Eric Bischoff Gives His Thoughts On Triple H Taking Charge Of WWE Creative

Eric Bischoff discussed Triple H taking lead of WWE creative during a recent appearance on the Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast:

“Here’s what I’m excited about. I’m very, very optimistic. Now, I’m not tight with Triple H. We get along, we can be together in a room and it can be very pleasant and borderline fun, but we don’t hang out. He doesn’t drink anyway, but if he did, we wouldn’t go out for drinks. None of that, we don’t chat. So, I don’t know him personally. But I did get a chance, for a very, very brief period of time – four months back in 2019 – get a chance to work with him. Here’s what I think – I think Stephanie has been the creative under Vince, I think Triple H has been the head of creative under Vince. I think both of them know, as phenomenal of a process as Vince McMahon’s process was and what it achieved over the last couple of decades – the fact that it’s a five-billon dollar market cap company with a global footprint speaks to Vince McMahon’s process. If I’m right, there is a whole lot of talented people I did get to work with a lot for a short period of time that I have nothing but admiration for. So, at the same time, you have a new regime, although it came up within the mentorship of one Vince McMahon. That’s a great thing, by the way, but they also see that things have to change.”

Ric Flair On Bret Hart, 'God He's Bitter'

Ric Flair recently addressed Bret Hart’s criticisms of others in the wrestling business on a Jeff Jarrett's My World podcast. He called his fellow WWE Hall Of Famer "bitter"

“What I do wanna do is be able to walk into the building and not have people say, ‘God, he’s bitter, he’s old, and he’s gonna continue to knock people. I couldn’t live like that. And calling Roman Reigns the next Triple H or cracking on him… I mean, how uncomfortable is that for people in the family to walk around in front of Hunter [Triple H]? And Shawn [Michaels], who is an integral part of the company. NXT, that’s part of the company, right? What else? Jerry Lawler… ‘Jerry Lawler hit me with a chair too hard.’ Wow, okay… I don’t understand it. I don’t ever wanna be that lonely.”

“I don’t know what happened there [Hart’s problem with Eric Bischoff], and now he’s blaming Eric for everything. Eric made him rich. I don’t know how you blame Eric. I was talking to Eric the other day. I said, ‘It’s the flavor of the week. He’s mad at Goldberg one week, mad at me the next, something I didn’t do, I was repetitive.’ Well, you wrestle an hour every night 280 times [a year], which he wouldn’t know nothing about, and you’re gonna get slammed off the top, that’s called taking a bump. How many press slams did you take, Bret? None.” 

Source: sportskeeda.com

Eric Bischoff Replaced By Bruce Prichard As Executive Director Of WWE Friday Night SmackDown

WWE announced that Bruce Prichard will replace Eric Bischoff as the Executive Director of WWE Friday Night SmackDown. Prichard will report directly to WWEChairman & CEO Vince McMahon.

Prichard will oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business.

WWE had named Bischoff as the Executive Director of WWE SmackDown this past June, while also appointing Paul Heyman as the Executive Director of WWE RAW. There had been reports over recent months about Bischoff not being heavily involved with the SmackDown creative process.

Triple H On Why He Was Not Given WWE Executive Director Role, Vince McMahon "Outliving All Of Us"

Paul "Triple H" Levesque took part on a conference call today to hype NXT Takeover Toronto and WWE SummerSlam taking place this weekend.

During the call, the NXT Senior Producer was asked about the new roles of Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as Executive Directors of RAW and SmackDown, respectively. In particular, Triple H was asked if he was under consideration for one of those roles.

"You have to understand the way it's laid out, the scope of what they're doing is very specific to those shows," Triple H explained. "While I'm still at the shows there are many weeks where due to my schedule and other commitments I can't be at every single RAW or every single SmackDown. The scope of the things that I do are way beyond live events, it also encompasses creative regarding shirts, billboards and the things you don't see they just sort of appear; as well as everything to do with talent.

"There are only so many hours in the day, even though the WWE and Vince [McMahon] are working hard at creating an eighth day, as well as extra hours added onto the 24 hours in a day, so we can get more accomplished.

"I'm thrilled it is those guys and think they'll knock it out of the park. I'm excited to work with both of them. Heyman, I have been working with for a while and Bischoff, it's been a while but this is the first time I've kind of worked with him in this manner. So far it's an exciting process so I'm really happy and already see the positives from it."

Triple H was also asked about if WWE has a plan for who will eventually take over WWE, the COO was quick to stress that succession plans constantly change and that those who think Vince McMahon is stepping away are mistaken - stating that the chairman of the board will probably "outlive all of us".

"In any company of this size and with everything that we do you have to have some succession plans and you have to have a plan for the next level of where you want to go. I think sometimes people get caught up in just the product that gets put out there thinking it's just about RAW or SmackDown and someone is the heir apparent to this, that or whatever. There is no heir apparent.

"There are succession plans to everything, those plans change on the regular because this company changes on the regular. There's a lot of factors involved regarding who goes where, how and what happens - it's a constantly evolving thing.

"But all of us, Vince, myself, Steph, everybody in this company is constantly looking at when things shift, who can take who's place and who does what. You're constantly looking for people who can step up and take things off your plate so you can advance to something different."

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Vince McMahon On WWE Staying PG But Getting Edgier, Why Eric Bischoff & Paul Heyman Were Hired

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon discussed Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff being hired as the new Executive Directors for RAW and SmackDown during today's WWE Q2 Earnings call. While Vince discussed the new hires more than once, he did not mention Heyman and Bischoff by name.

"One the things that we've done is hire 2 Executive Directors, one for Raw and 1 for SmackDown and in doing so, it allows me to look at a longer-range story – our standpoint and also spend more time on talent development and not get into the weeds as much as I had to do in the past. That is a really, really good thing for a long-term as well as short-term. Actually, we've seen a big result already," Vince said in his opening statement. (H/T to Seeking Alpha for the transcript.)

Vince was later asked by an investor about why WWE chose to hire Executive Directors at this time, and how much latitude Heyman and Bischoff will have.

"I can't personally be in the weeds any longer and we have these 2 individuals who have a longer range of point of view and a developmental point of view. Both of these individuals have extensive backgrounds in the business from various aspects and with the organizational aspects that they have and the depth of talent, executive talent we now attract it's going to be really good for our business. And how much latitude they will have, that's again it allows me to have a broader overview of things and escape from just getting in the weeds. So they'll have a lot of latitude."

"As far as the content is concerned, I'll address that. We have definitely turned the corner and again as I've mentioned, we have Executive Directors with each brand now. They're going to grow in a more in-depth I think notwithstanding that, we spent more time on storylines, good ones, and also talent development. It's a combination of a lot of things on the things as far as coming together and what I guess, I'll call it relaunch in terms of our content," Vince said.

"We're going to be a bit edgier but still remain in the PG environment," Vince revealed. "We've just come anywhere close actually to go into another level. So that will be something will do in terms of direction of content, more controversy, better storylines, etc. But at the same time, we're not going to go back to the bold Attitude Era and we're not going to do blood and guts and things of that nature such as being done on perhaps a new potential competitor. We're just not going to go back to that gory that we graduated from. And again, a more sophisticated product. Again attracting much better writers and attracting better management things of that nature. So again, I feel really good about it."

Triple H Praises Paul Heyman And Eric Bischoff, Welcomes Them Back To The WWE Team

WWE Hall of Famer Triple H took to Twitter this evening to issue his first public comments on Paul Heyman being hired as WWE's Executive Director of RAW and Eric Bischoff coming back to the company as the Executive Director of SmackDown.

"Two people who pushed our industry and @WWE forward over the last 25+ years. Great to have @HeymanHustle and @EBischoff working on #Raw and #SDLive. Welcome BACK to the team," wrote Triple H, WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative.

