Eric Bischoff: Controversy Creates Cash Reviews

• Highly-Anticipated, A Big Letdown

  
  By A3TZV5SXQ8F6ST on 2006-10-21
  Eric Bischoff and co-author Jeremy Roberts spend a good deal of time in Controversy Creates Cash taking shots at ECW and its fans, executives in suits and those who cover the industry in newsletters and on the Internet. It is the latter where the credibility of the whole book takes a huge bump to the cement floor.
  
  The gist of the criticism surrounds the compiling of information and the grammatical errors by those reporters. Unfortunately for Bischoff and Roberts, such performers like the Sterner Brothers were never in WCW; though the Steiner Brothers were with the company.
  
  The number of errors in the names of wrestlers - sometimes spelled differently within several paragraphs - and other grammar dilemmas - photos with the person not identified correctly - makes any shots at other publications simply laughable.
  
  Bischoff was an obvious target of critics during his tenure at WCW and - as with any public figure in a leadership role - most may have been sour grapes, while some had validity. Numerous chapters attempt to set up his justification for making specific decisions while he explains how the company was destined for failure no matter who was in charge during the last several years.
  
  The recollections on his years in the AWA are interesting. But there are plenty of holes in Bischoff's chronicling his two stints with WCW, especially when the company began to give back thousands of fans to Vince & Family.
  
  After finishing the book, I am not swayed from the opinion that Bischoff took two great ideas - nWO & Hollywood Hogan - and could not construct credible storylines after the initial success. And alienating so much talent ultimately made the company a dilapidated playhouse for Kevin, Scott and Hollywood.
  
  

• Bischoff doesn't tell all

  
  By A2582KMXLK2P06 on 2006-10-16
  I was expecting to read about Bischoff criticizing many WCW and WWE wrestlers because, if you've ever seen WWE Raw during a commercial break, Bischoff runs down a list of people in the wrestling industry who he believes will be angry with him when these certain people read his book. I don't think so. His opinions on the wrestlers are pretty brief and he doesn't do much in the way of putting down anyone. Disappointing.
  
  The book does give you information on his career in WCW and WWE that you've probably never heard before so the book is certainly worth reading at least once. But putting the word "controversy" in the title isn't accurate, in my opinion.
  
  
  

• Good Wrestling book, but doesn't touch on everything

  
  By A3TVTNFLAU2A5O on 2006-10-12
  Just got done reading Eric Bischoff's new book titled "Controversy Creates Cash". The book is defiantly a good read and has a lot of inside information to it. Bischoff goes over his early years a kid, getting his first breaks in the business, early times in WCW before he took over, his ideas when he took over, the Hulk Hogan signing, Monday Nitro, nWo, DX, WWF and much more. Lots of very interesting information on planned storylines that never went through and his ideas behind decisions he made. There is a lot on Hulk Hogan, nWo, and the monday night wars in the book. The one area where I was very dissapointed was his views on many of the wrestlers. He briefly talks about Lex Luger, Randy Savage, Sting and other big stars and his opinions of them. He doesn't go into much detail besides that on his relationship with wrestlers, most of the book is on big events and storylines. The Honky Tonk Man and Vader firings are not even brought up. I would have really enjoyed the book better if he would have shared more behind the scenes views of the wrestlers in one chapter. Good book, defiantly a read. But not in the same league as Mick Foley's books.
  
  

• All in all, it's worth a read

  
  By A2PCBRMBS2SBH5 on 2006-10-20
  Eric Bischoff: Controversy Creates Cash is the autobiography of Eric Bischoff, who rightfully self boasts himself as the second most influential man in professional wrestling history, behind Vince McMahon. In his autobiography, he attempts to cover his side of the things. Although he does tell an interesting story, some things just seem to be missing.
  
  He begins his story like most biographies, about his childhood. He does not dwell on this for long as he knows the audience of the book is more interested in other things. He talks about his early days as a salesman for AWA, before starting out as an awful interviewer and commentator. He moves onto his early time in WCW, denying completely lacking any management experience at this point, until he decided to toss his name in as a replacement for several unpopular other heads of World Championship Wrestling.
  
