Eric Bischoff: Is He Missed?

[Rayne]

Rampant, always accurate internet speculation has placed Eric Bischoff as the leader- or a central figure- in the ongoing Aces and Eights saga. The last we saw of Eric Bischoff was at Lockdown this year, being forced out of TNA by his son, who then also seemingly vanished into thin air. (There is a God, he loves us all so much.)

Do you miss Eric Bischoff as a television character? Do you think that as a character, he could help improve the product? This is a question open to wide amounts of speculation; while some people, including myself, might say that the product is better than it has been in a long time, that hasn't been appearing in the ratings. (If you're a television show, ratings vs. cost of production is everything- at least when it comes to setting advertising rates and maintaining your slot with your network, which comes out to everything.) The thought could easily be brewing backstage in TNA that Eric Bischoff could help be the remedy to the ratings woes; would you welcome him back?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Absolutely, if the caveat is that he's the reason for a ratings rise or spike. I don't see how anyone can put their personal opinions on the man before that and still try to maintain any semblance of integrity. When faced with a proposition, the answer that keeps you in business, v. the one that puts you out of it is always the right answer. Morality, economics, etc. factor in, of course, but generally speaking TNA need to continue to do the things that keep them in business, so if that means the return of Bischoff, then that means the return of Bischoff.

I don't hate Bischoff, by any means, and while I was hoping for someone outside of him to run the Aces and Eights "charter", that's not to say the concept is scrapped because he's the one in charge. At the end of the day, love him or hate him, Bischoff has an uncanny ability to draw heat. In that sense, who better to lead the Aces and Eights? Just look what he was able to accomplish running Immortal — and they were hardly a stacked hand in terms of talent.

Bischoff is a loud-mouthed braggart, but he's also someone you enjoy hating because the majority of his hatred comes from what his character has done over the years. I doubt many people know Eric Bischoff, the man, enough to say their "hatred" for him actually stems into reality.

I think you're poll is a little too genericized to vote objectively on, but based on the values it's proposing, yes, I miss the Bischoff character.

 

[Rayne]

My personal opinion: Good God No.

Eric Bischoff had a great run as a character in the late '90s, and another brief one during the early 2000's as a character in the WWF/E. But the schtick is old at this point. His character hasn't developed any, if at all, during that entire time frame. Great, he's an evil egomaniac- and then what? That's the end of the build with Eric Bischoff. I don't hate his character; I'm bored by his character. He drives me to change the channel (or, since I cancelled my cable, #bestdecisionever, to stop watching the download.)

If there's a temptation to bring him back to 'spike the needles', that needs to be resisted. You aren't going to build a company around Eric Bischoff, and in almost every storyline he's featured in, he's in the central role, as opposed to whatever performer he's promoting. (Hi, Evil Jeff Hardy!) He is a professional wrestling vampire, sucking the life out of whoever he's attached to. (Hi, Garret!)

Keep him in back; where he can avoid the temptation to work his audience. Out front, he's a relic of an era that isn't coming back.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I dont know if Id call EZ E a professional wrestling vampire, I would say that he is a very effective heel mgr type character, who can help draw serious heat for a wrestler or faction on TV. His on air work in WCW from 96-Spring 99 was classic. He was the basis for the evil boss character Mr McMahon, and personally I think he was a better, more serious, more charismatic, less over the top character than McMahon.

Now would it be a good idea to bring Bischoff back and make him the leader of the Aces & Eights faction ? Not necessarily , but its not a bad one. Bischoff has a connection to the audience, is well known, even to casual wrestling fans, and he's definately good on the mic. Ultimately since he is an on air personality and not an active wrestler his ability to actively draw ratings is low. Steve Austin the wrestler = big ratings. Austin the retired, non wrestling on air character = minimal ratings impact. Fact is, any numbers success TNA has will come from interest in their wrestlers and their stories. Bischoff certainly can aide that, add entertainment value to a heel group or faction. People may become interested in the Aces & Eights faction, Bischoff can help, but ultimately casual fans wont tune in just to see Bischoff cut a promo, not like they would for example if next week's RAW featured HHH vs Cena.

 

[DangerousDave]

Being a huge heel mark, my answer is yes. Bischoff is an instant heat getter. With Flair gone TNA needs someone to stir the pot against management, who better than EZ E? I don't want to see him as the leader of Aces & 8's, but a high ranking member. My hope for the leader of A & 8 is Double J along with Karen. Bischoff is the man fans love to hate, so bring him back.

