Eric Bischoff has claimed that not only will WWE survive the departure of Vince McMahon, it will thrive.
Following the departure of Vince McMahon, WWE is undergoing the biggest transition in its history. While there has been change at boardroom level, the creative focus and process is also expected to change dramatically with Triple H now heading up that division.
One man who has extensive experience both working for and against Vince McMahon is Eric Bischoff. ‘Easy-E’ went toe-to-toe with McMahon as head of WCW during the Monday Night Raw, before joining WWE in 2002.
Reflecting on McMahon’s exit with NBC Sports Boston Bischoff said that while the transition would be strange, he expects WWE to improve.
“It’s going to be strange for people like us, All of us who have been fans. Those of us who have been in the business and have worked with Vince, and in my case, competed against him and also worked for him – it’s just weird because he’s been there forever, right? And he’s like the only head coach the team’s ever had since the team was born – for most of us.”
“So, it’s going to be weird, but I think it’s going to be better,” Bischoff continued. “Vince did amazing things, anybody that doesn’t give him credit – not only credit but respect for what he’s accomplished business-wise; let’s separate his personal proclivities to business, and what he built. Anybody that doesn’t respect what he built is just juvenile, childlike. But, I think with new management [the WWE product will be better].”
After looking back on his experience working as Executive Director of SmackDown in 2019, Bischoff broke down how the new creative process will differ to that built by Vince McMahon.
“When I worked there in 2019, I worked side-by-side with Vince McMahon on a pretty regular basis,” Bischoff recalled. “I sat in way too many meetings with Vince McMahon that I don’t even want to think about [because] I’d get PTSD-like symptoms when I do. But as amazing as what Vince built is, his personal way of going about WWE Creative is his system – his creative system and approach. [That] doesn’t work for anybody but him. It just doesn’t. It’s well-documented that he works 20 hours a day, and calls meetings at 2 in the morning – which I can all confirm are true.
“That [Vince McMahon approach] doesn’t work well for a team that you’re relying on, and I think with Triple H in there now – because Triple H has been in that spot before, he knows how difficult it is to work within Vince’s system. And because he knows, I think we’re going to see a new creative system in place over the next few months. I think the new system is going to allow for extremely talented writers to be able to emerge in this new environment, and I think you’re going to see a lot better products as a result.”
On August 9th WWE announced that they have uncovered two more payments worth a total of $5 million that were made by, and not declared by Vince McMahon. This takes the total of of such payments to $19.6 million.
H/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.