WWE Hall of Famer and former WCW President Eric Bischoff took to an episode of his Strictly Business podcast, where he talked about a number of topics including AEW President and CEO Tony Khan taking shots at WWE on social media.
Bischoff said, “I think it damages the brand overall because it’s childish. It’s not really very entertaining. It’s not smart. It’s like your show. Not compelling. It’s embarrassing more than anything. It’s embarrassing. And I think fans are beginning to show goodwill. One of the things I talked about almost two years ago when I went on a rant similar to the one I’m on today was when Tony came in and showed up. There was so much goodwill; there were so many people, including me, while I was working for WWE, I was there. I watched their premiere episode from the WWE Writers Room in Stamford, Connecticut, and I’m cheering them on because I know and know that a competition like that can be good if it is good. But there was so much goodwill. Wrestling fans all over the world, really. We’re hungry for that alternative. WWE was pretty stale at the time. It was growing. The financials were great, stock was off the charts, and everything was great. But the product itself was flat and stale. And if you go back and listen to some of my criticisms before WWE hired me during my tenure in WWE on the podcast and subsequently, there was a sameness. I used to talk about this all the time. There’s a sameness to the WWE product. There was a sameness to the product where it felt like you were putting all of this great talent and everything else and production and all that. You’re putting it into this cookie dough machine, and you were cranking out WWE cookies and every one of them, while they were maybe a little different color, they all tasted the same. They all felt the same. It was a sameness to every single thing that you saw. And it created an appetite in me for an alternative product, much like it did the wrestling audience.”
AEW ruining the goodwill they have with their audience:
Bischoff said, “So there was so much goodwill that has been blown, frankly, by spending so much time, especially early on, taking shots at WWE when they weren’t really competing, they weren’t going head to head. But yet, there was this constant: it went from Tony all the way down to some of the talent, many of whom are friends of mine and for whom I have respect. But they’re all taking their shots at Vince McMahon and WWE and Triple H and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And now this. And if you’re going to look ironic coming from me, the guy that gave away their finishes, the guy that constantly called s**t stains, Dave Meltzer came up with something. He said, ‘Oh, you can’t believe it.’ You know, the call Tony called out, WWE and Eric did that and WCW fell off the charts after that. No, dipshit. I started calling out WWE. I hired Lex Luger out from underneath him and put him on my television. I was giving away their finishes. I was doing all kinds of in-your-face s**t, but I was actually going head-to-head. Tony has been on the sidelines taking cheap shots and the talent taking cheap shots without having the guts to really go head-to-head. And now that they finally have. Kind of sorta. They got spanked.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
