TNA Executive Eric Bischoff recently spoke with Bob Kapur of SLAM! Wrestling. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Current State of TNA: “As someone who is very clearly associated with and very much invested in it emotionally, I want to see it succeed, obviously. I think the business, and the television business, is an extremely competitive one. It’s difficult for a lot of people and for a lot of networks. We’re competing with general entertainment, we’re competing for extremely valuable real estate on a very important television network that’s owned by a very important media conglomerate. But I think there is a ton of potential in TNA. It’s uniquely positioned to grow, and to become much larger in many ways than it is right now.”
His Role In TNA: “My role doesn’t extend to the hiring and firing or recruiting. That’s the business side of TNA’s business, and I’m not involved in that. My partner Jason Hervey and I are the Executive Producers of Impact. Essentially, my role is: to oversee the creative side of the production; to be involved in post-production as is necessary; to execute the creative direction and vision of each episode; to work closely with the network to make sure the TNA side of the equation understands the network’s goals; and to be the liaison for TNA on the production side of things so that the network understands what our challenges are, and where we’re going, and what we’re trying to do. My involvement is really limited to the show itself. I’m not involved in many aspects of the business that the internet would suggest I’m involved in.”
His Son Garrett Bischoff: “I’m extremely proud of him. I’m very, very proud. It was a goal of his, something that he’d wanted to do since he was extremely young, as a child growing up – which I didn’t really find out about until just a few years ago when he broke into the business. I’m very proud of him for working hard to do what he’s needed to do. Clearly he had an advantage in getting into the business, I think everybody understands that, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think that was a factor. But he also has had to overcome a lot because of who he is, and because of who I am. And he’s handled that really well. But there’s a part of me that knows – and I tell him this – that this is an extremely difficult business, more difficult now than it’s ever been. There’s really only one big place to work, and TNA is what TNA is and where they are. It’s a tough career choice when there are really only two car manufacturers and one’s in mass production.”
The Internet Wrestling Community: “Unfortunately, the internet, the dirt sheets, the blogs, whatever you want to call them – a lot of them are operating with partial information. And that hurts a lot of the different parties involved. It hurts the talent in certain respects; it hurts the business in certain respects; it hurts the credibility of the people who write about things that they don’t fully understand. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the nature of the business.”
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