Eric Bischoff believes pro wrestling is well represented today in both in AEW and WWE.
Bischoff had a chat with Michael Morales Torres of Lucha Libre Online about which wrestlers that can be the next marquee names and work as the ambassadors of the whole pro wrestling industry.
“I think there’s quite a few. I think certainly Drew McIntyre falls into that category. Roman Reigns without a doubt falls into that category. I’ve always been a very strong supporter of Dolph Ziggler as an example. Cody Rhodes is certainly a very articulate individual that presents the industry in a very positive way. He could probably feel comfortable in a boardroom, a corporate environment or in a locker room. So I think Cody is probably one of the younger talents out there now that can certainly grow into that that position. In fact, he’s already in that position. So I think he’s going to continue to grow in the position that he’s in. But it’s not about if the talent has the ability, it’s whether or not the company is going to give them that ability or that opportunity.
Eric does state that he believes WWE changed their branding structure and it’s more about representing those three letters than any marquee name.
“In my opinion—and this is going to sound like I’m being critical and I’m really not—it’s my opinion that WWE made a decision a long time ago that no talent is going to become a bigger star than the company itself. Meaning no name is going to be more valuable to the wrestling audience than the WWE name or the WWE brand in the past. You’ve had wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin, for example. They built the entire company around you and when things didn’t go well, and there were personal issues, and legal issues, and contractual issues, Steve took his ball on one home. That’s a very tough position to put the company into. So it wouldn’t surprise me that at some point, Vince McMahon made up his mind that he would never allow anyone talent to become so powerful that he or she would put WWE in a secondary position. I think that’s one of the reasons why you see a lot of top talent. Drew McIntyre is a great example. Roman Reigns is another great example. Either one or both of them could be that talent could be ‘the face of the company’ as people like to refer to as. Do I think either one of them will get there? I don’t. Not because they don’t have the ability, but because I don’t think the business model for WWE wants it.”
Read More: WCW Rewritten Episode One: Starrcade 1997
WrestleZone features weekly audio and video content on Facebook, YouTube, and your favorite podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud. Subscribe now for hours of exciting wrestling content including exclusive interviews, previews and reviews and much more!
Subscribe Now:
