"Up until now, Eric Bischoff has strictly been an on-air talent for WWE Raw, and stays to himself backstage, not really drumming up any political support.
However, there are reports that Vince McMahon is considering giving the creative control for the Raw brand completely over to Bischoff.
McMahon is worried about differentiating the brands, and believes that if he has total control over both brands, it would be impossible to make them distinct. However, it is unclear whether McMahon is truly prepared to give total control away for one brand, especially to someone who was once a hated rival.
Apparently McMahon is aware that his booking staffs are both writing shows that cater to what he likes, and he is looking for a solution that will allow a new creative voice to be heard, and Bischoff could be the answer.
Not exactly, but I can't see it hurting any more than anything else WWE has done in the last year. WWE needs new ideas, even if they come from someone who's ideas are rooted back in 1995.
The brand extension is a losing concept from the outset, and I think it's becoming more apparent why as we move closer to WrestleMania. WrestleMania is, traditionally, built around one big match which is usually for the World Title. This year, we'll have two and one title has to take the backseat. The Royal Rumble itself is flawed, too, because the winner this year gets half the prize that was awarded last year, making the event itself go down in value.
Bischoff is notorious for becoming a mark for certain people backstage and listening to only one guy's ideas if they benefit him, and not the company, so I don't think this is going to get rid of any HHH-related nonsense.
Of course, it's not like the old days where kissing up to Hogan guaranteed him a safer job within Time-Warner, who didn't realize Hogan wasn't always a consistent draw. He's around people who know and understand the wrestlers, like the McMahon family. Instead, he gets to kiss up to HHH, which will guarantee him a safer job in WWE.
EDIT: It all depends on what Vince McMahon believes. If he believes that the WWF crushed WCW, I could see him promoting Bischoff. If he believes that management (ie Bischoff) crushed WCW, he may want to think twice about putting Bischoff in charge.
The day Eric Bischoff is put in charge of Vince McMahon's show is yet another sign of the impending Wrestling Apocalypse.
What does it matter if they give the book to Bischoff? Vince still owns the company and ultimately, you have to please him. Wouldn't make a bit of difference.
If he's considering delegating some authority, why not give the book to Heyman? He's shown infinitely more creativity and originality than Bischoff ever did.
"My brother saw the Undertaker walking through an airport." - Rex "Was he no-selling?" - Me
Bischoff didn't really do a ton of booking in WCW, though. He just catered to Hogan and tried to please him while Kevin Sullivan, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Taylor and various others did most of the booking/writing.
One of WCW's biggest problems was how it was booked. The hot shotting of Main Events, the feuds that just started and ended out of nowhere, the lack of blow offs, etc, etc.
If he does get the book, Eric Bischoff has to be the smoothest talker out there. But in the end, he'll fall into the same trap that all the RAW writers have.
Originally posted by fuelinjectedBischoff didn't really do a ton of booking in WCW, though. He just catered to Hogan and tried to please him while Kevin Sullivan, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Taylor and various others did most of the booking/writing.
One of WCW's biggest problems was how it was booked. The hot shotting of Main Events, the feuds that just started and ended out of nowhere, the lack of blow offs, etc, etc.
If he does get the book, Eric Bischoff has to be the smoothest talker out there. But in the end, he'll fall into the same trap that all the RAW writers have.
And of course, lets not forget his great decision to think Kevin Nash had his pulse on the wants of wrestling fans. The only real time Uncle Eric could be considered a 'classic' booker was in the dying days of the AWA, and his glorious idea to use the Team Challenge Series to revive the company. Now, would I prefer an Uncle Eric with final say with a booking committee of Arn, Finley, Johnny Ace, Hayes and Patterson: yes. Is it better than leaving Gerwitz and his crayon in control: yes. Could it become a complete disaster with Uncle Eric going on a power trip (NWO Tonight Show), while letting guys he thinks Vince likes run rampant: probably. At this point though, its sad to say, Uncle Eric is the lesser of two evils. Now, give me Cornette as an option and let him and Heyman book against each other in pure hatred, and you'll probably get 6-8 months of good programming before they both burn out. But that won't happen though.
