Eric Bischoff On The WWE-Endeavor Merger Getting Completed, Pressure Of Getting New TV Deal

On the latest episode of Strictly Business, Eric Bischoff talked about the WWE-Endeavor merger to be completed this month, the pressure that WWE has to get new television deals for Raw & SmackDown, and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On WWE-Endeavor merger to be completed: “You know, I don’t have a crystal ball. I tend to be pretty Nostradamus-like when it comes to professional wrestling and looking into the future. But in this case, I don’t have a feel for it. I’m happy for the people in WWE and probably for people that I don’t know in UFC as well, because having a merger like this hanging over your head, there’s so many things you don’t know. You know, you’re not in the loop. It’s the kind of information that isn’t shared beforehand in terms of merging departments and layoffs and things like that. So everybody’s sitting around wondering if they will have a job or how they will be affected. And that’s just not a great way to live, because you’re always thinking about it and wondering if you’re going to get let go or if your department’s going to be let go or whatever. And I’m happy for everybody to finally have this thing resolved so people can quit worrying about things they don’t need to worry about. Or if you’re on that list of unfortunate individuals who may find themselves being phased out, so that you can get on with your life, you can make a plan. And as uncomfortable as it may be, sometimes, when things like this happen, the old saying, you know, it’s true, for every door that closes, another one opens. And I’m sure there will be great opportunities for a lot of the people that are affected by the UFC-WWE merger. So I’m just happy for everybody that it’s going to finally be over with.”

On a possible working relationship between WWE and UFC: “I don’t know about co-promotion. I’ve — it was always said from day one when UFC first started, making their presence felt on television and pay-per-view, that there are two separate audiences. Of course there are some crossovers. There’s undeniably — but I think that the UFC audience is one audience. I think the WWE audience is another audience. And while there may be some subtle and supportive kind of cross-promotion, I don’t think it’s going to be anything overt I don’t think we’re going to be having UFC content shoved down our throat in WWE or vice versa. Of course they will support each other whenever it’s possible and organic and it fits. But I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of co-promotion on television. I don’t.”

On possible collaboration in video games such as WWE stars in UFC 5: “I don’t know. But that example you just gave that Sean [Ross Sapp] covered is an interesting proposition. Because a video game is a fantasy, right? It’s a game. And I think there, I mean, that’s interesting to me. You know, I’m not a video game guy. I don’t spend a lot of time playing video games, like none. But if I did, I could see it’s kind of a fun thought. It’s a little bit like fantasy booking, wrestling against UFC, and I think there’s possibly an appeal for that. So sure, if it makes sense and I’m guessing there’d be a fair amount of research done by the company that’s producing that video game. And they would do something they would put in some time and effort to make sure that it’s something that the market would be interested in. But just on the surface, my visceral response is, yeah, it’d be cool.”

On pressure on WWE to get their TV deal done now that the merger is about to be completed: “I don’t think any more or any less pressure than already exists, or would exist had this merger not even occurred. TV is the lifeblood of professional wrestling, certainly from a revenue perspective in WWE. So I think the pressure is already there. And I don’t think this merger is going to affect the amount of pressure one way or the other. It may affect the strategy, because now there’s leverage in some respects. You’ve got some pretty powerful players now locking arms in Nick Khan, who is a 800-pound gorilla in his own right in the entertainment and television business. And you’ve got Ari Emanuel, who’s a maybe a 900-pound gorilla. So now you’ve got 1,700 pounds of gorilla that’s sitting at the table across from you negotiating for TV rights. So, yeah, I think the strategy may be different, but I don’t think so.”

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