Eric Bischoff Says He Signed an NDA For WWE, Thought He Might Be Out Early, Talks Talent Not Embracing Their Characters

– On the latest Keeping It 100, Eric Bischoff weighed in on his WWE experience and how he thought he might be exiting early. Bischoff was brought in as the Executive Director of Smackdown in June, but his run only lasted a few months as he was released in October. Bischoff discussed believing he might not be there for the long term and also weighed in on how talent doesn’t believe in their characters in the current era. Highlights and the full podcast are below:

On not being able to talk a lot in detail about his experience: “I can’t really discuss too much internal stuff and the process. I signed an NDA. So I have to be very, very general about the way I discuss this thing.”

On suspecting he might be exiting early: “There was a moment or two I guess, while I was there the first couple months. And I think the first month in a half in particular where I went home and I told my wife Laurie, ‘Do not fall in love. Do not fall in love with the furniture, do not fall in love with anything you buy here. We came here in a 5×8 U-Haul trailer, we’re going to leave here in a 5×8 U-Haul trailer. We may be leaving sooner than you think.’ That idea, that thought crossed my mind early on. And I was right.”

On talent not embracing their characters: “I agree that a lot of talent doesn’t really understand their characters deeply enough. They don’t believe in the characters, they don’t become the characters. And you look at some of the most successful characters in the industry. Stone Cold Steve Austin was successful because he was playing a louder, larger than life version of himself. That was an easy character for Steve to excel at because he wasn’t acting, and it became something that the audience really, really gravitated to. Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Macho Man. These are all characters [where] the talent and the individuals became those characters, and they believed in those characters.”

On which stars have been able to do that: “There’s exceptions to the rule, believe me. Randy Orton is probably for the last 15 or 20 years, been one of my favorite performers. Still is to this day. He keeps getting better every time he goes out. It’s an amazing character, an amazing talent. There are still characters out there that are strong characters that know who they are. But so many of them are just, their idea of a character is, ‘What wardrobe am I wearing tonight? What color of outfit, what’s my ring gear look like?’ That’s the extent of their character.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Keeping it 100 with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.