Eric Bischoff is skeptical of Aleister Black’s account of broken WWE promises, though he said he cannot know what was said during Black’s negotiations. Reacting to Black’s recent comments about his return and release, Bischoff argued that the wrestler should consider what he can change about his own career.
Conrad Thompson raised Black’s description of promised opportunities that did not materialize after he returned to WWE. On 83 Weeks, Bischoff said he had only spoken with Black a few times and found him pleasant, but questioned how firm the creative commitments had been.
“I don’t know Aleister Black well. I’ve had couple conversations with him. Always found him to be a very pleasant, respectful gentleman. And an interesting person. My impression of him, the short conversations I’ve had with him. That being said, find it hard to believe. Do I believe he felt as though or the implications maybe he interpreted as promises with regard to what they might do creatively? Sure, that happens.”
Bischoff suggested that frustration about future work can change how a person views a setback. He drew on his own experience at WWE, saying he eventually saw his unsuccessful stint there as a decision he had made rather than somebody else’s fault.
“Sometimes nerves turn into fear and fear turns into anger and anger turns into bitterness and before you know it, these people lied to me. It’s not that you’re fabricating it for other people’s benefit. You’re fabricating it to yourself because you want to feel better about your situation or you don’t want to take responsibility for your situation. … You got to take some responsibility. Even if the responsibility, like mine, I made a bad decision going to work for WWE. I wasn’t prepared for that. I didn’t think it through the way I should have. So the fact that it didn’t work out wasn’t Vince McMahon’s fault. It was my fault.”
Bischoff also returned to his earlier view that Black should adjust his character instead of relying on the same presentation. He said complaining about an alleged promise would do less for Black than making a change he controls.
“What did you expect to happen? You’ve been at the plate three times. You’ve swung and missed three times. Maybe there’s another solution for you here as opposed to bitching about a promise someone allegedly made you, whether they did or not.”
Thompson raised the possibility that Black’s public criticism could limit his options with AEW or WWE. Bischoff did not claim to know either company’s plans, and he said his own interactions with Black had been positive despite reports he had heard.
“If someone develops a reputation of being difficult or not easy to do business with, you’re not necessarily going to go out of your way to extend an olive branch and work with those people. You want to do business with people who are easy to do business with. I’m not saying he wasn’t, but I am saying there were a lot of reports that said that he wasn’t. I’ve never had a negative interaction with Aleister Black before in my life.”
Bischoff said he could empathize with the uncertainty that follows a job loss and hoped Black could turn his situation around. His criticism follows Jim Ross’ earlier comments on Black’s relationship with AEW.
Source: 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff on YouTube.
