Eric Bischoff Says WWE Is Repeating His nWo Mistake With The Bloodline

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff agreed with Conrad Thompson’s criticism of Roman Reigns’ positioning, then compared the Bloodline’s long run to how he diluted the nWo in WCW. He was also asked whether the story would have worked without Paul Heyman and Sami Zayn. You can check out his comments below:

On Agreeing With Criticism Of Roman Reigns:

“I agree. I know that’s not what you’re expecting, because apparently people think that I support everything WWE which is clearly not the case. But yeah, I give an honest opinion. And I look at things from a business perspective, which probably puts me on the WWE side of the equation for obvious reasons because they’re doing really, really well. But there are things like this that I just shake my head at.”

On the Bloodline Being Stretched Past Its Peak:

“It’s funny. You know how much I put over the Bloodline story. I to this day, in this moment, believe it’s really one of the best stories that have ever been told in wrestling, for a lot of different reasons. But it’ll never have the impact of the nWo for a variety of other reasons, so you can’t really compare them. That’s what I’m trying to say in a long-winded way. But like the nWo — which yours truly nosedived by growing it too big. The red and white, the Wolfpac and derivatives of the original nWo. Too many guys in it diluted the significance of it.

“Okay, you got me on that. I did that. But because I did that — because it’s so obvious, why is WWE doing the same thing? Wouldn’t somebody say, ‘Hey, remember when Bischoff did this with the nWo?’ Now, if there’s a compelling story — here we go again, compelling stories, always at the root of all disappointment and evil. If they can come up with a compelling story that makes it feel new, I’m in. Because we know that the creative team has the ability. We’ve seen it before. They’ve demonstrated their prowess, so we know it can happen. Doesn’t happen every time, but it can. The potential’s there, and if they come up with a great story, they can make them feel fresh. Boom, I’m in.”

On What Happens If They Ride It Too Long:

“But if they keep doing what I did — which is riding it till it dies essentially — people will reflect back on the Bloodline storyline and have a less favorable opinion of it. Not because it wasn’t a great story that achieved all the things that a great story needs to achieve in order to be considered one of the best stories that have ever been told. It achieved a lot of those things, if not all of those things. But it’s kind of like a fighter that just refuses to retire and goes out there and gets manhandled by somebody 25 years younger. If they would have just stopped two or three fights earlier, they’d be legends. Now they’re footnotes.

“And that’s what will happen to the Bloodline story if they don’t come up with a way to make it more exciting and interesting and live up to the expectation that they’ve already created with the audience. People like yours truly — I have an expectation. It’s your fault; you got me there before. Now get me there again. If not, leave it alone. Come up with something fresh. Go a different direction.”

On Whether the Bloodline Works Without Paul Heyman & Sami Zayn:

“Well, definitely without Heyman. He was the glue, he was the catalyst. He was the glue, and he was the propellant. He’s the reason it all happened. He was the Wizard of Oz behind the scenes, a master manipulator that had this familial-like relationship with his guys. Heyman was central to that. And Sami did such a phenomenal job. He made you believe, even if you weren’t already on the team, so to speak, with the Bloodline. And you weren’t already a huge fan, boom! Sami kicked it up another notch.

“That’s why — and particularly the addition of Sami’s performance in particular — that’s what made me really engage in the Bloodline story. The rest of it, I’d seen versions of it before. I kind of was part of something that was a version of it before — the template, just the faction thing, the similarities. But the way it was executed, the depth — and from my perspective, again, business, not how many minutes in the ring -— the story elevated so many people. I mean, the nWo did too, but not like this. The number of people that were able to step up in a relatively short period of time with a lot of focus on them while they were doing it, it was very, very impressive from a business perspective.”

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