  As he gains control of the company, he speaks of his early attempts to turn the company around, to varying degrees of success. He talks of his early politicking as he brought in Hulk Hogan, and other former WWE stars he brought in. He speaks of the Early days of the nWo, and how he first started to make WCW profit. But he finally starts to admit defeat to the greatest opponent to WCW's success- not the WWE, but Corporate Big Wigs as Ted Tuner slowly lost control his company. And lastly, losing WCW to the WWE, and finally returning to WWE as an on screen character.
  
  While Bischoff covers a lot of things, the book seems a bit sparse in some details, and he doesn't seem to address his bigger blunders, such as bringing in the Ultimate Warrior, or having David Arquette become WCW Champion- and seems to obviously skewer the truth in his favor at times. He also seems to go out of his way to avoid hurting anyone's feelings at times, seemingly trying to make himself look like the good guy.
  
  All in all, it's worth a read, just to get another side of the story- even if it isn't the total story. His insights on such moves as firing Steve Austin and Sean Waltman by Fed Ex are worth hearing straight from the horses mouth. It may not be the entire truth, but you can make yourself all the wiser if you read this book in tandem with R.D. Reynold's Death of WCW- The truth may not be either or, but the key to it lies somewhere in the middle.
  
  

• Interesting read for long time wrestling fans...

  
  By A1G12CXKFLJ1M4 on 2007-02-06
  Eric Bischoff makes a comment early in this book that goes something like this: books written by people involved in professional wrestling are usually either shameless self promotion or utter bull****. This is true. And while Bischoff isn't short on self promotion or bull**** himself, this book is much more compelling than I thought it was going to be when I picked it up.
  
  Bischoff (through his ghost writer) is amazingly honest about his failures and readily admits to mistakes he made with storylines, talent, the executives at Time Warner and his own staff while running WCW. This is a rarity in any kind of autobiographical tome, but it is down right amazing coming from someone with ties to professional wrestling. Usually what you get is a lot of "it wasn't my fault" "they wanted to hold me down". And while Bischoff takes no prisoners with his flat out disrespect for the way things went after the big AOL Time Warner merger that left WCW out in the cold, it was refreshing to read Bischoff admit to making his own mistakes in how he dealt with talent like Steve Austin, and how utterly stupid he was to take on the production of another two hour live show (the forgettable Thunder) and by pushing Nitro to three hours when he knew he didn't have the money or the people to sustain it. He explains in the book why he did it, but admits it buried WCW.
  
  There are candid accounts of his ties with wrestlers like Randy Savage, Lex Luger, Hall, Nash, DDP, Bret Hart and especially Hulk Hogan. He even casts his own light on the Montreal Screwjob and is very candid about Vince Russo's contribution to WCW which made me laugh.
  
  Bischoff has an ego that's hard to miss - he congratulates himself a LOT on what he did well, and the reader gets the impression that if the merger hadn't taken place and if Bischoff hadn't had WCW snatched from him at the 11th hour by Vince McMahon and the WWE when Time Warner finally put it up for sale, he would still be running a successful profitable WCW. Interesting. One thing that is very obvious, though, is that when Bischoff was running WCW he was really running by the seat of his pants, making it up as he went along, which makes what he achieved with WCW in its heyday all the more impressive.
  
  This book is a must read for anyone who remembers the Monday Night Wars back in the mid to late 90's. While Bischoff is better known by today's fans as an on air talent, he once ran the most successful wrestling company in the USA and almost put Vince McMahon out of business which is something no one else has ever - and probably will ever - come close to doing. For that reason alone, one sort of has to respect him and his contribution to professional wrestling.
  
  
• An evenhanded look behind the scenes
  By A39XR2W2VAI76W on 2006-11-27
  I can tell a lot of people will be disappointed by this book. Many wrestling books, especially those written by performers, tend to be mud-slinging trash-fests (a fact mentioned in this book). Bischoff, however, never goes into full-on negative attack mode. The end result is that the book comes off as much more real than other one-sided tales you might read.
  
  If you approach the story objectively, you'll come away with a greater knowledge of not just how a wrestling business operates, but how a major corporation can shoot itself in the foot. On the other hand, if you come ready with the typical "fanboy grudge" eye, you aren't going to like what you get here.
  
  This covers Bischoff's childhood as well as his early work in the AWA, which resulted in him getting a job at a struggling WCW. It then goes on to chronicle the rise and eventual fall of WCW amidst the Time-Warner takeover of Ted Turner's company. There's a very few tidbits about more current events, as well as some thoughts and opinions on the current state of wrestling, but the main course is WCW.
  
