Former WCW President Eric Bischoff said that Ted Turner changed his life and the lives of his children while appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show today following the news of Turner’s passing.

He said thousands of people who just like him, got to work at Turner Broadcasting, got opportunities, got to grow, and got to pursue their careers because of the entrepreneurial, groundbreaking vision that Ted Turner had.

“When Ted said to me, ‘Eric, go compete,’ I had no idea how to do it. I literally sat down and made a list of all the things that they do, I’m going to do as many of them as differently as I can,” Bischoff said. “Had Nitro not come along, had I not gone weekly, had I not shifted the focus and changed the creative to address the 18-49 year old demo, Vince would have been stuck in the mud doing what he’d always done, and he wouldn’t be in business today.”

Ric Flair also reacted to the news, having spent several years of his career working for Turner in WCW.

“So sorry to hear about the passing of the great Ted Turner! The man that created cable before cable was cool,” Flair wrote on X. “On top of all of that, he created so many opportunities for so many wrestlers because of his love for wrestling. Rest in peace my friend! Thank you for the memorable personal times that we spent together.”