83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff

[sek69]

Not sure if it was on one of these shows or not, but I saw on Twitter the other day Eric was talking about the issue at the heart of Missy Hyatt's workplace harrassment lawsuit (a photo of her having a nip slip was blown up and hung in the office) and his takeaway on the issue was that you can't sexually harass a slut.  Just served as a reminder to me that Eric is basically just Vinny Ru without the Noo Yawk accent/bro speak who had a couple outside the box ideas.

[The Thread Killer]

We discussed earlier in this thread back when I reviewed the Starrcade 95 episode, but yeah Eric Bischoff's attitude towards Missy Hyatt is pretty poisonous and has said some pretty tasteless things about her.  He clearly still carries a major grudge towards her after Missy reportedly went off the rails and started verbally abusing Bischoff in front of his wife and young children at a WCW employee social event, (a dinner after a Disney/MGM taping if I remember the story correctly) and then Hyatt later sued him claiming he had groped her.  If you believe Bischoff, the source of the heat between them was that he hired Sheri Martel and Hyatt became crazy jealous, claiming she had been assured she would be the only female manager in WCW. 

However...if you are seriously comparing Eric Bischoff's overall business sense/intelligence, creativity and contributions to the wrestling business to Vince Russo and you feel they are at the same level, I could not disagree with you more strongly.

[El-P]

I was about to make a post about that, and I guess I wasn't the only one thinking he came off awful during this bit. The level of slut shaming was incredible and it's disappointing Conrad did not call him on that. Worse being that at the end, he admitted that the picture did exist. So yeah, he confirmed the actual sexual harassement, basically. Doesn't matter if it "wasn't more revealing that what you'd see at the beach", it was a revealing picture of her posted in her workplace to make fun of her. Pretty clear cut. So yeah, Bischoff came off pretty awful there.

[SomethingSavage]

I've already given my thoughts on the Eric/Missy stuff, and I haven't heard any of the recent episodes if more has been said on the matter since then. But yeah. Eric's attitude about it isn't a good look.

7 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

We discussed earlier in this thread back when I reviewed the Starrcade 95 episode, but yeah Eric Bischoff's attitude towards Missy Hyatt is pretty poisonous and has said some pretty tasteless things about her.  He clearly still carries a major grudge towards her after Missy reportedly went off the rails and started verbally abusing Bischoff in front of his wife and young children at a WCW employee social event, (a dinner after a Disney/MGM taping if I remember the story correctly) and then Hyatt later sued him claiming he had groped her.  If you believe Bischoff, the source of the heat between them was that he hired Sheri Martel and Hyatt became crazy jealous, claiming she had been assured she would be the only female manager in WCW. 

However...if you are seriously comparing Eric Bischoff's overall business sense/intelligence, creativity and contributions to the wrestling business to Vince Russo and you feel they are at the same level, I could not disagree with you more strongly.

This. 100%.

Russo is an incompetent goof. Eric is savvy, charming, and intelligent about a lot of things on the business end. No comparison there.

In terms of political moves, Russo's strategy was to befriend the "overlooked" and "underrated" guys, thinking they would have the longevity and would inherit the crown - ultimately being grateful to Russo and bringing him along for the ride. Problem is, he had NO eye for actual talent and couldn't distinguish between money acts and guys who rightfully belonged in lower spots. He thought they were all interchangeable actors and truly believed anyone could be a top act if he wrote them to be there.

Bischoff was at least sly enough to align himself with the actual power players - sometimes to a fault and/or his own detriment. But listen to him speak (especially now on the podcast, since it DOES sound like he's grown as a fan in terms of what he values). Eric actually recognizes the nuanced of in-ring work and performances.

Bischoff has his flaws and may be a bit of a prick towards women, but putting him on par with Russo is a bridge too far. And Eric would be the first to tell you that he isn't a creative type, while Russo prides himself on being nothing but a creative writer. Even then, Eric's creative contributions in both WCW and TNA blow away anything Russo has cooked up since AT LEAST '98.

[The Thread Killer]

Here's my assessment of the Bischoff/Russo comparison...

It's 1993.  Turner Home Entertainment has now owned WCW for five years, but the company is losing money hand over fist and has never turned a profit.  The entire upper management of the Turner organization views WCW as nothing more than a money pit, and a low class, embarrassing money pit, at that. They want to dump the company from the Turner portfolio altogether. The most recent executives put in charge of the company (Ole Anderson and most recently Bill Watts) are so-called "wrestling people" who have demonstrated either an inability or unwillingness to work within a corporate environment or stop the financial bleeding.  Bill Watts has turned into such a potential PR nightmare that Hank Freaking Aaron of all people wants him gone from the company.  The decision is made that they need somebody new running WCW, but it's not going to be a former wrestler, and whoever it is will be overseen by Bob Dhue.

