Eric Bischoff On AEW And NXT – “They’re Not The Wednesday Night Wars”
Eric Bischoff has given his view on the current ‘Wednesday Night War’ between AEW and NXT and how it fails to live up to its Monday night counterpart from the late nineties.
Bischoff was President of WCW when it began its 83-week streak of Nitro beating Raw in the ratings on Monday nights. On his podcast – 83 Weeks – Eric Bischoff would explain that a wrestling war is more than two shows going head-to-head.
Bischoff stated:
“That’s why I have a hard time when people talk about the Wednesday Night Wars, they’re not the Wednesday Night Wars. Two shows head to head does not a war make.”
“A good war is when all boats rise with a high tide, when it lifts the entire industry. That’s what we saw here, even though the WWF was suffering in some respects, their business was improving, markedly so in other respects because of Nitro.”
The rise of WCW after the formation of the NWO in 1996, led to the then WWF beginning their own ‘Attitude Era.’ The rise of superstars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock would follow as pro-wrestling returned to the mainstream.
Bischoff continued by saying that the idea of fans picking one product and rejecting another in wrestling is not something he believes in:
“I think sometimes that gets lost in the gang warfare of wrestling relations meaning if you’re a fan of WWF you couldn’t be a fan of WCW, if you’re a fan of WCW you hated WWF, if you’re a fan of AEW you can’t stand NXT, if you’re a fan of NXT you can’t stand AEW, that’s silly horse sh*t that people subscribe too.”
“It doesn’t necessarily make a war. What makes a war is when you’re competing against each other. Forcing each other to improve your product, and then you’re watching the audience grow in response. Therein lies a good war.”
Reports had suggested that NXT could be making a move to Tuesday nights, ending the apparent ‘war’ on Wednesdays. New doubt has been cast upon that happening, with the sticking point revolving around the broadcast of NHL games.