Why Eric Bischoff joined Impact Wrestling

During his recent 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff talked about his run with Impact Wrestling and what led to him joining the company:

“I wasn’t excited about going to TNA,” Bischoff said. “I didn’t aspire to end up there. I felt like it was a step down from my last run in WWE as a performer and certainly a step down from WCW at the peak of Monday Nitro’s success. It was not something I was genuinely excited about. I did it, I made the choice to go to TNA, partly because I was missing the business a bit. It wasn’t a career move for me, but it was trying to scratch that itch. TNA didn’t want me, they didn’t aspire to have me on their team anymore than I aspired to be on the team. We had a mutual disinterest in each other, but the common denominator was Hulk Hogan.”

“Dixie Carter really really wanted Hulk Hogan to join TNA. Hulk wouldn’t consider joining TNA unless I was positioned to, at the very least, watch over his creative. I wasn’t interested in being a part of the creative or even running the creative team on TNA with the exception of those storylines or characters that directly interfaced with Hulk Hogan’s character. That was why I went there and I negotiated Hulks deal.

Once I got there and got a little bit more comfortable, my attitude changed. I didn’t look down on them in a way, I didn’t look at it as much as a step down as I did prior to getting in because there’s a lot of good talent there. Dixie had hired every ex-WWE or ex-WCW talent that daddy could pay for.”