83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff - Episode 300: Ask Eric Anything 12.11.23

Episode Date: December 11, 2023

On this edition of 83 Weeks we're celebrating our 300th episode! Eric and Conrad hand over the reigns to our listeners on for a special 3+ hour #AskEricAnything. Eric and Conrad discuss the state of the professional wrestling business, the NWO gorilla marketing style, running a wrestling residency in Las Vegas, and missing working at the commentary desk calling play by play. All that plus so much more on this MEGA SIZE edition of 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff. SHOPIFY - Go to SHOPIFY.com/83weeks (ALL LOWERCASE) now to grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in for a $1 per month trial period. GAMETIME - Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code WEEKS for $20 off your first purchase (terms apply). Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. CROWDHEALTH - CrowdHealth was created to get rid of the headaches of health insurance. Visit JoinCrowdHealth.com and use Code WRESTLE to get started today for just $99 per month for the first three months. PRIZE PICKS - Go to PrizePicks.com/83WEEKS and use code 83WEEKS for a first deposit match up to $100! HENSON SHAVING - It’s time to say no to subscriptions and yes to a razor that’ll last you a lifetime. Visit HENSONSHAVING.com/ERIC to pick the razor for you and use code ERIC and you’ll get two years' worth of blades free with your razor–just make sure to add them to your cart. EMBRACE PET INSURANCE - Don't wait for the unexpected to happen— join the massive community of pet owners who trust Embrace Pet Insurance to protect their pet. Make sure you go to EmbracePetInsurance.com/83WEEKS or else they won’t know I sent you! MIRACLE MADE - Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to TryMiracle.com/83WEEKS and use the code 83WEEKS to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. ADVERTISE WITH ERIC - If your business targets 25-54 year old men, there's no better place to advertise than right here with us on 83 Weeks. You've heard us do ads for some of the same companies for years...why? Because it works! And with our super targeted audience, there's very little waste. Go to AdvertiseWithEric.com now and find out more about advertising with 83 Weeks. Get all of your 83 Weeks merchandise at https://boxofgimmicks.com/collections/83-weeks FOLLOW ALL OF OUR SOCIAL MEDIA at https://83weekslinks.com/ On AdFreeShows.com, you get early, ad-free access to more than a dozen of your favorite wrestling podcasts, starting at just $9! And now, you can enjoy the first week...completely FREE! Sign up for a free trial - and get a taste of what Ad Free Shows is all about. Start your free trial today at AdFreeShows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, hey, it's Conrad Thompson, and you're listening to 83 weeks with Eric Pishoff. Eric, what's going on, man? How are you? I'm doing great. Just doing great. Went over to our neighbors. I'm not a very neighborly guy. I kind of like being left alone. That's why I like living where I live. Sure. But we've got these neighbors by name of. Lou and Amy, and they're from Philadelphia. Lou is a retired cop.

Boy, he got some stories. Holy smokes. But he's a big time Philly guy. Like Philly this, Philly that, Philly this. Everything's Philly. Bites me over all the time to watch Philly sports. And I'm just not into it. But he's a fun guy. He's funny as hell. He's got great stories.

Anyway, we wanted to be nice. They invited us over for cocktails, you know, so we thought, oh, let's make some appetizers. Well, that's something that Lou and Amy would really like because all they ever talk about is Philadelphia. So Lori found a recipe for Philly cheese steak stuffed mushrooms. Wow. And it involves, you know, ground beef and a bunch of stuff.

Mix it all together to get that Philly cheese steak flavor, right? And consistency. But I thought, wait a minute. Let's use River Bend Ranch because you can. You can get it like a pound, a set of ground beef. It's like diced steak. And we use the diced steak as a stuffing as part of the stuffing ingredient along with everything else that goes in there.

And they were phenomenal. I mean, life changing phenomenal, right? But I put it on video. You know, I taped it or, you know, videoed it on my phone, or I making it, putting the recipe together and all that stuff. So we could use it down the road. And then I took my camera. obviously took my phone over to Lou and Amy's house and we filmed them opening this thing up

and trying this and Lou's like there's no bullshit kind of guy he doesn't say things just to be kind or nice he's very very straightforward so I like him and he bit in you know he took a mouthful of one of these Philly cheese steaks no the River Bend Ranch Philly cheese steak stuffed mushrooms that's a freaking mouthful yeah but it was so fun man he just lit up up. They were so good. It was a great recipe. So that's that was my day yesterday. I found a good mushroom recipe. Well, I like it. Uh, it's my life. I got it. I don't know what's going on here. That was like my highlight of my day. You have a lot going on here. We want to talk about the water fast. We kept up with it over social media. I want to pick your brain about that. We're going to

do that towards the end of the show and jump into some wrestling today. But first, I want to say happy anniversary here. I can't believe this is a real thing. This is our 300th episode of 83 weeks. And I know that when we first started this podcast, one of us didn't think this thing was going to last. Boy, has our relationship grown and we have had so much fun. And I want to thank you for the time and opportunity and chance to do this.

