Eric Bischoff Reveals He Pitched Plane Crash Death For WCW Storyline

During the height of the Monday Night Wars, former WCW President Eric Bischoff pitched an over-the-top storyline that wouldโ€™ve taken wrestling shock value to a new level: faking his own death in a plane crash to advance the NWO invasion angle. The plan, however, was ultimately scrapped due to legal concerns from Turner executives.

Speaking on a recent episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff revealed the ambitious concept, which was designed to plug a โ€œlogic holeโ€ in the NWO storylineโ€”specifically, how the group consistently infiltrated WCW shows with no intervention.

โ€œI really wanted to fake my own death,โ€ Bischoff said. โ€œI had my own plane at the timeโ€ฆ What if I just made it known I was gonna go fly around the Grand Canyonโ€ฆ and then somehow the speculation would be that I must have gotten off course and flew into Mexican airspace. I was no longer being tracked by FAAโ€”who knows what happened.โ€

According to Bischoff, the long-term payoff wouldโ€™ve been the shocking reveal that he had been orchestrating the NWOโ€™s rise from behind the scenes the whole time.

โ€œThe idea was to make my disappearance a mystery, build buzz in the sheets, and then shock everyone with the reveal that I was the mastermind behind the NWO.โ€

Bischoff even ran the idea past his wife before presenting it to Turner Sports president Harvey Schiller, who immediately vetoed the storyline. The reason? Serious legal risks.

โ€œI was an officer with internal broadcasting of a publicly held company,โ€ Bischoff explained. โ€œIf itโ€™s revealed that this faked death for a wrestling storyline could be interpreted as somehow manipulating public stock, thereโ€™s exposure thereโ€ฆ So I understood it. I just hated it.โ€

While the fake plane crash never happened, Bischoff would go on to reveal himself as the leader of the NWO in a still-memorableโ€”but far less explosiveโ€”fashion on WCW programming.

Bischoff continues to share wild behind-the-scenes stories from WCW and WWE every week on his 83 Weeks podcast.

Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more classic backstage stories and wrestling news.

(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)