Eric Bischoff On Reason AEW vs. NXT Isn’t A Real Wrestling War, TNA Botching Opportunity To Compete With WWE

In a recent interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Eric Bischoff discussed why AEW vs. NXT isn’t a real wrestling war, having resentment towards TNA, and much more. You can read Eric Bischoff’s comments below.

Eric Bischoff on still having resentment towards TNA and the company botching the opportunity to compete with WWE: “There’s a lot of resentment towards TNA. Not the people – well, kind of the people – but just because of the missed opportunity. There was a moment in time while I was there that, in my opinion, TNA could have done what Bellator did with Viacom. Viacom was in the mood, they were hungry, and they had learned their lesson with UFC. They no longer wanted to be in the business of building other people’s brands. They wanted to own. It was met with all kinds of ridiculous resistance. That’s my resentment. It wasn’t gonna put money in my pocket, but it was that golden opportunity that comes around so rarely that you hate to see someone fuck it up.

“That aside, I had a lot of fun in TNA. Working with my son Garett was the highlight of that. Hulk Hogan was my best friend, so working with Hulk, working with Ric Flair, and working with Sting again. I got to work with Mick Foley in TNA, I got to work with Kurt Angle, I got to work with Jeff Jarrett. I got to work with a lot of really good people – AJ Styles I got to work with. I made a lot of friends there……they had all the elements. What they didn’t have was vision and commitment from management.”

On why AEW vs. NXT isn’t a real wrestling war: “No, it’s not. It is in the sense that they’re head to head. But let’s be real, AEW, what you see on Wednesday night is the cream of the AEW crop. What you see on NXT is not the cream of the WWE crop. It’s the developmental arm of WWE. It’s not its top stars. You’ll see the top stars of AEW on Wednday, but you will not see the top stars on NXT on Wednesday. Until that changes, it’s kind of a spitball fight more than a war.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.