Eric Bischoff Recalls Being On Receiving End Of Worked Punches During Backstage Confrontation With Ric Flair

Eric Bischoff and Ric Flair have had a tumultuous history together, to say the least. On a special bonus episode of "83 Weeks," Bischoff spoke about one of the odder encounters that the two WWE Hall of Famers had when Ric Flair attacked Bischoff in his "tv office" before a 2003 episode of "WWE Raw.'

According to Bischoff, he used to do a lot of work out of the office set that was used for his tenure as the General Manager of "Raw," even coming with its own bathroom. "So I would hijack it," Bischoff explained, not only for the amenities but because he could get some of his actual work in television production done.

"So I'm talking to my wife and my attorney...we were discussing closing on a piece of property," Bischoff explained, "and the door blows open and in comes Ric Flair, followed by Arn Anderson and [Jonathan Coachman] comes in as well. Coach and I were pretty tight, so I didn't think too much of it." Bischoff says that Flair threatened to pull Bischoff's eye out, screaming at the former WCW President. 

"I'm thinking it's a rib," Bischoff explained, noting that the week before the incident, he grabbed a beer at the Marriott with Ric and Arn. "Now the next week, that same guy –I don't think I'd said a word to him– is telling me to get up and out of the chair. He's so pissed off that he's bleeding. He's got blood running down his chin because he bit his lip." The presence of Coachman, as well as the lack of concern from backstage agent Arn Anderson, led Bischoff to believe it was all part of a scene.

"All the sudden Ric starts firing shots at me," Bischoff said. "He hit me three times...kind of. This confused me even more because they were working punches. He connected three times but barely. Which made me think it really was a rib and I'm getting Punk'd."

Bischoff says he put the phone down and confronted Ric, saying "I'm not going to fight you." Bischoff continued to tell Ric he wasn't going to fight him, while Anderson just stood there despite it being his job to break up fights. Bischoff says that Sgt. Slaughter and possibly Gerald Brisco finally came to his rescue and broke up the sort of fight.

Bischoff says that he went to Vince to make sure he got his side of the story out and then went about the episode of "WWE Raw" as if nothing had happened.

Flair and Bischoff's relationship has always been a source of irritation and confusion for Bischoff, who said that he'd be willing to sit down face-to-face with Flair and hash out their differences, but that he wants to refrain from making it a spectacle for social media or podcasts.