Marty2Hotty
Getting Noticed By Management
I listened to the entire interview with Eric Bischoff straight from this website that aired on Voice of Wrestling - 5/19/2008. I typed up the main details that captured my interest:
Bischoff on VOW:
http://wrestlezone.com/audio/VOW_05192008.mp3
Says nobody at TNA has the creative juices that were prevalent during the growth of WWF/WCW. Umm.. Russo? He is saying the people at TNA were not a big part of either WCW/WWF's growth. I personally think Russo was a huge one.
"Fire Russo" chants asked to Bischoff. Bischoff says he doesn't watch TNA so he can't really tell. He says Russo's material is easily distinguished from the type of content that he's seen from others. He says there isn't much under the hood of Russo.
He says McMahon, a Bischoff, or Heyman, or Russo has a style. But the difference compared to him is that Russo has a very limited bag of tricks from a creative point of view. His stuff is so obvious that it's not funny. He says if the fans are seeing things that they recognize as "Russo-esque", then it doesn't surprise him. He says TNA is an internet organization. They only have 1 million people watching on primetime on a 2 hour show on Thursday Night. That isn't exactly mainstream. He says the Internet community is very familiar to Russo because Russo catered to them. He isn't surprised that the TNA audience will respond with an "Internet-like" Vince Russo chant because that is where their audience is.
Cash says there's been a lot of Russo quotes during the past few weeks from Goldberg, and now him. Cash asks what Bischoff dislikes about Russo (style, personal), etc. Cash says Russo is always thinking outside-of-the-box mentality that Bischoff has had throughout his tenure in WCW. Cash says Russo was never shy to try a unique product. Cash's question is from a comparison to Russo is why he dislikes Russo's booking/creative mind so much.
Bischoff asks name one thing Russo has done that was out of the box.
Cash stumbles and then mentions David Arquette being champion, saying that Russo probably knew the reaction of the die-hards. Bischoff says he won't take that away from Russo and acknowledges that the angle was done to get people talking about WCW again. He says that wasn't necessarily the worst idea. Bischoff says other than a stunt like that, and asks if Cash can think of another one, Russo hasn't thought of anything new. He says they're gimmick oriented, was dark, was sexual in nature, and it's not thinking out-of-the-box. He says there's a perception and reality.
Bischoff says if you look at the body of Russo's work what has he really done? He says that has nothing to do with him disliking him. Bischoff says at Bash at the Beach, what Russo did to Hogan, what Russo demonstrated was that he could not be trusted. Bischoff says he doesn't have to like someone to work with them. He's sure McMahon didn't like him but could trust him.
He said that Russo could not be trusted at all due to Bash At The Beach. Bischoff can't tolerate people who he can't trust. Bischoff said Russo had a honeymoon period, blew smoke up people's ass convincing them that he turned WWE around. Bischoff says that is a complete joke. Bischoff said even though it was limited, Russo had his freedom. "His stuff sucked. It absolutely sucked" - Bischoff says about Russo's work in the first run in WCW.
Bischoff said Russo blew it and everyone said they hired a fraud. And that's why they brought him (Bischoff) back.
Great discussion on the "Analysis of the Nielsen Rating".
Bischoff asks Cash and the other host if he put $1 million on their desks right now, in 5 minutes or less, can they summarize how Nielsen generates the rating. Cash says he can't. He's spoken to others and can possibly briefly talk about it but can't give specific detail. Bischoff says there are people from Nielsen that can't even describe it.
[This discussion is on internet journalist 'credibility' by the way]
He says if you go on a wrestling website, read "analysis" of ratings, he says especially for TNA. He says the margin of error for a rating of a 1.0 (he chuckles) probably negates any reason to discuss whether it went up two tenths of a point or two tenths down of a point.
People who do "analysis" who think they know what they're talking about. These are the people who take ratings declines/increases, and use their subject analysis and make it know what they're talking about WHEN THEY DON'T (As per Eric Bischoff). Bischoff says if you want to be a journalist, figure out how Nielsen works. So if you talk about ratings, you can talk about it in a way that is somewhat credible.