  As stated before, Bischoff never really pulls a hatchet job on anyone. He has some harsh criticism of certain individuals, but nearly all of the criticism is tempered by at least a passing mention of those individual's better talents or attributes. He almost always cushions the blow. The only people that don't get an out are a few executives in WCW/Time-Warner (none of whom even hardcore fans will be familiar with) and what Bischoff calls internet "dirtsheet" writers. Internet writers crop up several times during the book, and never in a positive light. They are the only group that he definitely has no love for, but most wrestling higher-ups feel the same way, so no big surprise there.
  
  Just as he doesn't bury anyone, he also doesn't whitewash his involvement with WCW. While he doesn't come right out and outline many specific decisions that should have been made differently, he does admit to not handling personnel properly and getting too full himself, among other mistakes. He does not, however, point the finger at one person or one incident as the catalyst for the end of WCW. His ability to point to both failures and successes grants his version of events much more plausability than other books about the subject (which were often written by outsiders working on assumptions).
  
  On the technical side of things, there are a few flaws. I noticed at least three typographical errors, but they aren't nearly as bad (or as frequent) as other reviews make them out to be. Also, one photograph is mislabelled, but it deals with a very minor part of the story, so it is easily overlooked. My main technical beef with this book was its use of headings. Chapter headings, sub-chapter headings and sub-sub-chapter headings...it was as if this book was written to be read three or four paragraphs at a time. I don't know if the sub-sub-chapter headings were added to pad the length of the book, but they interrupt the flow of the narrative much too often. It would have been better off without them.
  
  In the end, this is a fine addition to the growing collection of wrestling literature. If you are one of the people that has no problem seperating the human beings in wrestling from the characters they play in the ring, you will enjoy the unique point of view from the man everyone loved to hate, Eric Bischoff.
  
  
• Interesting but Sketchy in Places
  By AQRH9WMXNLAF on 2006-12-09
  In "Controversy Creates Cash," Eric Bischoff works to set many records straight by dispeling many longstanding myths, rumors, and flat-out lies about what did and didn't happen in WCW during his tenure. The book is a good read for true blue wrestling fans--especially the entrenched Bischoff haters. Reading this book may actually change their tune some.
  
  Make no mistake--pro wrestling is a business. It exists purely to make money. Now some folks might argue that it's entertainment. True--it is. It's entertainment designed to make money. Eric Bischoff understands and expresses this reality very well in this book.
  
  Many wrestling fans blame the death of WCW on Bischoff. He does a fine job of explaining the real facts about what was going on in WCW during its decline and how he was powerless to do anything about it. Essentially, when Turner merged with AOL Time Warner, the new corporate suits wanted WCW toned down and made into a more "family-friendly" production. This came at a time when pro wrestling had shed the family-friendly veneer and had embraced the adult-oriented, Jerry Springer, ultra-violent angle. This edgier approach was what fans had come to expect, and going back to the cartoonish circus that wrestling was in the 80s simply wouldn't be tolerated by fans. Bischoff tried to make this clear to the corporate suits, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
  
  While all that backstory is good, there are significant problems with this book. The biggest problem is the editing. Clearly Bischoff has lots of stories to tell, but for some reason a lot of focus is placed on things that really aren't very interesting or important, while things that fans would really like to read about barely get mentioned--if at all.
  
  In some places it seems as if Bischoff is building up to a story fans would be interested in, but then he mentions it and then abruptly changes the subject. What happened in the AWA provides lots of examples. For instance, at one point he starts to talk about the famous/infamous Superclash III event and the reader thinks, "Cool! This should be good," but then he says nothing about it! He just changes the subject. Another example: The Team Challenge Series. This angle is viewed by many oldtime fans as the nail in the AWA's coffin, but Bischoff barely mentions it. That could have been so interesting and funny.
  
  Instead Bischoff babbles on in places about things that the reader would never care about, like his Ninja Star Wars kids' game that he tried to market with business partner Sonny Onoo. It was a dumb game he and Onoo had manufactured and tried to sell early on in their careers. He goes on about it for pages. Eric, no one cares! What about that hilarious match that pitted two wrestlers to retrieve a raw turkey from the top of a pole? What about the AWA taping its matches in an empty warehouse? What about the fistfight that broke out between you and Ric Flair in the locker room at that WWE event?
  
  Nothing. Instead, we get to read about how he and his wife threw velcro ninja stars at each other outside toy stores. Who cares?!
  
