It will be a long time before the pro wrestling world will see anyone like Bray Wyatt again.
Eric Bischoff made this point while discussing the passing of Windham Rotunda, as well as his thoughts on WWE’s new licensing deal with the NFL, on his “Strictly Business” podcast.
Featured below are some of the highlights.
On Bray Wyatt’s passing: “What the family’s going through. I cannot put myself in their shoes. I can’t do that. It hurts too much, to be honest, to try. And I pray for them: Mike Rotunda and the rest of his team. I don’t know Mike that well. We worked together briefly, and I had nothing but respect for him as a pro, but as a human being, I can’t fathom, and all I can do is say a prayer. You know, I didn’t, I didn’t. I didn’t get to know Bray was obviously in WWE for that cup of coffee I had there in 2019. But I didn’t work with Bray. Not too many people did. He had his team and a small team of people that he worked very closely with On the creative. I would hear about it, but I never got it. I never even got to be a fly on the wall, and my loss. Everybody I’ve talked to and read posted so much great stuff about Bray. Who knew him? He was an extraordinary person and the creativity that manifests as a result of his gifts. I don’t think we’ll see anything like that in a long time because it was special. It was real for him, and special; he touched people with it. And you wouldn’t think that would you? You know, because it’s as if you just like if you’d never heard of professional wrestling and you’re completely outside of the culture, and you get dropped down by UFO or whatever they’re calling them now. And you were plopped down in front of a television. You saw that character. You wouldn’t think that that was a character, just visually speaking, that would touch people the way it did. But it did. I wish I would have gotten to know him. It’s my loss.”
On WWE’s licensing deal with the NFL: “This is the kind of move that can affect the business overall. I feel that way, and I’m glad you agree because one more door is coming down, one more big high-profile step. It’s a marriage between WWE and the NFL. It will make it a lot easier for potential advertisers and sponsors to get really comfortable. Absolute comfort that affects business. And to WWE, again, they’re breaking down to term breaking down barriers. I hear that all the time. Most people don’t know what they’re discussing, but this is another example. Is it a barrier? No. Is mainstreaming WWE that much better now as a result of this deal? Yes. And by becoming more mainstream, it opens the door to other sponsors and advertisers, which will affect the business both for WWE and AEW.”
Check out the complete episode of the show via the YouTube player embedded below. H/T to WrestlingHeadlines.com for transcribing the above quotes.
