Eric Bischoff Recalls "Hostile" ECW One Night Stand Crowd

WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff has recalled the 'hostile' environment he faced at the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view in 2005. 

Reflecting on the experience of performing in front of the rabid Hammerstein Ballroom crowd during a recent edition of the 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff said: 

"It was legitimately a little hostile. It was kind of fun walking through that crowd. When you could feel the heat, that's pretty cool, and I could feel that heat. I think because of the environment – it was a smaller setting, the acoustics were off-the-charts cool. That might have been some of the most intense that I felt, even though it was a smaller crowd. 

"It felt real because you're so close to it. Literally, people could have reached out and punched me. They would have had multiple opportunities for that, so that was pretty cool. I got caught up in it. I wanted my role in this show, however big of small, to fulfill the audience's desire. They wanted to see me get my ass kicked, and I couldn't wait to do it".

Bischoff was acting Raw General Manager at the time and led a team of unwelcome WWE 'invaders', including JBL and Kurt Angle, to disrupt the event, resulting in a memorable show-closing brawl where Easy E ended up taking several finishing moves. 

As the former Senior Vice President of rival World Championship Wrestling during the Monday Night Wars, Bischoff was a natural enemy for the ECW fan base.

H/T 411mania.com