Eric Bischoff On His Memories of Bob Ryder, Says Ryder Was Instrumental in Young Bucks Getting Their Break In TNA

Eric Bischoff shared some memories of Bob Ryder following the longtime WCW and TNA employee’s passing, recalling how instrumental Ryder was in getting the Young Bucks their break in TNA on the latest After 83 Weeks. Ryder passed away earlier this week after a lengthy battle with cancer. Bischoff recalled how Ryder was passionate about getting the Bucks, who worked in TNA as Generation Me from 2009 to 2011, their chance in the company and got emotional talking about Ryder. You can check out highlights and the full video below:

Eric Bischoff on his memories of Ryder: “Number one, deep affection for Bob. Always have since his time in WCW, and that’s when we first started working together. Certainly in TNA. He’s just — he was a great guy. He was a truly, truly, truly great guy. And you would have to look long and hard to find someone who had anything really bad to say about Bob.”

On Bob Ryder getting the Young Bucks their break in TNA: “I identified Bob as the person — not one of the people, THE person in TNA who not only advocated for the Young Bucks to get their break, to get on national television for the first time in their careers. They might have been 12 years old at the time, [chuckles] I don’t know how old they are. But you know, Bob very rarely got upset. If he was upset he would never show it. He wouldn’t sell it to anybody, and you could never tell if he was genuinely upset or not. So when I tell you that Bob got hot — and I’m not overstating it. It was so out of character for Bob, but that’s how passionate he was about the Young Bucks, and how hard he fought for them in TNA. And he did have to fight hard politically to get them an opportunity.

“And I said it a few days ago, obviously not knowing any of this, that I hope the Bucks at least give him a nod every once in a while. Because [he was] certainly not responsible for their success, they are. Their own drive and ambition and talent is what’s responsible for their success. But along the way comes timing and opportunity, that always factors into anyone’s success. Nobody does it without some help in terms of timing and support, and good luck. And the Bucks had all of that and more with Bob Ryder. And he was a good guy.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit After 83 Weeks with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.