Eric Bischoff Recalls Working With Kevin Sullivan As Both Booker And Performer In WCW

It was a tough start to last weekend for the wrestling world, after news emerged that wrestling legend Kevin Sullivan had passed away at the age of 75. One of the few notable wrestlers to never step foot into a WWE ring, Sullivan is best known for both his wrestling career in the territory era and later WCW, and his time on the WCW booking committee, where he was an instrumental figure in WCW's most successful period during the Monday Night Wars.

As such, Sullivan worked closely with Eric Bischoff during that time period, making Bischoff an appropriate guest for "Busted Open Radio" on Friday as the show recognized Sullivan's contributions to the industry. Bischoff remembered Sullivan as a triple threat, someone who was both a strong performer, a great creative mind, and who recognized how the wrestling business worked.

"Kevin was so unique," Bischoff said. "You've got...it's like the 3 Faces of Fear, I guess, kind of thing. You've got Kevin Sullivan the performer, and Kevin's style, what he liked, was very animated. Some might refer to it as dark. And if you go back and watch a lot of Kevin's early stuff, he always gravitated towards that kind of dark character. 

"Then you had the creative side of Kevin, where you got a chance to see he also understood how to build babyfaces, how to build a story that wasn't necessarily rooted in that 3 Faces of Fear kind of mentality. He really had a broad sense of creative, and understood it so well. And...he understood the business of it. He was such a great partner in so many different ways. He was loyal as hell."

Sullivan may never have been more valuable to Bischoff, however, then during the lead up to Bash at the Beach 1996, where Hulk Hogan famously turned heel and joined Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to form the nWo. Though Hogan had agreed to do the turn after meeting with Bischoff, the former WCW executive conceded that he remained concerned Hogan could have his mind changed by people in his circle. Thus, Bischoff turned to Sullivan, who helped shield Hogan from people who could talk him out of the idea by keeping Hogan at his home, until the day of Bash at the Beach.

"Kevin was one of the first ones I told," Bischoff said. "When I had my meeting with Hulk in California and Hulk said 'Hey brother, who's the third man?' I didn't want to tell him [Hogan], because Hulk in his enthusiasm will often blurt things out, and I just didn't want to take the risk. We kept everything super quiet. But I had to start making plans. 

"I didn't tell my boss, I didn't have, I didn't tell anybody who the third was going to be once Hulk threw his name into the hat, except for Kevin Sullivan, initially. Because I knew I could trust Kevin. Such an important moment. I needed help, I needed some support, I couldn't do it by myself. And I had absolutely zero hesitation about sharing the news with Kevin. And eventually we shared it as it became necessary down the line. But he was that guy I knew I could trust him with everything."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription