CM Punk is fed up with “old-head, bad-faith, bad-take, carny dipshits” who bury modern pro wrestling on their “ego podcasts.”

There are countless wrestling legends with podcasts and radio shows, including Eric Bischoff, Jim Cornette, Bully Ray, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Vince Russo, and Booker T, to name a few.

Punk was specifically replying to Eric Bischoff, who has been a vocal critic of AEW. On a recent episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff ranted about AEW’s storytelling. He feels that AEW caters to a small segment of the wrestling audience, which is hindering their growth.

Bischoff wrote on Twitter, “Better storytelling = Growth If AEW ever wants to get the other 900 fans in the room, they’ll need to stop booking for one small segment of the audience.”

• Jim Cornette Thinks AEW Had “Worst Segment Ever” On Wrestling TV

CM Punk Fed up

CM Punk is encouraging ‘wrestling Twitter’ to stop amplifying these legends.

“They had their moment in the sun. Let them die in the dark with their ego podcasts. Quote me.”

– CM Punk

You can watch a 2-minute clip of Bischof’s critique of AEW in the tweet embedded below, along with Punk’s full tweet.

Eric Bischoff has since replied to CM Punk’s tweet about him.

Bischoff quoted CM Punk talking about AEW signing him, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole last year. Punk said:

“So, I’m not Hogan or Savage. Daniel Bryan and Adam Cole, they’re not The Outsiders, I see the parallels, but this is totally different. I’ll go ahead and say it and people can quote me and they’ll be p*ssed off about it, but to me, this is bigger.”

Bischoff now asks, “How’s that working out?”

Eric Bischoff is not expecting to be invited back to an All Elite Wrestling (AEW) show anytime soon.

The former WCW president has been honest in his assessment of AEW in recent weeks, irking AEW president Tony Khan and causing a riff in the pair’s relationship. Bischoff has argued that the product has “flatlined” ratings-wise and doesn’t think the promotion is focusing enough on storytelling.

Also, Bischoff added that their lack of growth has resulted in an an equal lack of licensing deals. Speaking on the MackMania podcast, Bischoff dove deeper in to his comments and the repercussions they may have had in regards to his relationship with AEW.

Bischoff noted he’s sure he wont’ be invited to an AEW show again, and he’s actually a little sad about that.

“I have been beating this drum, and this is one of the reasons why Tony probably thinks I am a pain in his ass at this point. I’ll never get invited to another AEW event, which is okay.

“I am a little sad about that, but I get it, I don’t take it personally,” Eric Bischoff said. “But I’ve been saying for over a year now when it comes to AEW. And this is why I am concerned about their dirt sheet booking approach, booking for the internet if you will. Is that if you’re not growing, you’re dying.”

In regards to Khan and AEW, they have certainly been keeping busy as of late. With massive signings such as CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Adam Cole, and more, AEW has assembled, arguably, the best roster in professional wrestling.

It was also recently announced that AEW will team up with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) for the AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view (PPV). Both promotions will bring their respective rosters together for a massive event that will see a promotion vs. promotion-like showcase take center stage.

AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door goes down live on PPV from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on Jun 26, 2022.

Quotes via Wrestling Inc.

Former WCW president Eric Bischoff was recently a guest on “Strictly Business” to talk about several professional wrestling topics.

Bischoff discussed the state of the professional wrestling industry, offering his thoughts on promotions such as IMPACT Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He first started off by offering his thoughts on IMPACT – and Bischoff didn’t hold back. The former WCW head said he can get more people to watch him cooking a burger on a Saturday afternoon than to watch IMPACT.

He also claimed that IMPACT Wrestling shouldn’t be in the conversation when it comes to discussing licensing and merchandising because they’re “not in the wrestling business.” Bischoff added it had nothing to do with the talent, as he believes IMPACT has great talent, but including IMPACT in the conversation for televised wrestling is “silly.”

When discussing AEW, Eric Bischoff stated that the promotion is currently in a position where their long-term potential is more intriguing than anything else going on currently. He also touched on AEW’s lack of licensing deals and how he doesn’t see that changing anytime soon since the promotion is kind of “flatlining” right now ratings-wise.

“But that doesn’t happen overnight, it didn’t happen overnight in WCW,” Bischoff said. “Providing AEW continues to grow, which arguably they’re not, they’re kind of flatlining at a million viewers a week, but if they can grow that industry in such a way that it gives confidence to manufacturers and distributors to go ahead and invest money in that licensing in hopes to increase sales off their products, that’s when you’ll start to see real growth in AEW.

“It’s not a knock against them, you can’t do that overnight. No one is going to take that risk until you’ve established yourself in the marketplace.”

