Eric Bischoff On How AEW Has Flatlined And It’s Been That Way Essentially For A Year

 

On the latest episode of the 83 Weeks Podcast, Eric Bischoff talked about how AEW has Flatlinede when it comes to their booking and ratings.

“AEW does a good job of marketing themselves outside of their television show,” Bischoff said. “TNA had the outlook or perspective that all you had to do was put a television show on the air and people will come. That’s true to a certain degree, but you’ve got to preach outside the choir in your own church to attract a bigger audience or even in a subtle way making your product feel more important to the people that do watch you on T.V. Making that pay per view feel like it’s must see.

“A large part of that is booking and to a large extent that was a failure in TNA and WCW and occasionally in WWE and AEW. There are storylines that are weak but there are also storylines in WWE and AEW that are really compelling that make up for it. Look at some of the stuff AEW has done in the last year and half to promote themselves outside of the people that are watching the show every week. They’ve spent lots of money, TNA wasn’t willing too.”

Bischoff also responded to comments that Chris Jericho made in 2011 about TNA needing to try to do something different to enhance their product.

“If I was working for TNA I would project that it’s the greatest wrestling company in the world because if you’re not projecting it, why is anyone going to believe it?” Jericho said at the time. “When we were in ECW it was small, I never made more than $250 a show but you would die for that company and when you came across that way, the fans came across that way and suddenly you have this underground revolution going on and it was real, it was a revolution, people believed it was the best. No one in TNA believes they are in the best company and if they don’t believe it then why am I going to believe it as a fan? Why am I going to buy their product?

“[TNA’s] just so bush league, they can do better than that and the guys on top there should know better and it really makes me mad because they’re wasting money and they don’t have to be wasting money but I’m not burying TNA I’m saying you should be ashamed of yourself because you can do better.”

Bischoff said those same comments could now be used in reference to AEW and that AEW needs to find a way to grow their brand.

“I think it’s going to come back to bite him in the ass is what I think,” Bischoff said. “AEW last week they did about 800,000 viewers, they opened the door with 1.5 million viewers and haven’t been able to crack 1 million since or if they have it’s been only on 1 or 2 occasions. They’ve essentially flatlined at 7 or 800,000 viewers on average for the last year and a half.

“That’s an observation that could, unless something turns around in the next 18 months, come back to haunt someone like Chris. Quite frankly, AEW has flatlined and it’s been that way essentially for a year. It’s easy to talk about a business you’re not really in. Chris has never run a wrestling business and when he made that statement, he was making it from a position of a talent not an executive.”

Of course the people who book AEW will of course, 'conveniently' ignore this because you know, according to them, they know what they're doing (when it's obvious that they don't), and when the truth hurts, they just look away and hope the truth magically, will go away.