Rumor Mill - Reason why Vince McMahon didn't offer Triple H the Executive Director position

On Thursday, June 27th, Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff were announced as the new Executive Directors of WWE Raw and SmackDown Live respectively.This announcement made a major impact on the wrestling community because of the surprise factor and the individuals in question. It seems to have been largely received as a very positive step. Certainly, it has taken a lot of attention away from the upcoming All Elite Wrestling show this weekend.There are questions however over Triple H, the current Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative for WWE. Fans have been asking why the King of Kings has not been offered either of those jobs.

Paul Heyman ran Extreme Championship Wrestling during the Monday Night Wars while at the same time Eric Bischoff ran World Championship Wrestling. After the Monday Night Wars ended, McMahon would hire both to run shows within his organization.Early in the brand extension, Bischoff would be in charge at Raw, meanwhile Heyman was in charge over on SmackDown. Heyman has had particular credit over the years for the rise of Brock Lesnar and the high-quality performances from a group known as the SmackDown Six.Triple H and his tight grip on the WWE world heavyweight championship at the time would be overseen by Bischoff in storyline as Eric Bischoff’s famed on-screen character would be heavily used for years on the Raw side.Triple H would later transition into a more managerial role. Since 2013 he has been Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative – an all-consuming role that he has successfully juggled alongside being the founder and Senior Producer of NXT.

While some members of the WWE locker room were also questioning why Triple H was not offered one or both of the WWE Executive Director positions, I am told that the answer lies in the role itself.

A source close to WWE management explained that the role is essentially very similar to the Senior Producer role that Triple H already occupies in NXT and that Triple H is known to prefer a continuation of that role.Triple H is also overseeing large quantities of WWE’s international expansion, particular as regards the set up of NXT UK, the Saudi Arabia and Australia shows and the set up of WWE Performance Centres worldwide. The source went on to explain that Triple H already had considerably more responsibility than an Executive Director role would offer.Finally, a separate source explained Triple H’s position in relation to talent a little closer. Heyman will be in charge of Raw. Bischoff will be in charge of Smackdown. Triple H is in charge of all talent, everywhere in WWE. “The job’s basically beneath him.

There is continual speculation that Triple H will be taking over the mantle for the WWE when Vince McMahon eventually retires. Triple H, meanwhile, is actively involved in everything that the WWE does.

source: sportskeeda.com

WWE Names Eric Bischoff And Paul Heyman As New Executive Directors Of RAW And SmackDown

WWE has named Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman as Executive Directors.

Bischoff is set to become the new Executive Director of WWE SmackDown while Heyman is set to become the new Executive Director of WWE RAW. Both will report directly to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

The new roles are full-time executive roles. According to Sports Illustrated, there are no current plans for these roles to be introduced as part of a TV storyline.

Bischoff will also work directly with Fox executives as the blue brand plans to premiere on Fox Friday nights in October, SI reported.

The major move will allow WWE to establish "two distinct creative processes for its flagship shows."

Below is the full press release that WWE sent Wrestling Inc.:

WWE® NAMES PAUL HEYMAN AND ERIC BISCHOFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

Stamford, Conn., June 27, 2019 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that it has named Paul Heyman as Executive Director of Monday Night Raw and Eric Bischoff as Executive Director of SmackDown Live, newly created positions reporting directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.

In their executive roles, Heyman and Bischoff will oversee the creative development of WWE's flagship programming and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business. The creation of these roles further establishes WWE's ability to continuously reinvent its global brand while providing two distinct creative processes for its flagship shows.

With more than 30 years of experience in the sports entertainment industry, Heyman served as President of ECW from 1993-2001, securing pay-per-view distribution for the company as well as a national cable television deal with TNN. After his time with ECW, Heyman joined WWE's Creative team and is widely credited with helping launch the careers of many current and former WWE Superstars.

