During the latest edition of his “83 Weeks” podcast, Eric Bischoff commented on his recent conversation with Tony Khan and whether he’s gained more respect for him, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On if his respect for Khan has changed after the discussion: “You know, I don’t know if it’s respect. I don’t know if I’d define my reaction or my increased interest in what Tony and the team in AEW are doing as respect. I never didn’t have any respect for them. But one of the things that I did walk away feeling almost immediately was the passion that Tony has for AEW. I’ve heard, I’ve seen, I’ve watched, I’ve been a part of [working with] people who are really smart people and successful in many different ways in many different businesses [who] get involved the professional wrestling business. And unless you have the passion for the industry. If you’re looking at the wrestling business just as a business, you’re in trouble because it’s such a unique industry, and it has its own unique culture. Even the fanbase is unique in many respects from a lot of other different properties. And the one thing I did walk away [with] was a real appreciation for a very high level of passion in Tony. And clearly he’s a very smart guy, he’s been very successful in business. His family has been very successful in business…I think what I walked away [with] was probably a feeling of, they’re far more likely to be successful than I possibly would’ve given them credit for being had I not had the opportunity to hear directly from Tony. And not hear hear from him and realize how smart he was; there was never any question of that. But hearing his real, genuine passion for the business probably impressed me more than anything.”
On if he expects to work for AEW in the future: “It doesn’t mean that I will, no. I mean, I haven’t talked to Tony since, I don’t expect I will any time in the near future unless we happen to cross paths, which is very unlikely. No, I just — look, here’s the deal. Conrad called me, texted me actually. And this whole thing came about very spontaneously. I think Tony reached out to Conrad, and said ‘Hey, this is what I’m doing, we’re raising some money for charity and you guys have a very successful podcast. Would you be interested, would Eric be interested?’ … and when Conrad reached out to me I said, ‘Oh, hell yeah! Why not? No harm, no foul. It will be fun.’. And it was fun. But that’s the extent of it. There’s no more — there’s nothing going on behind the scenes or anything like that. So I sincerely doubt it. “I don’t know what they would need me for. They’ve got a good team, they’re doing great. Tony’s having a blast producing the show. He’s surrounded by a lot of really talented people, so unless they just need a 65 year-old guy to have around and have fun with every once in a while, I’m not sure there’s a role for me there.”
(h/t – 411mania)
