WWE Hall of Famer and former WCW President Eric Bischoff discussed multiple topics with Action Network, including why he has been outspoken and critical of Tony Khan and AEW.
Bischoff said, “Tony likes to compare himself to me and to WCW, but he hasn’t gotten to the part yet where he’s actually changed the industry or defeated his competition in head-to-head ratings. He [Tony] likes to draw a lot of parallels to himself or WCW or Eric Bischoff, but they’re really not appropriate. And the real reason I’ve been vocal about Tony and AEW, and Tony knows this, I’ve talked about this, is that Tony came out on national television and was very disrespectful, in my opinion, to Ted Turner. The guy whose name is still on the door at Turner Broadcasting, where Tony airs his show. And Tony made some ridiculous comment to the effect of, ‘If Ted Turner knew 1% about professional wrestling as I do, WCW would still be around.’”
On how Tony Khan has no understanding of the pro wrestling business and since he has the benefit of a couple of million dollars behind him, he doesn’t really need to worry about the financial performance of his product:
“It was such a profoundly stupid thing to say that it made me lose respect for Tony. It also indicated to me that Tony doesn’t really understand the business he’s in. Tony has the benefit of having a couple of billion dollars behind him. He doesn’t really need to worry about performance from a revenue perspective, because he’s not really accountable to anybody. He’s spending his own money. And he’s got a lot of it to spend.”
On how he has always wanted AEW to succeed, but for that Khan needs to tell actual stories and develop interesting characters:
“He makes no bones about it. This is his hobby. Some people play golf. Some people have wrestling companies. But to be disrespectful to someone like Ted Turner while you’ve got a show on his network, to me, just told me everything I needed to know about Tony, and look, I’m critical, I want it to succeed, and I know people have a hard time believing that. But I’ve been critical because I wanted it to succeed. I’ve pointed out that they need to actually tell real stories, not cosplay wrestling journalist stories, but actual real stories with real structure, with real stakes, with real arcs to those stories, and real payoffs to those stories. The characters have to be interesting; there needs to be some depth to these characters. They can’t all look like they just showed up at the Jiffy Lube Oil Change Center, so you can change your oil for $29.95. I mean, you actually have to look like a star for people to perceive you to be a star.”
On how he believes AEW’s shows will not attract more than 100,000 viewers in one year’s time:
“So there’s just so many basic, fundamental things that are lacking from the AEW show, which is why, over a year and a half ago, I predicted, with uncanny freaking accuracy, exactly where the ratings for AEW would be today. Over a year and a half ago, I predicted it, and guess what? I’m right on the money. And it’s not because I’m that smart; it’s just because I understand the business, I see the trends, I see what’s missing, and I can tell you within probably 100,000 viewers what the ratings are going to be a year from now.”
On how he has so much respect for John Cena:
“I like John a lot. I have so much respect for John. I don’t know John really well; I don’t want to give the impression that we’re close friends. We’re friends. We exchange texts every once in a while. If I see him, I’m certainly happy to see him, and things like that, but I’m not close to him. But I have so much respect for him. John Cena, right now, is achieving something that very few performers ever get a chance to do, and that’s that he’s writing the last sentence of his story in professional wrestling. He gets to write the last sentence. He gets to put the period at the end of that sentence. And he gets to close that book and be proud of what he’s done. That’s such an accomplishment, and I’m so happy that John is experiencing that. He deserves to experience that. He’s worked so hard. He’s sacrificed so much. In ways that, you know, some we know about, ways we’ll never know about. He’s had to sacrifice.”
On who could possibly replace Cena as the face of WWE:
“Bron Breakker [will replace John Cena as the biggest star] because of the discipline, the athleticism, and that elusive thing that you’re either born with or you’re not: charisma. He’s got it all.”