And I know we both want to thank all of our listeners because you guys have kept us going. You know, not a lot of podcasts make it to 300. And as I was talking to Dave Green this past week, we just had our most successful month we've ever had last month. And that's because of you guys. So thank you for all that you do and supporting the show. And thank you, Eric, for making this a priority. And one of the best parts of my week every week is sitting down with you.

Well, thank you for saying that. And obviously I feel the same way. And Dave Silva is producing with us right now. Dave does such an amazing job and has from the very beginning. Got us off to a great start with some of the great artwork that comes along with each one of our podcast. I think that was one of the things right away that made us different and really contributed to the success of this podcast. And yeah, I mean, if you go back, I mean, think back to the first time you invited me to come to your house and just sit down with you and your buddies. I mean, if somebody would have told me, you know, when I left your house and went back to the hotel,

to find out that my flight was canceled and I was going to spend another night in Huntsville. That night when I was sitting at the bar, if somebody would have come up to me and said, hey, guess what? You're going to do like 300 podcasts with that guy. You just. No chance.

Zero chance. I would slam someone's face into the bar for Shane into me. And neither one of us thought we'd probably ever do business together again, right? And then in the first podcast, We talked about it. So let's just, we didn't make it a big, it's not like we were getting married. We didn't sign a long-term contract. It's like, well, let's, let's do a few.

And hey, if it's fun, we'll keep doing it. If it's not, we won't. Yeah. And that's the way you and I went into this. And I'm so grateful because this is so much fun for me. And it's helped me, not to get too heavy, but going back and looking and breaking things down and discussing them, it's given me a different perspective on my career, a much healthier perspective.

I can look and laugh at some of the stupid shit I did and some of the stakes I made and as well as learn from it, but not take things as personally as I probably used to take them. This has been a form of therapy for me. So I thank you and Dave and everybody, Chris McDonnell, everybody behind the scenes that makes this podcast so cool, but especially the people that listen to it,

because we've made some good friends along the way. yeah no doubt greatly appreciate all you guys support it means the world to us and of course you can get more of us over at atfreyshows.com we've got bonus content there every single month and uh today we thought you know what what better way to sort of celebrate our anniversary than to throw the keys to you guys so instead of us driving and directing traffic you're going to we're doing to ask eric anything for episode 300 today and we got just an absolute ton of questions before we get into it though Eric I wanted to talk to you about a few things that happened in wrestling in the last week we saw

see and punk come back and do a promo on Smackdown on Friday night and that got a lot of people's attention and I guess we saw it on Monday rather and then we saw see and Punk on Smackdown and we also saw him come out on Nxte and and that there was an NXT special this past Saturday night that coincidentally was heads up against collision and what do you know we're going to start the show with CM Punk and Sean Michaels. This is, uh, it's going to be interesting, you know, punk has sort of declared that he's trying to finish the story. And for him, that means main eventing WrestleMania. I know a lot of people like that promo. And then we see him again on an NXT show heads up with collision.

what are you thinking of what we're seeing so far of seeing punk and WWE? Well, it's working, right? I mean, great reaction. It started out great, you know, with a fantastically time surprise at the end of a paper viewer, PLE as opposed to the beginning, which is what you were somewhere in the middle.

I thought that was, it was so well done, you know, and I talked about it last time, story, anticipation, reality, surprise, and action. So far.

WWE has checked and double-checked and triple-checked each one of those boxes. And with the exception of action, because we haven't seen that happen yet, but we all know that it will and at a pretty high level. So I think because they've checked every one of those boxes, not once, but not twice, but three times, this is going to be huge. It's going to be great for CM Punk. He'll be, providing he doesn't melt down and do some stupid shit, but if he keeps his,

keeps his act together and, and maintains a professional approach to this, he's going to be hotter than he ever was. And hats off to him and hats up primarily to WWA because they're doing it right. I wanted to also ask, you know, what's your, uh, your gut feeling is and if it's changed,

what would you do at WrestleMania? You know, this is a hot button. topic right now. Everybody wants to know what to expect with C.M. Punk and Cody Rhodes and Roman Raines. And I've seen a lot of theories that say, hey, let's do Cody and Roman on night two and maybe Punk and Seth on night one. But we did hear see and punk talking about Seth Rollins and talking about Roman Raines and the wise man. What would you do? If you had two nights of WrestleMania. What would you do with Cody and Punk and Roman? Oh, my. I'm, I'm already,

I mean, I would, I'm already convinced it's going to be Seth and Punk. I mean, from the get go, you know, Seth's reaction outside of the ring when when punk first showed up, well done, by the way, felt very believable and real. And perhaps some of it was. It's one of the great things about taking personal issues from outside of the ring and being able to, bring them in the ring, turn up the volume on them, and make them a part of the backstory, make them a part of Act 1 to launch the story. It was really well done, but I think because it was so well done in the focus and everything was there, I'm convinced it's going to be Punk and Seth.

And yeah, that'd be great. Punk and Seth, you know, Night 1 and Cody and Roman night 2, how could it be any better? We should also talk about some actual business notes. we saw over the week, over this past week, that Brandon Thurston reported about a Mark Shapiro call. He is the TK.K.O. C.O. The president, if you will, of endeavor. And as I understand it, boy, there's some news coming out of that that makes you look like a visionary. And I wanted to I am a visionary. I ain't no doubt. But I think sometimes people get confused. But Mark Shapiro, of course, is not a wrestling lifer.

