Eric Bischoff Explains Why Johnny B. Badd Was Never A World Title Contender In WCW

Over the course of his five-year run in WCW, Marc Mero — in his Johnny B. Badd persona — captured the WCW Television Championship on three occasions but never elevated to the ranks of a main eventer. On "83 Weeks," Eric Bischoff defended his decision to never utilize Badd as a top star, citing the fact that Mero was portraying an "entertaining and lighthearted" character that wouldn't have fit the bill for a world champion.

"Entertaining as hell? Yes," Bischoff said of the Johnny B. Badd character. "It definitely has a place, on any show, particularly at that time. But, not the type of character you would expect to compete for the world title, because then you have to go from being entertaining, generally speaking, to a good performer — but people have to take you very seriously. You have to be a serious threat, or they [the fans] have to have serious empathy for you." On that note, Bischoff argued that Mero would have had "to break character" and allow fans to see a different side to him that was more "angrier, aggressive, and determined" in order to elevate to main event status.

Bischoff revealed that the character had a lot of equity in the "general entertainment category," but not enough to convince Dusty Rhodes — also a part of WCW's creative team at the time — to view Mero in a different light. "Dusty leaned heavily into the entertainment aspect of it, and I think Dusty viewed Johnny B. Badd as so valuable, he just didn't contemplate or think about shifting into another gear." In conclusion, Bischoff praised Mero for portraying a "flamboyant, effeminate character" despite being a former golden gloves boxer and "a legit badass." "That takes balls," Bischoff added. "Not a lot of people are willing to shed their skin, in who they really are, and put out this costume — go out and perform it, and do it as well as Marc Mero did."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "83 Weeks" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.