02-21-2003: WWE's Eric Bischoff sat down with Rudy Blair of Toronto's 680News radio (www.680news.com) for a chat today... Much of this didn't make it to air:

- On WCW vs. WWE: "I think that I've had a pretty positive influence on the industry overall. There's some things that are out there that still have my fingerprints all over it, and it certainly gives me a sense of satisfaction. Hit some speedbumps along the way, made some mistakes along the way as well, but that's just part of life and part of growing."

- On getting into wrestling: "I grew up in Detroit, and definitely grew up being a wrestling fan, watching Big Time Wrestling on CKLW out of Windsor.  My very first memories of wrestling was Saturday mornings after cartoons were over. It was one of the highlights of my week, having the house to myself, watching professional wrestling and drinking a big fat milkshake. My association with it was back as early as I can remember. Moved to Pittsburgh, was a fan of, again, Big Time Wrestling. Moved to Minneapolis, became very familiar with the AWA product -- I was a little older then, 14-15-16. And then, coincidentally, ended up getting an opportunity to go work for Verne Gagne .. not so coincidentally but coincidentally enough. The truth of the matter is, I, along with a very close friend of mine, was involved in marketing a game called Ninja Star Wars, which is a game we created on the back of a bar napkin one night while we were competing in the karate tournament. I knew that we had to figure out a way to market that game, and I knew that Verne Gagne had a television show on ESPN at the time, and I knew he controlled his commercial inventory. So I went to Verne and said hey, we've got this great game idea, why don't you give us some commercial inventory, we'll sell the game directly and split the profits. He liked the idea. We did the venture. It wasn't a failure and it wasn't really that successful, but the relationship that was born out of it got me my first job in the industry, which was basically handling sales and marketing for the AWA."

- Moving from business to production: "Hogan had already been gone for a couple of years by the time I got to AWA -- I got there in 1987. Curt Hennig was still there, the Midnight Rockers were still there, Road Warriors certainly. Just being in the same building, being in the same environment, it was like a kid in a candy store. Really, just through my own interest in production, I'd hang out in the edit bays just because it was a fascinating process to me. As much as I watched television growing up, I never really understood the mechanics of the process, and this was my opportunity to get inside the machine and get a little taste of it. I literally would start hanging out on weekends and dubbing one-inch tapes because I was fascinated with how you thread a tape -- I just thought that was something neat to learn. I'd sit around and watch editors edit, watch the mixers mix audio, watch how the cameraman operated the camera, and eventually ended up in the production side of things as well."

- How he ended up running the show: "I went to work for WCW in 1991. I was recruited out of the AWA in 1991. Which was fortunate, because I had been working for Verne for about six months with no pay. Verne had really just run out of money and was trying to keep his business afloat, looking for a way to get some financing to keep his business alive. I had already gotten an opportunity to audition for WWF at the time, didn't work out. I was determined to ride it out as best I could. When I got the call from Turner in 1991 to come in as an on-camera talent, I was conflicted because I was loyal to Verne, but I was six months behind on my house payments, they were literally hauling my car away, repossessing everything I own, I had two young kids that I had to feed. It was a great opportunity but I was more or less forced to take it. And went to work for WCW, came in as a third-string backup on-camera talent, and just through a series of coincidences and evolution, ended up throwing my name in the hat to become an executive producer in 1993."

- On the NWO being discovered in Japan: "Not really, that's been misquoted. The concept of takeovers and one company positioning to take over another in the wrestling industry, that's something that was relatively common in Japan. Still is. I basically took that nugget of an idea, that basic idea, and Americanized it. There wasn't a Japanese version of the NWO, per se. The Japanese audience, by the way, enjoyed the NWO more than the American audience did, and probably still does. To them it's something completely different from anything they've ever seen before. So while there's some similarities in terms of the idea, it really is a Westernized version. And I think it worked because the NWO had an attitude. It had a personality."

- On getting cocky with the NWO: "I was cocky long before the NWO was created. I was born cocky. I think I got cockier. I think that I allowed myself to play into the personality of the NWO and vice versa. I took advantage of it every way I possibly could. But it didn't change me. I'm still the same guy now that I was then and I was before the NWO."

- On working with Vince: "I really have come to, not to suggest that I know Vince very well, because I don't, but the little bit that I have gotten to know him, I respect him more now than I ever did. And I always did respect him, despite what the media likes to say and what I may have said to generate interest and heat. Now I respect him even more, because I get to see a different side of him. It was a little odd. I wasn't nervous about it -- obviously there was some anxiety or curiosity about how I would fit in, but I really wasn't worried about it. I really believed that we had more things in common than we didn't. He's a smart guy, and anybody that's reasonably smart is gonna know, as long as someone's contributing, trying hard and adding to the team effort, let bygones be bygones, and pretty much that's what happened."

- On legit heat with Austin: "So much for letting bygones be bygones. Now that I think about it, I think Vince McMahon has orchestrated this whole thing out of his own twisted sense of humor. Um, yeah, there is heat between us, real heat. It's legitimate, it's been there for six or seven years, so clearly it's not something that we're fabricating for the sake of a promotion. Steve's been gone for a long time. I haven't really seen him since 1993, 94, whenever I fired him. So whatever happens happens. I can't predict it. Steve's a different guy. He's a little unique in that regard, and I'm being kind here. I've had my ass kicked plenty of times before. This won't be the first time, if it happens, and it won't be the last."

- On being bigger in person than he appears on TV: "I'm almost 48 years old. I haven't worked out in 20 years. I was an athlete at one time in my life. I wrestled in high school, I wrestled in college, freestyle and Greco. Martial arts for the last 20 years, did some Golden Gloves boxing. I remember what it's like to be an athlete, but it's a far cry from remembering what it's like and BEING one. But at the same time I'll go out and get in a bar fight once a year just to make sure everything's still working."

- Raw Monday in Toronto: "The fans here are very very knowledgeable. They appreciate what we do for what it is. There's just a different kind of appreciation for our form of entertainment than anywhere else that I've ever been. Fans are rabid in Japan, great fans in the US in different markets, but there's something unique about Canadian fans that, as a performer, makes it really fun to be here."

- The coming WrestleMania: "It's really the highlight of my career."