Can anybody honestly tell me that they think if Vince Russo was dropped into that exact scenario, he would have turned WCW around the way Bischoff did?  The popular narrative is that the only reason Eric Bischoff succeeded because he had Ted Turner's checkbook and was offering huge guaranteed contracts...and then he basically lucked into the nWo angle.  Even if you accept that narrative (which I don't) you have to ask yourself - how did Eric get Turner's checkbook?  When he took the Executive Producer's job in 1993 he impressed Turner by stopping the financial bleeding and actually breaking even.  Then he was promoted to President of WCW in 1994, and then Turner gave him the money.  There is no way in hell Turner would have agreed to sign Hulk Hogan (which opened the floodgates and began the influx of former WWF talent and also opened WCW to new advertisers and international markets) if Eric Bischoff hadn't ably demonstrated the business savvy to turn WCW around.  That's why Turner took a gamble on him. (That and the fact Turner wanted to beat Vince at his own game.)  No financial turnaround, no Hogan. No Hogan, no Nitro. No Nitro, no Monday Night War. We won't even get into the fact that Turner's company was offering guaranteed contracts before Eric Bischoff even went to the company.

If you can look at me with a straight face and tell me that based on everything we know about Vince Russo, you think he would have been even close to capable of doing with WCW what Bischoff did before the so-called "Monday Night War" even began, then I don't know what to tell you...bro.

[sek69]

My take is that Eric is just as much of a trash human being as Russo, he just has that Ted Bundy "charismatic asshole" charm to him. Russo rightly gets bodied for his low opinion of women (it's how everyone figured out he was back in TNA, all the women started calling each other bitches again out of nowhere), but it seems like Eric is just as bad or worse but gets a pass because he can flash his million dollar smile. 

Eric has business hustle, no doubt. Dude scaled the corporate ladder at Turner like a boss and that's admirable. As a straight wrestling booker it's weird, he seems to get a pass because of general WCW related wackiness but so much of that was because he allowed it to happen. He wanted to be one of the boys instead of the boss, he let guys like Hogan and Nash run roughshod for years which alienated the midcard to the point where half of them left for the WWF. He comes off as a con man that didn't have an end game. He got to the top and it was like "well shit, now what do I do? 

[flyonthewall2983]

On 4/25/2019 at 3:53 PM, sek69 said:

He got to the top and it was like "well shit, now what do I do? 

Robert Redford at the end of The Candidate

[SomethingSavage]

I realize myself and @The Thread Killer are starting to sound like Eric apologists here, but I do think Bischoff does a great job of detailing the hurdles & obstacles that were placed in front of him AFTER he found that successful strategy.

It's important to understand Eric was not the almighty. He was not a hands-on creative mind or even much of an overseeing booker. He was not Vince McMahon to WCW, although that is often the obvious comparison people mistakenly make.

I'm not saying he shouldn't have attempted to become all those things. Certainly that's a flaw in the formula of WCW's structure. It's why there are often times where Eric cannot explain what Sullivan was thinking or why specific things made it to television or pay-per-view.

But Eric was pitching deals and advertising campaigns. He was more tuned into that type of thing.

Again, Eric has no shortage of faults & flaws. Sometimes he addresses them in full-blown details. Sometimes he sidesteps and deflects. But he does a decent job of taking you through the hoops & hurdles he was confronted with from executives and unnecessary edicts - from the leeches that wanted to attach themselves to a hot property once he struck gold on down to the vultures that were waiting to pick the bones once the decline began.

[SomethingSavage]

Conversely, Russo came in and was told how shitty his shitty ideas were - and, within two months, Vinny Ru is throwing temper tantrums and publicly crying in creative meetings because he can't TAWLK them into giving him things his way.

Bro.

[Dooley]

The Bischoff to Russo comparison is just silly. It seems to stem from Eric's dislike of Missy Hyatt, which founded or unfounded, has caused him to say some rather acidic things. Is there........ anything else?