And his observation was, we should run fewer house shows. And he specifically said C and D counties. I assume that Huntsville would be one of those markets. Like we don't get a lot of television here, but we do get house shows. And I'm curious what you thought of the idea that once you get an outsider, someone who's trying to deliver shareholder value, someone who wasn't born and bred and raised in the wrestling business, to come out and say what you.

you said, I don't know, 30 some odd years ago, let's stop running so many house shows. And I also want to ask what you think about the rumor and the speculation that perhaps Nick Kahn likes the idea of there being a Vegas residency for WWE, much like a Cirque de Soleil and things like that. It's like, wait a minute. If Eric got his hands on WCW back in 2001, wasn't he wanting to do. to set up shop and just do the show from Las Vegas? I feel like I've heard all this before, but it was like 20 and 30 years ago, Eric.

What do you think? Yeah. This is the first I heard of Nick Con is interested in a Vegas residency, but very, very cool. But yeah, I mean, look, one of the things that was probably the catalyst for me eventually taking over complete control of WCW, because if you remember when I was first, you know, executive executive producer, Bob Due essentially ran the company, every aspect of the company other than television production. So as executive producer, that was my domain, just the physical production of the show. One of the things that happened, that occurred, that changed that was a meeting

that we had, department heads, VPs, directors, so forth, with Bill Shaw at a meeting, and we were discussing, you know, financials and trying to come up with a budget. started that process. And we were all charged with, okay, tell us what you're going to do next year. And I believe this was in 93. Tell us what you're going to do next year to reduce expenses and increased revenues. All of us were charged with the same task. And Bob Dew and a guy by the name of Don Sandifer. You know, we talk a lot about Gary Jester. Don Sandifer was brought in by Bob do to essentially oversee arenas internally in the house show schedule i think gary just reported to him at the time i'm not sure pretty sure he did he did anyway don sandifer and bob

do worked on this this plan and brought it to the to the budget meeting and said here's what we're going to do to make house shows profitable and they decided to increase the number of house shows I'm going to tell the whole story again because we've all heard it. And in the meeting, and this is me not being very familiar with the corporate environments and not being corporately very civilized. I raised my hands. Wait a minute. You're losing money every time it literally is my word for word.

You're losing money every time you go out the door. So your solution is to go out the door more often? Hmm. That's interesting. That created a scene. And I think. it was a month later. Bob was moved over to some other Turner thing and Don Sandifer was let go and I was made vice president, I believe, or executive vice president and basically

oversaw everything. And it was that decision, my decision, in advocacy of cutting back on house shows. My reason for it, it wasn't like, you know, not a financially educated person. It's not You know, I didn't come from finance. That wasn't my thing. But it was common sense. Right. And I said, Bill, here's my solution for the whole company. Let's shut everything down that's not related to television and pay-per-view so that we

could put whatever resources we do have, we can invest those resources in the foundation of the company, things that make people want to come to an arena because right now they don't. They don't care. It was horrible. So we cut out house shows, we invested our resources and upgrading the television production, going to Disney, that kind of thing, just improving the overall quality of the show. And things started turning around. So I think in WWE's case, obviously a much different scenario.

We were losing money. We were hammeraging money. WCW was hammering money when I was made executive producer. And we had a long way to go to kind of balance that out. WWE is clearly not hemorrhaging money. They're printing that shit. Yeah, they are. doing very well, but it's a publicly held company.

Their fiduciary responsibility is to their shareholders. They have to do what's in the best interest of their shareholders. They meaning WWE. And if you look at the picture and you're looking at these C&D counties and you realize it's costing you as much to go as you bring in, or perhaps you're actually losing money, I don't know what situation is in WWB, but they're not profitable. Why do them?

What is the upside of going to these C&D counties where you're breaking even or possibly losing money and then you run the risk of injuries and all the things that come with it. If they're not profitable, focus on the things that are. And that's what I think they're doing. Again, meaning WWE. Well, of course, it's created a bit of a debate because there's a lot of discussion about reps. And I do want to talk to you about that and how important that may or may not be. But I think at the end of the day, we can all agree, you know, the company is going to be managed and making decisions differently, you know, they're going to try to maximize every revenue opportunity they have. And, and I know that a lot of us try to do that in our real life.

And I got to admit, when I first started podcasting, an online store was like the furthest thing from my mind. But now, man, we're selling 83 weeks stickers and hoodies. And it's so easy, all because we use Shopify. And, you know, if you hear that sound right there, That sound right there lets you know we're making money with Shopify. Shopify is a global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From launch your online shop stage to your first real-life store stage, all the way to, did we just hit a million order stage? Shopify is there to help you grow.

