419 Live

I want to start this off by saying two things: First, I don’t know Eric Bischoff personally, only his public persona. And second, based on his public persona, I don’t hate him. Based on the facts, he has had ups and downs like everyone else in the wrestling business, whether wearing a suit or a pair of tights.

That said, with his recent release from WWE as an executive producer, one which makes him an employee and therefore presumably subject to a 90 day no compete, some are asking the usual question.

Should Eric Bischoff join (insert company here)?

I write it that way because it’s the same exact question that has been asked about the silver fox of professional wrestling since he failed to purchase WCW in 2001. Currently, the question is, now that he’s free from the WWE (after his illustrious 4 month return), should Eric Bischoff join the fledgling All Elite Wrestling?

Let me start by saying this doesn’t come from a “I hate Eric Bischoff, he destroyed WCW rabble rabble internet” place. I’m saying this as someone who acknowledges both his positives and his negatives, his triumphs and his time in TNA.

If you listen to 83 Weeks (like I do), you get a better insight into Eric Bischoff and his motivations. He even admits when he made a mistake, created a dumb gimmick (cough Glacier), or backed down when he should have fought more. All in all, he’s a complex person like any of us, he just happens to have done some of his best and worst work under the scrutinizing eye of pro wrestling fans. But before I explain why I say no, let’s talk a little history.

Eric Bischoff in WCW

For years, three names were thrown around as possible saviors of the growing then struggling TNA: Jim Cornette, Paul Heyman, and Eric Bischoff. Heyman never debuted because he apparently told Dixie Carter something she didn’t like, but both Cornette and Bischoff would eventually make their way to the Impact Zone. While Cornette’s time there was tumultuous, as expected, little did we know that Bischoff’s (and Hogan’s) time would prove to be even more detrimental.

Eric Bischoff led WCW from a company on the brink of being sold off for scrap to a wrestling promotion that changed the industry and made Vince McMahon (shudder) change his mind. After he failed to purchase the Titanic…I mean WCW….either one, Bischoff basically retired to Wyoming and did whatever he did before Blue Chew came along.

Welcome to New York

Then, the WWE did the unthinkable, they hired Eric Bischoff. After hugging Vince McMahon and not immediately receiving a dagger between the shoulder blades, Bischoff’s role in WWE was fun, but of no real consequence. He was an onscreen authority figure, nothing more, nothing less. His run there was fine and he did well in his role, but the time came and Eric Bischoff went.

He went on to do random TV shows, from the excitement of seeing Screech wrestle to the sheer drama of whatever the hell happened to Scott Baio.

TNA Knocks

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, both he and the modern messiah of pro wrestling, Hulk Hogan debuted in TNA.

Their roles were ill-defined at best, they were…consultants?….bookers?…executives? It was never really clear, though Bischoff’s official title was Executive Producer. Matter of fact, their roles on TV were clearer than what they did behind the scenes. And that’s saying something for a company that once had 3 owners, an investor, and a commissioner figure, all of whom contradicted each other on a weekly basis.

Bischoff himself has said he had almost no influence on creative in WCW beyond major angles like the nWo. Creative was handled by the booking committee. He also didn’t book the matches, that was Kevin Sullivan, Kevin Nash, Ric Flair, or whoever the booker was at the time. He also didn’t book the match finishes, those came from either Sullivan or the agent of a particular match.

So what exactly did Eric Bischoff do in WCW? He was, after all, President of WCW. He was a “big picture” guy, the executive, the guy who came up with a big idea, justified it to people above him, then delegated it to those beneath him. And he was very good at that. He wasn’t a writer, he wasn’t a booker, he was an executive. And to be fair, he never claimed otherwise.

Under his direction, WCW had the most growth, the highest profits, and came within another King Mabel of bankrupting the WWF.

But what did he do in TNA?

What was he expected to do? Ya got me. He was supposed to…produce executively? In any other company, this role would have been well defined, but this was TNA, the company who couldn’t decide their name for a while there. All in all, Bischoff’s role in TNA was to be a name that harkened back to the glory days of WCW. But, through his seeming ineffectiveness and TNA being a zoo poorly managed by a mediocre tiger, his time there was regrettable for everyone involved.

He’s an executive, hes the big picture guy, and he’s great at it. No joke, I’m not going to bury him for playing that role well. Which is why when the WWE hired him to be the Executive Director of SmackDown heading into their move to FOX, I thought that was a great move.

He wouldn’t be expected to perform on TV. He wouldn’t be expected to be a creative head, a role he never held before. He wouldn’t even be tied to Hulk Hogan, which is actually a plus this time around. He could just be an executive. He didn’t even have to be the boss, just the sub-boss of this one show. But, for reasons I’m sure will come out as time passes, that wasn’t meant to be an Bischoff was let go in less time than a Ric Flair marriage.

So now the question is:

Should Eric Bischoff join AEW?

I have to say no. Like I said, I don’t hate Eric Bischoff. And, all things considered, he’s had more wins than losses in the pro wrestling industry. But just because he (almost) slayed the WWF goliath in the 90s doesn’t mean he’s still relevant 20+ years later. In some ways, and I’m sure he’d hate this analogy, I compare him to Vince Russo, someone who had his time in the industry, had great success, had a few failures (Russo had more, but I digress), but is now basically irrelevant in the same industry. For the same reason WWE cycles out agents/producers every couple of years, some people have their effectiveness, but then eventually outlive it. Without pretending to understand all the “inside baseball” nuances that I certainly don’t know, I’m sure there’s a reason Jack Lanza, Rene Goulet, and others aren’t agents any more. There’s no shame in having a great career on screen, helping others behind the scenes once you’re unable to keep going as a performer, then gracefully riding off into the sunset, so to speak.

Maybe Eric Bischoff has reached that point in his life. Maybe it’s time he move back to Wyoming, spend time with his family, and talk to Conrad once a week. Because, honestly, what would AEW use him for besides an onscreen call back to the other TNT wrestling show? I’m gonna go out on a limb and say they have executives, it’s clear they already have a few “big picture” guys, so what would Bischoff, the consummate executive offer the company? I’m not saying he has nothing to offer, but I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t be commensurate with the price tag he’d surely come with.

So maybe, just maybe it’s time for Eric Bischoff to leave the wrestling business behind once and for all. Not from defeat, not from bitterness, not from being driven out, but from just realizing his time has come and gone.

Then again, that’s just my opinion.