During a recent episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff addressed the rumors that there are problems behind the scenes in AEW. He believes that the problems stem from AEW President Tony Khan’s inability to effectively lead the company. Here are the highlights:
The backstage issues in AEW:
“There’s a lack of leadership, there’s a lack of direction. And it does feel that way [as it did in WCW], doesn’t it? There was a lack of leadership during that time in late ’98 or ’99, in particular. I have admitted so many times that I was burnt. I was tired of fighting a fight I knew I wasn’t going to win. I disengaged. Forget about the high school drama, he said, she said. Body shaming? This is just getting stupid now. This is like junior high shit. That stuff, I don’t even pay attention to it. When I hear it or see it, I hope this is a work or it’s gonna lead to something that’s gonna be really entertaining. Otherwise, it’s just really juvenile shit and it’s hard for me to pay attention to.”
Khan’s handling of Cody Rhodes and the MJF situation:
“Let’s look at the last six or eight months in AEW and the lack of leadership. Cody Rhodes, pretty integral part of AEW, pretty valuable asset within AEW. For whatever reason, he’s no longer there. Haven’t heard a lot of details and I don’t talk to Cody and wouldn’t ask Cody because it’s none of my business. But just look at the pattern – step back and look at fact patterns. Tony Khan and Cody Rhodes, couldn’t see eye to eye, Cody’s gone. The MJF situation, which is still inexplicable to me and I still keep hoping that this is all gonna lead to something really fun and interesting. But as every television show goes by without there being any reference or connection to MJF, the more time that goes by, the less effective an MJF storyline is gonna be in my opinion. Not saying it couldn’t be successful, but I haven’t seen anything in AEW creatively that makes me think someone is really thinking ahead strategically and creatively. Cody couldn’t see eye to eye with Tony, MJF couldn’t see eye to eye with management, and now you’ve got all this nonsense. For a guy who wasn’t gonna make the same mistakes WCW made, he’s compounding them.”
You can listen to the complete podcast below:
(h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription)