The host compares a Raw (3.5) vs a TNA (1.0) and asks Bischoff. Bischoff is not suggesting that they don't have a right or that it isn't a great forum to discuss. He says there are a few websites/forums that share opinions and that's fine. The sites that he has a problem with are the ones that step over the line where they discuss their analysis of the situation and getting fourth hand information, when they have no idea what they're talking about.
Bischoff says when everyone knows what happens on a PPV before it happens, it's not really fun for the fan. He says that was one of the reasons he went live - to surprise the audience. CaSh says kinda like how he gave the outcomes of Raw. Bischoff: "Exactly" - chuckles. That's where he got the idea, lol.
Bischoff said he attended a few meetings in WWE where McMahon was really angry about someone leaking out information to the Internet. He said it may hurt the product. He says he never had a problem with people criticzing his product after they saw it. But he was pissed when people critized the product before they saw it. That was due to the talent talking to the Internet community.
Last question for Bischoff. Is wrestling still in his mind? The business, how should it go? Any ideas? Is the business ready for something new/different right now?
Bischoff says he still thinks about it. He says realistically he doesn't see himself involved right now. He says the business is DESPERATELY seeking competition. There's a letdown/disappointment in the audience for TNA. Everybody including him hoped that it will be competitive. Bring in Sting, Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, Primetime, 2 hours live, - that didn't work.
There are only so many rabbits you can pull out and not work before the audience loses hope. He says if someone were able to put a competitive product head to head with WWE, he thinks the audience would thrive on that because they want that Monday Night Wars feeling.
Host says if Spike TV decided to put Impact on Monday Nights 9pm Live. What will happen?
Bischoff says it would be a horrible experiment. It's a good tactic/strategic/creative. Problem is you need a strategy. You need the right vision, budget, creative, people, strategy. He says if you think that show would go up against Monday Night Raw, it'd be a sad thing.
Cash says they shaved a woman's head on national TV. Bischoff says how you can beat that with a great story/character.
---
My thoughts.. Bischoff thinks it's a great idea to go head to head with Raw.. He still bashes TNA saying that they're stuck at 1.0 and can't deliver with all the surprises they have. But he thinks it's a ballsy move.
Damn
Bischoff on VOW:
http://wrestlezone.com/audio/VOW_05192008.mp3
Says nobody at TNA has the creative juices that were prevalent during the growth of WWF/WCW. Umm.. Russo? He is saying the people at TNA were not a big part of either WCW/WWF's growth. I personally think Russo was a huge one.
"Fire Russo" chants asked to Bischoff. Bischoff says he doesn't watch TNA so he can't really tell. He says Russo's material is easily distinguished from the type of content that he's seen from others. He says there isn't much under the hood of Russo.
He says McMahon, a Bischoff, or Heyman, or Russo has a style. But the difference compared to him is that Russo has a very limited bag of tricks from a creative point of view. His stuff is so obvious that it's not funny. He says if the fans are seeing things that they recognize as "Russo-esque", then it doesn't surprise him. He says TNA is an internet organization. They only have 1 million people watching on primetime on a 2 hour show on Thursday Night. That isn't exactly mainstream. He says the Internet community is very familiar to Russo because Russo catered to them. He isn't surprised that the TNA audience will respond with an "Internet-like" Vince Russo chant because that is where their audience is.
Cash says there's been a lot of Russo quotes during the past few weeks from Goldberg, and now him. Cash asks what Bischoff dislikes about Russo (style, personal), etc. Cash says Russo is always thinking outside-of-the-box mentality that Bischoff has had throughout his tenure in WCW. Cash says Russo was never shy to try a unique product. Cash's question is from a comparison to Russo is why he dislikes Russo's booking/creative mind so much.
Bischoff asks name one thing Russo has done that was out of the box.
Cash stumbles and then mentions David Arquette being champion, saying that Russo probably knew the reaction of the die-hards. Bischoff says he won't take that away from Russo and acknowledges that the angle was done to get people talking about WCW again. He says that wasn't necessarily the worst idea. Bischoff says other than a stunt like that, and asks if Cash can think of another one, Russo hasn't thought of anything new. He says they're gimmick oriented, was dark, was sexual in nature, and it's not thinking out-of-the-box. He says there's a perception and reality.