 

[BigDaddyKewl]

I'd say yes bring him back as part of Aces and 8s. I think they need to reveal a few members heading into Bound for Glory to help generate interest. I know a lot of people don't want to see another Immortal rehash. But they need established names in Aces and 8s to help give them credibility. I think they would look weak if you have a bunch of no names and jobbers going up against Sting and Hogans team.

 

[californiachef84]

Of course he is! Many of the "smarks" on these websites don't like to admit the successes of Mr. Bischoff. They only want to look at his failures. Also, many of them are too young to truly admire what Bischoff was able to accomplish and the impact he had on professional wrestling.

Eric Bischoff is a true genius as should be credited as such. Having him on television can only be an asset.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

My personal opinion is no. In my eyes, there's been far too much attention focused on Bischoff while he's been featured on TNA television. Not that Bischoff isn't very good at his character, but TNA is a company that's only recently, within the past year, focused on actually working towards creating new stars.

I've got nothing against Eric Bischoff, I just don't feel he's particularly fresh anymore. Keep him backstage working on the creative side of TNA. Let's face it, Bischoff isn't someone that's going to move the ratings needle. At the most, his reappearance will pop a slight rating for TNA but that'll be as far as it goes before the ratings go back to their typical levels so I'm not buying into that argument. It's a crutch a lot of people used to justify the presence of worn out veterans that TNA made the focus of their program for years.

 

[waylon p]

Do not care. It does not matter who gets put in, it matters only what is done with them. There are exceptions, some guys are so good that they will elevated bad material, some so bad that they ruin even the best program. Eric is neither of these things. If he has good material, he is good. If his material is lacking, so will he be.

I like Eric. His time in TNA has left a bad taste in my mouth, but I have no doubt he can improve on that with a decent storyline. He is a good heel when given the chance, but garbage in, garbage out. He does not transcend the material. Few do.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I miss him in professional wrestling, no doubt. He's one of the greatest wrestling general managers of all time, and obviously one of the more brilliant backstage minds in the industry. I can't imagine what, if anything, would have come from WCW without Bischoff.

But as it concerns TNA, I don't really care. Most of what he's tried to do has been crapped on by the fans, and to their credit TNA hasn't given him a whole lot of compelling angles. If they could work him into the story in a way that hasn't been done 100 times before, but whenever Bischoff and Hogan are in the same place, the same old shit seems to always happen. It's nothing against either of them individually, but if what we've seen from TNA in the past two years is any indication of what his return would be like, I have no real interest in it.

Jeff Jarrett on the other hand...

 

[Notorious718]

I re-watched that segment featuring Aces & Eights' leader talking with Sting and Hogan at the clubhouse and I have this feeling that the guy was Bischoff. Even with the muffled voice, it felt somewhat obvious given the guy's speech patterns. Not sure what I think of Aces & Eights potentially being led by him. I've never exactly cared for the guy as an onscreen character especially if it involves leading yet another faction. Haven't we been there before with Immortal? Anyway, Bischoff has his merits without doubt but I personally just don't care to see the guy on my television screen again.

 

[braveh]

No not in TNA. He's just been a leader in stables that haven't worked. He is too old to be on tv.

He should go back to the WWE. I really miss him coming out every PPV and explaining the stupid Elimination chamber for 5 minutes.

 

[Slash-LN]

No. I honestly don't even notice he's gone. The program is moving along without him and it doesn't feel like it's lacking anything to me. Heel wise the focus is on the in ring competitors. Even Aces and Eights come out and fight sometimes.

 

[HBsam31]

He is really of no interest to me anymore. He used to be a great on air character, and he was even good in TNA. The problem is when he is around I think too much focus is put on him. I like TNA where it is right now, and I don't really see the need to have Bischoff back. To me he just doesn;t make that much of a difference anymore.

 

[MisterRob]

I don't know why anyone is still guessing who the leader of Aces and Eights is. Having watched the following video, which happened months ago, it's absolutely obvious whose behind them. You can tell unmistakably by the voice, even muffled, the way the person talks gives it away. Even more you can tell by the figure in the chair, with his hat backwards, and his size and posture. Remember when Bischoff use to wear a leather jacket and his hat backwards in WCW? Check.

It's Eric Bischoff. Anyone who isn't sure after watching that segment must be either blind or deaf, because they gave it all away.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QQ0Bvc724g[/YOUTUBE]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QQ0Bvc724g

It's not a big reveal at all. In fact, it's very disappointing. Can Hogan and Bischoff not move out of the spotlight and come up with something fresh and a little original?