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Austin Theory has risen as one of the top prospects in recent times, and during the latest episode of his podcast, Eric Bischoff opened up about the young WWE star being compared to Buff Bagwell.
Despite his personal struggles over the past decade, Marcus Bagwell was a hugely popular name in WCW, where he quickly rose to prominence and won the World Tag Team Championships on five different occasions.
The legendary Dusty Rhodes took a special liking to Buff Bagwell, as the star was a regular on WCW TV until the company ceased to exist.
Eric Bischoff could see the parallels between Austin Theory and Buff Bagwell's respective journeys as they were both "launched out of nowhere." The former WCW boss felt Vince McMahon and Dusty Rhodes had similar roles to play in getting Theory and Bagwell more opportunities to shine.
Here's what Bischoff had to say while agreeing to the fascinating comparison on his 83 Weeks podcast:
"Think about that, man, and I hadn't thought about it until you said it. But here's this young guy, comes in; great look. All the potential in the world, oh my gosh! Vince McMahon sees something in him, kind of like Dusty saw in Marcus, and launches him from out of nowhere. Like, launches him into the top of the card status and top of the story status." [24:04 - 24:27]
Eric Bischoff briefly also spoke about backstage politics in wrestling and how specific talents benefit from impressing the right people behind the scenes.
While Theory seems destined for even more success in WWE, including a potential World Title reign, Buff Bagwell didn't have the best of times as a solo performer in WCW. Bischoff, though, still believes Theory and Bagwell probably experienced the same feelings during their initial ascend.
The veteran continued:
"Politics still exists in every roster in any significant wrestling company that's out there. It does. So, I would imagine Austin Theory probably felt a little of what Bagwell should have felt, but didn't. I don't think Bagwell cared, honestly! Yeah, but very good parallel." [24:28 - 25:00]
Vince doesn't do that, that often: Eric Bischoff on Vince McMahon pushing Austin Theory
Vince McMahon isn't the creative head anymore, but when he was still at the helm, the 77-year-old veteran was personally involved with Austin Theory's push.
Rebranded as Vince McMahon's protégé, Theory featured in multiple backstage segments with the boss himself, which seemingly helped legitimatize him as a WWE Superstar.
Eric Bischoff admitted that prior to Theory's angle with Mr. McMahon, he wasn't aware of the 25-year-old superstar and his background. Bischoff noted that Vince McMahon doesn't always associate himself with a superstar on TV, and he even took a cheeky shot at the WWE Chairman:
"I didn't even know who Austin Theory was until I was watching Monday Night RAW or whatever it was, and here he is sitting with Vince McMahon. Vince doesn't do that, that often; he didn't do that too often where he'd involve himself in the launch of somebody's career. He'd tag in after you were already successful, which we very rarely saw Vince McMahon attempt to catapult a new star by being involved creatively, at least at that level." [23:30 - 24:03]
Have you been impressed with Austin Theory's main roster run thus far? Sound off in the comments section below.
If you use the quotes from this article, add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.
