He needed stitches. Steve Austin had returned to RAW tonight, and this time Eric Bischoff was left a bloody mess out in the ring. He ignored the pain as a doctor stitched him up backstage. He was too busy smiling. Smiling at the irony.
This wouldn't have happened seven years ago. Seven years ago Eric Bischoff would have never, EVER been seen on RAW. Seven years ago Steve Austin returning after a few weeks wouldn't have gotten such a huge crowd response. Seven years ago, Eric Bischoff would have been telling the world over on TNT's Monday Nitro that Austin beaten Savio Vega at the RAW taping and how the viewer shouldn't change the channel to watch such a boring show.
And he'd be right.
Yet here it was, seven years later, and Bischoff was getting beaten up on a weekly basis by a man he had once deemed unmarketable on the very show he and his WCW had competed against just a few years earlier. The irony of it was quite funny. However, after a few minutes of letting it sink in, Bischoff stopped smiling.
"What happened?" he asked aloud. He was speaking more to himself than anyone else backstage. A voice did wind up answering him though.
"Well first you got your ass kicked. Then you got your ass kicked some more!" There was no mistaking that obnoxious voice. Bischoff turned around, bleeding forehead and all, and faked a "nice to see you" smile as best he could. "Hello Paul."
Paul Heyman was another competitor to both Bischoff and Vince McMahon at one point. Vince hired both of them after Bischoff's WCW and Heyman's ECW went under. Vince must have seen something in them. Why else would he have hired them to work for WWE in the first place? They were capable of contributing to his shows in one way or another so why shouldn't he let them? Of course, this didn't mean that he actually liked either man. He probably didn't, which would explain why Eric never got the upper hand in his feud with Steve Austin. Meanwhile Heyman and Bischoff certainly weren't fans of each other.
"You know," Paul said with sarcasm in his voice already. "It's great to see you take one for the team Eric. Or two, or three, or twelve! Christ, why don't they just change your title to 'Austin's punching bag' already?"
"At least I'm able to still contribute physically to the show" Bischoff responded. It was a cheap shot at Heyman's recent neck injury that left him unable to get bounced around a wrestling ring. Unfortunately Heyman was ready with a crude response of his own.
"Oh, you contribute physically alright. How else would you have gotten this job?"
The last thing Eric wanted to do was argue. He was beaten up and had a plane to catch home tomorrow. He quickly changed the subject; going back to the original thought that started this conversation between he and Paul Heyman in the first place. "What happened Paul? What happened to us? Between the two of us we almost had this company going broke. Now WWE is publicly traded."
"What happened? Well, in my case, I ran out of money. In your case, David Arquette became your friggin' world champion and it was all downhill from there!"
"I'm serious!" said Bischoff, shaking his head in growing frustration.
"So am I!" said Paul. "David Arquette man! Of all the people, David Arquette!"
That was certainly a popular theory as to why WCW failed. Eric wasn't blamed for that strange idea as much as he probably should be. This knowledge did little to comfort him. The fact is WCW was dead and buried. There was no going back to that magical time in wrestling history which Eric already knew. Eric Bischoff, once the WCW President and onscreen leader of the NWO faction, had a new job now. A job that, much as he hated to admit it, might very well always be "Steve Austin's punching bag" thanks to his past history with the company. Bischoff gathered his things and headed for an exit. His forehead was healed for now. Heyman followed him on his way out, probably just to continue being annoying.
"When you stop and think about it, it's pretty ironic" Eric said. He was once again talking to himself more than Heyman. "Seven years ago the NWO was the hottest thing going. They carried WCW to huge ratings every week. You had your little ECW thing going too. And yet we're here, backstage at RAW, and we're working for Vince McMahon."
"So what's your point?" Heyman said, a bit mad at the 'little ECW' remark. "So we're working for Vince McMahon. This is a damn strange business Eric, and sometimes those kinds of things happen. You need to stop living in the past like I did and accept what your role is. Both in this business, and in this company!"
Eric Bischoff pondered this for a moment. He then opened a door marked "EXIT" and walked outside.
"I can't."
This wouldn't have happened seven years ago. Seven years ago Eric Bischoff would have never, EVER been seen on RAW. Seven years ago Steve Austin returning after a few weeks wouldn't have gotten such a huge crowd response. Seven years ago, Eric Bischoff would have been telling the world over on TNT's Monday Nitro that Austin beaten Savio Vega at the RAW taping and how the viewer shouldn't change the channel to watch such a boring show.
And he'd be right.
Yet here it was, seven years later, and Bischoff was getting beaten up on a weekly basis by a man he had once deemed unmarketable on the very show he and his WCW had competed against just a few years earlier. The irony of it was quite funny. However, after a few minutes of letting it sink in, Bischoff stopped smiling.
"What happened?" he asked aloud. He was speaking more to himself than anyone else backstage. A voice did wind up answering him though.
"Well first you got your ass kicked. Then you got your ass kicked some more!" There was no mistaking that obnoxious voice. Bischoff turned around, bleeding forehead and all, and faked a "nice to see you" smile as best he could. "Hello Paul."
Paul Heyman was another competitor to both Bischoff and Vince McMahon at one point. Vince hired both of them after Bischoff's WCW and Heyman's ECW went under. Vince must have seen something in them. Why else would he have hired them to work for WWE in the first place? They were capable of contributing to his shows in one way or another so why shouldn't he let them? Of course, this didn't mean that he actually liked either man. He probably didn't, which would explain why Eric never got the upper hand in his feud with Steve Austin. Meanwhile Heyman and Bischoff certainly weren't fans of each other.
"You know," Paul said with sarcasm in his voice already. "It's great to see you take one for the team Eric. Or two, or three, or twelve! Christ, why don't they just change your title to 'Austin's punching bag' already?"
"At least I'm able to still contribute physically to the show" Bischoff responded. It was a cheap shot at Heyman's recent neck injury that left him unable to get bounced around a wrestling ring. Unfortunately Heyman was ready with a crude response of his own.
"Oh, you contribute physically alright. How else would you have gotten this job?"
The last thing Eric wanted to do was argue. He was beaten up and had a plane to catch home tomorrow. He quickly changed the subject; going back to the original thought that started this conversation between he and Paul Heyman in the first place. "What happened Paul? What happened to us? Between the two of us we almost had this company going broke. Now WWE is publicly traded."
"What happened? Well, in my case, I ran out of money. In your case, David Arquette became your friggin' world champion and it was all downhill from there!"
"I'm serious!" said Bischoff, shaking his head in growing frustration.
"So am I!" said Paul. "David Arquette man! Of all the people, David Arquette!"
That was certainly a popular theory as to why WCW failed. Eric wasn't blamed for that strange idea as much as he probably should be. This knowledge did little to comfort him. The fact is WCW was dead and buried. There was no going back to that magical time in wrestling history which Eric already knew. Eric Bischoff, once the WCW President and onscreen leader of the NWO faction, had a new job now. A job that, much as he hated to admit it, might very well always be "Steve Austin's punching bag" thanks to his past history with the company. Bischoff gathered his things and headed for an exit. His forehead was healed for now. Heyman followed him on his way out, probably just to continue being annoying.
"When you stop and think about it, it's pretty ironic" Eric said. He was once again talking to himself more than Heyman. "Seven years ago the NWO was the hottest thing going. They carried WCW to huge ratings every week. You had your little ECW thing going too. And yet we're here, backstage at RAW, and we're working for Vince McMahon."
"So what's your point?" Heyman said, a bit mad at the 'little ECW' remark. "So we're working for Vince McMahon. This is a damn strange business Eric, and sometimes those kinds of things happen. You need to stop living in the past like I did and accept what your role is. Both in this business, and in this company!"
Eric Bischoff pondered this for a moment. He then opened a door marked "EXIT" and walked outside.
"I can't."