  Also, this book clearly was rushed to print. It's chock FULL of grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. In some places it's just hilarious. On page 225, for example, the Steiner Brothers are referred to as the "Sterner" Brothers. Turn the page to page 226 and they're the "Stemers"! Wow. Page 129 clearly shows a picture of Sherri Martel, but the picture's caption says it's Missy Hyatt. Then there's at least a dozen sentences that mysteriously lack periods at the end of them. And what's so very ironic about all this is that Bischoff criticizes the "dirtsheets" as being full of grammar and punctuation errors! I wonder if Dave Meltzer is capitalizing on that.
  
  Still, there's a lot in this book Bischoff says that I agree with. His SARSA (story, anticipation, reality, surprise, action) principle should be studied but pro wrestlers, bookers, and promoters worldwide. Pro wrestling is very much missing this.
  
  Where I disagree with him is in his assessment of the old-school wrestling style espoused by Bill Watts and Ole Anderson. He asserts that the reason why WCW was bleeding cash in the early 90s was because of Watts' and Anderson's insistence on trying to "turn back the clock" to the days of classic wrestling. I must disagree. WCW during the early 90s had not even given the classic approach a chance yet before Watts was shown the door. That's not why WCW was failing. WCW was failing because it was trying too hard to be the silly circus that the WWF was. These were the days of Cheat'um the evil one-eyed midget; Black Scorpion, the evil stage magician; Norman, the lovable lunatic; Oz, the famous wizard from the Wizard of Oz; and the Ding Dongs, a ridiculous tagteam who rang a cow bell during all their matches. THIS is why no one watched WCW at this time, not because of Watts' and Anderson's efforts to go back to classic pro wrestling. Actually Watts and Anderson were trying to correct the silliness and save the company.
  
  In summary, this is mostly a good book, but it lacks lots of stuff I was hoping for.
  
  
• Monday Night Wars
  By A1J71270U4Z86Z on 2007-01-18
  I enjoyed the book. If you wacthed wrestling back during the Monday night wars it is a must read. It gives you insights to what they were thinking during the shows and how some of the angles came together. It also gives you a sense of what kind of a person Eric Bishoff is. It makes you wonder what todays wrestling would be if the AOL merger with Turner had never happened. I believe we would have a better product on the air than we have today.
  
  
• Take some asprin before reading
  By A3STFVPM8NHJ7B on 2007-06-10
  This book is a complete waste of time. I enjoy wrestling books from time to time, but this one wasn't a good read. It gave me a headache. It read more like an encloypedia; He'd talk about one subject and zip into anther, a very fast paced book. I didnt learn anything new by reading this book. I wish I didnt waste my cash on this book. I'd recommend reading Death of WCW instead.
  
  
• Insights you cannot miss if you consider yourself a historian or hardcore fan of professional wrestling.
  By A14OJS0VWMOSWO on 2006-11-05
  Eric Bischoff: Controversy Creates Cash takes a look at the life and career of easily the most controversial man in the professional wrestling industry. Bischoff doesn't dwell much on his personal life, knowing his audience will pick up this book for another side of the story. And that's exactly what Bischoff intends and does deliver. He offers his side of the story, opposing commonly accepted 'insider' info about himself and his various controversial business decisions such as firing the biggest star in the industry in the 1990s (Steve Austin), and why World Championship Wrestling was doomed no matter what he or anyone else did. Insights you cannot miss if you consider yourself a historian or hardcore fan of professional wrestling.
  
  
• Good Read
  By A3T69LFAGNRHL1 on 2007-01-13
  This is a well written book that provides a business perspective to the fall of WCW.
  
  
• You have to hear Eric's side of the story........
  By A2D41G2FE17MS4 on 2007-03-29
  After reading Controversy creates cash, I concluded that Eric Bischoff really isn't that bad of a guy. It is easy for pundits and bloggers to criticize and Tuesday morning quarterback, but that is why they are observers and critics and not leaders and trailblazers.
  Unlike the McMahon's, Eric had corporate bosses to answer to. He also had the usual assortment of rogue professional wrestlers who did not always play well together. But under Bischoff, the WCW had an extraordinary run during the second half of the 1990's. Nothing lasts forever, wrestling popularity comes and goes in cycles anyhow. But the Bischoff imprint remains on what wrestling is today.
  