AEW has certainly been doing as much as possible to stand out to professional wrestling fans. In the past year they’ve made a ton of huge signings; such as CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Adam Cole, and more. Also, on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, president Tony Khan announced a joint pay-per-view (PPV) with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) titled “The Forbidden Door.”

Eric Bischoff has been part of the wrestling industry for over 35 years. He has seen the wrestling landscape change more than once. He thinks that the current wrestling product has shifted more towards physical presentation and the story has been de-emphasized because of it.

The former WCW president appeared on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast. Talking about the current wrestling product, he explained that story is the thing that has always captivated people in sports entertainment:

“What’s the one thing about sports entertainment that has always captivated people? It’s really hard to pinpoint one thing because it’s different for everybody. But I think across the board, it’s the story. I would love [it], if there was a way in today’s environment and the sheer volume of things that needed to be produced. There could be perhaps more emphasis on story and less emphasis on the dynamic physical presentation.”

‘Story And Character Have Become De-Emphasized’

Eric Bischoff said that in the last 2 decades, we have emphasized athleticism more than we should. He would like to see the balance shift towards the story a bit more:

“I think what’s happened with the industry over the years, the last 15 in particular, maybe 20, is that the athleticism has reached a point of being mind-boggling. It’s like watching Olympic-quality gymnasts do things that seem to defy physics. Now we’re seeing it within the context of a wrestling match. It’s mind-boggling to me.

But I think with the emphasis that’s on the physical presentation, unintentionally, story and character have become de-emphasized. So I’d like to see that balance shift a little more than it currently is. But part of that is just me because I’ve always loved the story. I’ve never been as excited about the physical presentation, as I have been about the story presentation, but I may be in the minority on that one.”

More Originals From SEScoops:

• Randy Orton On How JBL Treated Him During His Early Days
• Sami Zayn Explains Why He Re-Signed With WWE
• Johnny Gargano On Who Helped Him Get On WWE’s Radar
• Pat McAfee Thinks Vince McMahon Doesn’t Get Credit For His Good Ideas
• Randy Orton Opens Up About His Relationship With Vince McMahon

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Perhaps the biggest story out of WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, Texas this past weekend was the long-awaited return to the ring of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Austin was scheduled to be a guest on Kevin Owens’ “The KO Show,” however, it ended up being an official No Holds Barred match between the two after Owens challenged Austin. “The Texas Rattlesnake” accepted Owens’ challenge, and wound up victorious after hitting Owens with the stunner. It was Austin’s first match in 19 years.

The former WWE Champion wasn’t done there, however, as on Night Two of WrestleMania, Austin got involved in the Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory matchup. After McMahon defeated McAfee in an impromptu match in retaliation for beating Theory, Austin hit the ring to confront “The Chairman Of The Board.” Austin gave McMahon a stunner, which was one of the worst sold stunners of all time, before also stunning McAfee and engaging in his signature celebratory beer bash.

One man who was watching along with the rest of the world was none other than former WCW president Eric Bischoff. Bischoff took to his “83 Weeks” podcast to describe the entire ordeal as simply – awesome.

“I know I’m older, but to see Steve in there doing what Steve is so great at doing – even beyond that, forget about the fact that Steve and I are friends and spent a lot of time in the same industry together and were peers in that era,” Bischoff said (via 411Mania).

“Forget about all of that. The crowd reaction was just awesome. It was just awesome. I just got back home and picked up in the Pat McAfee/Vince McMahon stuff and I can’t say enough good things about it. It was so much fun.”

As for the segment between McMahon and Austin in particular, although Eric Bischoff admits the stunner on McMahon was “horrible,” the former Monday Night RAW General Manager maintains the segment still did its job and was fun for the entire audience.

“I know people are gonna be laughing about the Stunner or whatever, but c’mon, man. You said it, one word – fun. You pay money to be entertained and having fun is a part of that. That whole segment was nothing but fun.

“Yeah, the Stunner looked horrible and I would imagine Vince is very angry with himself [laughs]. But hopefully he gives himself a break because he entertained the hell out of me and a lot of people. Hats off to Vince and the entire team. What an incredible event. In many ways, I think it was one of my favorite WrestleManias in a long time.”

The professional wrestling world is still buzzing over the WWE return of Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 38 this past weekend. Rhodes was revealed as Seth Rollins’ mystery opponent for “The Showcase Of The Immortals,” and the pair put on an extraordinary matchup. It was “The American Nightmare’s” first appearance in WWE since leaving the company back in 2016.

Recently, former WCW president and ex-Monday Night RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff offered his thoughts on Rhodes’ WWE return during the latest episode of his podcast, “83 Weeks.” Bischoff noted how proud of Rhodes he was, calling the return “magic” in every aspect. He even revealed that he reached out to Rhodes after it all went down.