Whether you're auctioning autographed apparel or selling skis, Shopify can help you sell anything everywhere, from their all-in-one e-commerce platform to their in-person POS system, whatever and wherever you're selling, Shopify has you covered. Shopify actually turns browsers into buyers with the internet's best converting checkout up to 36% better compared to other leading commerce platforms. And you can sell more with less effort thanks to Shopify. magic. Yeah, check this out. It's your AI powered all star. I, uh, I got to admit this is not something that we were like a natural born expert at. You know, I don't think it's a surprise that

Eric doesn't have a huge merchandising background. Yes, there were businesses that he ran that had that, but Eric wasn't in that division. And man, I was just working mortgages. How are we going to sell t-shirts and tumblers and towels and Shopify made it easy for us to get started. and they made it easy for us to grow. They give you everything you need to take control of your business and then take that business to the next level. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce here in the United States, and Shopify is the global force behind allbirds, Rothes,

Brook Lennon, and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries now. Plus Shopify's extensive help resources are there to support you and your success every step of the way, because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify. Sign up for a $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash 83 weeks, all lowercase. Go to Shopify.com slash 83 weeks now to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. That's Shopify.com slash 83 weeks. So, Eric, the other thing that people want to talk about when they talk about the house shows

are, oh, that's the difference between WWE performers and AEW performers. WW opportunity, WWE affords the talent more opportunity for reps because they are running these non-televised events. So you get an opportunity at the NXT level and that, you know, the Raw and Smackdown level to sort of hone your craft

without the pressure of being on a national or global television stage. Do you think reps not be, being there are going to be a big challenge for WWE when they cut back on house shows? Or do you think that that Vegas opportunity could be the answer to that? Number one, they're reducing their house show scheduled by 23 events. We're only talking about 23 C&D County events over the course of the year. It's really not going to have any impact at all on the number of reps with the opportunities

the talent gets to work in front of a live crowd without television, which that's a big deal. And I think that is a major difference, one of the major differences between WWE and AEW. And not just because, well, for a couple different reasons. And again, I'm not speaking from the perspective of a professional wrestler because I've never been one. I've never been on the road, 200 days a year, in the ring, you know, taking bumps and that kind of thing. So I don't know firsthand from where I speak, but I do know. from working with a lot of talent over the past 30 years, 35 years now, those reps are important for a couple reasons.

One is conditioning. Your body gets used to taking bumps. Yes. I've heard over the years, countless numbers of very high-level performers that all have said in one way, shape, or form that they're not worried about getting hurt so much in the ring when they're working constantly.

Where injury becomes a greater risk is when they've, been off for extensive periods of time and they haven't been able to keep their body in bump shape, not cardio shape, not like in the gym throwing weights around. That's not the same thing. Taking those bumps every single day, your timing and just your body getting conditioned to it. Go but, you know, watch an MA fighter, MMA fighter, watch a boxer, watch anybody who's in combat sports. Training for that combat sport, a good portion of that training is them just getting their midsection worked over. They're not taking headshots, obviously, but their midsections are getting worked over every single day for the same reason you want to condition your body to take

that kind of impact and punishment and be able to perform under those conditions when you take that away from a professional wrestler and they're out for a couple weeks at a time because they just don't have anything going on or they're just not being used they don't have access to a training facility like the performance center that's when they're going to get hurt and especially in AEW right now because I think, unfortunately, you've got a lot of great talent out there that aren't working house shows, that aren't working the indie scenes. So the only time they are working is when they're doing a television or pay-per-view. Well, guess what happens?

You're amped up. You've got more adrenaline. This is television. It's live. This is a pay-per-view. It's live. Because you haven't been working, you get yourself so geared up and intense going into that that you have an even greater likelihood of getting hurt because you're,

pushing harder than you might otherwise, given the fact that it's live and it's the only time you get to perform. That's the issue there. The other injuries, the other part of it, I think that's not so obvious, but maybe more important is those non-televised live events are where talent gets to try things. Yes. You get, hey, let's, instead of doing what we did last night, let's do this instead and see how the audience reacts. So you're essentially working on your match, your story, your angle, whatever it may be. You're working on that in front of a live focus group that's paying you to be a part of that focus group. That's pretty cool.

Yes. As a producer, developer, creator, content, when you can go out and experiment in front of a live crowd and get that immediate live real feedback. that's incredibly valuable if you use it correctly and you're paying attention to it. That, I think, is one of the biggest differences. But again, that's not going to be affected by, I don't think, by the 23 events that are happening in C&D counties over the course of a year. There's plenty of other opportunity for that to happen in WWE.

But I do think in AEW, it's one of the things that's sorely lacking. Because, again, not to be negative, I'm not beating up on anybody, but I know the narrative, the internet wrestling community narrative is, oh, the wrestling is so much better. I'm sorry, I don't see it. I just don't see it. I do not see the in-ring work being noticeably better. In fact, the opposite.

