"We were losing steam" - WWE Hall of Famer reveals why Goldberg was forced to drop the WCW Championship

Eric Bischoff says he took the WCW Championship off of Goldberg in 1999 because he wasn't helping grow the company's viewing audience.

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff went in-depth on Goldberg's time in WCW.

During the discussion, Bischoff said they took the WCW title off of Goldberg because they were losing momentum with him as champion.

"There's a reason why we took the belt off Bill," Eric Bischoff said. "It wasn't because we were making money hand over fist with him and he was continuing to grow the audience which is really important, it's what television networks expect you to do. Does anybody think if we were making money hand over fist and were continuing to beat WWE in the ratings the way we had for the previous couple of years or year and half that we would have taken the belt off Bill? We were losing steam on Bill and it was time for a change. It was necessary, but I do think we could have done a much better job particularly in light of his lack of comfort based on his lack of experience."

Eric Bischoff says Hulk Hogan did not sabotage Goldberg's WCW career

In response to reports over the years that Hulk Hogan tried to sabotage Goldberg's run in WCW, Eric Bischoff shot these reports down and said that Hogan was a big supporter of Goldberg backstage.

"I know Hulk Hogan was a very big supporter of Bill Goldberg," Eric Bischoff said. "In fact, one of the reasons why I had such a difficult time with Goldberg was due to the fact that Hulk was in his ear. I knew that Goldberg was special. [But] he was still new and unsure of himself in some respects. The wrestling business is a treacherous one. It always has been that way. Hulk took Bill under his wing including getting the same attorney, Henry Holmes. Once Henry started representing Bill, things got real tricky real fast, and that's due to Hogan's influence on Goldberg to help protect him. So this nefarious scheming and planning as it relates to Goldberg, at least, by Hulk, I don't think so."

What do you make of Eric Bischoff's comments? Do you think it was the right decision to take the WCW Championship off of Goldberg when they did? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

Thanks to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription of this podcast.