Bischoff is a former WCW President and New York Times bestselling author. During his WCW career, Bischoff oversaw the signing of some of the biggest names in sports entertainment and helped create and develop the NWO storyline. He was also instrumental in securing a television deal for WCW Monday Nitro on TNT and WCW Thunder on TBS. After WCW, Bischoff co-founded Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment, a production company that launched TV reality shows and mobile games.

Eric Bischoff comments on the risk taken by those who work for WWE

I knew what I was getting into when I signed that agreement. I knew there was going to be no health insurance. I knew there was going to be no retirement. Nobody talked to me about a 401(k). I’m intelligent enough to read the agreement I signed…I know what to expect, in return for my services. So it’s hard for me to relate to people that bitch and whine about it after the fact. If you don’t like that situation, you don’t like the fact that WWE is not offering you the things that maybe you could get at, I don’t know IBM or Apple or an airline, then go work there. But if you’re like me or I’m sure many people who aspire for an opportunity for greatness, like musicians do, you know what? You gotta roll the dice. And if you choose to roll the dice going into that deal knowing what it is and what it isn’t, then don’t bitch and whine about it afterwards.

Eric Bischoff On Triple H's Short Stint In WCW

Eric Bischoff reflected on Triple H's time in WCW and said they didn't have too many interactions. Triple H would end up leaving WCW for WWE in early 1995 and Bischoff revealed there was nothing he could do to prevent that from happening.

"When Hunter came in it was at a time in WCW when we were really cutting costs. Expenses were a really big issue. I think it was Terry Taylor who first introduced Hunter to us. My biggest concern with him was that he lived in the Northeast. At that point things were so tight financially that we were looking to concentrate on the talent that lived in Atlanta, Georgia because we couldn't afford to fly people all over the country, so that was one big issue."

HHH was in his mid 20's at the time, and wasn't near as big of a name back then as we'd come to see later on in WWF/WWE. 

Bishoff notes that Triple H was never one to drink, smoke, or do any drugs.

"He didn't drink, he didn't smoke, didn't do drugs, didn't get loud. He was friendly, he was sociable, he was cordial, but he was kind of… I don't want to say aloof but he was one step outside the kind of inner circle of talent in the way he carried himself. And by the way, that is a compliment because he was a real pro even in this social environment, and I did notice that because it was early for me in management, but I did notice it. He was in control of himself almost at all times," stated Bischoff.

Eric Bischoff Confirms New WWE Project

Eric Bischoff confirmed on Twitter that WWE is producing a new DVD with documentary on him that will be released in 2016. WrestlingDVDNetwork.com notes that it may come out in April or May.

Rumor Mill - Eric Bischoff Suing TNA, Alleging Missed And Late Payments, TNA Responds, More Details

According to ProWrestling.net Eric Bischoff, his son Garett and business partner Jason Hervey have filed a lawsuit against TNA for breach of contract. PW.net reports that the suit was filed on May 15th in Davidson County, Tennessee and claims that the company owes them $114,500.02.

The report says that Eric Bischoff and Hervey are listed under their production company, and are alleging that they were hired on a "pay or play" deal. They, and Garett say that TNA paid them on time until the end of September, and that Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment informed TNA of a breach in the contract on November 4th due to a failure to pay in October. A second notice was issued on November 24th. TNA eventually paid $101,500 before 2015, but the company is still looking for the same amount for the last three months of their contract, which expired on March 31st.

Garett Bischoff was a part of the company's first deal with the company before signing his own contract with TNA on October 24th. His contract included $2,166.67 monthly on what was called a "pay or play" deal, in addition to $500 for paid performances. His deal also expired on March 21st and claims that TNA still owes him over $13,000.

TNA supposedly issued a response on January 12th, claiming that they had paid Bischoff-Hervey in full, which Bischoff-Hervey disagreed with. Bischoff-Hervey's attorney Bryan Lewis told TNA's attorney, "When the money was sent, you did not make it clear whether it was in connection with the settlement offer that was on the table or a reinstatement by TNA," reads the letter from Lewis. "TNA did not make a request that Bischoff-Hervey perform services when the money was sent. Bischoff-Hervery Entertainment stands ready, willing, and able to perform under the agreement in the event TNA is reinstating that agreement."

