Eric Bischoff doesn’t respect Shawn Michaels since he embarrassed Hulk Hogan in their only match. Also, the UFC is open to buying WWE.
Eric Bischoff Doesn’t Respect Shawn Michaels
In pro wrestling, many of those inside the squared circle have an ego. They have made it to WWE and think that is the ceiling for any career.
In WWE, there have been plenty of superstars that have egos bigger than most. Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels are on that list, which is clear in the build to SummerSlam 2005.
Michales just turned heel by attacking Hogan after a match. Nobody saw that sweet chin music even coming, especially Hogan.
Then, things got very tricky backstage. Neither refused to lose and both pulled out their veteran status for creative control.
They were supposed to wrestle in a trilogy, but it did not even come close.
In the end, Hogan won in a bizarre encounter. Michaels went out his way to oversell Hogan’s offense, like jumping around the ring after a simple punch.
During 83 Weeks, Hogan’s good friend Eric Bischoof spoke the match. He points all the blame on Michaels, who he now has no respect towards.
“I lost all respect for Shawn Michaels,” said Bischoff. “It was pretty clear – there an issue between Hulk and Shawn Michaels.”
“There was a lack of respect, I think there perhaps some jealousy on Shawn’s part […] I don’t know, I wasn’t close to Shawn at that point.”
“He was doing it to prove a point. “He was doing it to embarrass Hogan.”
“I just lost all respect for Shawn Michaels that night. Don’t be a b—.”
“Go out and do your job. Be a pro and deal with it after the fact.”
Hogan and Michaels would never wrestle again. After the bout, Michaels quickly turned back to a face and Hogan was already out the door.
UFC To Buy WWE?
Source: @CloutNewsMedia, Twitter, Screenshot
When Vince McMahon retired, there were many questions about WWE’s future. In particular, people wanted to know if the company would be sold.
Endeavor, which owns majority stake in the UFC, had been discussed as a possible buyer. Mark Shapiro, president of Endeavor, on The Town podcast spoke if there was interest.
“That would be something that would be interesting and worth exploring,” said Shapiro. “Would we buy it? Who knows?”
“Last I checked, it wasn’t for sale. We’re interested in anything in the owned sports properties segment.”
OTD in 2001, Dana White and the Fertitta brothers host their first UFC event after acquiring the company for $2M.
Today, after Endeavor purchased the UFC for $4B in 2016, Dana White is worth more than $500M.
Hate him or love him; that’s legendary. pic.twitter.com/CYfzusKW0c
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) February 23, 2021
WWE is currently valued at around $5.63 billion. That is huge money, but Endeavor is known for making massive purchases like with the UFC.
So, if WWE ever want to sell, those running the UFC seemed interested. Also, they have helped elevate the UFC and could do the same with WWE.
