Eric Bischoff's War Against the "10 Percenters"; Calls the IWC "Irrelevant"

[Suxen Redael]

Just like the title says.

Eric B. just blogged that the IWC is irrelevant and that we are 10%er's. Being apart of the IWC it lets me know that companies don't look for what we say, but look for what ratings say. It seems they don't care about what we think, but what insane string to pull to get money. How do you feel about that?

 

[King_of_Swing1520]

Eric Bischoff Calls Internet Wrestling Community "Irrelevant"
by Chris Cash
Jun 02, 2011
Eric Bischoff posted the following on his official Twitter page (@EBischoff):

"Seems like 90% of the audience loves what the loudest 10% hates. So who really matters? The 10%er's can't get over the fact that they are irrelevant. Ratings don't lie. Research doesn't lie. IWC smarks need to get over it."



well there you have it. we're all idiots and don't know what we want in a wrestling product.

all kidding aside i am curious what everyone thinks about this. personally Bischoff needs to get over himself. he's not the great innovator and booker he thinks he his. although i would like to know what ratings and research he's talking about.

thoughts?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Because it's a lie?

He's right. The IWC is the vocal minority — nothing more. In the long-term, they/"we" are a relatively meaningless and often insatiable group of complainers who are never happy no matter what they're given.

So how do I feel? Just fine, thanks.

 

[Constipated Badger Bottom]

It's hard to disagree with him, why listen to the 10% and make a loss when instead you can listen to the 90% and make a profit, it's a no brainer.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

He's right.

Wrestling fans know nothing, that's why World Championship Wrestling is still open

 

[Rayne]

Well, time to see who here doesn't think they're a part of the IWC.

I've been pretty outspoken in my opinion that Eric Bischoff is one of the greatest con artists in the history of professional wrestling, which is quite the statement. The one major success of his career, WCW, was achieved with a virtually unlimited pocketbook and failed as soon as the money spigot was tightened up. Until his recent TNA venture, his major achievements were the creation of a now defunct ladies' wrestling promotion, "RingRatz", and reality TV shows featuring big-name celebrities like Scott Baio and Scott Baio.

Ratings don't lie, Eric, you're right. Ratings were up a meager 11% from Q1 2010 to Q1 2011, despite a massive investment in production and talent. (11% equals out to one-tenth of a ratings point, statistically insignificant.) A lot of what you read on the internet is transient criticism- you'll hear "push the young guys" all the time, and then when a young guy gets pushed, it's "how can you push this guy that isn't established???" You can't pay too much attention to criticism on the internet; if you do, you'll never accomplish anything.

But Eric Bischoff has actually accomplished almost nothing during his tenure. He launched ReAction, which was a miserable failure. (Fanbois- yes, TNA/IW said that ReAction was temporary, but every new show is temporary. The successful ones get renewed.) Ratings don't lie; executive producers trying to convince their bosses of their success do.

I'm still rooting for TNA/IW, the little engine that could. But watching Eric Bischoff try to claim a success he hasn't had yet is just a little bit over the top.

To summarize: Eric's right, the IWC doesn't matter. But that doesn't mean he's a success because people on the internet say he isn't.

 

[amazing_blue]

This just makes me hate the guy more...but he's right. The IWC hates Cena, but he still gets a good pop most of the time. The IWC would like to see Daniel Bryan vs. Cody Rhodes as the main event of SummerSlam, but the other 90% of fans are just now getting familiar with those guys.

In the case of TNA, the IWC would like to see the younger talent in the spotlight. The other 90% seems to be content with Sting, Flair, Hogan, Angle, etc. Getting their ample airtime.

 

[shattered dreams]

I say this every week. Anyone that thinks what happens around here, and in the IWC in general, means anything is delusional. Congrats, 12.5 people agreed with you. Do you want a cookie?

Best part about this true statement? That it pisses off the people that love the X-division even more which helps get his current story over even more. Anybody that thinks Bischoff doesn't know the wrestling business is silly. Say what you want about him but the truth is that the model that WWE runs on is one that Bischoff came up with not Vince.

