Eric Bischoff is pushing back on one of the biggest claims surrounding Hulk Hogan’s time in TNA.
Hogan and Bischoff’s run with the company has taken plenty of heat over the years, with many fans treating the era like the two former WCW power players walked into TNA and took control of everything. Bischoff says that simply wasn’t true.
During a conversation with Inside the Ropes, Bischoff admitted that some of the criticism was fair. However, he said fans have spent years blaming him and Hogan for decisions they never had the power to make.
“It’s probably a little bit of both, to be honest. I think a lot of that criticism comes from the fact that people actually believed that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were running TNA. Nothing was further from the truth.”
Bischoff also made it clear that he wasn’t desperate to get back into professional wrestling. He and Jason Hervey had a successful television production company, and money wasn’t what pulled him into TNA.
“First of all, I didn’t want to go to work at TNA. I didn’t need the money at that time. My partner, Jason Hervey, and I had our own television production company, and we were doing quite well. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to get back into the wrestling business to pay my bills.’ I didn’t need the money.”
According to Bischoff, Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett were chasing Hogan. The problem was that Vince Russo was handling TNA’s booking, and Hogan wanted nothing to do with working under him.
“TNA—really Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett—really wanted Hulk Hogan. The problem was Vince Russo was their booker. By that point in time, Hulk Hogan was going to have no part of Vince Russo. He didn’t trust him.”
Bischoff was handling Hogan’s business at the time, including negotiating deals. When Carter contacted Hogan, Hogan told Bischoff he would only sign with TNA if Bischoff joined him and watched over his creative direction.
“When Dixie Carter reached out to Hulk, Hulk reached out to me and said, ‘I’m only going if you’re going because I want you to watch over my creative.’ Just my creative, not everybody else’s in TNA—just anything to do with Hulk Hogan. He wanted me to negotiate his deal with TNA, which I did.”
Bischoff said his contract made it clear that he wasn’t a TNA employee and wanted no responsibility for hiring or firing talent. His job was limited to protecting and approving anything involving Hogan’s creative.
“I also made it clear in my contract with TNA that, number one, I’m not an employee. I don’t want any responsibility for hiring or firing. My job is to watch over and approve or not approve Hulk Hogan’s creative.”
While Bischoff admitted that he spoke up and carried some influence backstage, he denied making a single management or business decision for TNA.
“The truth is, there was not one management decision that either Hulk or I made, to be honest and fair. Especially because it’s my nature, I had a voice. I had some influence, but I did not make one business decision in TNA.”
Hogan and Bischoff may have become the faces of a heavily criticized period in TNA history, but Bischoff insists they never had the control fans believed they did. His version of the story is that TNA wanted Hogan, Hogan wanted protection from Russo, and Bischoff was brought along to handle that job—not run the company.
Do you believe Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan received too much blame for TNA’s problems? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