It's not up to the same par as WW. It's just not. You may have an exception here or there, but overall, a lot of the things I see in AW are, the timing is bad placement is bad footwork is bad it's just not good it's not tight and i think it's not because the talent doesn't have the ability i just don't think it's because they have the opportunity to really tighten up their product i want to talk to you a little bit about um AEW but before we do i want to ask you about ring of honor because as you and i are folks

are listening to this this weekend is the next big ring of honor pay-per-view and I've said it many times a year before on the show that I feel like A&W over delivers on pay-per-view I feel like they really are at their best at super serving their audience on pay-per-view ring of honor has their next big offering this weekend and as we're recording about a thousand tickets have been sold and I'm curious you know let me just run through the matches right fast we got Dalton castle versus commander versus Kyle Fletcher versus Lee Johnson versus Lee Morioreoretti versus TBD. It's a survival of the fittest finals for the vacant ROH television championship

that Samoa Joe forfeited. We got Keith Lee taken on Shane Taylor, an I-quit match with Tony Nees and Ethan Page. Glad to see Ethan on TV again. FTR is going to be teaming with Mark Briscoe, taken on the Blackpool Combat Club with Brian Danielson, John Moxley, and Claudio Castignoli, so they've really loaded that one up.

And we've got Athena and Billy Starks. So it's a Ring of Honor pay-per-view with some guys who've been on big-time shows. I mean, Brian Danielson has main event in WrestleMania on more than one occasion. And we know John Moxley as Dean Ambrose was a superstar in WW. And obviously one of the first big surprise talents and really carried a lot of the load here for AEW. But for whatever reason, it's a pay-per-view that's only sold a thousand tickets. And I think a lot of people are wondering, hey, what is the shot in the arm for Ring of Honor? Do you have an opinion or thought process about how do we get more, I don't know, interest in the Ring of Honor brand?

No. It was a bad decision to bring it. It was a bad decision to buy it in the first place. And there's nothing anybody's going to do to make it interesting or important outside of a. the hardest of hardcore internet wrestling community fans. That's it. There is no solution. If it was a horse, I'd put it out of its misery.

Oh, wow. I would take the resources that are going into Ring of Honor, which is never going to be viable, ever. I would take the resources that are being dumped into that and put it into my core product, my dynamite. By putting Brian Danielson and the rest of the people that they put into this thing, you're diluting their characters. You're making them look like independent wrestlers.

You're not elevating their characters in any way, shape, or form. In fact, you're doing exactly the opposite. It's really unbelievable to me. And I don't know what the drive is. Is it ego? Is Tony just, no, I did this and I'm going to prove I can make it work? It's certainly not because it's a great way. revenue opportunity. It dilutes the core product. It's being shoved down the audience's throat,

and they're gagging on it. They're gagging on it. AEW did what? 850,000 viewers with Christian and Edge last week. After they did their best to build it up, and that's all you can bring in. You've got to ask yourself why. It's a really powerful word. Why? Why aren't fans spending more time with the AEW product. Why is Dynamite unable to break a million viewers more than once or twice or three times a year? What is it about this brand? It's the product.

It's the way characters are being developed or not being developed. It's focus. It's vision. It's a lot of things. But a ring of honor is just a distraction. And it dilutes the core business. It delutes the characters that are part of it. It's almost embarrassing to me that it's happening.

I don't understand it at all. I hope it works. I hope a year from now you can go back. Remember when you said? And I'd have to admit that I was wrong. But so far when it comes to AEW, I've been right far more often than I've been wrong. And for two years, focus on the core product, focus on dynamite, not all of these other shows. You don't have the creative infrastructure or a formula or a vision that's,

working. So if you don't have a formula or a vision that's working and you don't see any kind of upward growth in your product, why would you expand it? And I don't want to hear about the money because I, you know, I hear Dave Mills is gross, all this. Gross doesn't meet shit. You know that Conrad. Yeah. I don't care what companies gross revenues are. That's such horseshit. Net revenues, yeah. Let's talk about, you know, EBIT out. Earnings before interest. You're pretty. appreciation, whatever the hell it is. Let's talk about those numbers, but you're never going to hear about those numbers from Dave Meltzer. Right?

He's going to talk about the gross numbers. Tony Con is going to talk about the gross numbers. They can't possibly be making money. They can't possibly be making. How's that video game doing, by the way, have you heard? Yeah, neither of I. Neither is anybody else. It's focus on the core product.

Get your foundation underneath you. You know, it's like Tony Conn's trying to build a mansion on sand with no foundation. Find the right property. Find the right terra firma. Find solid ground. Build a solid foundation. And then build your house.

Tony's trying to build a mansion and he hasn't put the basement in yet or he hasn't put the foundation in yet. It's crazy to me. Whatever. Hey, he's got all the money in the world, so I guess it doesn't matter. But it does matter to the talent that participate in it because their lights are being diminished. The shine on their stars are being dulled by being involved in things like Ring of Honor.

Brian Danielson and Ring of Honor, excuse me. You know, so often you hear the, again, the fan base, the Internet wrestling fan base, talking about how someone is used right or not used right. Here you've got a whole collection of top-tier talent that are recognizable, have just about anywhere in the world to wrestling fans, and you're putting them on Ring of Honor. and by the way, you sold the thousand tickets. What does that tell you?

Or more importantly, what should that tell you? Well, do you think it's a chicken and the egg deal? I mean, do you think it's one of those deals where he thinks if I load it up with enough star power and get enough attention to it, then I can perhaps leverage that to create a new television opportunity? I mean, I would. If that's his, then he's not that. smart. I've often, you know, conceded that Tony comes probably much smarter than I am in a lot of

different ways. But in terms of business strategy, wrestling business strategy, if that is Tony's thinking, then he's more inadequate than I thought he was. Well, let's say Ring of Honor was going to be the AEW answer for NXT. How do you launch an NXT for? Keep it separate. Keep it separate. Don't cross over. My God, he's got enough talent, right? Keep it separate. Two different companies. Treat it as two different companies.