“Magic, just one word, magic,” Bischoff said (via Wrestling Inc.). “Everything from the entrance, the match, the post-match production, the visual reactions to the crowd, what element of that entire presentation was not a 10 on a scale of 1-10. I don’t know, I couldn’t pick it out.

“That was so good, I was so so happy to be able to watch that live. So proud and I reached out to Cody, we connected afterwards and I’m just so proud for him. I really really am.”

Rhodes also made his return to Monday Night RAW last night, delivering an emotional promo referencing his late father, WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes. “The American Nightmare” made it clear that he has his eyes locked on a World Championship as he begins his second run with the company.

He closed out the segment by shaking Rollins’ hand in a showing of respect. Rhodes is also slated to be a guest on tomorrow’s episode of WWE The Bump, likely further discussing his return to the company.

Tony Khan made the big announcement of purchasing ROH last week. Eric Bischoff thinks this acquisition makes sense for the AEW owner.

The former WCW president talked about this move from Khan in detail during the latest episode of his 83 weeks podcast. He mentioned how a lot of AEW stars have extensive ROH history.

Discussing whether the purchase makes sense from a business standpoint, Bischoff explained that it does if the goal is to build an independent streaming platform:

“In the end of it, all the conversation about was it a good deal for Tony or not, I think it was a good deal, If Tony’s goal ultimately is to build, independent of Turner, is to build his own streaming platform?” asked Eric Bischoff, “Absolutely the acquisition of Ring of Honor makes sense.”

Though the former wrestling promoter noted that the deal will not make financial sense in the short term because ROH does not have a large fan following.

The AEW owner himself had also provided some update on the indie promotion’s future during the post Revolution media scrum. He had suggested that ROH will keep operating as a promotion. You can check out his comments here.

Thanks to WrestlingInc for the quotes

Adam Cole will be challenging Hangman Page for the AEW world championship during the upcoming Revolution PPV. While a lot of fans would like to see the former Undisputed Era leader win the belt, Eric Bischoff believes it’s not the right time to put the title on the former NXT star.

Bischoff talked about this during the latest episode of his 83 weeks podcast. He explained that the audience will turn on Cole if he becomes a champion right now:

“Even though you have a percentage of the audience that’s going ‘yay Adam,’ two months from now, they’ll be going ‘give us somebody else.’ That’s the appetite of the hardcore audience. If I’m him, I don’t want that title right now.”

• Eric Bischoff Says He’s Not Surprised Cody Rhodes Left AEW

Eric Bischoff On if Size Is As Important In Today’s Wrestling

Eric Bischoff claimed that Adam Cole should continue building himself. He should get to a point where a larger audience wants him to become the champion. The former WCW president also gave his thoughts on whether size is a factor in today’s wrestling:

“I don’t think size is as important today as it was. But it’s still a factor. You’re a larger-than-life character on television. That’s what makes wrestling work. I don’t mean necessarily just physically, but you have a presence on television that makes you unique and different, and therefore, in a way, aspirational for the viewer.”

Bischoff gave the example of Tom Cruise. He mentioned how Cruise is able to appear larger than he is with smart camera work, but it’s something you cannot do in wrestling because it’s live. He then said that AEW is having a hard time growing their business and reiterated that they need a larger-than-life star.

Thanks to 411Mania for the transcribed quotes

Eric Bischoff continues to be outspoken about All Elite Wrestling’s level of success.

The former WCW President has been critical about various aspects of AEW. He acknowledges they have amassed a “super loaded” roster, but doesn’t feel the company has realized its full potential.

On the latest episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff explained what he believes are AEW’s shortcomings.

“AEW has to grow their business,” he began. “They haven’t thus far. Now they’re inching up since NXT is no longer head-to-head. Dynamite, they’re probably 10% or 12% some are estimating ahead of where they were this time last year. But they’re still having a hard time consistently breaking a million viewers. It’s up and down with a super-loaded roster.”

AEW Dynamite viewership has increased year-over-year. The viewership trend is positive since moving to TBS at the start of this year. That said, there is still significant room for improvement.

• Tony Khan Doesn’t Want To Make These Mistakes Made by WCW

Appealing to a Wider Audience

Bischoff’s critique is sensible. AEW has all the star power they need at this point. So, what will it take for AEW Dynamite viewership to 1.5 million viewers each week?

“At some point, they’re going to need a world champion, or two, a men’s champion and a women’s champion.. They’re going to need somebody that’s a legitimate larger than life star, not just physically, but larger than life to a broader audience.”

Bischoff says AEW and Turner might be satisfied with one million viewers each week. If they intend to draw viewership that rivals WWE Raw and SmackDown, they need to appeal to a wider audience.

“They’re going to need to focus on some larger than life type characters that are going to attract more than just the hardcore fanbase that they currently have.”

