Eric Bischoff Reacts To Being Inducted Into The 2021 WWE Hall Of Fame

On the latest episode of WWE's After the Bell podcast hosted by Corey Graves, it was revealed that Eric Bischoff is the latest inductee into the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame. Bischoff now joins Molly Holly as the only two members that have been announced so far for the 2021 class, which will be inducted alongside the class of 2020.

As the well-known "enemy" of WWE and Vince McMahon during the Attitude Era in the 1990s, Bischoff will now etch his name inside WWE's prestigious class of talent who have made a major impact on the wrestling business. From memorable skits with Stone Cold Steve Austin as co-managers of Monday Night RAW, to his infamous firing live on RAW where John Cena "took out the trash", Bischoff has also been a memorable character in WWE. The former WCW President spoke about his excitement for being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

"I'm not going to lie to you, every year around this time of course emails and social media hits and all asking [when I'm going to get inducted]," Bischoff said. "I've always been pretty good at just keeping it out of my mind, I don't think about it, I never have to any real degree but you look at some of the names, all of the names, associated with the WWE Hall of Fame. The thing that occurs to me right now is when I first started working in sports entertainment for Verne Gagne back in 1987, knew nothing, I was a big wrestling fan, had no experience.

"I had put Verne up on a pedestal, and to think if someone would've come up to me and said 'In 2021, you and Verne Gagne would be in the WWE Hall of Fame,' my head would've exploded. It would've been the same thing as someone coming up to me and saying someday you'll swim laps on mars. The names that are a part of the WWE Hall of Fame, just to be associated with those names is just overwhelming. I can't say thank you enough cool ways for people to know how much I mean it, but I really really do mean it."

Bischoff was responsible for WCW beating WWE for 83 weeks straight in the 90s. One of the innovative ideas that Bischoff brought to Monday nights was WCW's Cruiserweight division that featured Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. He was also a part of Steve Austin's last match, even though it was a fun gimmick match on Monday Night RAW.

The newest inductee into the Hall of Fame spoke about always enjoying the event and seeing all the faces from the past getting to be honored for their career. He noted that as big as WrestleMania is, the Hall has always been the thing he looks forward to the most.

"The Hall of Fame has always been my favorite part of WrestleMania weekend," Bischoff said. "It's not that I've not enjoyed the matches, because there's nothing like WrestleMania, it's the SuperBowl.

"There's something special about the Hall of Fame and the emotion of the Hall of Fame because it's so real to everyone involved. It's really really special to be able to be a part of that and not just be in the audience as I have in the past, Wow!"

The WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will air on Tuesday, April 6th as part of WrestleMania week and will feature both the 2020 and 2021 inductees. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE After the Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.