Former WWE SmackDown Executive Director Eric Bischoff recently discussed what is now being billed as ‘Black Wednesday.’ WWE released a significant number of on-air and backstage talent earlier this week and Bischoff would weigh in on the situation for the After 83 Weeks w/ Christy Olson podcast.
Eric Bischoff on Released Talents
“Like most people? My thoughts go out and to some degree my heart because some of these people I know. And some I know quite well and have worked with and I’m friends with” Eric Bischoff began on the released and furloughed talent. “But many of them I don’t know, nonetheless you can’t help but feel bad for them. You know professional wrestling is not like any other business, really. Maybe you could draw some parallels in professional sports? But so many of the talent that get into professional wrestling get in at a very young age. Either in lieu of college or right after college. They spent 5, 10, 15, 20 years in the industry? I think reading some of the social media posts by some of the individuals let go? Some of them have been with WWE for 10 years 15 years or more.”
Transitioning To Another Industry?
Eric Bischoff would then discuss how it may be difficult for some of the performers to transition into another role in another industry. “It’s not easy to pickup and apply those job skills that you’ve acquired, perfected over the last decade or more to another line of work” Bischoff stated. “So it can be shocking anytime you get let go. I guess I can speak from experience right!? Anytime you get let go, it’s a little bit of a shock to the system and you’re kind of dazed and confused and wondering what’s going to happen next. But a lot of that talent, a lot of them if not all the talent? They wouldn’t have been there if they didn’t have a high degree of skill, talents and abilities.”
Drake Maverick
When the news broke on Wednesday 15th released talent Drake Maverick posted an emotional video on Twitter acknowledging his departure from WWE. As you can see above, Eric Bischoff responded to the British Superstar, and he referenced this on the podcast. “I said this to Drake Maverick actually in a post not too long ago. Take the opportunity to just reflect a little bit. Recharge and just get ready to return stronger than ever. Take advantage of the time off to heal up if you’ve been on the road a lot over the last year or two, or 10. Think about your career. Think about your character, think about some new ways that you can modify and evolve that character to make it even more entertaining. Take an acting class online, you don’t even have to take a class in person. Learn how to write comedy, learn how to do anything other than things you already know to to help improve your ability. To be entertaining when we all come out of this pandemic, and we will.”
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