Eric Bischoff is a free agent who has appeared on WWE and AEW television in recent years. His most recent national TV appearance took place last month on SmackDown.

Eric Bischoff Critiques AEW

Here are some related articles covering Eric Bischoff’s comments about AEW:

• Eric Bischoff Claims Tony Khan Manipulates Ratings Data To Make AEW Appear Competitive

• Eric Bischoff Believes Tony Khan Is ‘Not Serving His Business’ With His Tweets

• Eric Bischoff Thinks Tony Khan Should ‘Shut Up And Wrestle’

While AEW has done a great job building up their day 1 talents into recognizable wrestling names, many believe they have yet to create a megastar. Eric Bischoff believes that they need a legitimate larger-than-life character if they want to take their programming to the next level.

The former WCW president talked about this during the latest episode of his 83 Weeks podcast. He mentioned that AEW has seen a 10-12% increase in audience since NXT moved to Tuesday nights.

However, Eric Bischoff discussed how the company is still struggling to get over the million viewers mark consistently. He claimed that AEW will need a star who can appeal to broader audience if they want to grow further:

“They’re going to need somebody that’s a legitimate larger than life star, not just physically, but larger than life to a broader audience. Or they’re going to have to accept the fact that AEW is basically a million viewers a week tops.”

• Eric Bischoff Says He’s Not Surprised Cody Rhodes Left AEW

Eric Bischoff later said that this won’t really matter if TBS is happy with the rating and if AEW officials are happy with their spot as well.

Although if they want to push similar ratings to Monday Night Raw, then they have to focus on some larger-than-life characters and attract more than just the hardcore fans.

Thanks to WrestlingNews.co for the quotes

Eric Bischoff is not shocked about Cody Rhodes’ decision to leave All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

During the latest episode of his 83 Weeks podcast with Conrad Thompson, Bischoff divulged that he keeps in touch with Cody via texting. Cody’s AEW departure sent shockwaves throughout the industry, but Bischoff says he was more surprised about Cody leaving WWE back in 2016.

“I’m not surprised – not nearly as surprised as everybody else is, and it’s not because I have any inside information or speak to Cody,” he began. “Cody and I text back and forth every couple of months maybe,” Bischoff said. “Look, I was more surprised that Cody left WWE.”

Bischoff continued by laying out why jumping back to WWE makes total sense for someone in Cody Rhodes’ position.

“Let’s think about that for a minute. You’re 30 years old and on the biggest stage in the world in your particular industry. Yeah, you might be saddled with a character or gimmick you don’t like, but guess what? You’re making damn good money that you could probably retire on in five to ten years if you’re smart. But he was willing to walk away from that because he wasn’t satisfied. It reminded me of his dad.”

You can listen to Eric Bischoff’s comments about Cody Rhodes leaving AEW in the tweet embedded below:

Bischoff also recalled speaking with Cody shortly after he left WWE. Bischoff assured Cody his father would be proud of him, since Dusty was never satisfied and always seeking something bigger.

WWE made several references to Cody Rhodes’ pending return on Monday’s Raw. The Miz referred to his surprise partner as being from a “fighting family” and also “Dashing.”

WWE Hall Of Fame Eric Bischoff has revealed that he will be having surgery to fix an issue with one of his fingers.

The wrestling veteran talked about it on the latest episode of his 83 weeks podcast. He mentioned that he is not able to extend his finger because of Dupuytren’s Contracture.

Bischoff continued by mentioning how he should have gotten the surgery over a year ago. However, he put it off because it wasn’t bothering him until now:

“I can’t put a glove on. I’ve been putting this off. I should have done this a year and a half ago to be honest. I put it off and put it off and it wasn’t a problem.

Now all of a sudden it’s wintertime and I can’t put my hand in a glove” said Eric Bischoff, “and I’m like, ‘F*ck that. I’m going to go in and have it cut out.’”

• Eric Bischoff Reveals What He Was Told About His Recent Raw Appearance

Apart from this, the former WCW president watched the February 17, 1997 episode of WCW Nitro on his podcast. He discussed matches and segments from the show including the Chris Jericho vs Jeff Jarett main event.

Eric Bischoff did not reveal when he will be having the procedure done. SEScoops wishes him a speedy recovery.

Thanks to WrestlingNews.co for the transcribed quotes

WWE usually keeps their doors closed when it comes to allowing outside talents to make appearances for the company. Though it appears things may change in future.

The January 21 edition of SmackDown saw not only Eric Bischoff but Jeff Jerrett also making a surprise appearance during the show.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently talked about this. He noted that we can expect more such WWE cameos in future because Fox likes these surprises.

According to Meltzer, “the idea is to try and create buzz with the idea of who unannounced may show up on television each week.”

