Eric Bischoff On Potential Reason For WWE Releases, His Opinion That Vince McMahon Won’t Sell the Company

In a recent edition of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff discussed John Morrison’s WWE release, the potential reason for the WWE releases, and much more. You can read Eric Bischoff’s comments below.

Eric Bischoff on John Morrison’s WWE release: “John, from the get-go, when he first made his debut in WWE – actually, I think he started working with me initially as my assistant or whatever the role was. But I remember John just doing a great job. He learned really quickly in terms of his mic work, skills, and performance backstage – he learned very, very quickly. An amazing physique, great look, he was healthy, and wasn’t injury-prone. Open-minded guy and easy to work with. Had a great sense of wanting to create a great character, and he understood the difference between the real John Morrison and the character John Morrison which, believe it or not, a lot of people have struggled with from time to time. The talent themselves sometimes confuse the character they’re playing with the real person, and I understand that because oftentimes the lines are intentionally blurred. But John didn’t have that even early on breaking into the business. He saw the distinction between the person and character. As far as his in-ring presentation, I haven’t watched a lot of his stuff recently, but man, the guy is fluid and can do so much. That one really surprised me. He’s an easy guy to work with and not a pain in the ass. He’s a company guy, so I’m really kind of surprised.”

On the potential reason for the WWE releases and why he thinks Vince McMahon wouldn’t sell the company: “Here’s my impression from way outside the lines and on the outside looking in. I think this is just a market correction. I think that WWE, for whatever reason, stacked a lot of talent – I’m talking a lot of developmental talent, these are not all big-name, well-established characters in WWE. I think that perhaps, for whatever reason, the strategy over the last five or six years with NXT is being reevaluated, and as a result, there’s just a lot of talent looking for work. That’s just a market correction. Whether or not that leads to a sale, I’m probably more open to that than I was. I’ve said this before, but one of the reasons I was so steadfast in my opinion that WWE under Vince McMahon will never sell is because of the strong impression that I’ve had over many years – but particularly working with Vince closely for a short time over four or five months – it’s so obvious that Vince holds the legacy of his father and grandfather so highly. It’s evident when you walk into Vince’s office. You figure it out pretty quickly. I’ve always believed because of that legacy and how highly, apparently, Vince holds that legacy in that he has Stephanie, Shane, and by virtue of marriage, Triple H, and he’s got grandchildren. I’ve always believed Vince would be far more predisposed to allowing his family to carry on that legacy. Very few people really know Vince McMahon. Obviously, his family does and people like Jerry McDevitt do. I think people like Bruce Prichard probably has great insight as to what Vince is really like, but I’m not even sure they can tell you what he’s thinking in any given moment. He’s a very complex individual. He’s harder than hell to read. He just is. So, who knows.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.