Eric Bischoff Details How WWE's Vince McMahon Treated Kevin Owens During Shane Program

Eric Bischoff recalled feeling sorry for Kevin Owens' treatment by Vince McMahon during his program with Shane McMahon in 2019. 

Owens was steadfast on the road to WrestleMania 41 with a grudge match at the "Show of Shows" against Randy Orton, until he announced earlier this month that he had sustained a neck injury that would require surgery and sideline him for the foreseeable future. It's yet unclear how long he will be out of action, when or even if he is able to return to the ring, with reports emerging to suggest he isn't expected back until next year and even then could miss WrestleMania 42. 

"I feel horrible for Kevin," Eric Bischoff said of the news during "83 Weeks." "I don't want to give the impression that we're real close friends... I got fairly close to him in WWE during his program with Shane McMahon – I was kind of in the middle of that – and at that point in time, Vince was being really hard on him. I mean really hard, and Kevin was doing his absolute best to make it work. I saw it, I saw what he was going through, and I saw the way Vince treated him." 

Bischoff clarified that McMahon hadn't been hard on Owens just for the sake of being mean, "It was Vince's way of coaching Kevin up. It was kind of, I don't wanna say brutal, but it was tough, tough to watch, tough to listen to."

Bischoff worked with WWE at the time as the Executive Director of "WWE SmackDown" though his tenure ended after a couple of months. But he said that in getting to know Owens he learned that he was a great family man with his head squarely on his shoulders and saw the way that he handled the added pressure from McMahon, so if anyone could get over this hurdle, he believes Owens will.