WWE announced this week that the headlining induction in the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020 would be the New World Order faction, consisting of Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. Fans of the classic WCW faction were quick to point out that a few key members were noticeably absent from the induction, including the man who created the idea and wound up being a pivotal member, Eric Biscoff. Waltman even argued on his podcast after the news broke that Bischoff should be up onstage with the other four during the ceremony, but it doesn’t look like WWE is going to budge on the matter. During a recent episode of his After 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff was asked to give his reaction on the induction news.
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“About f—ing time!” Bischoff said with the laugh. “…The NWO, the angle, the moment that storyline was conceived and as it became executed was probably one of the most important periods in professional wrestling in this industry in the last 30 years. Look, the Monday Night Wars had already started, that fuse was already lit. But when the NWO evolved and came to be, that fuse that was already lit hit nitroglycerin and it exploded the business in a way that, other than what Vince McMahon and WWF did by launching WrestleMania and bringing a lot of mainstream attention to the industry when they did. But other than that period of time there is nothing that has been more significant to the wrestling industry than the NWO storyline. I’m not saying that because that was something I created and was a part of. I’m saying it because it’s true.:
He then talked about how there’s proof of the group’s success to this day given how NWO merchandise is still a hot-selling item for WWE and the domino effect it created by forcing WWE to launch the Attitude Era.
The former WCW president was also asked about Waltman’s comments. He said while he appreciates being considered, he’s not too wound up over whether or not he gets inducted.
“That’s nice of him to say. But he’s not calling the shots, so it really doesn’t matter,” Bischoff said. “I wish he was, that would be great. I’d like to hang out with my buddies at WrestleMania. It would’ve been wonderful. But I don’t worry about that.
“I love those guys, especially Hulk [Hogan], these are guys that I have deep affection for and respect for,” he continued. “So I couldn’t be happier, and I’m just going to let it go at that.”
