Love or hate him, Eric Bischoff has a great many insights into the world of professional wrestling. He was in charge of WCW when the company was winning the Monday Night Wars and also at the helm of a failing promotion which became a sinking ship during its final years on television.
Bischoff has never shied away from making his feelings about AEW and Tony Khan known and, on the latest 83 Weeks podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer was asked if he'd be open to going to war with WWE again...by becoming AEW's on-screen General Manager!
"No. I hope AEW pulls a nose up, figures out a way, and has vision, but we all know it’s pretty public, the kind of drama going on backstage. If I was in my 20s and 30s, hell yeah," he explained. "Why not, especially with the kind of bags that are being thrown around backstage there. Hell yeah, I’d do it. Even in my 40s, I would have done it, but at this stage of my life, I wouldn’t go near it."
Bischoff added, "First of all, the first time I step foot in AEW, everything that’s wrong with that place would be wrong because of me. I ain’t going near it. I wouldn’t even want to show up on camera anymore. If everything was fine, and you know, Tony and I weren’t going back and forth, and I didn’t call his last All In show hot garbage this morning."
Even if none of that was happening and we were buddies, I wouldn’t even really want to be on the show," the former WCW boss continued. "At this stage of my life, why? It’s not as much fun for me anymore as it would have been when I was in my 40s. If it was a better environment, if the show was great, if it had some momentum and it was fun, sure I would, if it was fun, but it’s not fun."
AEW did recently secure a new television deal, but ratings continue to decline as does attendance. However, if TNA/IMPACT Wrestling can last this long, there's no reason to believe this company won't do the same (particularly when Tony's father is a billionaire).
Khan has a very specific vision for AEW so it's unlikely he's looking for advice or help from anyone...and especially not Bischoff when he's been so critical of the product for the past several years.
Let us know your thoughts on Bischoff's comments in the usual place.