Eric Bischoff Explains Why Pat McAfee’s WrestleMania 42 Angle Failed 

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff talked about Pat McAfee being part of the WrestleMania 42 build for Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, why it failed and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On the problem:

“The problem comes in when you get people who are outside of that process — meaning the day-to-day creative process. You get somebody with influence from outside of that process who has the ability to kind of get things over the top, either because they can, or just because of who they are. You start making decisions not based on how you think the audience is going to react. The people in the creative room probably were going pretty risky. I think we talked about how risky it was on this show a couple of weeks ago — very, very risky. If it doesn’t work, it’s going to be ugly. Well, they were right. It didn’t work and it was ugly.”

On McAfee opting out of the post-WrestleMania angle:

“If you’re a Pat McAfee or Jelly Roll, you don’t want that smoke. Now it’s hurting your brand. Now you’re not as cool as you were before you stepped into the ring. That’s the danger and that’s the real risk, because it’ll impact who’s going to step up next. I don’t think there’s any risk of celebrities not wanting to get involved, not suggesting that for even a second. They’re all business people. I was going to say horse, but that was too crass. But you know, it’s a transactional business. You’re going to do what you’ve got to do. But anyway, let’s move on.”

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