Eric Bischoff talks about how the pro wrestling business has changed over the years.
Just like all other major sports, pro wrestling is a entity that seemingly reinvents itself every few years. When the popularity of social media started to take off, many wrestlers started to develop their in-ring style in a way that would consistently create jaw-dropping moments and viral GIFs.
In a new interview with Fightful, Eric Bischoff commented on the emphasis of in-ring action in today's wrestling product, noting that he thinks it holds back the character and story aspect of the business.
"What’s changed? I think the emphasis on physical performance is much greater than it was in the past. Which I think is great. However, character and story have suffered. So there’s so much emphasis put on high flying, super athletic, ‘Holy shit’ or ‘This is awesome,’ trying to get the chant and that’s cool, and I get it and it’s fun. But when you sacrifice story and characters in order to achieve that, I think it hurts the product in the long run. I think that’s one of the things it’s suffering from now. Now, do I get mad about it? I don’t really care. I just notice it. I’m not in the business any more. So I don’t, as we say in the sticks, have a dog in that hunt. But it’s obvious to me."
Bischoff was involved in a backstage capacity as recent as 2019, when he had a short term as the Executive Director of WWE SmackDown. Since then, Bischoff has appeared multiple times on both AEW and WWE programming.
Elsewhere in the interview, Bischoff commented on Tony Khan and his criticisms of the All Elite Wrestling product. To learn more, click here.