I want you to know, I agree with everything I've just said.
I have to say, I have no problem with Bischoff taking over. Seriously, what's the worst that could happen, another few months of bad Raw shows? I think the very fact that Vince is reportedly considering this is a sign that he is ready to shake things up and that is a very good thing. I'm not sure if Bischoff truly is the answer WWE is looking for, but they sure as hell won't know until they try.
Vince McMahon looks at Eric Bischoff and thinks: "He's a hell of a talented writer. Hey, he kicked MY ass for a while there. Sure he burnt out in 1999, but he's still smart." A lot of other people look at him that way too, because he beat out the WWF for a while in the mid-late 90's.
But what they fail to remember is that Eric didn't receive the book from WCW in '96, and immediatley whoop Vince's ass. He took control of WCW booking in 1993, and wrote some of the most God-awful shows in wrestling history, nearly running the thing out of business, before Ric Flair bailed them out. Eric brought Hogan in in 1994, but that only helped a little, and WCW television still sucked, maybe worse than before (Dungeon of Doom, anybody?).
Then, in 1996, Bischoff had hit his goldmine. The nWo storyline. But guess what? This wasn't even an original idea, as he stole the blueprint of the storyline from Japan. So really, Eric's one good idea, wasn't even his idea to begin with. He had about 6-months of good television, before the whole thing started to suck again. The only reason WCW still won the ratings was because WWF sucked even worse at the time, with Sid Vicious and Henry Godwinn running around Raw for an hour.
The nWo storyline chugged along, and television started sucking as bad as it did in 1999. If only Vince McMahon could realize this. But then again, considering WWE has actually been able to surpass WCW on the "WHAT-A-BUNCH-OF-FUCKING-MORONS-O-METER", I guess it shouldn't really suprise any of us, should it?
Toss in the fact that Eric can't see how a midcarder can ever become a main eventer. See Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and the countless others that didn't have Eric's stamp of approval to be a Main Eventer.
Sure he brought us Cruiserweights but he didn't do much more with them then just throw them out there every week in different combos.
Fuelinjected: In the case of all of those guys (except maybe Foley), one could make a legitimate case that Eric was having his strings pulled by the Orange Goblin, especially for Austin (whose spot Hogan took upon his entry in 1994) and Benoit (when Hogan canned the Apocalypse angle in 1997).
As long as Eric comes up with storylines that are slightly more entertaining than Grass Gerwitz's hallucinations, doesn't bury Jericho and doesn't turn Raw into the Teo Show, give him a shot, I say...
As long as Eric comes up with storylines that are slightly more entertaining than Grass Gerwitz's hallucinations, doesn't bury Jericho and doesn't turn Raw into the Teo Show, give him a shot, I say...
Isn't it already the HHH Show?
I still say the problem isn't necessarily the booking, but the shortsightedness of it. WWE for years was known for their long-term storylines; why not go back to that?
"If you go out with a girl and they say she has a great personality, she's ugly. If they tell you a guy works hard, he can't play a lick. Same thing." -- Charles Barkley
Not nearly as much as it was in the early days of the First Blowjob Reign, when Teo was regularly getting the opening slot, the second hour opening slot, the overrun slot, AND backstage segments all in the same show...
I've been like Raw alot recently, for the last few months I've been looking forward to and enjoying more then Smackdown.
The main event, I'm not crazy about who's in it, but they have been building it as good as you can. The tag division has been great being involved in exciting matches almost every week, and new teams and some veteran teams getting involved it's certainly better then the SD division. Victoria and Trish and the rest of the woman on the show aren't involved in one of the worst storyline of the year like the SD counterparts. Nowinksi and Maven are in a middle of a decent Tough enough feud (keep D'lo away). Test is even a somewhat interesting character.
Raw isn't perfect but I've been enjoying it on the most part.
I was watching my tape of Unforgiven last night, and I began remanicing about the Alliance. I remembered the Austin turn...and the Angle turn....and the Regal turn, and I got to thinking: WHO THE HELL was in the Alliance, anyways?