During the early to mid-1990s, Hogan was undeniably the biggest star in WCW. While Bischoff recognizes in hindsight that a heel champion has many benefits, there was a period of time when Hogan was pushed as a heroic world champ — something now seen by Bischoff as one of the mistakes made in WCW.

“Hogan’s here, we’re invested in Hogan, we’re getting big dividends on that investment right off the bat,” Bischoff continued. “Am I going to bet on the horse that’s actually won a race, or am I going to bet on the horse that’s constantly … come in second or third? So I bet on … history. It was a bad bet. I think we wasted a year or more. The Ric Flair philosophy of having heels have the belts and having the babyfaces chase it, and making it aspirational, and hoping that this is gonna be the week we finally see it — I mean, that’s The Bloodline thing, right? So it’s been driving that for a year and a half, or however long it’s been.”

As most wrestling fans know, the decision was eventually made to turn Hogan heel. The massive star joined the NWO, experiencing a career resurgence and helping kick off a new boom period in professional wrestling.