Interview: Eric Bischoff on Move to FOX Causing Problems, Booking Reigns

Eric Bischoff was recently interviewed by Chris Van Vliet:

I wanted to pass along the VERY interesting chat that I had with Eric Bischoff before the “Legends of the Ring” event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL.

He talked about how he would book Roman Reigns, Vince infamously using the N-word in a segment with him, his thoughts of WWE reusing “Too Sweet”, what is going to happen when Smackdown moves to FOX, whether or not we will see him in the WWE Hall of Fame and much more!

How he would book Roman Reigns:
“Is he a fan favorite if that’s what you mean by over? No. Does he have the right kind of heat that is constructive and can be used in order to advance a storyline? Questionable. But I don’t think that that’s Roman’s fault. I think the way he’s been packaged and the way he’s been presented and dare I say it, because I don’t like to be critical but there’s no other way to say it, he’s been forced down everybody’s throats for two years. But no matter how good you are, I don’t care if you’re Vince McMahon or you’re Steven Spielberg or if you’re William freaking Shakespeare, it’s doesn’t matter. The audience is only going to go so far. You can only force that fish to swim upstream until it just gets tired as has to go the other way. I wish they would turn him heel. I wish they would embrace that.”

What would happen if Vince McMahon said the N-word on TV in 2018:
“It was a different time, culturally, politically. Everything was different back then. In the context of which that scene was written and executed it was a little sensitive at that time, now it would be nuclear. It’s toxic at this point. I think people need to be careful when they start looking at things like that. Put it in the context and more particularly, put it in the context of the time frame that it occurred. We weren’t nearly as sensitive then as we are now and it was almost a parody of itself. And when you start doing parody and you start doing comedy, it’s treacherous because you can step over the line as we’ve seen recently but especially back then, there was just a lot more latitude.”

How Smackdown moving to FOX may create problems:
“You’ve got Raw which is still the flagship show in the opinions of many, which is over on USA Network which is owned by NBC Universal and now you’ve got Smackdown which is on network television owned by FOX Network. They’re competitive networks. Now what’s going to happen when the WWE, which traditionally has been able to cross pollinate talent and do all kinds of cute little things creatively? What’s going to happen when WWE says ‘We’re going to take this guy who’s really getting over here on FOX and put him over here on Raw for a night?’ I think some FOX executives are going to go ‘Woah, woah woah! I can give you a billion reasons over the next 5 years why we don’t want that to happen.’ That’s the kind of thing that I think politically is going to be an interesting manifestation of those choices.”

Which wrestlers does he still keep in touch?
“Hulk Hogan is still my best friend to this day. I stay in touch with DDP occasionally but I’m a horrible phone friend, everybody that knows me, even my family. My brother and sister who I love dearly, I only talk to on the phone once or twice a year but I stay in touch with text messages, it’s kind of impersonal. When I go to LA, I’ll call Steve Austin and we’ll go out and have a beer and a burger or something. Ernest “The Cat” Miller is another guy that I really dig. Sunny Onoo is still a friend of mine. There’s people I stay in touch with, but not many.”

Does he think he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame?
“Probably never. I don’t see it. Everyone’s got opinions about that, I’ve got my own. I don’t think about it. People ask me about it in interviews and I have to respond. I personally don’t ever see it happening.”