[The Thread Killer]

13 hours ago, SomethingSavage said:

I realize myself and @The Thread Killer are starting to sound like Eric apologists here

You're right, and I am actually willing to own that, for my part. I guess I am an Eric Bischoff apologist, to a degree now.  I didn't start that way, for sure. I didn't like Bischoff one little bit during the "Monday Night Wars" because I found him to be smug, arrogant and like everybody else I just assumed that he basically was able to beat Vince because he just bought a bunch of has-beens with Ted Turner's money. I also bought into the popular narrative regarding Bischoff in the so-called "IWC" as dictated by Dave Meltzer and the book "The Death of WCW" by RD Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez .  99% of Meltzer's reporting, and the Death of WCW book especially, do not paint Bischoff in a flattering light at all.

I started listen to 83 Weeks hoping it would be entertaining, but expecting it to be another version of STW with Bischoff playing the part of Prichard.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Yeah, there are many times that Bischoff is full of crap.  There are times (the Pillman episode springs to mind) where he is flat out wrong, and obnoxious about it.  However, the further along the show went, the more I began to find two interesting facts.  Firstly, (unlike Prichard for the most part) Bischoff is generally quite happy to own his mistakes, if they are mistakes he is responsible for making.  He will admit when he fucked up, and will even provide details of how he fucked up.  Hell, he'll try and point out times he fucked up that other people don't think he did.  Conrad Thompson loves to talk about what a great year 1998 was for WCW, how much money they made and how good business was.  Bischoff doesn't think that, and he is constantly pointing out that the success they had in 1998 is pretty much attributable to the success they had in 1997, and the mistakes he made in 1998 led to his downfall in 1999.

Secondly, a lot of the popular "facts" that have been put out there about the inner workings of WCW are either flat out wrong, or at least misleading.  That is why Bischoff is constantly promoting the book "Nitro - The Incredible Rise and Inevitable Collapse of Ted Turner's WCW" by Guy Evans.  He had nothing to do with the book, (aside from being interviewed for it) and in fact he doesn't come off looking great in parts of the book - but at least it is an accurate description describing Bischoff's time in WCW.  It includes interviews with and information from people Meltzer and even Bischoff himself had never even met, talked to or didn't know about.  That book is a must read if you're planning on talking about the behind-the-scenes aspect of WCW.

I defy anybody to listen to 83 Weeks and then come away and tell me their opinion hasn't changed about Bischoff at least a bit.  You don't have to listen to the whole year of shows...start with the November 12, 2018 show - the "Eric's WWE Debut" show, and go up to the December 31, 2018 show covering Starrcade 1995.  That's only 8 shows, but they cover his time in the AWA, WWE and the highlights of his time in WCW, specifically the yearly Starrcade shows.  On top of that, read the book by Guy Evans.  If you are willing to approach this topic and be even a bit open-minded about it, I think you will be in for as big of a shock as I was.

To be clear, I don't think Eric Bischoff is a saint by any means.  He has definitely has some personality flaws, including a healthy (or maybe unhealthy is a better word) streak of misogyny and a possible substance abuse problem.  He can be as full of shit as anybody else in the Professional Wrestling business.  83 Weeks is partially his chance to give his side of the story, but it's also a partial attempt at image rehab for him.  I'm also not an idiot.  I worked with criminals for over 20 years, I can usually tell when somebody is trying to con me or pitch snake oil to me.  There are times where Bischoff's persona now is about as sincere as Conrad's "aw shucks I'm just a fan like you" act. I still maintain that if you look past that, there is a lot of interesting information and at the very least, entertaining stories in there.

The main differences between Bischoff and Russo is that Bischoff actually accomplished very impressive things in the Pro Wrestling business, he actually respects and still loves the business and most importantly he is willing to admit his mistakes.  For my money, Russo accomplished much less than he claims (or thinks he did), he has done permanent damage to the business that is still being felt to this day, and he pretty much refuses to admit he made any mistakes at all.

[SomethingSavage]

I like some of those early episodes (the very first, the Hogan run-in on Dusty, etc.) but yeah. That's a great recommendation. The Pillman episode in particular was so bad, I nearly stopped listening altogether.

But the show pulled a drastic turnaround right after that, and it's been delivering just about every week ever since that point. I'm about a month behind now, but that's strictly by design - to let me get some shows stockpiled for later listening.

The podcast is great. And, similar to what you experienced, I've come away with a much different perspective of Bischoff than I originally had going into it.

[C.S.]

FWIW, I love @SomethingSavage's and @The Thread Killer's posts about Bischoff - and I don't even listen to the podcast. 