The WWE officials are also discussing the idea of signing outside stars to short-term contracts. Such wrestlers could be used to work with younger talents.

Former NXT champion Samoa Joe was originally signed to a similar deal in 2015. He was then offered a long-term contract after becoming a top merchandise seller.

• Brock Lesnar Advertised For Elimination Chamber And More

Joe ended up having a seven-year-long run with the promotion before being let go earlier this month. He was once released on April 15 last year but was brought back by Triple H before his non-compete clause expired.

There is no word on if any specific names are being considered for such roles. It’s still interesting to know that WWE is looking to open the forbidden door some more in the upcoming times.

Eric Bischoff made his surprise return to Raw a few weeks ago during the December 27 episode of the show. This was only months after he made an appearance for AEW on Dynamite in June. The former WCW president talked about his return to the red brand on the latest episode of his 83 weeks podcast. He detailed how it all came together.

Bischoff revealed that he drove to Florida with his family for the vacations. He got the call from Bruce Prichard on the Thursday before the show:

“We finally got in and got settled, and I got a call from Bruce Prichard. He said, ‘Hey Eric. So, do you think you can make TV Monday?’ This was Thursday afternoon. I said, ‘Well, first of all, where is it because I’m in Florida?’ If it was a West Coast trip, I couldn’t have made it. He said, ‘It’s in Detroit, your hometown.’ I said, ‘Ok, I can make that.’”

• Eric Bischoff On Why Goldberg Was Difficult To Deal With

What Eric Bischoff Was Told About His Appearance

Eric Bischoff then explained how he wasn’t given a lot of details as to what he would be doing on the show. The officials just told him that there was going to be a wedding. They asked him to bring a pastel suit and expect it to get trashed:

“He said, ‘Well, why don’t you get a really light colored pastel suit and expect it to get trashed. There’s going to be a wedding.’ That’s all he told me, no details, not who, nothing. I got there, and what’s funny is I didn’t even know Bruce wasn’t going to be at TV until about four in the afternoon. I had fun.”

Bischoff also talked about his experience at the show. He mentioned how he got to hang out with people such as Edge and Kevin Owens during his visit. He praised The Miz as well. He claimed that the A-Lister is a really good performer and that’s why he has been around this long.

Thanks to WrestlingNews for the transcribed quotes

Eric Bischoff recently commented on if AEW is hoarding talent similar to what WCW is often alleged to have done during the Monday Night Wars. Bischoff was on his 83 Weeks podcast when he made the below comments.

“One of the biggest criticisms that I got from the dirt sheet community led by Dave Meltzer was ‘he’s signed too many WWE guys. Got too many people on the roster. Not letting the young talent get a shot because it’s bloated with ex-WWE guys.’ Okay, guess what? Some of that was true and some of that I deserved. Is history repeating itself? I don’t know, maybe?”

Bischoff continued to say he’s not aware of what Tony Khan’s strategy is regarding roster size. He would also say, however, that if there is no strategy, signing too many wrestlers could backfire.

“That being said, if there is no strategy and if you’re simply loading up your roster for the sake of building a big roster because having a big roster is your measure of success, then yeah there’s a chance it could backfire.”

Bischoff then continued to say that if you have a large roster but many wrestlers feel they are not being utilized enough, it could lead to disgruntled workers.

“If you’re not using those people to the extent that they feel like they’re getting their part of that dream, then ultimately, you can have a challenge and that challenge can become malignant and dangerous.”

Bischoff has been critical of AEW as of late. He has accused AEW President Tony Khan of manipulating data in order to make his promotion seem more competitive to WWE. More on that story is available in the link below:

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions.

Eric Bischoff recently named Bill Goldberg as a talent who was particularly difficult to deal with in WCW. On his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff commented on what it is about Goldberg that made him this way.

“I think on a consistent basis; it would have been Bill Goldberg. Not necessarily in a bad way. Just that, Bill was a very intense person. Emotional, and didn’t have a lot of experience, and was pretty uncomfortable in a pro wrestling environment when he first got there,” Bischoff said.

“So, as a result, you take someone who is an intense personality, a very intense personality, a bit of a perfectionist, who puts a lot of pressure on himself. But, also, lacking a lot of the comfort that comes with experience. You get a guy that’s a little hard to handle, or sometimes a lot hard to handle. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s just a thing.”

Goldberg made his WCW debut on the September 22, 1997 episode of Nitro. He defeated Hugh Morrus on that show and started his long undefeated streak. Goldberg would continuing winning matches until eventually defeating Hollywood Hogan in the Georgia Dome on July 6, 1998. His streak would eventually end at Starrcade 98 on December 27th, 1998. Kevin Nash pinned Goldberg after Scott Hall interfered and zapped him with a cattle prod.