  
• Well Written Read With A Lot Of Information
  By A1LWBT4OIUF49X on 2006-10-13
  You learn a lot about Eric Bischoff and what has driven him. This book shows the side of him that we don't see in front of the camera. The information about the wrestling industy and the politics of it were very fascinating to someone who has been a fan for many years (particularly a fan of WCW).
  
  There isn't much bashing in the book. The relationships spoken of were for the most part in either an impartial tone or a favorable one. There is very little bitterness. I would have liked more information on the relationships with the wrestlers and some of the stories behind them. What is in the book, though, feels sincere. You get the feel of professionalism and respect that must is a requirement for any business.
  
  All in all, it was a good book. Finished in one day.
  
  
• Not as interesting as I imagined.
  By A3IYSQE4GPM8T7 on 2006-11-01
  Another month, another wrestling book. Bischoff spews more of the same here. "I did bad things, but nothing like what the next guy did." If you've read one wrestling autobiography, you know what I mean. I actually started out feeling a little sympathetic towards him during the early stages of the book, but that quickly faded. I applaud some of the things he did, like saving WCW money and making them profitable with the NWO storyline (though he never mentions that the scenario was done before by a Japanese wrestling promotion). But at the end of the day, he came up with one great idea and beat it to death, never anticipating that the idea would one day run its course. And this is surprising for anyone who reads the book, since he hammers us over the head with how he would envision storylines way down the road with the WCW creative team. Also, and this is probably my main beef with the book, for a guy who seems so attuned to everything and espouses having this great mind, I find it curious how he "forgets" certain things. Throughout the course of the book, he says he can't remember who came up with this and that, and I found that to be odd. Nowhere is this more telling than when he says he didn't know why the referee during the Hogan-Sting match at Starrcade didn't make a quick count. His stated closeness with Hogan (who benefitted from this, despite what he says) makes that moment of memory loss seem awfully convenient to me. And he comes off as hypocritical, citing several instances where he believed wrestlers reneged on what was agreed upon and how this infuriated him, when if you read between the lines you know he bent over backwards for Hogan, who was his friend. Add to all of this how he kind of just breezes past certain things (mainly the staleness and redundancy of the NWO, and how he failed to ever address that) and you get a book that could have been really interesting, but just makes him out to be the bs-artist I always imagined him to be.
  
  
• Who Is Eric Bischoff
  By A2150G2XRW9NVS on 2006-11-04
  A very interesting book about the politics behind everything that's happened the past 25 years in wrestling. He sheds a whole new light on what his role was and that of many others. The best of the biographies that have come out in the past several years. I can see why ol' J.R. wouldn't like it but sometimes the truth hurts.
  
  
• Interesting, but...
  By AWJOVW1BZZ34H on 2006-11-04
  With all these wrestling books you just never know who is telling the truth. They make their living lying to us, so you can never trust what they say. Basically, the way I see it, Bischoff did a lot more for the world of wrestling than Vince McMahon will ever give him credit for, but not as much as he thinks.
  DX is a rip off of the NWO? Maybe but the NWO is a rip off of the 4 horsemen.
  
  
• On par with the others
  By A1D702T7C8VDBL on 2006-11-14
  It's Eric Bischoff's turn for a biography of his wrestling career. Eric enters into the world of wrestling in the AWA as a salesman for ads and eventually through unintentional means, falls into the role of on-screen interviewer when the regular guy doesn't show up. From here on, he mmoves into the WCW for the majority of the book. Bischoff pulls the typical denial of creative ideas that weren't his but are attributed to him (like the Team Challenge Series in the last days of AWA), gives us his thoughts on the competition, and what he believes are the ideas he came up with (nWo, Sturgis PPV, Goldberg) and eventually 'copied' by other places. Yes he even talks about "The Montreal Screwjob" of Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels even though he had nothing to do with it directly (he was 'in talks' with Hart going to WCW).
  
  He touches on some of the relationships he had with the talent but most of this book deals with his views on the political structuring behind the scenes and into the seriel merger companies of Turner Broadcasting/WCW, Time-Warner, and AOL. He goes on about the manuevering of the corporate identities and people that were looking to make WCW fail. He spends a lot of comments on his despisal of Internet writers and 'dirtsheet' (wrestling magazine) writers and his complete disdain for them. He also shows his contempt for Vince Russo and strained relationship with Jim Ross. He's really pretty careful about not slinging 'dirt stories' on much of the talent (wrestlers) and there seems to be some McMahon butt kissing, of course.
  
