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The Ariel Helwani Show was an opportunity for Eric Bischoff to talk about various topics, and the special emphasis was on AEW, the rival company of WWE, which has been growing for years and wants to dethrone WWE. Many are not convinced that this company really has the potential for such things, but Tony Khan and other company leaders aren't giving up on their goals.
Eric Bischoff commented on the current state of AEW, considering it horrible. The 69-year-old is frustrated by the fact that many wrestlers have passed up great opportunities by coming to AEW. Even though Eric was disappointed because of that, wanting to change things, he has already accepted such things. Bischoff stresses that AEW has no prospects, and there is no chance for them to raise their ratings. The 69-year-old believes that AEW is making a lot of wrong moves, which is why they are losing fans. Many things about this company seem unclear to him.
“They’re horrible. I’ve given up. You know what? I used to get really frustrated with them because I actually hate seeing people screw up good opportunities. I know what that feels like, and I don’t want that to happen again. I know what that feels like and know how hard good opportunities come by so when you see somebody shooting themsleves in the foot day after day week after week in every possible way it’s frustrating for me and I would vent that frustration. Now, it’s just like yeah, whatever. It is what it is. There’s no hope for them. Nothing’s going to turn their company around. There’s no light bulb gonna go off on anybody’s head and realize, oh, this is actually getting people who watch TV. They have no idea about what they’re doing and they’re too stubborn to learn."- Eric Bischoff said, as quoted by Pwmania.
Eric Bischoff on AEW philosophy
Eric Bischoff explains that there is no one in AEW who knows how to tell a good story. Considering what WWE has shown for years, primarily the creativity that WWE executives have, Eric isn't satisfied with what AEW is showing.
The 69-year-old gave an interesting example to explain this: the basic story can be a boy meets a girl, a boy gets a girl, a boy loses a girl, and then gets her back. The famous booker and promoter isn't satisfied with such a story, considering it a basic story that isn't particularly exciting and no one is too interested in it. However, if someone like Shakespeare were to cover the same story, it would become much stronger and deeper, like a version of Romeo and Juliet, he stresses.
The prominent name of the wrestling scene addressed the statement of Dave Meltzer who claims that AEW has so many stories that viewers cannot follow them. His opinion, however, isn't supported by many, including Eric.
Bischoff agrees that if there are storylines in AEW, they are so bad that only people with a very low level of understanding of pro wrestling can enjoy them. He adds that if one likes the physical aspects of wrestling; wrestlers who perform attractive, high-risk, acrobatic moves and don't care about story or characters, then AEW is the right choice for him. It's known that this company has a completely different philosophy from other wrestling companies, as they want to offer fans wrestling from a different angle.
Bischoff, on the other hand, isn't convinced that they are on the right path to that, believing that little is good in this company.
Eric believes that such an approach is not sustainable for a wider audience, criticizing Tony Khan for calling his viewers "sickos" because, he says, most fans don't want to be called that way.
Bischoff stresses that Khan's vision is to create content that appeals to that minority of audiences who only focus on high-risk action, while not caring about stories and characters. The main man of the AEW company disagrees with that, firmly believing that he's on the right track to do incredible things in the future.
It'll be interesting to see in which direction things will go when it comes to AEW. Opinions are different, but mostly the experienced names of the wrestling scene are not satisfied with the philosophy of this company and what they've been doing for years. Older wrestling fans believe that AEW must go in a different direction, believing they currently have no perspective. Opinions differ, but in any case, Tony Khan has huge ambitions for the future, wanting his company to become No. 1.
WWE, on the other hand, has no intention of paying too much attention to AEW's work, focusing primarily on personal progress.
English (US)