Eric Bischoff has clarified his position about AEW lacking storylines, and he responded to Tony Khan’s criticisms of WCW matches not having stories behind them.
As previously reported, Khan responded to criticism from Bischoff by saying that many WCW matches under Bischoff didn’t have stories. The AEW President said, “probably less than half the matches on Nitro had a story, and that was fine. It was the industry standard show.”
Bischoff took to his 83 Weeks podcast to clarify his position and respond to Khan’s comments. “Easy E” clarified that he was talking about the top matches on the card, stating that there were “excuses for a match,” but not a real storyline.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
Responding to Tony Khan pointing out that WCW had matches without a story behind them: “I’m aware of it and look — hey, I’ve criticized myself plenty on this show for things that I wish I would have done differently, or things that I’ve learned subsequent to my time in WCW that I wished I had the knowledge, or the instinct, or insight that I have now, 25 years ago. It would have been a better show. But there were certainly random matches that didn’t have any story in WCW, I’m not denying that.
“But I’m also going to point out I, don’t think I ever said in any of my commentary about AEW that I believed that every match should have a story. When you’re introducing new talent, or when you’ve got talent that you haven’t really matched up storyline-wise with an opponent yet, but you want to expose that talent, you want the audience to become familiar with that talent, you want to establish that talent. Sure, put them in there in a match, or put people in matches that don’t really have story. But use that time in non-storyline matches to give us some real backstory and information about said talent. Make us care. It doesn’t always have to be in the form of a storyline, a traditional structured act, one-act, two-act, three kind of story. So [if] I’ve ever given the impression that I thought every match on Nitro had a storyline, forgive me now. Never meant to.”
Criticisms of AEW’s story-less matches: “My issue and my comments about AEW and the creative behind it is really about your top matches that don’t have sufficient story or structure, or at least a compelling one. There’s always an excuse for a match. there’s always an angle, you know. Your traditional, from the back-in-the-beginning-of-time inciting moment that creates a match or creates a storyline. But your top matches your A, B, C, and D storylines? That’s different. And I’ve seen a lot of matches, a lot of storylines — well, what AEW considers a storyline — that I feel are just nothing more than excuses for a match. They’re not well-crafted stories.
“That’s my criticism. It’s not a shot, not making fun of anybody, I’m not trying to belittle anybody. I’m pointing out that I believe in today’s competitive environment, with television being what it is that if you want to — pay attention Tony — build and grow your audience, you’re going to have to do it with well-crafted compelling well-structured storylines. And I don’t see it. I see excuses for matches and that’s not a storyline. So that’s my critique, constructive is I hope it is interpreted, but clearly won’t be.”
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