  Overall, the title only loosely fits the book. The book was enjoyable enough to read and you learn a few things and won't believe others but that's going to happen in any wrestling biography. I felt Bischoff did a good job on this book but it's really no better than any of the other books out there. The only real controversy about this book is the cash Bischoff will be getting from it.
  
  
• Passing the Buck for WCW's Downfall
  By A1MFYOS1S1PJN3 on 2008-01-01
  I was very excited to read this book. The Monday Night Wars were a fond memory, and I was immensely interested in Bischoff's take on the rise and fall of WCW. Overall, this book came up short in a number of respects.
  
  First, I REALLY wish Bischoff had written this book before he began his relationship with the WWE. Sadly, like Ric Flair's book (also published by WWE, of course), far too much of this book seemed to be written simply to stroke Vince McMahon's ego, which is especially ironic given that it was promoted on WWE television as if Vince and company would be enraged by its contents. In reality, the worst thing Eric says about WWE is that for a period in 1996-97, they were behind the times. Why Vince would be upset by this is anybody's guess, since WWE has said this numerous times themselves in their own telling of the history of the ratings war with WCW. But then, because of Vince's brilliance and hard work (Eric, like others who clearly want to maintain a good relationship with WWE, points out that Vince is quite possibly the hardest working man alive), WWE caught up to WCW and ultimately passed them. In fact, Eric mentions NUMEROUS times throughout the book what great people all of the McMahons are, how hard they work, how the atmosphere at WWE was so great compared to the Hell that was WCW. The "Easy E" we knew and loved to hate from 1996-99 would NEVER have written it this way. The old adage is true -- the winners do write the history, even when they get the former Executive Vice President of the losers to put his signature at the end.
  
  However, let's get to the real content of the book -- the downfall of WCW. Bischoff tells this story in a way to minimize his own mistakes and place the blame on others to the greatest extent possible. The narrative is straightforward. Bischoff was the creative genius behind WCW's rise to success in 1996 until he was stymied by two mergers (first with Time Warner and then with AOL) and lecherous employees (Sharon Sidello, Gary Juster, among others). Bischoff contends that the merger with Time Warner caused on unbearable obstacles to his ability to produce a successful wrestling program, especially due to the rigid guidelines put in place by TNT's "Standards and Practices." McMahon was able to push the envelope with profanity and partial nudity, while WCW was shackled. Bischoff contends that, unlike Ted Turner, the higher-ups at Time Warner had no appreciation of what the wrestling business involved and ultimately had no use or care for WCW.
  
  In fairness, I write this review as a fan. As far as I know, everything Bischoff writes about his corporate troubles is true. All I can intelligently comment on is what took place on my television screen and what turned me and the people I know off from WCW. It was not that WWE had cursing and fake breasts while WCW didn't. It was that WWE had a quality show with entertaining wrestlers and a solid core storyline (Austin/McMahon) while WCW was rehashing the same core idea from 1996 (the nWo) and was putting on a stale program. WCW made creative and booking blunders of gigantic magnitude that appeared to this fan to be completely unrelated to the troubles Bischoff described. In fact, Bischoff never really explains the reasoning behind his assumption that it was impossible to put on a quality program with decent storylines and great matches, even with the obstacles he had in place.
  
  This book's biggest failing, in my opinion, is that Bischoff tremendously downplays (and, in at least a couple of cases, completely ignores) the creative blunders he and those in charge of WCW's booking made that eroded the quality of the product. A couple of examples: Bischoff devotes maybe a couple of paragraphs to his April 1998 decision to banish Ric Flair from WCW television for months, which tremendously angered the fan base. By the time Flair returned in September, WWF was winning the ratings on a regular basis. Bischoff incredibly makes no mention of the ludicrous decision to split up the nWo into the "Wolfpack" and "nWo Hollywood," which creatively made little sense and probably did more than anything to kill the entire nWo concept. Even more surprising was Bischoff's failure to make any mention of the infamous "Fingerpoke of Doom," a disastrous decision that enough fans, at least, consider to be important that it has its own Wikipedia page. One of the major motivations I had for buying this book was to get Bischoff's reasoning behind these and many other decisions. Bischoff's refusal to give them the attention they deserved was a major disappointment. But that would have required actually taking some responsibility for the downfall of WCW, and it seems that the purpose of this book in large part was for Bischoff to pass that buck to others.
  
