WWE Hall of Famer and former WCW President Eric Bischoff took on an episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, where he talked about a number of topics including WWE using the Halloween Havoc theme for NXT and how it was his favorite WCW PPV event.
Bischoff said, “I love it. I mean, it was my favorite event. It’s my favorite time of year, it’s — October is a great month for pay-per-view. It’s one of the reasons why, you know — because you’re right, Conrad. In the eyes of so many wrestling fans at the time, Starrcade was WCW’s version of — I don’t even want to say WrestleMania, but it was the biggest pay-per-view of the year for WCW. It had been for a long time, it was branded as such. People talked about it that way. I just didn’t feel it, and I hated a pay-per-view around Christmas time for a lot of obvious reasons. From a financial business perspective, it kind of had an impact on us.”
On wanting WCW Halloween Havoc to be WCW’s WrestleMania:
“I loved October, and that’s why I wanted Halloween Havoc to be our version, not Starrcade. From a business perspective, it made more sense. But I love the legacy, you know, that’s why we’re doing the show. People love the legacy. They love the nostalgia. And for me for WWE, even if it’s through NXT, I need to shed a little light tip, a little tip of the cap. I love that. Makes me feel good.”
On Scott Hall:
“I miss Scott. You know, it’s really interesting because I was really not that close to Scott. I mean, we didn’t socialize away from the business much. We did a few times, but not what people would think. But there’s something about Scott that makes me miss him a lot. And I think it’s because I got a sense, a brief look into who Scott Hall really was and what he was capable of being. And I think it’s just a missed opportunity that gets to me a little bit. Not my opportunity, but Scott’s opportunity. And you know, the business’s opportunity because if Scott would have been consistent with where he could perform mentally and creatively, he could have had an even bigger impact on the industry.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
