Continuing in his assessment of what went wrong, Eric Bischoff addressed the theories of WWE burying WCW talent, and explained why his opinion on this differs from the norm. 

“I don’t believe the stories about, you know, burying WCW guys, yes that happened and probably was, to an extent, true, but it also was a right of passage on whose team you were on,” he explained, noting that WWE largely wanted to see how committed the acquired talent was before allowing them to be completely brought into the promotion.

“I could see situations where guys were put in less than great spots as a gut check,” he added, claiming that WWE tried to see who could be a team player or not. “But regardless of that, to the extent that was true, whatever that was, there just wouldn’t be a creative, emotional commitment to the potential. Just because of the way that they perceived the brand itself, they’re still in denial, dude.”

Bischoff then claimed even some of his close friends are in denial about what exactly happened in The Invasion, adding that WCW beating WWE as badly as they did was likely why things went the way they did.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “83 Weeks” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.