  Instead, Bischoff decides to spend pages upon pages maligning those that worked with him, especially Vince Russo. Now let's be clear, russo deserves his share of maligning, but Bischoff took it to a new level, writing some things about Russo that were downright vile. Oddly, Bischoff made a point of stating that Russo REPORTED TO HIM when it came to making creative decisions, but then proceeded to blame Russo for all of the bad decisions made in the spring and summmer of 2000.
  
  All in all, this book was disappointing.
  
  
  
  
• "Cash Creates Controversy" creates........NOTHING!
  By A2PR0YV0JN97H6 on 2006-11-04
  I have never anticipated a book so greatly as this. To say that "Cash Creates Controversy" was a dissapointment would be an understatement. One might think that when the head of a wresling company, that at one time was on top of the world, writes a book, he might have some interesting things to say. Well, you would be wrong. While he goes on and on about his perceived facts and figures, there are virtually NO funny or interesting stories about anything. I've read well over 30 wrestling books over the last several years(the best being those released by ECW publishing)and this book ranks at the bottom. Don't waste your money on this book. If you want a book detailing WCW's run at the top, read "The Death of WCW" and/or "Sex, Lies and Headlocks". They are both much more informative and entertaining.
  
  
• Good Book...
  By A17GMVWZ29KJIO on 2006-11-19
  Having read Eric Bischoff's autobiography, I have to say that what ever one thinks of it, it's definitely a read and hard to put down and I also thought that it was intresting that you get to see the wrestling industry from his point of view. Personally, I believe some of what he said in the book(the AOL-TimeWarner meddling with WCW, why Kevin Nash didn't wrestle at Starrcade '97, etc.) and I don't in others(particularly where he got some of his talent i.e. Benoit, Jericho, Raven, Rey Mysterio Jr., etc.).
  
  Like him or not, this is one of the better wrestling book that have been released and anyone intrested in the rise and fall of WCW from Bischoff's point of view should read this book.
  
  
• GREAT BOOK, WORTH THE CASH!!
  By A367VNTEZYLZOG on 2006-12-30
  This is an great book. Its filled with tons of info that none of us would ever know about the fall of WCW if it was not for eric. Yes, it does leave you wanting to know more like another customer pointed out in an earlier review, but overall its worth every penny.
  
  I like the fact that he comes out and tells us what really happened between him and jim ross, vince russo, hall and nash and hogan. I thought the story about how Hall almost broke eric in two at the GREAT AMERICAN BASH was Fantastic!!!!!
  
  I read the book not knowing what to expect and ended LOVING IT!!! I have not read a book since 2000 and this one is so addictive, I read it in 4 days. For the true wrestling fan......You wont be disappointed!!
  
  
• Yawn
  By ATUHJJHJG0U0I on 2007-01-09
  Bischoff basically telling everyone how smart and awesome he has been and how everyone else was dumb over all these years as he was building WCW.
  
  Mildly entertaining, but annoying.
  
  
• Eric Bischoff: Controversy Creates Cash (WWE)
  By AKF0NPNH2YGLL on 2007-01-11
  Fantastic book !!!!!! Even if you don't like Bischoff and many don't the book is fancinating reading. He tells it straight up, like it REALLY was & is !!!
  
  I would HIGHLY recommend this book to any true wrestling fan....
  
  
• Excellent read
  By A15XGYI18DKCAT on 2007-01-12
  Any WCW fan, or just a wrestling fan will enjoy this book. I have read a number of wrestling books, and this is deffinately in my top 5.
  
  
• A good point of view "Spanish Review"
  By A29QIESLJCW5UF on 2007-02-20
  Eric Bischoff crea controversia. Este libro nos presenta un punto de vista diferente e innovador de la situación de WCW. Eric dedica las primeras páginas a explicar como llego a la lucha libre y eventualmente a la presidencia de WCW. Luego nos explica desde su punto de vista como WCW llego a la cima del negocio y su posterior caída y venta final.
  
  Es un libro muy completo desde el punto de vista de gerencial. Lamentablemente no contiene todos los detalles de la lucha entre WCW y WWE.
  
