WWE HOFer Eric Bischoff Discusses Issues With Blood On AEW Television

Eric Bischoff doesn't feel that AEW's insistence on showing blood on its television shows is a good idea, especially with the sensitive nature of the general population's tastes.

"People are so much more hyper-sensitive to everything now," Bischoff said on "83 Weeks." He feels executives in the entertainment industry are just as sensitive as the general public. "What's less subjective is how ad agencies feel about it. It's how they feel." 

Bischoff notes that much of the entertainment industry is in a reactionary period, which means that critical success isn't quite as important as shareholder safety to many of the decision-makers in film and TV.  "Feelings, predominantly fear, are driving a lot of choices," Bischoff says of the entertainment industry. 

As a former producer, he sees blood on television as something that affects AEW's bottom line. The WWE Hall of Famer thinks that AEW makes for a risky pitch for advertising executives. "If it makes people squeamish, it's bad for business," said Bischoff.

He also pointed out that AEW and WBD have yet to announce a new deal and he thinks AEW is taking unnecessary risks during a time when they need to be making themselves as safe a bet for WBD as possible.

"The problem is exactly the same [as 'WWE SmackDown''s issues with Fox]. Fox didn't renew 'SmackDown' despite being number one on the evening across all television on Friday nights," Bischoff warned, as he says Fox ended up losing money on the ad-sales front despite the show's success. "If Fox couldn't make money with WWE and its 2.1-2.3 million viewers on average and AEW's getting 700,000 viewers and advertising in general doesn't like wrestling to begin with, why make it that much harder by focusing on the blood?"

Ultimately, Bischoff feels AEW should save its more visceral and explicit moments for pay-per-views, to not make the television program an issue with advertisers.