WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff recently spoke on his podcast, “83 Weeks,” about a variety of professional wrestling topics including if he thinks Bryan Danielson could book Collision:
“I am excited about the potential for sure. I don’t know Bryan Danielson at all. We’ve probably had brief conversations occasionally over the course of the years, especially when I was back there (WWE) for a minute in 2019, but here’s what I do know. I’ve watched his work. I watched him in the ring. I’m very impressed with him, but what I’m most excited about not so much as a performer, I think Bryan Danielson is knocking on the door of the end of his career, just age, injuries, all of the above, but I don’t think that’s where his real value is either.”
“When I was working in WWE back in 2019, and I hope I’m not speaking out of school here. I don’t think I am because I’m doing it as respectfully as possible, but I know that Vince McMahon was very impressed with Bryan Danielson, his creative, his psychology, and I know that there was some conversation. I don’t know how serious it was at the time. Vince mentioned to me that he was possibly interested in bringing in Bryan Danielson to be very involved in the creative side of things. Vince is a pretty bright guy and you can say whatever you want about him, but I think that suggests that there is a lot of great potential there.”
“I think if there’s anything that’s truly missing that can move the needle in the right direction over the course of the next six to 12 months, it’s going to be creative. It’s not going to be anything else. I want to come back to Edge just in just a little bit, but there are no more big names, very few, maybe Edge is it, that you’re going to be able to bring in that could potentially move the needle, but as we’ve seen in AEW, even when you bring those people in, it doesn’t really move the needle because the creative isn’t coming with them. The brand value is, the equity is, the audience familiarity is, but they get to AEW and they go flat and there in the witness protection program before you know it.”
“It doesn’t matter, but I think if Bryan Danielson, or anybody else, but let’s talk about Bryan. If Vince’s instincts were accurate, and I don’t know why it didn’t work out. I really don’t. Vince never shared that with me, but I know there was interest there because I had the conversation with Vince myself, and that suggests to me that Vince saw a lot in Bryan creatively. I think if that potential exists, Bryan Danielson is three or four or five or 10 times more valuable to Tony writing, overseeing the creative of AEW whether it’s just for Collision or ultimately all of the shows because that’s not Tony’s strength. Tony wants it to be his strength. He wants to convince people it’s his strength. It’s not. His creative, his booking, has not been, in the history of AEW, I hear people say history. The company is 48 months old, barely, but it’s still the history like it’s been around for 50 years. In the amount of time that AEW has been with us, 48 months or 46 months, whatever it is, creative is not their strong suit. Have they had some great matches, but that’s not the same thing as great creative, is it? It’s just a great match.”
“That is where the potential upside is long term for AEW. That’s the breath of fresh air, frankly, that AEW needs and if I were Tony, I would give that Collision show to Bryan, not just be my right hand man and let him bounce ideas off, give it to him. Say, ‘Here you go. Here’s your notepad. Here’s your computer. Here’s a pen. Here’s an office. Call me when you got a show ready’, and then go over it and go through it, and learn, and understand, and get an idea of a different kind of creative process or creative perspective than Tony currently has, either because he’s doing it all himself or because of the people he currently has around him, whatever the case is, but give that thing to Bryan. Let’s see what he can do, and if he does what we all would hope he could do and prove that there is a better way to approach creative, then bring him into Dynamite and let him have a voice there as well. Maybe not the voice but a voice because it’s the creative that is the opportunity for Tony right now. It’s not bringing in Edge. It’s not bringing in anybody because that doesn’t matter and that’s been proven over and over and over again.”
You can check out the complete podcast below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
