is full of shit, but that's the name of the game. Also, there are occurence of him getting really worked up over something for some reasons, which doesn't seem warranted. Him going off on the Raven vs Saturn match, if Raven loses he dispatches the Flock, came off kinda odd to me. How is that stip stupider than most pro-wrestling stips anyway ? He also doesn't get Raven at all, so fuck him for that.  On the same show, he was praising the hell out of a mediocre Dean Malenko vs Curt Hennig match, to the point he sounded like Cornette at times with all the "garbage wrestling be garbage, Hennig is the best performer of these last 30 years", when actually Hennig in 98 was probably one of the worst performer in WCW. Odd stuff. I'm not really eager to hear the Missy stuff either.

But yeah, overall, glad I did check the show, although I'm cherry picking. Not sure I want to listen to the portray episodes (Piper maybe), as those have been mostly boring/awful on Prichard's podcast lately.

[SomethingSavage]

You won't miss anything by skipping the Piper episode. No worries there. He does say heave some glowing praise on Roddy's promo style & influence, but I *believe* that might actually be on the Starrcade 96 episode IIRC.

I actually enjoy hearing Eric's thoughts on matches, storytelling, what he wants out of his performances, etc. His gushing love for Dean Malenko is straight out of a PWI 1997 issue or something. I wasn't expecting him to be such a fan of the guy, but I don't mind it one bit. Good for him.

His disdain for Raven certainly seems unnecessary & unwarranted, but I get the impression it's strictly due to their personal disagreements. So it is what it is.

[El-P]

5 minutes ago, SomethingSavage said:

His disdain for Raven certainly seems unnecessary & unwarranted, but I get the impression it's strictly due to their personal disagreements. So it is what it is.

Well, there's that legendary meeting with Eric telling basically "If anyone's unhappy, they can walk out the door and we will grant them their release." > Raven stands up and leaves the room.

I also find peculiar than "hip and modern" Bischoff didn't get the Raven character at all while "old and dated" Schiavone loved it.

Ok, no Piper episode for me then, thanks.

[The Thread Killer]

As far as the Piper episode, the one thing that really sticks out for me is the end, when Eric discusses Piper's death.  He gets legit choked up talking about the way Roddy treated his kids and other kids in the backstage area, even when he didn't know he was being watched.  It's pretty endearing, and I don't for a moment think it was a planned reaction or a "work."

[The Thread Killer]

24 minutes ago, SomethingSavage said:

His disdain for Raven certainly seems unnecessary & unwarranted, but I get the impression it's strictly due to their personal disagreements. So it is what it is.

Yeah, Conrad says they are going to do an entire episode devoted to Raven and I am looking forward to that.  Conrad is a documented Raven mark, and Eric seems to undervalue him, so that will be interesting when it finally comes.  I agree with SomethingSavage, I get the feeling Raven was a bit of a thorn in Bischoff's side backstage in addition to all of his substance abuse issues causing trouble, so I have no doubt that is why Eric's opinion of him is somewhat skewed.

[C.S.]

Love this thread, especially the awesome long recap and discussion posts by @The Thread Killer and @SomethingSavage, but this post deserves special recognition:

On 1/4/2019 at 7:26 AM, The Thread Killer said:

El-P.  I know you were a lot like me (except you're more French)  

[El-P]

The lesser of the three Gene show, but it's obvious since him and Bischoff weren't as close as Tony or Prichard. Quite interesting though and another proof Gene was nothing but loved and respected by all.

[El-P]

On 1/1/2019 at 11:27 PM, SomethingSavage said:

No worries. To be fair, the AWA episode is less about the promotion itself or its happenings and much more about Eric's introduction to the business and Verne.

It's essentially the Bischoff origin story, with a few fun stops along the way. I totally understand if that holds zero interest to you, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I finally listened to it, and yes, it was quite enjoyable. The story of Bischoff in a van with the interview set-up driving down to Memphis with his family was pretty cool.

