On a recent edition of his “83 Weeks” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff addressed the current collaborative efforts between WWE and TNA Wrestling.
Bischoff suggested that WWE’s arrangement with TNA may be a response to MLW’s legal action, in which WWE was required to pay a significant sum of money. One of MLW’s allegations was that WWE holds a monopoly in the wrestling industry.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On if he’s surprised that WWE is working with TNA now: “Yes and no — actually, no. I think it makes sense. If you look at some of the WWE lawsuit with MLW, the fact that they lost that lawsuit. I think WWE has to do as much as they can to kind of mitigate or eliminate possible arguments that they’re a monopoly. And I think by engaging with TNA and supporting TNA, they’re doing what they need to do from a legal perspective to avoid future lawsuits that are similar in nature in terms of accusing WWE of being a monopoly. What better way to avoid that than to engage with other wrestling organizations that support them? So I think it’s a smart move. I think it was a move that really was a reaction to the MLW lawsuit.”
On the TNA-WWE partnership being positive: “It’s great exposure, it’s a great shot in the arm. Let’s face it: TNA is not on a network that provides a great deal of exposure. You know, you’ve got to be really, really interested in TNA to find it and to watch it. So to get the opportunity to be on USA Network and a high profile opportunity with probably — I don’t know what the ratings will end up being, but I’m guessing about 700,000, 800,000 people tuning in. That’s a hell of an opportunity, not only for the individual talent but for TNA as a brand. So I’ll be curious to see how what TNA does with this exposure, and whether they are able to leverage it to a bigger and better opportunity, perhaps on a different network? Who knows, but that’s a good thing all the way around. Everybody wins.”