[El-P]

The Korea episode is quite fascinating, for obvious reasons. It's not like a lot of people can talk about going on a trip to North Korea in the mid 90's. The "going for a run across the city" anecdote is something else.

(and yeah, I second most of what Thread Killer & Something Savage say)

[SomethingSavage]

I've been letting these episodes build up for about 2 months now, but I randomly decided to listen to the Spring Stampede '97 show at the gym today. It's another easy, solid listen.

Eric's thorough breakdown on the skills & talents of the one Lord Steven Regal was epic. That was some GWE on PWO level shit and should be sought out by all immediately. Truly good stuff.

Oof. Conrad goes in HARD AF on the Public Enemy. "Na-na-na-NOBODY. THAT'S WHO." legitimately cracked me up though.

And I still get a kick out of the running joke of Bischoff shitting on Jimmy Hart at every available opportunity. He doesn't go out of his way to say anything here. But there's a point where Conrad lists off Hart's name, and Eric audibly lets out this groan of suffering & sheer agony. It's hilarious. Like the sound of a middle-aged man wrestling with the world's worst recorded case of heartburn known to man.

Eric's hang-up on the front back kicks & front round kicks and whateverthefuck else kicks is just bizarre. It's his equivalent of McMahon's corporate buzz speak and mandated terminology. The rant about Tony calling the kick by the wrong name was funny through, because absolutely no one on God's green earth gave a single solitary fuck what the kick was called. Except Eric Bischoff, of course.

"Rob Van Dam as Glacier" was a rumor I was totally unaware of. Never realized that was even a thing. Eric actually had quite a bit of fun with the gossip & rumors on this show. Hope that trend continues, actually.

I don't know how much of Ultimo Dragon's stuff holds up, but I think the question has me interested enough to go back and check out some of that stuff. I remember really digging the matches with Rey and especially Psicosis from WCW, but that's going off memory alone. I may go back & scope some of those out real soon, if nothing else.

[SomethingSavage]

I've been letting these episodes build up for about 2 months now, but I randomly decided to listen to the Spring Stampede '97 show at the gym today. It's another easy, solid listen.

Eric's thorough breakdown on the skills & talents of the one Lord Steven Regal was epic. That was some GWE on PWO level shit and should be sought out by all immediately. Truly good stuff.

Oof. Conrad goes in HARD AF on the Public Enemy. "Na-na-na-NOBODY. THAT'S WHO." legitimately cracked me up though.

And I still get a kick out of the running joke of Bischoff shitting on Jimmy Hart at every available opportunity. He doesn't go out of his way to say anything here. But there's a point where Conrad lists off Hart's name, and Eric audibly lets out this groan of suffering & sheer agony. It's hilarious. Like the sound of a middle-aged man wrestling with the world's worst recorded case of heartburn.

Eric's hang-up on the front back kicks & front round kicks and whateverthefuck else kicks is just bizarre. It's his equivalent of McMahon's corporate buzz speak and mandated terminology. The rant about Tony calling the kick by the wrong name was funny through, because absolutely no one on God's green earth gave a single solitary fuck what the kick was called. Except Eric Bischoff, of course.

"Rob Van Dam as Glacier" was a rumor I was totally unaware of. Never realized that was even a thing. Eric actually had quite a bit of fun with the gossip & rumors on this show. Hope that trend continues, actually.

I don't know how much of Ultimo Dragon's stuff holds up, but I think the question has me interested enough to go back and check out some of that stuff. I remember really digging the matches with Rey and especially Psicosis from WCW, but that's going off memory alone. I may go back & scope some of those out real soon, if nothing else.

[SomethingSavage]

Still going back and catching up on some older episodes I'd skipped.

That Mean Gene tribute was awesome. Loved the glowing praise Bischoff gave to Gene's involvement with the Hulk Hogan heel turn in '96. It made me go back and check out the actual segment itself, and yeah. Okerlund is absolutely the perfect selection for that spot.

Nothing to really write home about the Spring Stampede '94 episode. You guys have touched on the Missy Hyatt stuff enough, so I won't retread some already tired terrain there.

[SomethingSavage]

That episode covering the Collision in Korea was downright FASCINATING.

Seriously. It leapfrogs most of the field & instantly ranks right up there among the very best podcasts I've heard. This is Bischoff at his absolute best.

The story Eric told about going for an early morning run is so engrossing and enthralling. His descriptions of the people and the scenery PUTS YOU right there as if it's happening in front of your eyes. It's like hearing this cinematic screenplay described to you through your earholes. Very interesting stuff.

