Eric Bischoff Reveals “One Of The Only Times” He Influenced A WWE Script During His First Run

On December 5th, 2005, Eric Bischoff was fired on Monday Night Raw as the General Manager and thrown out of the arena in a garbage truck. The show included a trial to decide whether Bischoff should keep his job or not, which resulted in John Cena giving him an Attitude Adjustment and Vince McMahon firing him.

On the latest episode of the 83 Weeks Podcast, Eric Bischoff talked about being fired live on RAW in 2005, and how it felt to be thrown in a garbage truck. Bischoff actually said he loved the idea and thought it was the perfect way to tie a bow on his career in WWE and the wrestling business at the time.

“Absolutely not, I loved this idea,” Bischoff said. “It was time. I was bored with my performances because they were redundant, they were the same thing over and over again. I wanted to go out in a memorable way, I wanted it to be positive in terms of what it contributed [to the business].”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing as TNA back in the day. I didn’t know there would be something called AEW back then, so, for me in my mind, this was it. This was going to be the last time I’m ever going to be in front of a camera. It was so important to me for it to be the absolute best performance I was capable of giving.”

Bischoff also mentioned the original script for the ending having John Cena be the one to put him into the garbage truck and drive off. He said as good as that ending sounded, Cena wasn’t the right fit for that role.

“I looked at the script and it was different,” Bischoff said. “It was one of the only times in WWE that I ever picked up the phone and said, ‘Hey, I got a different idea for this – would you be willing to listen to it?’ It was the finish, it was the garbage truck scene.”

Bischoff continued to say that the decision to call and have the script change occur was because in his mind, Vince and him being the lasting image was a better move. He also said Vince completely agreed with him when he called, and made sure that change was made for the show’s ending.

“I had no idea what the future was going to hold, but in my mind, this was the last time I was ever going to appear in WWE,” Bischoff said. “I thought the beginning of my story in WWE didn’t start in WWE, it started in WCW. The reason I ended up in WWE is because of that story in WCW and the battle between Vince McMahon and I. I thought, if we’re going to end this story, let’s let the end hang on the beginning. And that beginning is Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon.

“As cool as it would have been as a moment for John Cena, it wouldn’t have been that valuable for John Cena. That was the decision I made. I called Vince and said, ‘Maybe it would be better if it was you, Vince, that took me off and threw me in a dump truck and took off. That way the beginning of my story in WWE and end made more sense.’ And that’s the way it ended, and I thought it was perfect.”

Bischoff continued to stress the fact that he felt his career was truly over after this night in 2005. He also mentioned that nobody came to him and thanked him for his time with the company. Bischoff described what happened right after he left the garbage truck and left the arena.

“I really believed this was the end of my career and I was fine with it,” Bischoff said. “Vince got out about the same time they pulled me out the compactor. I crawled out of the truck, and I looked over at Vince and he looked back at me. He gave me a thumbs up and I went back, got my bag, and that was it. I didn’t say goodbye to anybody, I didn’t go hug anybody, I didn’t shake anybody’s hands. Not because I was angry, just because I thought this is it. It’s been a fun ride.

“Nobody said goodbye, nobody came to pat me on the back. Not that I needed it, but I think it would’ve been what one would expect. But it didn’t bother me – I just felt like I did it, I accomplished exactly what I set out to accomplish. I didn’t even really think about what didn’t happen ’til just now.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to PWrestling.com for the transcription.