WWE Hall of Famer and former WCW President Eric Bischoff took on an episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, where he talked about a number of topics including Vince McMahon’s plans to launch an entertainment company.
Bischoff said, “I’ve been sitting on this one. I’ve been sitting on it, and I don’t like spreading rumors. I don’t like being the one that breaks something if it’s not a 100% thing. So I’m glad somebody else came out… So yeah, when I heard it my reaction was, ‘Okay, but why?’ It’s going to be really tough for — I mean, look [at] Harvey Weinstein. And I don’t mean to compare the two cases or even the two individuals, but it’s the same general kind of thing, right? It’s people’s reaction to that type of controversy is not good. And I just can’t imagine there’s going to be a lot of people who are interested in going into business with Vince McMahon at this point. Because of the backlash it would create. You don’t even have to be very astute when it comes to business, public relations, or current events to understand that — you know, you’ve got advertisers that will react. You’ve got a large part of the audience that’s going to be very vocal. And just a s**tshow of disaster. So I can’t imagine how that’s going to work. Maybe there’s a way, maybe I’m dead wrong. Maybe there are people out there who just don’t care. I do know that — or I do believe, I should say — that Vince has purchased a bunch of property in Santa Monica, some studio space. Santa Monica is not a cheap place to buy property. So if that’s true and this is a kind of long-term play. You know, he’s not renting studio space if he’s buying property. Again, that’s what I’ve been led to believe. I don’t think it’s confirmed anywhere, so don’t take it to the bank. But yeah, he’s making the move. Also, I understand that there’s nothing really going on right now. There’s a project that sounds something like another version of the Monday Night Wars, I guess. Again, I don’t know who’d be interested in that or how he’d put it together, but whatever. More power to him. You know, that’s the thing, a guy like Vince — I don’t even know how old he is now. [He’s] 84, 86, whatever. He’s just not going to stop. He will die trying to get back into the business again.”
On whether he thinks McMahon will try to get back into wrestling:
“Based on what I think I understand, it’s not really wrestling. It’s broader. And I don’t want to say too much more about like, ‘it’s a big secret.’ But I just know this is so speculative with this, I don’t want to add any more meat or put any more meat on the bone…. Again, I don’t want to suggest I know Vince very well at all. My impression of him, based on the little bit of time that I spent with him. He is just so profoundly driven in ways that most of us can’t understand that I just don’t think he has — his brain doesn’t function like everybody else’s brain. You know, relaxing, going on a long vacation, experiencing things that you haven’t experienced in your life because you’ve constantly been working and grinding. It’s just not Vince. He’s going to work until the day he drops dead. But I don’t think he’s interested in getting back into wrestling. I think he wants to stay in the entertainment business.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