In addition to his WCW Championship reign, Goldberg is also a 2x WWE Universal Champion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2018.

H/t to Sportskeeda for transcriptions.

Former WCW President Eric Bischoff is of the belief that NXT 2.0 doesn’t quite know what it wants to be.

A lot has been made about NXT 2.0. Various reports noted that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was changing the look and feel of NXT and is straying away from signing indie talent.

As a result, the NXT brand is now full of talent that is quite green and not ready for primetime despite being seen on the USA Network every week.

Eric Bischoff Questions NXT 2.0 Identity

During an appearance on the Generation Of Wrestling podcast, Eric Bischoff gave his take on what issues lie in front of the NXT makeover.

“I think what I’m seeing thus far, and we don’t know yet because NXT 2.0 is new at this point, but I think NXT 2.0 is having an identity crisis. I think deep down inside, there are people that know, hey, we just have to go back and be a little gritty and it needs to have an edge.

“It can’t be so pretty. It can’t be so WWE in order for it to have its own identity. It needs to be different from the RAW and SmackDown product.

“What I’m seeing so far is a tendency to lean into the RAW and SmackDown product in terms of its presentation, which if I’m right, and I could be wrong, I hope I am, but if I’m right, it will just further distance the audience away from NXT because they want something different.”

NXT 2.0 hasn’t been all doom and gloom, however. Many have praised Bron Breakker, the son of Rick Steiner. Breakker lost his first NXT Title match against champion Tommaso Ciampa but vowed to claim the gold one day.

H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the quotes.

Former WCW President Eric Bischoff has gone off on CM Punk.

Bischoff has made appearances on AEW TV in the past but he isn’t very chummy with Tony Khan at the moment. Bischoff has been none too pleased after Khan’s recent comments about not repeating the same mistakes WCW made. The former WCW boss has also laid into CM Punk for saying his return was bigger than the nWo formation.

Eric Bischoff Believes CM Punk Isn’t As Hot As He Thinks He Is

On his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff blasted CM Punk for telling fans to wait five years from now to see just how big his impact and others were long-term for AEW.

“This is what lit my fuse, I wasn’t going to comment on any of this until Punk came out and said ‘It’s going to take five years for the effect of this talent to really show up significantly in the ratings,’ are you f***ing kidding me? Does anybody other than an uninformed wrestling fan who loves CM Punk, is anybody going to believe that nonsense? It’s going to take five years?”

Bischoff continued, “Dude, you’re going to be getting AARP mail, because it happens soon as you start getting close to 50 they start pounding you with this s–t. I let that one go but then to come out a couple weeks later, after in my opinion he should be embarrassed, and for the ratings to take the dive the way they did after his debut, suggests to me that he ain’t as hot as he’s trying to make people think he is. If he was, the numbers would be much bigger.”

While Bischoff may have been ticked off by Punk’s nWo comments, he may also be taking jabs due to Punk’s known hatred for Hulk Hogan. Back in September, Punk told Barstool Sports that he still views Hogan as a “piece of sh*t.” Bischoff and Hogan have been good friends for decades.

Bischoff hasn’t been impressed by AEW’s head-to-head numbers with WWE. He has criticized Tony Khan for gloating about the key demo. He believes AEW has been spinning the narrative.

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcribed quotes

Eric Bischoff and Tony Khan have been having a bit of a public back and forth recently. It started earlier this month when Tony Khan sent out a Tweet stating that Ted Turner didn’t know 1% of what he does about wrestling.

Former Turner employee, Eric Bischoff, appears to have taken offense to these comments. He noted on his 83 Weeks podcast that Khan should be quiet about WWE and focus on his own show. Khan then appeared on Busted Open Radio and said that he didn’t ask to go head-to-head with Smackdown on Friday night.

WWE and AEW Are Not Head-to-Head Competition

Recently on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff noted that AEW and WWE are not in head-to-head competition with each other. He also accused Khan and AEW of “manipulating ratings data” to make AEW appear competitive with WWE.

“AEW is not in head-to-head competition,” Bischoff said. “They are just not. They are in the same industry. Now, you can say, ‘Well they came at us, they extended that half hour into our time slot and that was an aggressive move’, and that would be a fact. But to somehow spin that and try to suggest that you are a more popular product, you are a more successful product, you are winning some kind of a ratings war that only exists in the minds of dirt sheet writers and people that want to try to spin reality, that’s not right.”

Bischoff then continued to say that Khan’s claim that AEW is winning a ratings war because of certain demos is not correct. He referred to it as “data gymnastics.”

“All I’m suggesting is, rather than claiming you’re competing against, and somehow you’re competing favorably because you’re comparing a percentage of your demos on your Wednesday night show to a percentage of the demos on Monday Night RAW, notice they don’t talk about SmackDown too much. But on Monday Night RAW, when they go against Monday Night Football, which probably has the highest concentration of male 18-49 year old than just about anything else on TV in any given week, is a false equivalency. It just isn’t real. It’s data gymnastics.”