Also dug the details about the tour and the altered take on historical events.

Some creepy stuff thrown in there, too - particularly the part about how malnourished the people appeared, and how they would eat their own dead in the more poverty-stricken populations.

Oh. And I got a kick out of Ric Flair being weaponized as the ultimate embodiment of "evil" American decadence. Good stuff. Highly recommended for anyone out there who hasn't checked it out yet.

[The Thread Killer]

I know if you go back and read this thread, I basically come across as the world's biggest Eric Bischoff/83 Weeks fanboy but I am way behind on this podcast, which is why I haven't been posting my usual effusive reviews every week.  The last episode I listened to was Uncensored 95, back during the second week of March.  I am about 9 weeks behind on this show.  I still catch Cornette's Drive Thru every week and I have listened to the first two episodes of Grilling JR, but aside from that I have stopped listening to other podcasts.  Having said that, I have heard nothing but praise about the Collision in Korea episode from multiple sources. Considering that I tend to agree with about 99% of the opinions and reviews posted by @SomethingSavage, I am going to go out of my way to check this one out soon, based on his recommendation alone.

[SomethingSavage]

It's tremendous, man. Not much actual wrestling talk, but I think it's pretty close to perfect in terms of tackling the subject matter.

There *is* one minor meltdown on a Meltzer matter, but it comes when Conrad reads the rumor Dave reported about Hogan supposedly declining to participate to avoid doing a job to Inoki. Eric had previously already covered Hulk's (lack of) involvement, and so it felt kind of unnecessary for Conrad to even retread that news bit.

Same time? I tend to believe Bischoff here. Like you, I could probably come across as a Bischoff apologist, but I don't know. Eric presents the facts (there would be no merch money for Hulk here, Hogan was not contractually obligated so it would be strictly voluntary for him to work the show, and Hogan had no real motivation to go into this semi-hostile territory for a show).

Plus Hogan is the same guy who willingly offered to do a job for Jacques Rougeau in a similar situation, while Hulk was practically at the peak of his powers. I doubt he would've went running away from a job for Inoki, who Hulk has seemed appreciative of at various times.

But I'm hardly going to demonize Hogan for not wanting to travel into uncharted territory for a non-paying gig during his scheduled time off, ya know. Call me crazy, I guess.

And yeah. I'm with you, @The Thread Killer. I let my wrestling podcasts sit on the back burner for awhile and drifted over to other stuff for a couple of months. I do this every so often to keep things fresh & prevent burnout. I let this show sit from the Uncensored shows on up until this past week. Now I'm burning through this backlog, along with some select Something To Wrestle shows and of course the new JR stuff (which is probably what drew me back in, if I really look at it).

I know our thoughts sometimes line up fairly closely, but I'm curious to hear you reflections once you get a chance to check it out. You always seem to point out or give voice to little things I miss in my reviews anyhow.

[SomethingSavage]

I really dug all the merchandise talk on the Slamboree '97 episode. The little sidebar about TNA trumpeting their "per head" numbers when they were drawing 200-300 people into the buildings was amusing, too.

I've heard about it enough, and I certainly believe the numbers to be true. But I just can't "see" any Sting shirts or merch from 1997. I mean, I guess the masks sold like crazy? Because I definitely *do* recall seeing those things everywhere.

But for me? In my mind? It's just a sea of nWo and 3:16. I'm talking black tees errrrwherrrr for almost 2 years.

Oh. And those DDP shirts with the purple & powder blue coloring.

The idea that Sting merch was ever outselling nWo swag is still strange to me though. It just doesn't seem accurate, even if it is.

I loved hearing Eric's detailed breakdown on the 4-man booth, too. We've heard Bischoff go "into the weeds" about commentary before, but this was another level. If you ever want a complete, thorough analysis of Eric's thoughts on commentary and the various forms it can take? Look no further than right here.

Bischoff does an excellent job in covering the purposes of color commentary, play-by-play, expert analyses, and well-timed humor. He gushes over Heenan's wit, Dusty's timing, and Tenay's encyclopedic knowledge. But his description of Tony might be the most on point of them all - calling Schiavone the "traffic cop" of the announce booth.

I had some major time to fill today - between Legs Day, meal prep, and my drive time between those - so I was also able to burn through the Uncensored '96 show. This one had less stuff of interest for me, but it was still another solid show in all fairness.

Eric goes hilariously HARD at Beefcake. This ranks right up there with the awesome Bagwell and Jarrett rants from previous episodes.

