Eric Bischoff

Eric Bischoff: 2023 Biography, Net Worth, Family, Income

Eric Bischoff was born on May 27th, 1955 in Detroit, Michigan. He is a television producer and professional wrestling performer in WWE and TNA but he is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of WCW.

Bischoff began his professional wrestling journey in 1986 when he started working for Verne Gagne’s AWA in the sales department. In 1989, was promoted to on-air announcer until 1990 when he left the promotion.

After unsuccessfully trying out for an announcer’s position with WWE, Bischoff joined WCW in 1991 in the same role. He debuted at The Great American Bash conducting several backstage interviews throughout the show.

After spending the following two years behind the announce desk, Bischoff applied for the Executive Producer role following Bill Watts’ firing in 1993. Surprisingly, he secured the role, beating Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross, who he had been working under only a few years prior.

The following year, Bischoff’s rise through the ranks continued and he was made Vice President of WCW, a role which put him in charge of the company.

Bischoff was able to secure more funding for WCW to go head-to-head with WWE, attaining the services of Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage to raise the profile of the company. At that year’s Bash at the Beach Hogan faced Ric Flair for WCW World Heavyweight Championship in a dream match that WWE failed to capitalise on two years earlier.

In 1995, he launched Monday Nitro. The live show aired directly against their rivals pre-recorded Monday Night Raw thus kicking off the “Monday Night Wars.”

The show immediately made big moves and saw the shocking return of Lex Luger, who was just coming off a huge in WWE. A few months later Alundra Blayze appeared on Nitro while WWE Women’s Champion and dropped the title in the trash on live TV. The big-time venture paid off and saw WCW achieve a profit for the first time in company history.

In 1996, the acquisition of former WWE Intercontinental Champion Scott Hall and former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Kevin Nash was another major coup for Bischoff. The two stars alongside Hogan formed the New World Order and took the wrestling world by storm. The faction was an instant hit and one of the main reasons the promotion soared in the ratings and beat WWE for the valuable viewership number for eighty-three consecutive weeks.

During this time Bischoff left the announce desk and joined the nWo as the manager/mouthpiece. He took every opportunity he had to poke fun at WWE and even called Vince McMahon out on live TV for a fight.

In 1998, the promotion was still drawing huge numbers on TV, live attendance, and PPV buys, but WWE finally beat them in the ratings. In order to get back on top Bischoff capitalised on the popular rise of Goldberg. His meteoric accent to the top was another reason for WCW’s success and he was booked to defeat Hogan for the title.

Despite drawing major numbers the title victory failed to flip the viewership rates and what happened next has been attributed to the downfall of the entire company.

Kevin Nash (who Bischoff had appointed as Head Booker) defeated Goldberg for the title ending his undefeated streak in the process. Nash and Hogan were at odds having split into rival factions of the nWo, the Wolfpac, and nWo Hollywood. The feud led to a title match between the two, but instead of fighting Hogan poked Nash in the chest, who throw himself to the mat and allowed Hogan to pin him, become champion and reform the nWo.

The infamous segment became known as the Fingerpoke of Doom as it triggered a disaster for the company’s reputation and ratings continued to plummet. It was a major misstep for Bischoff and one from which he never really recovered. Add in the fact that WCW was hemorrhaging nearly $5 million a month it wasn’t long before he was relieved of his duties.

A year later he briefly returned in an on-air role alongside Vince Russo as part of the promotion’s final attempt at resurrection but left when due to a falling out with Russo. Bischoff then attempted to purchase the failing WCW with Fusient Media, however, when Turner Broadcasting cancelled all WCW programming the deal fell through.

In 2002, Bischoff made his sensational return to wrestling as the General Manager of Monday Night Raw. During his time in the role, he feuded with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shane McMahon, John Cena, Stephanie McMahon, and Paul Heyman.

He left the role in 2005 but continued to make sporadic appearances for WWE throughout the years. He returned to wrestling full-time in 2010 when he joined TNA alongside Hulk Hogan as both an onscreen personality and Executive Producer.

His time in the company revolved around a faction war between Immortal, which involved himself, Hogan, Abyss, Jeff Hardy, and Jeff Jarrett against the Ric Flair-led group Fortune which included AJ Styles, Robert Roode, James Storm, and Frankie Kazarian. His time in TNA ended in 2012 following a lawsuit over unpaid wages.

Bischoff returned to WWE in 2016 to induct Diamond Dallas Page into the Hall of Fame before being hired as the Executive Director of SmackDown in 2019. However, the role was short-lived as he left after only three months.

In 2021 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and made a few appearances for AEW. He currently co-hosts the podcast 83-Weeks where he talks about his time in professional wrestling.

Net Worth

Eric Bischoff has an estimated net worth of $12.5 million

Family

Eric Bischoff is married to Kimberly Bowman. The couple wed in 1984 and have two children Garett and Montanna.

Income

Eric Bischoff’s annual salary is a reported $1.5 million

Record

According to Cagematch.net Eric Bischoff has wrestled a total of 24 matches. 9 of those outings were wins, 14 were losses and 1 was a draw. These figures give him a winning percentage of 37.5%

Figures correct on April 20th, 2023