Eric Bischoff has been active on Twitter as of late responding to fans commenting on this issue. In some cases, he has been congratulating people for getting blocked by certain wrestling journalists.

H/T to WrestlingNews for transcriptions.

While Tony Khan is highly excited with Rampage beating SmackDown in the key demo ratings during their recent competition, Eric Bischoff believes it wasn’t really a victory for AEW. The former WCW president continued talking about the outspoken nature of the AEW owner on his 83 weeks podcast.

He first said that he is pulling for AEW to be hugely successful. However, Bischoff then claimed that Khan predicting their win in advance was a bad choice. He went into the statics and explained how it wasn’t really a victory for AEW:

“To come out and predict that AEW was going to defeat SmackDown on FS1 was a bad choice. SmackDown delivered somewhere just under 800,000 viewers, AEW delivered just under 600,000 viewers. Not a good look. It wasn’t slightly; it was to the tune of 30-35%, that’s not insignificant. Even more so, that all happened on FOX Sports One.

[Tony Khan’s] tweet didn’t do AEW any favors.” said Eric Bischoff, “You might have served the internet fan base but you’re not serving your business well because you got your ass kicked on Friday night. Simple as that.”

The former SmackDown director also reiterated his comments saying that the wrestling audience wants a Monday Night War version 2.0 so bad that they are all participating in a cosplay competition.

Tony Khan hasn’t been quiet about the remarks from Eric Bischoff either. He recently responded to the former TNA star saying that he was amused by the comments Bischoff made about the competition between the two companies.

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcribed quotes

AEW head honcho Tony Khan has returned fire on Eric Bischoff.

There was a time when Bischoff was the top mover and shaker outside of Turner executives for WCW. He helped lead the charge that defeated Vince McMahon and WWE for 83 straight weeks in the TV ratings. While his success during that period of time will never be forgotten, neither will WCW’s rapid implosion.

Khan and Bischoff have been both cordial and combative towards one another over the past couple of years. Bischoff recently took issue with Khan saying he won’t repeat WCW’s mistakes. Eric believes that Khan has been creating new problems and should just “shut up and wrestle.”

Tony Khan Hits Back At Eric Bischoff

Appearing on Busted Open Radio, Khan offered the following response to Bischoff.

“I was amused by Eric’s comments. I like Eric when we’re together, but this is the ultimate example of glasshouses, knowing how Eric conducted himself when he was the President of WCW and he did ask for the head-to-head competition, he said publicly I should be going to that, but I don’t decide when these shows are on.

“This time slot, we looked at a couple of different slots and this was one they thought would do well and I was supportive of because it allowed for a good block of wrestling on Friday night and I knew there would be a good amount of people watching on Friday and it was effectively an opportunity for people to watch everything in one night. When we got the head-to-head competition, I thought we need to respond and need to win. We did.”

Khan went on to say that Bischoff’s remarks are “laughable.” He reminded the former WCW President that he was the man who challenged Vince McMahon to a fight on his own show and had himself lowered from the ceiling on a motorcycle. Tony Khan believes Bischoff is simply putting on an act and trying to stir up controversy.

H/T to Fightful for the transcribed quotes

Tony Khan stepped up his trash talk game ahead of SmackDown’s head-to-head collision with Rampage. Though Eric Bischoff believes that he should ‘shut up’ and focus on his own product.

The former WCW president talked about the recent clash between the shows of WWE and AEW on an episode of his 83 weeks podcast. He also discussed the comments from the AEW president.

Bischoff said that if TK called him for advice; his suggestion would be to shut up and wrestle. Eric explained that Tony should focus on putting out the best product he can:

“If Tony were to call me and ask for any advice, here’s what it would be — shut up and wrestle, dude. Just put out the best product you can and you’ve proven you can. Focus on that. Now this is weird coming from me, right? The guy who challenged Vince McMahon. The guy who gave away their finishes. So people listening to this would go ‘what the hell’.

But here’s the difference. I was actually competing with him.” said Bischoff, “I was going head-to-head. Real head-to-head. Like, my show started the same time his show started each and every week.”

• AEW Rampage Beats WWE SmackDown Head-To-Head in Key Demo

Bischoff: ‘Tony Khan is Inventing New Mistakes’

The former WCW official also responded to the remarks Khan made about the mistakes made by WCW leading to their downfall. Eric Bischoff claimed that Tony Khan is inventing some new mistakes of his own. He also said that AEW is having a cosplay competition with WWE:

“And another thing, Tony comes out and says ‘We’re at the 1996 stage of WCW and going to not make their mistakes.’ Tony, you’re inventing some mistakes, brother, by coming out there and constantly comparing yourself or deriding your competition, but not having the willingness to say, ‘Okay, let’s go head-to-head. Let’s really compete. Let’s see who can get whose market share.’

