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What’s the story?
On a recent edition of WWE’s Photo Shoot series, Eric Bischoff opened up on a myriad of topics.
Most prominently, Bischoff addressed his relationship with Ric Flair over almost three decades of having known one another. The ex-WCW boss noted the trials and tribulations in their relationship and much more.
In case you didn’t know…
Flair rose to prominence in the NWA, and performed for the WWE from 1991-93, following which he went on to serve as one of WCW’s top stars from ’93-2001.
Meanwhile, Bischoff worked his way up the corporate ladder in WCW, and eventually became the organisation’s Executive Vice President, following which, he persuaded WCW owner Ted Turner to increase the funds allocated to WCW so that the promotion could aggressively attempt to put rival company WWE out of business.
The heart of the matter
At the peak of Hulk Hogan’s popularity in the early-to-mid-1990s, he parted ways with the WWE and signed with WCW—with both Bischoff and Flair being instrumental in bringing Hogan to WCW.
Hogan, Flair, Sting, Goldberg along with other stars such as Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, would go on to help WCW become a formidable promotion; beating the WWE in the Monday Night Ratings War, till January of 1999. Bischoff and several other WCW originals, as well as WWE veterans, returned to WWE after its buyout of WCW.
‘Easy E’ stated the following on his relationship with Flair over the years—
"Talk about an up & down relationship, we've had it all in the 25 years we've known each other. We've had some of the greatest memories but we've had difficulties, we've had challenges.”
“We were able to take those challenges and those difficulties we had, from a business and personal point of view, and weave them successfully into storylines that ended up being some of the best storylines I think we had on Nitro. A lot of respect for Ric Flair, he's just a great guy."
What’s next?
Bischoff presently makes guest appearances on WWE Network presentations.
On the other hand, Flair seems to be pursuing interests in Hollywood, having recently appeared in a brand new hip-hop music video as well.
Author’s take
Bischoff is spot-on in his assessment of his camaraderie with Flair.
Regardless, of their past differences, it’s awesome to see Bischoff and Flair let bygones be bygones, and send nothing but positivity to one another.
