Eric Bischoff Thinks The WWE FOX Deal Could Devastate Wrestling

He does know a few things about ruining wrestling companies. Wrestling fans of today live in a very different time. For all intent and purpose, there is one wrestling company in American (if not the world) with any major value. However, that wasn’t always the case. Back in the 1990s, WCW, helmed by Eric Bischoff, took over the top spot, at least for a short while. Now that WWE is the undisputed king of the industry, at least in part due to the recent huge TV deals, it seems unlikely that anyone is going to challenge WWE anytime soon. Bischoff however sees a different problem with these deals.

Remember when WWE managed to blow this moment?

Eric Bischoff is named Raw's General Manager: This Week in WWE History, July 15, 2016

In a new interview with the New York Post, Bischoff talks about the new television contracts for the WWE and how he doesn’t think they’re as positive for anyone else in the business. Bischoff’s main concern is the lack of room to grow for any other wrestling promotion in America, as there is no reasonable chance for them to go anywhere when WWE is dominating on such major networks. He also praises the idea of streaming wrestling, which could change things for the better. Here are some highlights:

On The Damage The WWE Deals Do To Other Companies

“Anybody who comes along and wants to sell a wrestling show, guess who you are not gonna sell it to? You are not going to sell it to FOX and any of its affiliates and, oh by the way, you are not going to sell it to NBC Universal or any of its affiliates. So the world in terms of one’s ability to sell a traditional [wrestling] television show to a traditional television or broadcast partner has just collapsed.”

On The Rise Of Streaming Services

“You no longer have to have a big record label behind you and have to kowtow to the politics that enabled you to get there. You can be a phenomenal artist and put your stuff out there on YouTube and find yourself becoming a star.”

And On His New 83 Weeks Podcast

“There are very few voices that can speak with any kind of authority or credibility on what happened back during the time when WCW and WWF were going head to head and I think the audience is interested in that period of time, clearly. And like I said, nobody could speak to it quite the way I could.”

Opinion: I’m with Bischoff on a lot of what he says, as tends to be the case now that he’s away from the wrestling business. It’s true that a lot of wrestling companies aren’t going to be on the bigger networks, but at the same time there is a great opening with a streaming service. As he said, who needs television when you can just jump on YouTube for a fraction of the cost? It’s a very interesting time to be a wrestling fan and it’s also very interesting to see what someone with so much success in WWE has to say about it.

Do you agree with Bischoff? How could another wrestling company succeed in today’s market? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 27 wrestling books. His latest book is the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volume III: From Dallas To New Orleans.

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