Eric Bischoff was recently asked on an episode of 83 Weeks if he feels WWE goes out of its way to bury or kill-off old WCW ideas or gimmicks. Bischoff feels WWE does not do this, however, and actually does a good job at cashing-in off of some of WCW’s bigger successes such as the NWO.
“No, I don’t think that,” Bischoff said when asked if he felt Vince McMahon buries WCW ideas or gimmicks. “I understand why people might think that but I don’t think that’s the case. I honestly believe Vince will take advantage of, exploit, use anything that he possibly can to make his business healthier, and generate revenue including anything that was WCW.”
“But I also do believe that there is a certain culture, a corporate culture, whereby WWE, the brand and all the things that are created as original intellectual property will always be positioned as a priority. I’m not so sure that that’s not a great idea.”
Eric Bischoff on How WWE Markets The NWO Still To This Day
Bischoff used the example of the NWO to showcase how WWE still uses and earns money off WCW creative.
“The NWO to this day is still to this day one of the most successful products in the WWE catalog in terms of merchandise,” Bischoff continued.
“The fact that WWE is promoting the NWO as much as they have and are and the fact that they are still selling their merchandise kind of contradicts the statement that they are trying to kill it. I think they are trying to make money off it. But, I also at the same time think that the NWO will always take a backseat or anything that was WCW original including Sting’s return and his positioning at WrestleMania against Triple H, it will always be positioned as secondary to anything that’s WWE. But that’s not the same as killing it.”
Bischoff’s comments can be heard in the player below: