On 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff discussed the end of Hulkamania in WCW and stated definitively that the iconic red and yellow character would not have survived if Hulk Hogan had not turned heel to form the nWo .
‘Absolutely Not’
When asked if the Hulkamania character could have survived the nWo era, Bischoff was blunt. “It’s a great question… absolutely not. It wasn’t going to survive without the NWO,” Bischoff said. “I hesitate to say this because it may sound disrespectful to some, but I don’t mean it to be. The stock value of the Hulk Hogan brand had been diminishing”.
‘Hulk Felt It’
Bischoff explained that this wasn’t just a management opinion; Hogan himself knew his character was losing steam with the audience.
“Hulk felt it. He knew it when he’d go out, you know, to a TV taping in front of a live crowd, and he could feel that reaction. He was closer to it than anybody watching on television. All of us around him could feel that,” Bischoff recalled. “When Hulk first came in, he had some serious steam on… That moment only lasted about six months, and then it was kind of like, yeah, that’s not what we thought we would feel”.
“I don’t know what the why, but it was obvious, which is why I flew to Hulk’s house and wanted to at least talk to him about turning heel when I did in early ’96… maybe even. Could have even been the fall of ’95,” he added. “So we all knew it, but clearly it would not survive what you know the NWO became, had he stayed in that same character?”.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can listen to the podcast every week on all major podcast platforms.