 

[klunderbunker]

Yeah Eric is correct here. The IWC, despite knowing more than the average fan, doesn't mean much at all. At the end of the day, we've got the same buying power as any fan: one. We're about 10% (which I think is still higher than reality) of the fan base and that's not very much. It's why Russo is criticized for using insider terms on TV and referencing things that are popular online: no one gets what he's talking about other than a handful of people and the rest are left with blank stares on their faces. The internet fans don't mean much at all and they likely never will.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

He's right.

Wrestling fans know nothing, that's why World Championship Wrestling is still open

Yeah, because the failures of WCW were quite obviously because WCW never listened to IWC smarks...

What a stupid thing to post.

WCW failed because of money. When AOL and Time Warner merged, AOL specifically stated they wanted nothing to do with WCW. You think listening to "HoganFan4Lyfe" on some internet forum babble about how he should lose the title to Goldberg at Bash at the Beach would have changed that?

Get a clue.

 

[itssoeasy123]

I agree with Bischoff here, the IWC is the minority of the wrestling fanbase and should'nt be looked upon or though about. There are irrelevant to the major promotion's may it be WWE, TNA, ROH, Japan, or any other wrestling organization's. Not one company has ever listened to the IWC, and the IWC smark's can whine and complain all they want, but neither McMahon nor Bischoff wil ever care about them.

The IWC is a bitch-fest of people complaining about what they want, and if they get that, they want something esle.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Bischoff is right on the money with this. How many of us hate Cena's character? Most of us do, but does WWE listen to us? No, because for each person that hates Cena, there are at least thousands of people who love him.

 

[p11srad]

First off Eric is a dick, plain and simple. Second off, those of you who said 'they' need to realize you are in the IWC with the rest of us!

 

[jobesukulele]

It's basic psychology.

If he really thought we were irrelevant he wouldn't have found there to be a need to address us.

 

[dcarson108]

I think IWC is stupid term. Everyone is on the internet today. Do you think it's just by chance Daniel Bryan was the most over guy on NXT season 1? Or that Kaval was by far the most popular guy in NXT season 2? No, they were popular because a lot of fans already knew them.

I would consider myself a wrestling fan that is on the internet. I learned most of what I know of wrestling through the net. Just because you're not posting on forums 20 times a day doesn't mean you're not "an internet fan".

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Umm Eric does know that Nielsen, the people who produce the ratings, only look at less than 0.0001% of the estimated amount of actual viewers right? If anything, he should be happy that he is able to communicate to 10% of the audience, not be pissed and say they are worth less than his 0.0001%.

Plus, without us "internet fans", wweshop.com and tna's whatever they call it would be bankrupt and useless.

 

[JJohns]

This is my take on it. He's right. Hate to say it, but Eric Bischoff is right. If the Internet Wrestling Community was relevant, John Cena would be a jobber, Christian would be the World Champion, ECW would still be around in it's original incarnation, and we would still be in the Attitude Era.

Seeing as John Cena is WWE Champ, Christian was a transitional champ, ECW has been gone for a decade now, and the Attitude Era pretty much died when WWE "Got The 'F' Out", it shows that it's the casual fan that's relevant to the companies. TNA TRIES to cater more to the IWC, but the IWC shits on most everything that TNA does. The IWC bitched and moaned when WWE removed Wrestling from it's name, yet when TNA Impact became Impact Wrestling, many of us (myself included) took a giant steaming dump on it as it was reactionary.

The IWC were strongly behind Orton for quite a while, and when he won the title from Christian, many of us (myself NOT included) turned on him as he took the belt away from one of our chosen champions. Zack Ryder still toils on Superstars, even though he's currently among the IWC's favorite wrestlers.

If the IWC wants to become relevant again, we can't sit behind a keyboard and bitch and moan. We need to start going to MORE shows, we need to start buying MORE merchandise for the guys that we have chosen, we have to become MORE active in getting the word out there. We need to make it so that wrestling sells a wrestling show.

Because right now, it doesn't.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Well... I don't have a hard time taking this as an insult. Because, well, people who work in the business, are going to know more about the business then the fans. Especially in most sports. For example: Why bench LeBron in the beginning in of the fourth, when you could of got a commanding lead? Because they wanted to take that commanding lead at the end. Makes sense.

But, what I have a hard time understanding is... Didn't this guy, and his company, just a few months ago, rip off a WWE angle, because the IWC was wishing, and hoping for Sting vs. Undertaker?

