Eric Bischoff has reflected on Booker T’s infamous 1997 WCW promo mistake involving Hulk Hogan.
During a recent edition of his “83 Weeks” podcast, Bischoff said the backstage response was immediate shock, with the situation seeming to stop everyone of their tracks. While he was not indignant at Booker T, he was stunned and didn’t know find out how to respond at first.
Bischoff stressed that no one backstage believed that Booker T used the racial slur on purpose. The ex-WCW President didn’t excuse the incident, but he felt that Booker T could have made an unsuccessful attempt at humor that went badly flawed on live television.
Based on Bischoff, Booker T and his brother Stevie Ray were widely respected by WCW wrestlers, staff, and fans. Subsequently, the locker room didn’t see the moment as showing Booker T’s true character, and as an alternative, it was seen as a painful live-TV error from a respected performer.
The subject surfaced after Booker T was recently asked if he was still coming for Hogan, which was a reference to the old promo. Booker T laughed and responded by saying that Hogan was coming for himself.
Stevie Richards has strongly criticized WWE’s 90-day non-compete clauses, arguing that they needs to be illegal when a wrestler is released.
During a recent edition of his “The Stevie Richards Show,” Richards said WWE performers are called independent contractors despite the fact that the corporate controls many major parts of their work.
Richards pointed to wrestlers being told when to report, when to work, find out how to dress, and, in lots of cases, how their matches should go. He argued that these conditions are much closer to an worker relationship than true independent contract work.
Richards also argued that a real independent contractor needs to be free to simply accept a brand new job after ending the previous one. Nevertheless, released WWE wrestlers are normally unable to wrestle for one more major company until their 90-day non-compete period ends.
Richards said continuing to pay talent during that period doesn’t solve the issue. In his view, the delay lets WWE control the wrestler’s next move while the general public attention around the discharge fades. By the point the wrestler can sign elsewhere, a few of the excitement and business value from their departure could also be lost.
Richards concluded that wrestlers should still receive money after a release, but WWE shouldn’t have the option to limit where they work once their employment ends.