Eric Bischoff On AEW Using Older Talent, Recent Ticket Sales Struggles

On the latest episode of Strictly Business, Eric Bischoff talked about AEW using older talent and stars, struggling to sell tickets, and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On AEW using older talent over the last few months: “Yeah. And you know, I’ve read some of the garbage on social media, especially from s**tstains like Dave Meltzer who’s complaining a lot about the fact that AEW has too many older talents. So it is not that the older talents aren’t valuable. It’s how you use older ones. And I think if there’s a criticism to be made or a point to be made, it’s not whether Sting and now Ric Flair, or Christian, or Chris Jericho, or Adam Copeland are too old. You know, I don’t even like to call them older. They are older than a lot of the younger talent obviously on the roster. But they also have a lot more value if they’re used correctly.”

On Ric Flair’s AEW debut: “Now, I didn’t watch the Ric Flair segment in its entirety; I watched a little bit of it, I’ll probably have some time to check into it today. But from what I’ve heard from people who did watch it is Christian came out and basically just ran him into the dirt. And I’m not sure that’s the smartest way to introduce someone like Ric Flair. A legitimate legend and somebody that is well-known. Ric is probably more well-known nationwide now than he was at the peak of his career. Certainly Ric was very, very popular with the wrestling audience, but Ric has transcended the wrestling audience and is a legitimate celebrity outside of the world of wrestling. And to bring someone like that in with the legacy that Ric has and just s**t on them, and degrade him basically. Now if there’s a story there if there’s going to be if, Ric’s going to get his comeback and it gets interesting. And I leave the door open for that possibility, then I may not agree with that strategy but at least I can understand it. If it doesn’t go anywhere and Ric doesn’t get an opportunity to shine and have his moment at the end of the story, I’ll be really disappointed for Ric.

“But again, it’s how do you use a guy like Ric Flair? How are you setting up Sting’s retirement? I think you asked me last week if I think it will have an impact on the ratings. My answer was, I think it could, but we have to wait and see how it’s done. And if it’s not done well, if it’s not done correctly. If the psychology isn’t right, if it’s not nuanced carefully then it’s just going to be another match. And it won’t really reach the potential that it has. So we’ll see. We just have to sit back and wait and see and hope that they come up with something creatively really good that really showcases some of this established talent that has the equity that a lot of that younger talent doesn’t have. You talked about Becky Lynch and how Becky’s been utilized in NXT? Great story, showcases Becky. It didn’t take anything away from Becky, but it allowed Becky to share some of her value and equity, and raise the level of the talent that she was working with. That’s how you use talent correctly. Establish talent when you’re working with younger talent. Just throwing them out there for the sake of throwing them out there is not going to get you to where you want to be. It’s a waste of great talent.”

On AEW struggling with ticket sales: “The new car smell has worn off, right? When AEW first hit — and again, I’ve talked about this before. The very first episode of Dynamite, I watched in the writer’s room in WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut along with several other writers and a couple producers. And I was excited, because I knew that competition makes everything better, so I was very optimistic like a lot of fans were. When AEW announced Arthur Ashe, I went online and just jumped in with both feet supporting it. Because again, it felt like there was momentum, it felt like there was going to be this competition and excitement surrounding it that would put pressure on WWE, which I knew would be a great thing ultimately for everybody. But over the last couple of years, I think that new car smell has worn off. I think the fans’ willingness to kind of forgive some of the things that consciously or subconsciously, they know were flaws because they’re growing and it’s a new company, and ‘We’re still so excited about competition and an alternative!’ All that is worn off. And now I think by adding pay-per-views, you’re definitely going to see less of that segment of the audience that is compelled to attend that event because it’s an event. AEW’s doing a big show, and you’re part of this emerging new wrestling company and wanting to support it. I think we’ve lost a lot of that momentum and goodwill. And you’re hearing and seeing a lot more critique of the AEW product, and you’re also seeing a significant loss of live gate. Consistent now in most markets. You know, you look at AEW’s TV shows and they’re they’re producing their shows — they may be 10,000 senior arenas, but they’re scaled for 4,000 seats. It’s not a good sign. That doesn’t tell me that the live audience are really enjoying the product to the extent that they were two years ago when it was the new kid in town.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Strictly Business with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.