And by the way, Tony, in 1996 I was kicking WWE’s ass. Every week! In a real head-to-head competition, not a cosplay competition.”

Apart from this, Eric Bischoff said that he is a little disappointed in the rhetoric he is hearing out of the AEW owner and some of the talent. You can check out his comments in the clip below:

AEW has made big strides with television viewership over the past several weeks. AEW Dynamite has been surging, even topping WWE Raw in the 18-49 demographic on a few occasions. Dynamite vs. Raw is not an apples-to-apples comparison. The shows air on different nights, but AEW’s momentum is undeniable.

Eric Bischoff knows a thing or two about competing with WWE. The former WCW President addressed Dynamite beating Raw on the latest episode of his 83 Weeks podcast.

While fans like to analyze and debate the ratings trends, Bischoff says the opinions of TV executives and advertisers are the ones that matter.

“I think if you’re an executive in a media buying company or advertising agency, I think [the 18-49 demographic] matters, to the rest of the world, it doesn’t mean two sh**s.”

Fighting Mike Tyson’s Kid

Bischoff then discussed how AEW had no competition on the nights it beat Raw in ratings, while Raw was up against Monday Night Football.

“AEW on Wednesday night with no real competition for 18-49 gets a higher percentage of a demo than Monday Night RAW going head-to-head with Monday Night Football, where the vast majority of the 18-49 year olds that watch wrestling also watch football.

It’s like me getting into a fistfight with Mike Tyson’s kid and coming out on top of that. I’m just making this up, and if he did or he does, and I were to mop the floor with that 16-18 year old kid, that’s like me walking around saying I beat the sh** out of Tyson.”

Eric Bischoff also talked about the Wednesday night wars between Dynamite and NXT. He explained how it wasn’t really a fair competition as it was AEW’s best lineup going up against the development squad of WWE.

He also mentioned how people who were very excited to compare the ratings of Dynamite and NXT do not compare the ratings of Rampage to SmackDown which is a more direct comparison because they are on the same night.

Bray Wyatt is rumored to make his AEW debut as soon as this Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite. Though Eric Bischoff believes that the promotion should hold off on the former world champion’s first appearance for a few months.

The former WCW president discussed it on the latest episode of his 83 weeks podcast. He mentioned how AEW has seen a good few surprise appearances recently and explained what he would do if he was in the place of Tony Khan:

“If I were in Tony Khan’s shoes, I would give the surprises a breather, they’ve done a great job, they’ve gotten tremendous return on their investment.” said Bischoff, “It’s served its purpose beyond expectation in my opinion. But I would give that a rest.”

Discussing when he thinks AEW should bring Wyatt in, the former Raw GM said that he would save his debut for the first quarter of next year because they have had so many great signings recently:

“Let’s just assume Bray Wyatt is going to end up [in AEW].” said Eric Bischoff, “I wouldn’t do that till after the first of [January]. I’d save that for the first quarter of next year because they’ve had so many signings, and they’re great ones too.”

The former WCW official explained his comments with an analogy of a roller coaster. He said that people need some rest for them to be able to enjoy the next exhilaration point of a roller coaster and claimed that we are getting close to ‘surprise fatigue’ after all the recent debuts.

Tony Khan has confirmed that this week’s Dynamite episode from Rochester, NY will be dedicated to Brodie Lee. Khan has also teased some big plans for the show and Bray Wyatt is rumored to make his debut on the episode.

Eric Bischoff believes Bron Breakker is destined for stardom but he questions the name change.

Breakker is the son of tag team legend Rick Steiner. Breakker made his debut on the first episode of NXT 2.0. He wrestled LA Knight in the first match of the show, pinning him clean. The episode ended with Breakker staring down newly-crowned NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa backstage.

Bischoff has a history with the Steiner brothers and he took to his 83 Weeks Podcast to express his belief that Bron Breakker will become a special talent. With that said, he’s baffled by WWE’s decision to go against the Rex Steiner name that was initially put in place for him.

“Oh, there’s no doubt [he’s going to be a star]. I get that they didn’t want to call him Rex Steiner because his real last name is Rechsteiner and nothing lasts forever. Relationships generally don’t last forever, especially business relationships. You have to plan for the inevitable, and I understand why they would want to protect their intellectual property and give Bronson a real character name that they have control over. I don’t like that, but I understand it.”

Breakker was put in a prominent role once again on the Sept. 21 edition of NXT 2.0. He teamed with Ciampa to take on Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland in the main event of the show. Breakker and Ciampa picked up the win.