Eric Bischoff Says This WWE Raw Segment Was Clunky 'In A Good Way'
A week after it initially aired, the promo segment on "WWE Raw" between CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin'" Rollins is still creating a buzz across the pro wrestling landscape. Former WCW President Eric Bischoff chimed in on the final episode of his "Strictly Business" podcast and cited the fact that it was different from a traditional, contemporary wrestling promo as making it stand out.
"I thought it was clunky initially," Bischoff said, clarifying that he meant that in a good way. "It was apparent to me in the first 45 seconds that this was odd. It was different than what we're used to seeing. It made me lean in to figure out why I am feeling different about this and it became apparent pretty quickly that these guys are riffing."
Great things can happen when performers are left with wiggle room to be themselves and exercise some creative liberties. While it indeed appeared that McIntyre, Punk, and Rollins' segment was unscripted, Bischoff noted that, surely, they had some guidelines. In his opinion, not all of it was a home run, but the three rivals were able to pull it off in spectacular fashion overall.
"There was some awkwardness in the interaction, which is what led me to believe, 'Okay, this is not typical WWE,' but in a good way. I felt like I was watching live TV as opposed to Disney on Ice in an IMAX theater."
Off the charts great
The promo's unpolished nature was precisely what drew Eric Bischoff further toward it, even if, for a time, he wasn't sure if they were going to reach whatever end game they had in mind for the segment. "About two-thirds of the way through it," he explained, "I'm going, 'This is not producing much. I think they're probably coming up a little short. Until the end, and it paid off spectacularly. It was like, 'Motherf*****s, they got me!"
Bischoff gave kudos to all three men involved, specifically praising Punk and McIntyre for working through the difficulties of being unable to get physical in such a heated confrontation due to Punk's current injury status. The fact that the whole debate took place around what Punk might do at WrestleMania, during McIntyre's match with Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship, either as special referee or on color commentary (ultimately revealed to be the latter), drew extra praise from "Easy E."
"We're out here having a debate between two megastars and building tension about whether or not Punk's gonna be a referee or a color commentator?" he inquired aloud. "I mean, the stakes were a little limp. But it all came together. I thought they did a great job, and they deserve the pop that they got ratings-wise."
Ultimately, Bischoff figuratively raised Punk's hand but came away impressed by the entire segment, as well as the episode of "Raw" itself. "I thought Punk handled it pretty well. You know, Drew probably wishes he had a moment or two back to redo again if he could but f***, I thought it was great. The whole show was off the charts great."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Strictly Business and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.