On a recent edition of his “Strictly Business” podcast, Eric Bischoff discussed WWE Superstars reportedly having issues with the freedom Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has with his promos, the current state of the wrestling industry, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the overall state of the wrestling business: “That’s a fun question. I mean, I think the state of the wrestling business is extremely strong. I don’t know how anybody could deny that. I mean, it all comes down to revenue. That’s the ultimate measuring stick: how much revenue is being generated in the professional wrestling industry. I don’t know that it’s ever been as close as it is to being as successful as it is today. So by that measure, it’s hugely successful and continuing to grow, primarily because of WWE and the inroads that they’re making. With sponsorships and you know, with premium live events and cities bidding — I’m here in Minneapolis, and one of the big news stories yesterday on local news is that Minneapolis is in the running for WrestleMania. And there’s as much excitement about that here locally as there would be if the Super Bowl was coming. I mean, it was crazy. They were out interviewing people on the street, it was nuts. I was proud, I was excited. Not because I have a dog in the hunt. I’m not there, I’m not going to be there. I don’t want to be in WWE. I’m having fun being a fan. But to see that energy and amount of excitement for a premier wrestling event, for sure. WrestleMania, the biggest of them all. But to see that as exciting and to see that same thing happening in Perth, Australia, and in France and other parts of the world — I don’t know how you can be a wrestling fan or in my case, somebody who spent 30-odd years in the business and is not really excited about that growth.
“Television is a different — you know, if you’re going to use television ratings and the number of people that are watching television in the United States as your barometer, then you might have some issues. You might have a debate, you might have some questions. But if you just look at the revenue that’s generated by the industry, that’s really all that matters. Because that revenue is generated in different ways. Some of it obviously by television, that’s a big piece of the revenue puzzle, right? Television rights fees. But there are so many more aspects of it, and all of that is growing. I think the fact that Warner Brothers Discovery rolled the dice with AEW and was willing to give them an opportunity. And perhaps that opportunity will pay off; we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. Perhaps it’ll pay off, but that’s an exciting thing. There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the wrestling business in general, regardless of how you feel about any one promotion.
“That’s how I feel about the general. What’s the good? I think I just covered the good, which is it’s growing. What’s the bad? I don’t know if there’s anything bad in terms of it hurting the business. I think some of the extremes that some people try to go to, to get themselves over in the environment that we have today on television? I think that’s pretty bad and can get ugly…. the blood. I think going to extremes of violence in lieu of art. And by art, I mean the storytelling component. We talked about earlier, I won’t beat it up again. Quality, discipline, structured storytelling that’s compelling, and gets the audience into the program? That’s the art of it. I think the art of telling that story in the ring is a big part of it. And I think sometimes, there is a tendency by some people and the producers they work with to go to an extreme to try to get attention and awareness. And that extreme is usually excessive amounts of violence and blood. And I don’t think that element of the product and the presentation of the product can make up for lack of story and lack of characters. So I think the reliance upon and the go-to for that kind of extreme element of professional wrestling that’s always been there. I think today’s environment it’s bad. It’s a bad choice, because it ultimately will turn off program directors, television networks, advertisers, and that’s bad for business. But I think overall, we’re in a pretty healthy state of affairs.”
On reports of WWE stars not liking the double standard with The Rock’s promos: “They have [been entertaining], and I agree with you. I would love to see us get away from them [scripted promos]. When I say us, I don’t mean content-wise as much. It’s not like — I mean, the kind of language that we’re talking about, the kind of stuff that Rock has been saying, particularly in social media. Occasionally, appropriately done, can enhance the story or the moment and make it more interesting and feel more real and honest. Because that is how people talk. It’s how politicians talk, it’s how teachers talk. It’s how business executives talk. Maybe not in public, not when they’re on camera, but it is the conversation of our life across the board for the most part. Not everybody, but for the most part. And sometimes, done judiciously and appropriately, yeah it can make things feel more real. It can have that kind of — I don’t want to say shock value because nobody is shocked. But it definitely makes you take notice when you hear something in terms of, you know, F-bombs or whatever that you wouldn’t normally hear on television. It gets your attention, that’s the purpose of it. But when it’s done too frequently, it then becomes boring. It becomes a crutch. That’s the best way to say it, it becomes a crutch. Much like blood and extreme violence, and jumping off a f**king ladder that the referee’s holding for you onto a plate of glass when there’s nobody around, just so you can say you did it… if that’s as far as you’re going to have to appeal to your audience and you rely upon that too much, it hurts the product overall. Because you’re relying on that, as opposed to great character and great story.
“The same is true when you rely on F-bombs and a type of R-rated type of narrative that we’re seeing a little bit on social media from Rock, and even on television. If you rely upon it too much, none of it matters. It won’t matter; it’ll quit being an effective tool. And perhaps that’s what WWE is trying to do, they’re trying to find that sweet spot where you can judiciously, from a creative perspective, allow a talent or within a specific story for a good reason to step into that world of reality vis a vis their narrative and some of the language they use. But you want to control it. If all of a sudden everybody’s doing it, it won’t matter anymore. And then what do you have? You have to be careful, and I want to believe that that’s what WWE is trying to do. They’re not saying ‘No, never, you’re never going to be able to do it.’ I am hoping that they’re looking at this particular situation. Yes, there’s some latitude because after all, it is The Rock. It is Dwayne Johnson, there’s going to be some latitude there, folks. Just like there has been with every top talent in every company in the world, whether it’s a television company, movie company, whatever. Your top talent is going to be able to get latitude that a lot of other talents aren’t. That’s just a fact of life.
“But I’m hoping that they’re trying to be judicious about it, and the talent will understand. I find it interesting — I don’t even know who SEScoops is, I don’t know any of the people behind it. I’ve seen them post stories before, but I don’t have much of an opinion about them or the quality of their stories. But much like bad faith? When a story starts out with ‘the wrestling locker room,’ almost as if they’re trying to give you the impression that they were back there doing the interviews, right? And they’re talking to all the people in the locker room. That’s the implication, that’s the inference, right? The locker room in general is upset. You may have one or two people that are going, ‘Hey, how come Rock gets to say f**k you, and I don’t?’ But all of a sudden, it’s been reported as the wrestling locker room. Probably isn’t as big of an issue as SEScoops is making it out to be.”
