Mick Foley Always Reminds Eric Bischoff About This

Sometimes you try things until they no longer work; other times you try things until the wheels fall off completely. Such is the case with Eric Bischoff and the infamous Monday Night Wars between "WCW Nitro" and "WWE Raw" throughout the 90s. 

For a period of just over a year and a half, "Nitro" toppled "Raw" in television ratings for 83 weeks. Eventually, WWE began to slowly but steadily close the gap to WCW, and on January 4, 1999, Bischoff instructed Tony Schiavone to spoil the ending of "Raw" that night. That night saw Mick Foley (as Mankind) win the WWE Championship from The Rock, which Schiavone mocked on air. Nearly 600,000 people switched from "Nitro" to "Raw" that instant to witness the historic moment and tip the ratings in WWE's favor once again. 

According to Eric Bischoff, Foley never lets him forget it. "It did backfire, and Mick Foley, every time I see him, he'll usually wait about three or four minutes after greeting before he reminds me," Bischoff said on "83 Weeks." "Every time," he added with a smile. 

It wasn't the first time Bischoff employed that strategy, but sometimes luck may go against you, and in this particular instance, it did in a big way.

"You gotta remember that was a move I was doing," he continued. "The truth is, that strategy worked really, really well for a long time until it didn't. This example is probably the first time it didn't work. And not only didn't it work, I got spanked."

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