Unfortunately, the Uncensored show features a lot more Meltzer ranting. It sort of derails the discussion a few different times. It's not quite enough to drown out the positive points of the whole show or anything, but it *is* enough to drag things down and feel like an unfortunate return to an earlier era.

Oh. And they took a moment in the open for the Slamboree '97 show to react to the response for the Korea show. Conrad points out how it's been interesting to see the downloads trend upward after word of mouth spread, since initial downloads weren't high and people probably weren't familiar with the event.

[El-P]

On 5/16/2019 at 1:15 AM, SomethingSavage said:

Unfortunately, the Uncensored show features a lot more Meltzer ranting. It sort of derails the discussion a few different times. It's not quite enough to drown out the positive points of the whole show or anything, but it *is* enough to drag things down and feel like an unfortunate return to an earlier era.

Happened in the Slamboree 99 episode too, with a long ass rant about "dirt-sheets" in general. His new thing is that "dirt-sheets" have actually damaged pro-wrestling...

I got a kick out of him loving Charles Robinson vs Gorgeous George though. Terrific bullshit match indeed.

[SomethingSavage]

Look, I love the show. And when Eric's on, he's on.

But nothing bothers me more than when he slams the brakes on a whole conversation by pausing to point out that he's not going to let the dirtsheet rumors & gossip get to him anymore...

Right as he proceeds to rant and rave about the dirtsheet rumors & gossip for 5 minutes straight.

The best episodes are almost entirely devoid of these things. But it's like he just wakes up some days and decides he's going to be extra ornery about it.

The quality of the show kind of depends on which Bischoff you get that week - the evasive one who picks apart the way a question is phrased literal word by word, or the guy who tells entertaining stories and offers genuine insight into every single element of the business.

[SomethingSavage]

The "Ask Eric Anything" episode was fairly basic. Not a lot of noteworthy discussion. There were two highlights, however.

Eric touches on advertising and how AEW may run into issues with stabilizing a healthy stream of ad revenue at first. I don't necessarily agree about it being a huge hurdle for them, for a variety of reasons. But Bischoff brings up some interesting points nonetheless.

Eric also breaks down his formula and template for an ideal, money-making promo. Of course these things are subjective - and there will always be exceptions for every rule - but this is an intelligent, engaging listen.

If you seek out nothing else from this episode (and I wouldn't blame you), then check this out. Bischoff seems really energized and enthusiastic about explaining what he thinks should be conveyed (and why) in every big money promo. It's pretty awesome, to be honest.

The rest of the show is standard stuff. I tolerated it, since I was at the gym and didn't want to skip ahead or speed up the audio. I just endured a bunch of talk about Eric's dog and his bar-fight fables or whatever.

[The Thread Killer]

I actually started listening to this past week's "Ask Eric Anything" episode but I quit when he started telling that story about how he kicked that dude's ass in a bar fight.  I love 83 Weeks but I generally hate AMA episodes. It's always the same stupid fantasy booking questions, and those just annoy me. "If you hadn't picked Hogan, Hall and Nash for the nWo who would you have picked?"  "If the nWo were active today, who would you put in the group?" "If the nWo crashed in the Andes mountains and were starving, who do you think would eat who first, and how would they cook them?"  Who gives a damn, seriously?

On 5/14/2019 at 7:52 PM, SomethingSavage said:

That episode covering the Collision in Korea was downright FASCINATING.

Seriously. It leapfrogs most of the field & instantly ranks right up there among the very best podcasts I've heard. This is Bischoff at his absolute best.

The story Eric told about going for an early morning run is so engrossing and enthralling. His descriptions of the people and the scenery PUTS YOU right there as if it's happening in front of your eyes. It's like hearing this cinematic screenplay described to you through your earholes. Very interesting stuff.

Also dug the details about the tour and the altered take on historical events.

Some creepy stuff thrown in there, too - particularly the part about how malnourished the people appeared, and how they would eat their own dead in the more poverty-stricken populations.

Oh. And I got a kick out of Ric Flair being weaponized as the ultimate embodiment of "evil" American decadence. Good stuff. Highly recommended for anyone out there who hasn't checked it out yet.

At the recommendation of @SomethingSavage I skipped ahead (I am way behind on my 83 Weeks listening) and listened to this show, and I can confirm that it is an excellent episode. It really doesn't even focus on the wrestling aspect of the show all that much, but it is extremely compelling listening.  I can't recommend this episode enough either.