  En mi opinión este libro ofrece muchos Datos interesantes. El lector no se aburre y descubre el otro lado del negocio de la lucha libre. No obstante Eric usa 300 páginas para excusarse de sus errores como presidente de WCW. Por lo que este concluye que no importa las decisiones que el tomo, los cambios administrativos enterraron WCW. Del lector esta creerle o no. Pero no importa tus conclusiones Eric siempre estará en las conversaciones de lucha libre ya sea para admirarlo o para criticarlo, todos sabemos que Bischoff es controversia y que la misma genera Dinero.
  
  
  
• Bischoff takes on the Challanges
  By AL7IF5WVBCDV5 on 2007-03-04
  Eric Bischoff does an outstanding job of being fairly objective while recalling many exciting high points that not only shaped this "outsider's" career but the wrestling industry as we know it today. You won't see any bitter and hate-filled bashing in Bischoff's book, and the former operator of WCW does a great job of taking on issues and myths that surrond one of wrestling's most controversial men.
  
  
• There are better options out there.
  By A1DGWOWAFYOEOF on 2007-03-11
  I read this and not surprisingly found it rather shallow. Eric sees the downfall of the WCW brought about by the Merger of Turner and Time Warner, whereas in reality the WCW had been in decline for a long time when that happened. If you want a better read on the fall of the company read, The Death of WCW, a very good read and very informative book.
  
  
• Chance Your View
  By A2CRUEQ9QIOT70 on 2007-04-10
  This behind-the-scenes look at the WCW will give you Bischoff's side of the story. He may no longer be the bad guy after you read this book.
  
  
• Excellent Look Inside 'Nitro'!
  By A2DFR863YT0RJO on 2007-04-19
  This book is fantasic! From the moment I started reading about how things got started with Bischoff I couldn't put it down. We're only reading one side of the story, but it's written in a very informative manner that you can't stop. I recently started watching wrestling again and this book has given me an even better idea of what's going on behind the scene. He dishes the dirt on some of the wrestler's he's come across- Hogan, Flair, Lex Luger, Savage, etc... Bischoff took chances and rose to the top of WCW. You'll look at this guy much differently after reading this book and appreciate what he accomplished in the wonderful, unpredictable and exciting world of wrestling we watch. Thanks Eric.
  
  
• Riveting reading
  By ATRE74IRY940K on 2007-05-23
  This book is fantastic. I read it in a period of about 7 hours, carried over two days which is rare for me. I am inclined to agree with reviews I've read from actual journalists who say that if you read anything bad about this book, it likely comes from the "dirtsheet" writers on the internet (or those who buy into them), who Bischoff spends a great deal of time lambasting, and deservedly so. I can't tell you how pissed off I get when I read something on the internet that is passed off as fact or a "scoop" pertaining to wrestling and it doesn't happen, which is why I no longer read them...much.
  
  It is not until toward the book's end that Bischoff starts sucking up to McMahon. But seeing as the book was written while he worked for McMahon you had to expect some of that. It features some remarkably candid criticism of McMahon up to that point. Of course, most people (or should I again say, those dirtsheet writers who feel upset at being called out), will probably say something like, "oh, well, all the criticism of McMahon in the book was staged, too". Maybe, maybe not. I am inclined to think the balance is legitimate.
  
  If you can get past your skepticism (as I did) relating to the fact that this was published by WWE, or the fact that of the numerous typographical errors (which in my opinion is the ONLY flaw in the book...blame co-writer Jeremy Roberts and some bad editing and it's very easy to overlook. I mean, if typos were the only thing wrong with the dirtsheets and internet newsletters...), only one of them really makes you do a double-take (if you know who they are talking about, why be hung up on poor editing?), you can take this for what it is, an enjoyable trip down wrestling's memory lane of the last 15 years as told by someone who was a major part of it. And another indictment of how badly corporate mergers and conglomerations can mess up success. With the bonus of some additional insight into the behind-the-scenes workings. I am not naive enough to think everything here is true, and I wasn't expecting a "tell all" since quite frankly I had forgotten (if I ever knew) this book existed until doing a search for "The Hardcore Diaries". But I am glad I (re)discovered it and read it. Yes, a much more explosive tell-all by Bischoff will be nice if it ever happens. But as it stands this is still very informative and entertaining.
  
  
  

• The Hardcore Diaries
• A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex
• The Death of WCW: WrestleCrap and Figure Four Weekly Present . . . (WrestleCrap series)
• Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story (WWE)
• Batista Unleashed