WGN announces new wrestling-related TV series for 2015

Eric Bischoff Talks Vince & Stephanie Similarities

AlternativeNation.net’s Sports section has up Part 2 of their in-depth interview with Eric Bischoff, during which Bischoff discusses how Stephanie McMahon is similar to Vince McMahon and Triple H’s leadership abilities:

“Vince was very, and probably still is, demanding of Stephanie. I think there’s one thing that I saw in Stephanie that made me think that she probably at some point could be Mini Me (laughs), so to speak, and I don’t mean that derisively, but she has a lot of Vince’s same personality traits and characteristics.

She’s super intense, she has an incredible work ethic, she is very strong willed, and she knows what she wants, and what she likes. I saw that when I watched her produce segments, I saw that when I watched her produce my segments. I watched that when I had her rehearse me over and over and over again, until she heard an inflection exactly the way she wanted to hear that inflection. That part of her personality is very similar to Vince’s, it was very very particular, so I saw indications of that early on, but I didn’t have an occasion to see that same thing out of Triple H, because he was probably 75% talent, and 25% in the circle so to speak.”

Can TNA Get Over?

Rumors have swirled about the demise of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Is this the end for the company? And will professional wrestling ever support two major promotions again? Click here.

source: grantland.com

This Day In Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Steve Keirn
September 10, 1951

Ric Flair wrestles his first ever bout in the WWF(WWE) after being fired from WCW.
September 10, 1991

Fritz von Erich died from cancer at at age 68.
September 10, 1997

Eric Bischoff fired as WCW President
September 10, 1999

This Day In Wrestling History

WCW's Clash of The Champions XX celebrates its 20th year of wrestling on TBS. The show also featured the last appearance of Andre The Giant in the USA.
September 2, 1992

Eric Bischoff awarded Triple H the new WWE Raw World title, exclusive to Raw.
September 2, 2002

Rumor Mill - Eric Bischoff Reportedly Being Paid to Sit at Home, Update on His TNA Status

Dave Meltzer noted on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio that Eric Bischoff will be paid to sit at home for the remainder of his TNA contract, which expires early 2014. Meltzer also mentioned Bischoff is out of power and "gone."

"He wasn't at the PPV, wasn't at the last TV, he won't be around. A lot of people are really happy on that one, Eric was not very well liked there. Eric got exposed... Eric was very lucky that he had some very smart people propping him up in the WCW days and those people aren't there now, and he got exposed on this run real bad."

Rumor Mill - Is TNA up for sale due to the Carter family wanting out of the wrestling business?

Dave Meltzer is reporting that the Carter family wants to throw the towel in on TNA and sell the company to the highest bidder. There are parties interested in purchasing it, but no word yet on who they might be. Obvious candidates are Eric Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett, Viacom and WWE...More?

source: cagesideseats.com

Rumor Mill - Eric Bischoff's Status with TNA

As noted before, TNA talents were told at Thursday's backstage meeting that Eric Bischoff would be working from home going forward. Bischoff was not at Thursday's tapings or last Sunday's Bound For Glory pay-per-view. There are lots of people in TNA who expect to never see Bischoff in TNA again.

The new 24/7 campaign TNA is running is something that was pushed internally as far back as 2009. One of the ideas was to have one-hour weekly YouTube shows on the X Division and the Knockouts, leading to product interest and money generated from YouTube. There were lots of people pushing for the idea to be cleared and budgeted for but as soon as Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan were signed, the idea was shot down and went away. Hogan and Bischoff hated the concept, didn't believe in it and were all about building up TV so they could compete with WWE.

The fact that TNA is now going with this concept and the fact that Jeff Jarrett is getting more involved and more power once again, a lot of people are thinking that this is the end of Bischoff in TNA.

source: pwinsider.com