Eric Bischoff Names Top WCW Star He Should Have Used Better
Eric Bischoff had more than a lot on his plate running WCW at a time when it was filling up with major stars and household names but one young star he thinks the company could have done better with, especially as they were literally bigger than most.
Paul Wight burst onto the wrestling scene in 1995 as The Giant in WCW – initially billed as the son of Andre The Giant – and he immediately began a feud with then WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan.
At Halloween Havoc 1995 in The Giant’s first bout in the company he dethroned Hogan as WCW Champion, albeit in controversial circumstances. The Giant would win the title again in April 1996 and in August he lost it to the now-rechristened Hollywood Hogan as the NWO took its grip on the company.
Just over three weeks after that loss The Giant joined the NWO and continued competing week after week and by the time he left the company in early 1999, he had well over 300 matches under his belt.
Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff admitted that he thinks he should have taken a “less is more” attitude with The Giant and made him a special attraction:
“I argue that although we didn’t do this, we should have done this. I think The Giant should have been an attraction. The less you see of Hogan—this is gonna sound like a shot and it’s not; it’s actually a compliment—but the less you see of a Hulk Hogan on a regular basis, the less you see of Roddy Piper, the less you see of The Giant for different reasons, the more valuable that they become.
“Again, because they just didn’t need to get over, they were already over. Giant because he was The Giant, because of his size and his unique attributes, everything that he brought with him through the curtain, that was a less is more type of a character, and I think that’s proven to be true with Giant. He’s a specialty attraction, just like Andre The Giant was a specialty attraction.”