Eric Bischoff is Announced for the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame Class

Mar 19, 20213 min read

As first announced on After the Bell hosted by Corey Graves and Vic Joseph, Eric Bischoff will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2021. He joins Molly Holly and last year’s stacked class of 2020, including The NWO, The Bella Twins, Jushin Thunder Liger, Davey Boy Smith, JBL, and Batista.

Eric Bischoff began his wrestling career as an interviewer in the AWA then where he gained fame in WCW. In 1991 he would start as an announcer but moved quickly in the corporate ladder as Senior Vice President of WCW. Eric Bischoff would slowly turn WCW into the number one wrestling company in the world. With WCW Nitro in 1996-1997, it became the first wrestling company to outnumber WWF in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks. This created a real-life rivalry called the Monday Night Wars in the mid-90s. In 1996 Bischoff would become an on-screen character by joining the hottest faction in wrestling, the New World Order, becoming the ever-growing group’s manager and mouthpiece.

After the closure of WCW in 2002, Bischoff would make a deal with the company he tried to take out of business by becoming the general manager of Monday Night Raw from 2002 to 2005. One of the longest-tenured on-screen general managers to the red brand. Since leaving WWE in 2005, Bischoff has been in and out of wrestling, having backstage roles in TNA and recently in WWE. Bischoff has recently entered the podcast business, joining Conrad Thompson in “83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff,” where he and Thompson look back, review, and give insights into the success Bischoff brought in his career.

His induction news was brought to him by surprise when he joined After the Bell with Corey Graves and Vic Joseph to speak about “Stone Cold”’ Steve Austin in honor of 3:16 Week. Speechless at first, Bischoff was shocked by the breaking news.

“When I first started working in sports entertainment for Verne Gagne back in 1987, I knew nothing. I was a big wrestling fan. I had no experience. It was like this wild-eyed opportunity for me. I put Verne up on a pedestal... and to think that if somebody were to come up to me and say "You know, in 2021, you and Verne Gagne are going to be in the WWE Hall of Fame" My head would have exploded. It would have been incomprehensible! It would have been the same thing as somebody coming up to me and saying "You know, someday you're going to swim laps up on Mars," you know? It doesn’t make sense, but it's the names that are part of the WWE Hall of Fame... just to be associated with those names. Wow, this is overwhelming.” -Eric Bischoff commenting on his WWE Hall of Fame induction

Bischoff made a name as one of the most controversial figures in pro wrestling, taking high risks for the high rewards. He ignited a fire in the wrestling world that many believed was the hottest wrestling period of all time. Characters like the NWO, Goldberg, and even “Stone Cold” Steve Austin would not have peaked in popularity without the war Bischoff started.

The WWE Hall of Fame class of 2020 and 2021 will stream live on Peacock on April 6, 2021. Stay tuned to Blade Job Pro Wrestling for your latest updates on the WWE Hall of Fame.

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