Eric Bischoff Reveals Which Talents He Would Have Liked To Work With In WWE

Eric Bischoff has addressed what he's been up to since he left his role as Executive Director of WWE SmackDown back in October.

Speaking to Pancakes and Powerslams, Bischoff who back in June, was appointed Executive Director of WWE SmackDown reporting directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon, revealed that he has only just left Stamford, Connecticut and is enjoying quality time with his family.

"My wife and I left Stamford around 10 days ago," Bischoff said. "So we're visiting our son and his wife for Thanksgiving in Clearwater, Florida. We're going to be there until sometime around the middle of January, and then I'll be working my way back to Wyoming, taking the long way around going through the Southwestern part of the United States and seeing the sights; as well as visiting friends and family.

"At the same time I'll be doing the podcast [with Conrad Thompson] every week. I enjoy doing it, and it's been pretty successful for us.

"I've got a project coming up with Netflix in February – the Hulk Hogan movie – so I'll hopefully be getting busy with that soon. I'm taking it one day at a time."

Bischoff's tenure with the company in the role didn't last long as he was replaced by Bruce Prichard in mid-October, to oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX, and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business.

During his time in the role, Bischoff got to work with many talented individuals and points out a couple he admires, while explaining that he didn't have a focus on any NXT talent while in the company.

"I wasn't really watching the NXT roster too closely," Bischoff explained. "There were certain talents like Chad Gable, I really dug him as a person and professional. I love Randy Orton's work, I didn't get a chance to work with him, but I really admire his work. He's flawless as a performer and I would have liked to work with him."

"There were others I was hoping to get a chance to work with, that I didn't. Sheamus was another character that I would have liked to have gotten my hands on, there's a lot of great talent there."

The conversation then turned to WWE's use of legends on its programming. Some have criticised the company for relying too heavily at times on stars of the past. Bischoff understands, and thinks perhaps the company can be more pragmatic in its approach to using legendary talents.

"[The company] Maybe realizing that you can only go to that well so many times before it starts to diminish in the eyes of the fan," Bischoff said. "I was at the RAW Reunion, and there were a lot of legends throughout the summer as well, and I think people realized you can only get so many bangs out of these bucks before it's not that interesting."

"The other issue is so many of the guys can't do anything. So many of them are so busted up from the years they've spent in the ring, that they can't get involved in any physicality. If you're on a wrestling show, even if you're a legend, and you can't really get involved in any physicality then you're pretty limited in terms of what you can do. If you're WWE how you can use them in an entertaining way? They can't just stand there and wave at the crowd and expect people to get excited about that."

Bischoff continued, "I'm sure the WWE will always use legends, but perhaps more sparingly, so when they do use them it means more."

You can watch the full interview in the video above. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Pancakes and Powerslams with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.