WWE Hall of Famer and former WCW President Eric Bischoff discussed various topics on an episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, including WWE’s reduction of live events and his thoughts on the house show model.
Bischoff said, “It should have been done 10 years ago or more. No maybe not 10, certainly five years ago. First, let me back up. Vince was right. One of the reasons WWE became WWE — and WCW became WCW to a lesser extent — was because professional wrestling was the only form of popular entertainment on weekly TV — episodic television technically — where the stars of those shows would actually come to your local community, especially in smaller markets. And it’s no different — I think all of us have experienced this. I’ll speak for myself… Fleetwood Mac. I was never a Fleetwood Mac fan in the ’70s or the ’80s. I didn’t care for their music. But then I went to a concert. I named my dog Stevie after Stevie Nicks and when that dog died, I named my next dog Nikki after Stevie Nicks. I’m a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, but only because I went to their concert. Experiencing something live, you get a different connection to it. It’s one of the reasons I believe — and I think Vince would agree, or people who think like Vince — that this connection to your audience is one of the reasons why professional wrestling has existed on television since the very beginning of television time. Because it has the unique ability to engage and connect with your audience in a way no other form of entertainment does. So, Vince was right.”
On the business changing:
“But I think what’s happened — just evolution. Business, the world — The cost of doing those shows now is getting really, really expensive. Travel costs are off the charts; when I look at my plane tickets for my recent travel over the last three weeks, it blows my mind how expensive it’s become. So I think between the cost of house shows — and there’s not that much margin in it. And oh yeah, there’s a good amount of risk in it. Financially it just doesn’t make any sense anymore. And it actually hasn’t made sense probably for six to eight years. When I was in WWE in 2019, I sat in on a live events meeting. It was ugly. Like, ‘What the hell are we doing this for?’ ugly. And no solution. There was no — now, I wasn’t involved in that side of the business, I just happened to be in that meeting. But listening to some of the smartest guys in the room shrugging their shoulders. That side of the business model has been dead for six to eight years now.”
On the downside of cutting back on events:
“Now, here’s the downside. Reps. Injuries. And everybody will say, ‘Well, hold on Eric. If you’re wrestling less, there’s less chance to get injured.’ On paper, that makes sense. Here’s the reality: the less you work, the more likely it is you’re going to get hurt. Working three, four, or five days a week keeps you in condition for professional wrestling as we know it, which is a lot of impact on your body. You’re absorbing a lot of impact for 12, 14, 18, 20 minutes. You’re putting your body through a lot of trauma that the average person — if you tried to get through it and did, you’d wish you didn’t the next morning. But wrestlers can do it night after night because they do it night after night. And the chances of getting hurt is much less when you’re frequently in the ring exposing yourself to that kind of impact; you get in shape for it. I’m not telling you this from personal experience, I’m telling you this from multiple conversations with people that had done it both ways. with people who have done it both ways. So, that is also kind of a risk.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
