As the wrestling world celebrates the 30th anniversary of the New World Order, Eric Bischoff believes the iconic faction changed the industry forever.
Speaking on 83 Weeks, the WWE Hall of Famer argued that the success of the NWO and WCW Monday Nitro directly influenced the evolution of WWE into the company fans know today.
“I don’t think we’d be watching the WWE that we’re watching today, had it not been for the NWO, had it not been for Nitro. I’m absolutely 100% convinced of that.”
Bischoff said WCW’s success forced WWE to reinvent itself during the late 1990s, paving the way for the Attitude Era. “The Attitude Era that we forced, that change, we forced it with hammers and chisels, blunt force.
That change is what catapulted WWE as we know it today.”
According to Bischoff, without that transformation, WWE may never have reached the level of success that eventually allowed the company to go public. “Had McMahon not made that decision, I don’t think WWE goes public. I don’t think we’re looking at the WWE that we’re watching today.”
He went on to describe the formation of the NWO as one of the most significant moments in wrestling history. “I think the NWO mattered more than just about anything else that’s happened in the wrestling business in the last 50 years, other than Vince McMahon taking the company over from his father and going national.”
Bischoff also credited Hulk Hogan as the essential piece that made the storyline work, saying he believes the faction would not have had the same lasting impact without Hogan’s historic heel turn.