Don't have your Ring of Honor titles being defended on Dynamite. You're diluting your own product. It's insanity. There is no example in history of that working. And it's certainly not working in the present. Neither one of those two brands, Ring of Honor or Dynamite are benefiting from it. It's been going on now for what a year, a year and a half.

Yeah. It ain't working. Just wake up, have a cup of coffee, put your glasses on, look at the numbers and go, hmm, it's not working and it hasn't been working for a long time. There's nothing to indicate that it may work in the future. Why in the world would you keep doing it, doing it if it's not for your ego? I would treat them separate. But to answer your question, absolutely treat them separately.

Just like WWE did, I think, for a long time. It wasn't a lot of crossover between NXT and the main roster. If you got called up, that was a big damn deal. Yes. And there was a lot of chatter about it. But up until recently, you didn't see a lot of crossover between the two for many, many years. But I would argue that that crossover is what helped land them the new deal with CW for

allegedly more money like isn't that part of the formula like get stars on that program and then people will pay more money for it no no they're just pay more money because there's stars on the program do you think program executives are fucking wrestling marks that are sitting around you know I don't read it talking about wrestling they're they don't care what they care about is growth and performance yeah but the stars are what do that Eric right like stars are a part of what do that but building that brand building that brand on it so that so that so that nxte had its own how many years has nxte been on television before there was any crossover and there was growth it was a separate entity it was treated as such build the foundation and then bring your big stars

over and do some crossover well the reality is i don't mean to cut you off but nxte did not just grow, grow, grow. Like, they went on TV. It was, it was a big competition. They were in a big lull. They, they sort of reimagined the look and feel of the show that got a tepid response. And then they started dripping stars over. And you started to see guys like C and Punk and guys like John Sina and guys like The Undertaker. And then really extended runs with with ladies like Becky Lynch, big stars, the man. And they, they've enjoyed their best ratings ever from having established stars from the other big brand on that program like to me that seems to be the formula that that got c w got them with c w in this bigger deal sure and everything that

you just said absolutely happened within the last eight months yes it didn't happen right away ring of honor immediately became a part of the dynamized show before the brand was ever really established outside the fistful of internet wrestling fans that love it. You have to establish the brand first. You have to give it its own identity. Let it become something different than the core product. If you would have gone back when NXT first started and started having the crossover

and talent jumping back and forth right off the bat, I don't think we'd be talking about CW or NXT because it would have hurt the core product and therefore would have come to an end. Does that make sense? I mean, I'm not saying if you agree with it, but I just want to make sure I'm clear. You have to build the brand. It has to stand on its own. It has to perform on its own without diluting the core product. Right now, Ring of Honor is like a giant freaking parasite on the AEW brand.

And the more focused they put out the parasite, the more that parasite is going to diminish or harm. the core brand well here's maybe maybe a time conrad maybe there'll be a time down the road when that makes sense but i i just think they bumble fucked it up so badly that we won't really see a successful ring of honor anytime in our lifetime well let me say this if you want to see a ring of honor up close and personal this weekend and you're looking for great seats can i recommend game time game time's going to give you a seat map and perspective from your seats you know exactly what to expect when you get there. Not only that, but they've got killer last minute deals and they're going to show you the all in price. You know, some of their competitors

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Again, create an account and redeem the code Weeks, W-E-E-E-K-S for $20 on. off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed so eric let's talk about some behind the scenes of wrestling and then i do want to get into all these questions we got a ton to get to but man there's been some big news in the last several weeks of a e w and we haven't talked a lot about it because it happens behind the scenes and really a lot of fans probably aren't saying that this is all a huge deal but i think it's a really big old deal you know i know as fans we like to focus on creative and what we see on television. But behind the scenes, QT Marshall, who's a day one AEW guy, he's gone.

He's worked and wore a lot of hats in AEW behind the scenes. Kevin Sullivan, another day one AEW guy with who had a long history at, uh, at TNA and impact and a Nashville base guy and he's out. And there's rumors that there's another name. Uh, I don't know that that's. my place to say, but talk to me about it. What do you think of all these behind the scenes goings on? I mean, we've seen before Keith Mitchell leave and now Kevin Sullivan's out and now QT Marshall's out. There's rumor. There's another. I mean, a lot of the behind the scene staff

is leaving AW. And I guess there's two ways to look at that. On the one hand, it's, oh my God, the sky's falling. This is disastrous. And the other hand is, hey, you know what? If you you've recognized that for whatever reason, something isn't working, that is the time to make a change. And I know that nobody likes change, but everybody likes improvement. And maybe they feel like there's some necessary things that need to happen. And maybe Tony allowed it to be their idea. I know some folks have, you know, quit and other folks have been released.

