All wrestling fans agree that the sport is not as popular as it used to be two decades ago. There are some who believe that shifts in the media world and the changes in people’s consuming habits are big reasons behind it. Eric Bischoff, however, thinks that the blame lies solely with the product.
The wrestling veteran spoke to Ryan Satin for his Out of Character podcast. Satin discussed how wrestling is not a mainstream programm anymore and mentioned the changes in media. Bischoff called it a ‘pissant’ excuse. He explained that the real reason behind it is that wrestling has failed to evolve:
“The product is boring. It’s just nothing new has happened. Nothing has changed. Nothing has emerged. Nothing has evolved. It’s the same formula. Up until recently the same process, we’re talking about WWE which is by far the dominant [company].
There is no competition. AEW is not competition, no matter how much Tony Khan wants to believe it is. It’s not. We’re in the same business, Tony. That’s not the same thing as being in competition. [You’re] not taking market share, Tony. You’re just in the same business. It’s kind of like having a little mom-and-pop hamburger stand on the corner and saying that you’re in competition with Arby’s. You’re not.”
Nothing Has Changed: Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff explained that wrestling was a teen product before the 90s. The rise of WCW forced Vince McMahon to change his formula as well. This led to massive changes and the overall growth of the industry:
“Other than the fact that a new company has emerged in this space, what’s changed? Nothing’s changed. Whereas with the Attitude Era, the reason that wrestling was a part of pop culture, is because there was a seismic shift in the presentation of the product.
It went from a teen and preteen product in the 80s and into the mid-90s, until it became an 18 to 49 year old product with actually Nitro, which led into the Attitude Era. Because Vince had to compete with that. He changed his formula, the product evolved. It became attractive to an entirely different audience. That’s called growth. What have we seen since then?”
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