[The Thread Killer]

I know this is going to make me look like a massive fanboy, but in the interest of full disclosure, I am going to admit that this past week, I actually signed up and became a Patreon supporter of 83 Weeks.  I can't believe I did it,  but I had a valid reason, in my opinion.  I am having some serious health problems and have been off work since the first week of December. I was hospitalized for over a week, and since getting out I am basically housebound. I only go to Doctor's appointments and medical procedures. As a result I am pretty much going stir crazy.  There is only so much reading and Movie/TV watching you can do.  I have been listening to a lot of podcasts to kill the many free hours I have.

For $9.00 a month, I get each weekly episode of 83 Weeks a day before it gets released to the public, and with no ads.  That was a big selling point for me, since as much as I love the show, I hate the ads and find myself trying to skip through them.  The problem is of course, that Conrad does a good job of weaving them directly into the show, so it's very hard to get around them.  As a Patreon supporter I don't have to worry about that, so that is cool.

However, the main feature I've been enjoying has been the live-streaming "watch-alongs" that Eric does with his Patreon subscribers.  Multiple times a week, they will send you an email telling you what time to log in, and what match they're going to be doing.  A few times he has taken requests for specific matches, otherwise he watches matches from the show he and Conrad are going to be covering on the next episode of 83 Weeks.  At the predetermined time, you show up to the site, log in and you're in a live video chat with Eric. He gives you the time-cue for the WWE Network, and off you go.

There are usually about 10-20 people in the chat watching along.  The thing I thought was a nice touch, is that Eric has a decent way about him when he does these things.  He comes across as extremely sincere and very personable.  He actually remembers specific details about each member and goes out of his way to engage them during the chat.  He also has a phone number that he will open up during certain chats and take questions.  He has a daily chat he does every morning with the members called "ACD" which stands for "Ass Crack of Dawn."  I have yet to participate in one of those for two reasons.  Firstly, he discusses politics and I don't like to do that...but more importantly he does them too damn early in the morning for me.  I like him but I don't like him enough to get up early just to participate in a chat with him.

The reason I bring this up is because of the recent episode of 83 Weeks they did covering Souled Out 97.  Now that they are done going through and reviewing all of the Starrcade Pay-Per-Views, it sounds like Souled Out is the next series they are going to cover.  They started with 97, and it was an interesting episode to say the least.  I found Conrad Thompson to be pretty much insufferable during this episode.  He was in a FOUL mood - surly, argumentative and moody.  He was being really bitchy and nit-picky, as if he either didn't want to be there or just wanted to argue with Eric no matter what.  And then he had the nerve to turn around and complain that Eric was "talking down" to him.

In the chat Eric had after the show was released, I actually asked him if Conrad was in an extra bad mood during that episode, or was it just me?  Eric agreed that Conrad had been really cranky, and that he had a really hard time engaging Conrad during that episode, because he had done or said things which he thought Conrad would want to joke about or discuss more, and got nothing in return.  He said he hoped it was just a one time thing and that Conrad would be in a better mood next week, when they covered Souled Out 1998.  In response to another member's question, he freely admitted that he doesn't have any personal issue with Dave Meltzer at all, that they get along fine and have interacted positively several times since he has been doing 83 Weeks.  He said that he generally takes shots at Meltzer more to annoy Conrad than anything else, although he does get slightly irritated when Conrad reads out news items that Meltzer reported that Eric knows for a fact weren't true...but Conrad (and other fans by association) took them as gospel.

I might post more later on regarding my specific thoughts on the show itself, although in this rare case, the actual podcast and interaction of the hosts seemed to overshadow the show they were discussing. I'm curious if anybody else heard the Souled Out 97 episode and if so, what your thoughts were.

[SomethingSavage]

It was another solid episode, in my opinion - keeping the trend alive. I did pick up on the same vibe as you though. Conrad was behaving like a dick and seemed to pick arguments over the most insignificant stuff.

That moment when Eric actually paused to apologize made me downright uncomfortable, because Eric was literally asking if his answers weren't what Conrad wanted - or if there was anything he could do to help improve the quality of the show. I legitimately felt bad for Bischoff there, because I thought the dude was bringing it with his detailed (albeit wordy) responses.

For context (heh), compare Eric's answers on this show to what we're getting from Bruce on the other one. It's night & day. Eric goes above & beyond to answer (or at least react) to EVERYTHING. It's basically blue-collar labor to get something substantial from Bruce these days. Plus, with Eric, we're even hearing the sidebars & the humorous stories - the sort of things that originally put Bruce's show on the map.

