WWE Hall Of Famer Eric Bischoff Details What He'd Do To Turn AEW Around
Eric Bischoff is often a vocal critic of AEW, regularly pointing out on his podcasts the many different problems he sees with the young promotion. During a recent episode of "83 Weeks," a listener wrote in asking Bischoff to explain the first three things he would change if he was given total control over AEW today. The WWE Hall of Famer had some ideas ready to go.
"Re-evaluate the talent roster," Bischoff said. "Get rid of the people that there's just no reason to have around. Thin out the herd, because the roster's too big and what's the harm? ... I don't know what [Tony Khan's] payroll is, but it's got to be massive with the amount of money he's paying people."
Both Bischoff and co-host Conrad Thompson agreed that AEW CEO Khan is spending more on talent than WCW ever did. The former WCW Senior Vice President stated that Khan is not making anywhere near enough money from the company to justify spending that much on a roster, and the wrestlers that AEW keeps would benefit from having more TV time.
"They're getting a check every week, and that's a good thing, but there's a lot of talent there that shouldn't be on that roster," Bischoff continued. "It's a morale issue. When you've got 30, 40, 50, 60 people under contract that haven't seen a television camera in months, or in some cases longer, what do you think they talk about when they talk amongst each other?"
Further Steps To Improve AEW
The next step to bettering the promotion is getting everyone involved on the same page. According to Bischoff, that could come to fruition with a company-wide meeting, but it requires a detailed plan.
"Bring everybody together and say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, here is the vision for this company,'" Bischoff stated. "I would clearly define my creative strategy and my business strategy, so that everybody onboard had a chance to actually get onboard, or not. But everybody needs to understand what the direction of the company is."
Without everyone involved having an understanding of the company's goals, the industry veteran believes AEW will remain aimless. Lastly, after handling the other two problems, Bischoff indicated his focus would turn to overhauling AEW's creative department.
"I would make sure the talent knew that we were moving into the storytelling business," he continued. "This 'athletic exhibition' s**t that we're doing ... [is] not what the American television audience is interested in. Only a small percentage of them are, and it's evidenced by where AEW is at over almost the last six years."
Bischoff then called the company's progress since 2019 "laughable" based on how much Khan has invested into the business. The former WCW executive suggested that Khan place Jeff Jarrett in charge of AEW's booking, as Jarrett has already proven that he understands storytelling in wrestling more than almost anyone else involved in the industry.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "83 Weeks" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.