What do you make of all the behind the scenes moving and shaking in AW? I think, you know, for me, I look at it from my. a macro perspective, you know, step back and look at the big picture. And yes, all of the aforementioned names have either resigned or been asked to leave. It's interesting. But when you look at the totality of it, let's start with Cody Rhodes, J. Cargill, CM Punk, for crying out loud. It sounds bizarre that, you know, CM Punk and Sean Michaels were head to head against collision. It's like, what happened to the world I used to live in? You know, it's weird. But when you look at the top talent that is unable to function with an AEW, when you look at the

behind the scenes talent that for whatever reason, their own fault or not, it doesn't matter they're gone, it kind of paints a little bit of a picture. And I don't want to pretend I know what's going on in AEW because I don't talk to anybody in AEW. I really don't. But it's pretty obvious that there's a leadership issue there. Why did Cody leave? Why does he? Why does see him punkly and i've been very very critical of see him punk and the way he's handled himself and and will stand behind the things i said in the context of when they occurred and how he handled them but look what's happening now look look where where punk is now in a more structured environment where there is leadership and there are protocols and there are guardrails and you just don't

have talent running fucking amok and trust me i've been a part of talent fucking running a muck so I'm not throwing stones here. I was responsible for it myself in some regards. But that's one of the reasons why it's obvious to me. I've been there. I've done that. Being able to have a good perspective about the wrestling business isn't about batting a thousand.

If you can bat 500 in the wrestling business, you're an all-star. But the value that you get in learning and being in the business is you learn what works. You learn what doesn't work. can you stay away from the things that don't and lean into the things that do, like any other venture or business or job. But what's going on in AEW suggests to me that there's a lack of leadership and a lack of vision. And when that happens, you talent and staff, high-level staff,

become very frustrated. And that frustration turns into resentment, and the resentment turns into anger and all of a sudden people start leaving or being asked to leave and that's what I see just go back and look at the very beginning to lose Cody Rose and I still don't know why Cody left I don't know than anybody does other than Cody and Tony he said it's a personal issue well okay well that covers a lot doesn't it's a personal issue but I don't know I don't know I hope I hope things turn around I hope Tony wakes up one day and goes okay I need somebody it's actually probably

several people to really help me turn this thing around. And he reaches out to some really professional, young, professional, experienced people that can bring some stability to the vision and to the company. Because otherwise it's just, this is death by a thousand cuts. I've seen this movie before. This is death by a thousand cuts.

I don't know. Tony has the money. As long as Tony's ego is in the game, as long as Tony's passion is in the game, he'll continue, he can take a million, he can take two million cuts. But the product is never going to improve until there's a big change in direction.

Well, that's what I hope that is happening is, if we do feel like there is a reason to have concern about business growth or lack thereof or momentum or any of those things that we talk about, I hope that some of these changes bring, about that positive change for the company. But in regards to the Cody Rhodes thing, I think and boy, I'm going to get just blown up on social media for what I'm about to say here. But I think in a weird way, and I'm not comparing the two talent, but I think the circumstances

are similar. I think Cody Rhodes going to wind up being his stone cold Steve Austin. You know, when you let Steve Austin go, little did you ever imagine. Hey, this guy's going to become the top merch seller for WWE, one of their top guys in main event WrestleMania, I don't think you saw that in Steve Austin at the time. And I don't know that Tony necessarily saw that in Cody. Hey, he's going to go main event WrestleMania and be their top merch seller. I just don't think he saw it. I don't think any of us said in fairness to Tony, did you see it?

I didn't. I mean, I thought the world of Cody, but I guess, let me clarify. I never would have dreamed it would have happened as fast as it did. Not that Cody didn't have the ability, but for Cody to leave AEW and be in that position that he's in in WWE so quickly, that surprised me and I didn't see that coming. Well, I've been hanging out on Bruce Pritchard long enough that I've heard enough of these Vinceisms, like when somebody would say, oh, nobody will believe that. allegedly according to Bruce Vince would say they'll believe it when they see it

and I thought hey man if they get him over here and they start getting them enough wins just do the Roman model sort of you know and that's what they did they loaded him up with wins he had a feud with Seth and it was almost a clean sweep I did see him coming over and being in the mix and being you know positioned as a top guy because I also knew as a business strategy strategy, boy, you sure do get everybody turning their heads. If you have Cody Rhodes, a founding member of the AEW crew, all of a sudden become a top guy here, there's going to be a whole lot of people who left here, frustrated

like Cody did, who thought maybe the grass is greener over here in AEW, who look back and say, well, if they can do that for him, I mean, I think there was something to that. And I think, you know, with the way they, they rolled out the red carpet for Jade Carg. and you've seen what they've done with see and punk it feels like wb is certainly a new place without vince McMahon at the helm and hunters there and maybe they're trying to send some messages within the industry like i don't know if you saw but a lot of talent have the week before i think all talent have the week before christmas off like there's no event scheduled that was not the case for a long long time like a lot

I can't tell you how many wrestlers who work for WWE through the years have missed a lot of those holidays or had a day home and then it was time to go again. And now the idea is, you know, let's spend a little more time and prioritize the fam. And I just think it's interesting to think how not only has, is AEW changing, but WW is too. They are. I was really happy to see that. I mean, because look, again, I can't speak from first and experience. The physical drain on a WWE performer in particular because of the schedule, I can only try to imagine what that's like and forget about what you do in a ring for 12 or 15 minutes

a night. That's hard enough. But traveling, as you know, Conrad, and I experience occasionally now still, traveling is a grind. Yes. It is so much harder today than it was 10 years ago. certainly way more difficult than it was 20 and 30 years ago. Why do you say that?

