Over the weekend, luchador Silver King tragically passed away after collapsing in the ring during a Lucha Libre World show in London, England.
Silver King was best known by American fans for his four-year run in World Championship Wrestling where he helped bring the Lucha Libre style to a larger audience in the United States. Speaking to TMZ, former WCW President Eric Bischoff discussed Silver King's influence on WCW.
"From my perspective, the luchadors were such a vital part of WCW Nitro and they never really got the credit. Fans should know that Silver King and a lot of luchadors were way more responsible for the success of Nitro, and the ability to out-perform WWE, than they were given credit for, including by me," said Bischoff. "What I hope is that Silver King and other luchadors are recognized for breaking through and being the catalyst for a pop culture kind of phenomenon in the United States that everybody is familiar with. 25 years ago, outside of California, nobody knew what lucha libre was. I'd like Silver King to be recognized for that. He was one of those people that, when you saw him backstage, he always had a smile on his face. He was always happy being right where he was, around his peers and in wrestling."
You can view the entire interview between Bischoff and TMZ in the video above.
