Last month, Eric Bischoff toasted the NWO’s 29th anniversary.
Today, he continues to build an entirely new career.
Bischoff, a longtime wrestling executive and founder of the industry-changing NWO, is now a mortgage lender, a job he’s been getting certified for the past three years that allows him to reconnect with wrestling fans on a more personal level.
“Wrestling comes up a lot in my commentaries,” Bischoff said. “Wrestling has allowed me to extend my career as a wrestler.”
There are plenty of highlight reels of Bischoff already. The former president of WCW played a memorable role in the NWO. His success carried over to WWE, where he was able to have on-air interactions with Vince McMahon, something that wasn’t possible during the height of the “Monday Night Wars.” He worked primarily with TNA, where he never reached the same level, but he has been a presence in the wrestling world since the 1990s.
Now, at 69, Bischoff is adding new pieces to his repertoire. It’s no exaggeration to say that this is the brilliance behind Bischoff’s success. His entrepreneurial spirit has prepared him for new adventures, the latest of which is a piece designed by Conrad Thompson.
Thompson has made his living in the mortgage industry for the past 20 years, assembling a talented team and building Save with Conrad into a driving force, but it’s his foray into the world of professional wrestling, primarily through his podcast, that has put his company in the brightest spotlight.
Thompson brought these two worlds together when he brought Bischoff on board for his podcast series, “83 Weeks.”
“Eric knew I worked with mortgages and was looking to refinance,” Thompson says. “We went at it, we came up with a plan and we found a way to help him, in his words, change his life.”
“When we did our podcast together, he was gushing over how I’d saved him so much money, and that’s when Eric became obsessed with the idea of helping people in a similar way.”
Four years ago, Thompson and his wife were hosting a Christmas party for their podcast team, which led to a conversation with Bischoff about refinancing, and the conversation took an unexpected turn.
“Eric said to me, ‘What if I did it?'” Thompson said. “I was amazed. There are classes, there are exams you have to pass, and the failure rate is high, and a lot of people give up when they find out what it means. To my surprise, Eric took the class, scheduled the exam, and got his license. He didn’t want anyone to know. He just wanted to learn. I think he liked the idea of helping people, and it’s also his way of giving back to wrestling fans.”
Thompson hired Bischoff as a mortgage loan officer, and he won the support of his colleagues with his passion and enthusiastic approach.
“He’s not doing this to make a living, he’s doing it because he wants to,” Thompson said. “I know he played a bad guy on TV, but that’s TV. This is reality, and the real Eric Bischoff is passionate and motivated to help people.”
Bischoff has always welcomed the opportunity to work, and growing up in Michigan he watched his parents provide for the family after his father became paralyzed in the early ’60s and his mother shouldered the financial burden.
“It really hurt my father’s pride, especially since many wives didn’t work at that time,” Bischoff says. “My mother worked incredibly hard, and that’s how I grew up until I was 17. Some people think of me as a ‘salaryman,’ but that’s only a small part of my life.”
“My whole life has been blue-collar since I was a kid growing up in lower-middle class Detroit. I don’t think I’ve changed much in that respect. I’ve just had a much broader range of experiences.”
Sixty years ago, at age 9, Bischoff got his first job: doing odd jobs at a local corner store, reaching into the cash register with one hand to grab as many coins as he could.
“Work has been my driving force since I was a little kid,” Bischoff says. “If you put in the work, you get paid. That’s what motivated me.”
His hard work and determination earned him positions he never imagined, including the pinnacle of World Championship Wrestling, where in 1994 he achieved the unimaginable feat of luring WWE regular Hulk Hogan to WCW.
Hogan and Bischoff will always be linked together after their successful years together in WCW.
“Eric caught my eye a long time ago,” Hogan said. “Looking back, there was a time in the ’90s when I almost didn’t want to have anything to do with wrestling because of the steroid trials. Eric was the one who made me realize I wasn’t done. He was honest and genuine from the moment we met and someone I truly value as a friend.”
The two remain close to this day, with Hogan following Bischoff’s success.
“Eric is a deal professional and very creative,” Hogan says, “so when it comes to mortgage brokerage, he makes perfect sense. He creatively structures deals that are fair for everyone, especially in this economy. He’s very spirited and a good guy. I’m very proud to say he’s my friend.”
The people Bischoff is reaching out to are those he knows well, with ads for “Save With Conrad” running across his podcast network to connect with wrestling fans, an audience that knows Bischoff very well.
“Just like getting into the wrestling business, this was purely by chance,” Bischoff said. “After 25 years on the road, I decided I wanted to spend more time at home. Going into the mortgage business allowed me to help people and I wouldn’t have to travel far to do it.”
Working out of his home office in Wyoming, the WWE Hall of Famer is reconnecting with wrestling’s roots in a grassroots way.
“It’s wrestling fans who respond to Conrad’s ads. When wrestling fans call about a new home or refinancing their mortgage, they know me,” Bischoff says. “They love taking my calls, and I love being able to help them. If I can save someone money every month just by looking at the big picture of their finances, that’s very rewarding. It made a really deep impression on me.”
Always with a positive attitude, Bischoff is eager to make a new impact on people, this time in the mortgage space.
“Put yourself in my shoes,” Bischoff says. “When I call someone about a mortgage, they’re already excited to talk, and the process of helping them achieve their goals begins. It’s not a job, it’s a joy. It’s an honor, and that makes it so easy to do my job.”
