Eric Bischoff gave his thoughts on TNA Wrestling’s move to Monday Night against WWE Raw in 2010 on the latest episode of his 83 Weeks Podcast.
During it, Bischoff said he was not a fan of the X-Division or the six-sided ring in TNA when he got there in late 2009.
“I didn’t watch a lot of TNA before I took the job. In fact, I probably seen a total of about 20 minutes of it because I couldn’t stand watching it. I couldn’t stand the sound stage. It just looks so small.”
Co-host Conrad Thompson pushed back and asked why he took the job in the first place.
“First of all, I didn’t hate it. I just didn’t buy into the logic or the psychology of it. I didn’t know I didn’t believe in the company. I just knew the product I saw on television was not appealing to me. This is nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t make me a negative person. I just didn’t like it. It’s not that I didn’t like the talent. I didn’t know any of the management. I didn’t have any personal feelings about anything. It wasn’t hate by any stretch of the imagination.”
“I would hear about TNA and I’d hear about the Impact Zone, so I would check it out. To me, it looked like World Wide Wrestling from the Disney MGM Studios with a lot of talent that I didn’t know. That’s not a criticism. That was my impression of it, and because that was my impression of it, I didn’t watch it on a regular basis.”
Bischoff noted that he got the job because Hulk Hogan wanted him there with him.
“When I got there, you know, as to why I took the job, I talked about it. I didn’t apply for the job. I was very hesitant to take the job. I only got hired because they wanted Hulk Hogan and Hulk Hogan didn’t want to go to TNA unless I was there to oversee his stories or his character. That’s why I went. I went as much for Hulk and my relationship with him, but I also hoped, I’m not going to lie, I’m not going to mislead you, I also hoped that I could have some influence on a product that I felt needed to improve, and I expressed those feelings loudly, clearly, professionally. I didn’t yell and throw sh*t. It’s not that I hated anybody or anything. It’s not that I hated anybody or anything.”
“I saw what WCW was before Nitro. I saw what WCW became with Nitro. I saw what happened with Nitro towards the end. I was a part of all that. I had spent a lot of time in WWE. For me subconsciously or maybe even consciously, like, I’ve been to the mountaintop. Why do I want to go there? Not to be redundant, I went for very specific reasons. I would have never thought about reaching out to TNA on my own and seeing if they would be interested in bringing someone like me in. That thought never crossed my mind nor would it have had it not been for Hulk. But when I got there, and I was brought on as a consultant slash executive producer, they wanted to know what I thought, so I told them. I mean, I don’t know how else to perform in that role. Somebody asked you a question, ‘Eric, what do you think of the six-sided ring?’ ‘It doesn’t make any sense.’ ‘What do you think of a Lethal Lockdown where we have cage matches for the entire pay per view?’ ‘Doesn’t make any sense. I think it’s dumb. Why would you do that?’ It doesn’t mean I hated anybody or anything.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
