TNA’s Eric Bischoff was one of the featured guests on this week’s live edition (03/07/11) of the award-winning Monday Night Mayhem.
Eric Bischoff Reacts To Bret Hart’s Twitter Remarks Directed At Him & Hulk Hogan, Discusses What TNA Can Do To Not Fall Into The Shadow Of WrestleMania XXVII, Why He Was “Surprised” When He Saw The “3.3.11” Vignette On TNA iMPACT, The Positives He Took From TNA’s iMPACT Tapings In Fayetteville, The Reaction From Spike TV To Last Thursday’s iMPACT, What He Feels That Sting Has Left To Offer TNA At This Point In Time In His Career, His Response To Those That Question TNA’s Use Of Incorporating The Stars Of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” Into Their Programming, Why Matt Morgan’s Chances At Seeing The TNA World Title Are “As Good Or Better Than Anyone In TNA Wrestling,” Jimmy Hart’s Decision To Leave TNA & Return To The WWE, His Own Personal Assessment Of Involving Family (Especially The Use Of Children) In Wrestling Storylines, How The Concept Of truTV’s “Micro Championship Wrestling” Came About, The Importance Of Establishing Credibility As “An Entertainment Product” In Helping TNA Get To The Next Level, Plus Much More In The Return Of “The Hot Seat With Eric Bischoff” (Flavored By Sizzlin Sauces)
You can listen to an MP3 of the interview by clicking here.
Interview highlights courtesy of The Mayhem’s official correspondent, Paterson from New Jersey:
The positives that he took from the recent TNA iMPACT tapings in Fayetteville, NC & the importance of establishing credibility as “an entertainment product” in helping TNA get to the next level: “Any number of them really, but overall, one of the things I was most excited about (both being there and also watching it on television) was just the energy that a broadcast from a venue with a large crowd, a traditional type of crowd, and not a soundstage crowd, had. The difference in the energy, and the vibe, and the feel of the entire show was completely different than what we’re used to. I think that episode proved what I’ve been saying here on ‘The Hot Seat’ for the last six or seven months, in that for TNA to get to the next level, we have to find a way to get our show out in the arenas, so that we could have the credibility. I don’t mean wrestling credibility per se, I mean the credibility as an entertainment product, so that people at home watching the show feel that energy, and it translates and gives us credibility as an event.”
The thought process behind TNA using the 3.3.11 vignettes for Sting’s TNA return just weeks after the WWE first starting airing similar vignettes to build The Undertaker’s WWE return on 2.21.11: “I had nothing to do with this, so I can’t give you any insight. I was rather surprised to be honest with you when I saw it. I won’t go into any deeper than that.”
His reaction to the comments made by Bret Hart on Twitter this past week that were directed at both Hulk Hogan & himself: “I didn’t read any harsh words from Hulk Hogan. I was certainly made away of some of the comments by Bret Hart that were pretty harsh & negative. It’s really funny, I actually picked Bret Hart up at the airport when he was on a flight to Los Angeles when Owen died, and I was the first person to meet him at the airport. Bret actually heard about the death of Owen while he was on the plane. I was the first person to meet Bret at the airport and consoled him as best I could. I developed a pretty good relationship with Bret. I feel sad for Bret, because Bret is one of those people, and there are a lot of them, he’s the type of person that needs someone to hate in order to feel significant himself.”
What he believes that TNA can do not to fall into the shadow of WrestleMania XXVII: “It’s hard, because WrestleMania is such a big event. It’s been around so long. It gets a lot of mainstream media attention, and fans from all over the world are thinking about WrestleMania. I think it would be silly for TNA to try & compete against that kind of awareness, because we don’t have the resources. With that being said, I think if we continue doing what we’ve been doing, which is building momentum, we can continue to fine tune our presentation if we continue to find an edge, and put that edge on our product, and keep the audience engaged, and do things to keep them interested, and try our best. We just have to do our best to continue putting out the product we have been producing, and when WrestleMania is over, hopefully we would have gained even more momentum, more loyalty, & interest in our product.”