Bischoff says if you look at the body of Russo's work what has he really done? He says that has nothing to do with him disliking him. Bischoff says at Bash at the Beach, what Russo did to Hogan, what Russo demonstrated was that he could not be trusted. Bischoff says he doesn't have to like someone to work with them. He's sure McMahon didn't like him but could trust him.
He said that Russo could not be trusted at all due to Bash At The Beach. Bischoff can't tolerate people who he can't trust. Bischoff said Russo had a honeymoon period, blew smoke up people's ass convincing them that he turned WWE around. Bischoff says that is a complete joke. Bischoff said even though it was limited, Russo had his freedom. "His stuff sucked. It absolutely sucked" - Bischoff says about Russo's work in the first run in WCW.
Bischoff said Russo blew it and everyone said they hired a fraud. And that's why they brought him (Bischoff) back.
Great discussion on the "Analysis of the Nielsen Rating".
Bischoff asks Cash and the other host if he put $1 million on their desks right now, in 5 minutes or less, can they summarize how Nielsen generates the rating. Cash says he can't. He's spoken to others and can possibly briefly talk about it but can't give specific detail. Bischoff says there are people from Nielsen that can't even describe it.
[This discussion is on internet journalist 'credibility' by the way]
He says if you go on a wrestling website, read "analysis" of ratings, he says especially for TNA. He says the margin of error for a rating of a 1.0 (he chuckles) probably negates any reason to discuss whether it went up two tenths of a point or two tenths down of a point.
People who do "analysis" who think they know what they're talking about. These are the people who take ratings declines/increases, and use their subject analysis and make it know what they're talking about WHEN THEY DON'T (As per Eric Bischoff). Bischoff says if you want to be a journalist, figure out how Nielsen works. So if you talk about ratings, you can talk about it in a way that is somewhat credible.
The host compares a Raw (3.5) vs a TNA (1.0) and asks Bischoff. Bischoff is not suggesting that they don't have a right or that it isn't a great forum to discuss. He says there are a few websites/forums that share opinions and that's fine. The sites that he has a problem with are the ones that step over the line where they discuss their analysis of the situation and getting fourth hand information, when they have no idea what they're talking about.
Bischoff says when everyone knows what happens on a PPV before it happens, it's not really fun for the fan. He says that was one of the reasons he went live - to surprise the audience. CaSh says kinda like how he gave the outcomes of Raw. Bischoff: "Exactly" - chuckles. That's where he got the idea, lol.
Bischoff said he attended a few meetings in WWE where McMahon was really angry about someone leaking out information to the Internet. He said it may hurt the product. He says he never had a problem with people criticzing his product after they saw it. But he was pissed when people critized the product before they saw it. That was due to the talent talking to the Internet community.
Last question for Bischoff. Is wrestling still in his mind? The business, how should it go? Any ideas? Is the business ready for something new/different right now?
Bischoff says he still thinks about it. He says realistically he doesn't see himself involved right now. He says the business is DESPERATELY seeking competition. There's a letdown/disappointment in the audience for TNA. Everybody including him hoped that it will be competitive. Bring in Sting, Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, Primetime, 2 hours live, - that didn't work.
There are only so many rabbits you can pull out and not work before the audience loses hope. He says if someone were able to put a competitive product head to head with WWE, he thinks the audience would thrive on that because they want that Monday Night Wars feeling.
Host says if Spike TV decided to put Impact on Monday Nights 9pm Live. What will happen?
Bischoff says it would be a horrible experiment. It's a good tactic/strategic/creative. Problem is you need a strategy. You need the right vision, budget, creative, people, strategy. He says if you think that show would go up against Monday Night Raw, it'd be a sad thing.
Cash says they shaved a woman's head on national TV. Bischoff says how you can beat that with a great story/character.
---
My thoughts.. Bischoff thinks it's a great idea to go head to head with Raw.. He still bashes TNA saying that they're stuck at 1.0 and can't deliver with all the surprises they have. But he thinks it's a ballsy move.
Damn