I listened to the show last Friday morning at the gym, so details are sketchy & distant to me now. But I do remember Eric taking some fun shots at Bagwell and Jarrett during the show. The part where he ripped on Jeff for dressing like a "dick dancer" had me cracking up.

Meltzer's line about Scotty Riggs being "so not over, he's UNDER" stuck with me, too. Dude could say the same thing about Dolph Ziggler today and be just as accurate.

I've also always found Eric's analysis of Paul Wight to be intriguing. I don't *entitely* agree with it, in the sense that I believe bad booking & poor presentation has played a much bigger role than Bischoff is acknowledging. But Eric does offer up interesting thoughts on why Wight hasn't ever gotten over to the degree that so many had hoped he would.

I did feel like Eric was a bit *too* defensive about the Miss nWo pageant, to the point where I think it's somewhat of a sore spot for him. I can't really explain why that is or even speculate why he would be bothered by it, but yeah. Maybe he was just tired of being piled on by that point.

And look. The show is what it is. Everyone accepts that Souled Out sucked in '97. But I thought Bischoff did a fine job of explaining his approach. He was fairly inexperienced in terms of professional wrestling. I don't think he ever had a super firm grasp on WHY certain things will or won't work.

But step back and see things through his eyes at that time. Everything he was doing WAS working - in a major way. And most of that successful formula hinged on "taking the traditional format and turning it on its head."

Souled Out was ill-conceived, but Eric was experimenting with different things left & right. I could absolutely buy that he could convince himself that this would work or find an audience.

Of course it didn't. Of course it sucked. And the more experienced, knowledgeable Eric Bischoff of today can recognize why. But back then? Dude was riding high & reaping the rewards of operating outside the box. Sometimes you don't know what will hit and what will miss until it simply does.

[C.S.]

@The Thread Killer You're one of my favorite posters here, and I'm very sorry to hear about your health issues. Been there and done that, and it's not fun.  I'm really glad the Patreon is bringing you some joy. I have to admit, it does sound very cool. I barely have the time and energy for any podcasts, but I always enjoy the ones I do infrequently listen to (I haven't tried this one though - I just enjoy reading the recaps and opinions in this thread). 

[Dewar]

If I was going to give anyone Patreon money, it would either be Between the Sheets, or Easy E. The extra content he does sounds worth shelling out the money for.

I liked Eric's part of the Souled Out 97 show. Conrad was terrible, but Eric had no issues taking blame for things he should take blame for.

[The Thread Killer]

11 hours ago, C.S. said:

@The Thread Killer You're one of my favorite posters here, and I'm very sorry to hear about your health issues. Been there and done that, and it's not fun.  I'm really glad the Patreon is bringing you some joy. I have to admit, it does sound very cool. I barely have the time and energy for any podcasts, but I always enjoy the ones I do infrequently listen to (I haven't tried this one though - I just enjoy reading the recaps and opinions in this thread). 

Thanks brother.  I'm really hoping I start to respond to treatment and go back to work in March, but the way things are going right now, who knows.  I am glad to hear you overcame your own health problems.

 

11 hours ago, Dewar said:

If I was going to give anyone Patreon money, it would either be Between the Sheets, or Easy E. The extra content he does sounds worth shelling out the money for.

My attitude is that for 9 bucks a month, it's worth it to get the show without ads and a day early, plus the weekly watch-alongs.  Plus he mentioned that he has hired Dave Silva (a guy who works for Conrad) to help him come up with more original content for Patreon supporters.  He says he wants to grow that part of the business and make the Patreon page a much bigger deal, so we'll see how it goes.  If/when I go back to work I don't know if I'll keep up with it, but for right now it seems like a reasonable investment of my entertainment dollars.

[SomethingSavage]

Yeah. Sorry to hear about your health issues, brutha. Hope all's good for you again real soon.

Meantime? Keep us posted on what Eric's doing with the watch-alongs & whatnot. I listen to a lot of pods, but it's always on the go - at the gym & commuting mostly. So Patreon won't ever be my thing, although I have been enjoying Eric's stuff immensely as of late.