Produced in partnership with NITRO author Guy Evans, Grateful covers Bischoff's post 2006-career, including his WWE return, AEW involvement, TNA experience and much more.

Explore the unlikely journey that culminated in Bischoff's surprise induction into the WWE Hall of Fame!

Excerpt

Albuquerque, N.M., March 2016: I'm sitting in the back of a pickup truck in the parking lot of the Westside Community Center, waiting to make my appearance on an independent wrestling show. It took me about eight hours to drive here, but with only minutes to go before showtime, I'll be damned if anybody sees me now. To the promoter of tonight's event, I have repeated my feelings ad nauseum: just keep this thing a secret.

Don't tell anyone who doesn't need to know.

It's hard not to smile back here. The assembled crowd - perhaps a few hundred of them in total - clearly don't suspect a thing. As they excitedly file into the venue, it looks like some of the performers in tonight's show have blended in with them. The very idea of a similar scene occurring elsewhere - prior to an episode of WWE's Monday Night Raw, for example - makes my smile even wider.

One thing is for sure - the contrast between the two worlds is fascinating. This small venue - likely one of the more, ahem, affordable settings that the Destiny Wrestling Organization could get a hold of - doesn't have any of the trappings of a major arena. In fact, it's situated in an area that would never be confused with other, more affluent parts of town - and that's being kind.

Still, I'm here, and not by necessity, by the way - I'm here by choice.

----

Sitting in my truck, I think back to an event produced under entirely different circumstances; specifically, my on-screen debut with WWE, the industry leader, televised to millions some 14 years earlier. On that night, the reaction to my surprise appearance - immortalized forever on WWE television - would become almost as famous as the appearance itself. Memorably, and shockingly, it was Vince McMahon himself - once my bitter business rival during the previous decade - with whom I embraced on the stage at Continental Airlines Arena.

That rumbling beneath your feet, I told Vince as 17,000 fans became unglued, is a whole lot of people turning over in their graves.

My agreement then to sign with Vince, the Chairman and driving force of WWE, sent shockwaves throughout the entire wrestling world...

...But here on this night - right now in Albuquerque - the final few patrons are starting to shuffle in. I could be wrong, but it looks like one guy may have spotted me in my truck. I see him slowly turn back to enter the building, and that's enough for me - the time to wait is over. I glance left, glimpse right, and soon make an immediate beeline for the backdoor entrance.

One step inside, and my grin is incandescent: I'm in.

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