Eric Bischoff On Who He'd Put In A Modern Day NWO, Why He Turned Down WWE In 2001

During the height of the Monday Night Wars, Eric Bischoff infamously challenged Vince McMahon to a pay-per-view fight. While McMahon doesn't seem like one who would back down from a challenge, there was no way he was going to go on WCW programming and fight Bischoff as that would be a boon only for WCW ratings.

Bischoff relived his challenge to McMahon when he did an interview with Wrestling Travel.

"People like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and others that knew Vince well were convinced he was going to show up," said Bischoff. "And my plan was to kick his ass!"

When asked if it would have been a shoot rather than a work, Bischoff responded, "Oh, there would have been nothing friendly about it. I say that with a lot of bravado that I would have kicked his ass, but that would have been my plan. My plan may not have worked out [laughs] and I could have been on the receiving end of that ass kicking, but that was okay too. I didn't care one way or another as it would have been a great television moment."

A couple of months after WCW went out of business in 2001, Bischoff got an offer from WWE. He explains why things didn't work out at that time as he wouldn't join the company until a year later.

"About a year before I came to work for them, I got a call in July 2001 from Jim Ross. He asked me if I'd be interested in coming in. It happened to over the Fourth of July holiday and my wife's birthday and I had a lot of people flying into where we had a home in Cody, Wyoming. A lot of my friends and family were coming up for a family reunion," stated Bischoff.

Bischoff's response to Ross was tepid due to his already set plans. He asked what ideas WWE had for him and they couldn't really give Bischoff an answer.

"And I got the sense from Jim Ross that he really wasn't that excited about me coming in," admitted Bischoff. "And I understood why because at the time we had history. He wasn't too excited about convincing me to come in and I wasn't too excited about leaving my family and friends. So, I passed."

Bischoff thought he'd never hear from WWE again but he ended up finally linking up with them the next year.

Perhaps the defining legacy of Bischoff's time in WCW is the creation of the NWO. It's been 23 years since their formation and Bischoff was asked who he would put in a modern day NWO.

"Oh gosh! That's a hard one. One of the reasons the NWO worked as well as it did?was partially because it was cast so well. The combination of Hulk Hogan turning heel, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, X-Pac and Konnan ? these are all characters with really gave the NWO a personality. So casting is really important," stated Bischoff.

"If I had to pick three people today, I'd probably start off with Dolph Ziggler. I think he's one of the most underrated talents out there. He was an amateur wrestling champion and he's got great comedic skills. He can be a serious, threatening competitor or a comedic personality, and I think you need that.

"For a Kevin Nash-type character, I might go with Roman Reigns if he can brace that heel character. Then you need that third guy. Scott Hall, as amazingly gifted as he is, he played kind of a coward. He hid often times behind Kevin Nash. That role would be harder to fill and I'd have to think more about that one."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Wrestling Travel with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.