Bret Hart on WCW: “Eric Bischoff actually didn’t have any genitals and Hulk Hogan was calling all the shots”
While speaking to Inside The Ropes, WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart reflected on his debut with WCW at the end of 1997…
“When I think about it, I felt like I came in with so much momentum. Like—this is how stupid WCW was. Eric Bischoff, man, stupidest people in the world. I’m not kidding.
I beat Undertaker for the world title. Beat Steve Austin. I destroyed Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. I won so many matches that year against all their top guys, and now you’ve got me in your company, working against them. Plus, I knocked out Vince McMahon. I came in with so much potential. It should have been me and Hulk Hogan right away. I think I should have beat him for the title, and they should have made me champion.
We could have wrestled a hundred times after that—me and Hulk Hogan—kept wrestling each other, doing all kinds of business, because it was there. And it was such a shame that they were so stupid.
I know from people who worked there, people who told me they were in the room when Eric Bischoff would say, ‘What are we going to do?’ This was like a TV room where they were mapping everything out. Different wrestlers were in there. And they’d come up to me later and tell me that every time my name came up, they’d say, ‘What are we going to do with Bret Hart this week?’
And then Hulk Hogan would go—well, I wasn’t there, so I don’t know exactly—but he would bury me, I guess. Because Hogan had so much clout with Bischoff, every week they’d just put a line through my name and I wouldn’t even work.
There were lots of times WCW flew me all the way down to wherever Nitro was. First-class plane ticket. First-class hotel. Lincoln Continental. All this money they were spending to get me there. Then I’d get to the building, wait around until five or six at night, and they’d tell me I was off. Then I’d go home the next day.
I remember thinking, what kind of idiot pays me all this money to bring me in and then leave me off the card when I had so much momentum? At that time, Steve Austin was going through the roof in WWF. And it’s like, remember me? I’m the guy that beat him. Why are you not doing anything with me?
That was the insanity of WCW. Eric Bischoff actually didn’t have any genitals, and Hulk Hogan was calling all the shots. For whatever reason, he made sure they didn’t do anything with me.”