So anyways my main point is... Don't be knocking those people, when you are actually using some of their ideas. It's just not very professional in my opinion.

 

[Dieter_Von_Cunth]

Eric Bischoff is absolutely 100% right. These people sit in a basement or public library all day proclaiming how they can book better shows than the people in charge of the major wrestling companies can. Can you imagine if these IWC "experts" were actually booking these shows? Holy Shit! Wrestling would really be in the shithole! I mean with a capital S for shithole. Wrestling is not in great shape right now as it is but if these 10% of these unemployed fans were to somehow book these wrestlers and programs, the ratings would rival those of Cop Rock. In fact, Cop Rock would be looking like American Idol compared to an IWC booked program.

 

[Tully]

Since "ratings don't lie", that means TNA sucks.

Too bad more of the "10%" ain't watching Impact.

 

[nikvoodoo]

I've been saying this for years now. Bischoff is right and the IWC amounts to basically nothing in the eyes of both major wrestling organizations in this country. I would argue ROH might be a different story because that 10% Bischoff is talking about becomes a much larger statistic for the ROH core fanbase. I don't knohttp://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=170728&page=2w that for a fact, that's just the impression I get by the emergence and popularity of Daniel Brian Danielson, and Kaval.

WWE and TNA would both be dead and buried if Vince and Dixie/Jeff/whomever the hell else is running TNA this week listened exclusively to the IWC.

Plus, without us "internet fans", wweshop.com and tna's whatever they call it would be bankrupt and useless.

No...that's why the WWE focuses on children. Because they are the ones that force their parents to buy them a Rey Mysterio mask at $50 a pop.

 

[jstroud14]

He is 100% right! IWC smarks are very fickle...wanting new guys pushed, tired of the same 'ol same 'ol...till they get pushed, flop, and then comment on what a mistake to push the new, unproven guy! And, in then end, the IWC comprises a VERY minute percentage of wrestling fans. I just see alot of bitching mistly going on in these forums. It's actually comical at times. If these "smarks" were so smart, and knew what was best for the business. why are they not IN the business???? LOL....nicely done Bischoff!

 

[Rayne]

Umm Eric does know that Nielsen, the people who produce the ratings, only look at less than 0.0001% of the estimated amount of actual viewers right? If anything, he should be happy that he is able to communicate to 10% of the audience, not be pissed and say they are worth less than his 0.0001%.

Plus, without us "internet fans", wweshop.com and tna's whatever they call it would be bankrupt and useless.

Nielsens are like democracy- yeah, no one really likes the system, but it's better than anything else we've figured out.

The way television works, it's impossible to measure every viewer. For a large portion of the audience, the television signal is beamed to them, without any communication sent in response. You can't tell what they're watching unless they tell you. Nielsens rely a lot on faith- the Nielsen company does not release the specifics on their statistics gathering. I'd personally kill to know just what the standard deviation for their ratings is.

It's not quite correct to say that he's just pooling .0001%; that's a statistical sampling method you'll learn in an entry-level statistics class. (I believe Nielsen uses block sampling, but that's only a guess based on what would be most logical- again, they don't release their methodology.) It's a small sample of the total audience which is selected to be as representative of the total audience as possible.

 

[Long Island Iced WXYZ]

He's 100% correct.

The more I read on forums like this one the more I'm convinced the majority of the IWC doesn't know a damn thing about wrestling.

 

[Fadeddragon2469]

Being someone who is not only training to be a part of the pro wrestling community but also a member of the IWC I personally think he's wrong. While the IWC is mostly comprised of those who actually post on forums and everything, there is a larger base of fans out there that just look at the news. I'd say almost all my friends who love wrestling look at the news sites and share the feelings we all have. I think the IWC has shaped wrestling to what it is today in some part. Look at that Kharma thing. It was all over the internet and then she basically broke character on live tv and told the world she was pregnant. I think there are portions of what we feel and write about that the companies (at least WWE) take note on and consider. If they did use all of the opinions we have, then yeah we'd have a pretty shitty wrestling atmosphere but to take small pointers from fans who have studied the product more than the exec's that are within their own company is smart business and if Eric wants to call us irrelevant he and TNA/IW will be as dead as WCW.