I'll speak for myself. I can't get anywhere without at least two connections. Now, part of that is because of where I live. Yeah. But even if you live in a major market other than, let's say, New York, Atlanta, L.A., maybe Chicago, anywhere that you want to go, if you live outside of those markets, anywhere you want to go, you're going to get a connecting flight. The number of direct flights have been reduced so dramatically over the last 10 or 15 years.

But more often than I would say 50% of the time, just happened to my brother-in-law yesterday, 50% of the time when you're booked on a flight that's leaving or connecting in Denver, you're going to get an email that says, sorry, flights been postponed until tomorrow. And it's almost always air traffic control shortages. They've got to slow down the amount of traffic coming in and out of airports because there's a shortage. It's a safety issue. All of those things combined just make it physically more challenging to travel. I think the physical part of traveling is probably the most grueling part of what happens of the challenge on a talent physically.

It's not what's going on in the ring. It's what you have to go through to get to the ring. And then, oh, by the way, you get up, get up the next morning, go off and do it again. That's such a grind, man. I have nothing but admiration for people that do it. It's a physical grind, but it's also a mental and emotional grind. And to your point that led us to this, you know, being able to give talent time with their family is critically important. When you look at the, go back and look at the, you know, the 70s and the 80s and 90s when talent was on the road.

and it was the part, why do you think they partied as hard as they did? Not making an excuse for it, but it's a fact of life. You're on the road, 52 weeks a year. You're not with your family. You're not in your own bed. There's really not a lot much else to do other than get yourself in trouble and get to the next town. So I think it's overall really, it's great. And I think Triple H probably recognizing, based on what I've heard, recognizing that the talent needs to have a little bit more of a healthy family life.

and stable family life, I think that's going to be nothing but great for the business. Well, something that's bad for business, but great for your household is our friends over at crowd health. Stop sending money to big insurance companies that profit off of not paying your bills. Does you know that 48 million claims on Obamacare last year were denied? That's one fifth of claims that are going to get rejected. Do you want to take that chance? Health insurance sucks. It's confusing. It's expensive and it's frustrating. But there is a better way. Welcome to the alternative. Crowd health was created to get rid of the headaches of health insurance. For just 175 for an individual, there are only 575 for a family of four or more. You'll get

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And coming right up after our show today, you can hear an interview I did with Andy, the founder of crowd health to hear more about this new alternative to health insurance. That's coming up at the end of the show today. Once again, the site is join crowdhealth.com and use the code wrestle to get started today for just $99 per month for the first three months. So Eric, let's get into our topic today. It's Ask Eric anything. We've been going for like an hour and we're finally getting to the topic. But there's so many great questions.

I don't think we'll get to them all. Let's do as many as we can. Michael wants to know if there was a film made about the life of Ted Turner, who do you think would be the actor to play Ted? and who would make a great young Eric Bischoff? Oh, gosh, I don't know who would be a great actor to play Ted. I'm sure there are a number of them. I'd have to give that a lot more thought than I can hear on this show. Same with, you know, somebody to play me.

That's such a hard question to answer. I think there are others who could probably answer that question much better than I. Hopefully it's somebody that's, you know, with Ted, to talk about the characteristics. opposed to the actor himself. You know, somebody that's known for being a little controversial, living on the edge a little bit, outspoken, unpredictable. Yeah, I mean, that was Ted, right?

Ted was a Maverick. He did everything different than everybody else. Talk about the controversy equation. And Ted Turner was very controversial in the media. when he was building what became Turner Broadcasting, very controversial. Nobody thought it would, would be successful, right? So yeah,

as far as someone who could play me, I don't know, cocky, arrogant, smarmy, someone you, on any given day, you're not sure if you want to have a beer with them or punch him.

That'd be, that'd be about the right guy to play me. Eric, throw your, uh, your spectacles on. I'm going to give you a name to throw in your Google machine. And see if you think this guy can play Ted.

Toby Huss, T-O-B-Y, last name Huss, H-U-S-S. I fell in love with his work on an AMC show like 10 years ago called Halton Catch Fire. He's been in a million things. You're going to recognize him as that guy from that thing. But Toby Huss, I think would make a great Ted Turner. I want you to take a look and see what you can. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I can see it.

I think he could be, I think he could pull that off. Yeah, I agree. While you got your, your handy-dandy machine out, here's an Eric Bischoff for you. I'm going to screw his name up. Andrew R-A-N-N-E-L-L-L-S. R-A-N-N-E-L-L-S. That guy could be Eric Bischoff. I could see that.

How do you spell the last name? R-A-N-N-E-L-L-S. What do you think? That could be an Eric Bischoff. I agree. That'll be fun. We'll have Silva add that. I hope somebody does it.

I hope somebody does it. Ted Turner deserves a movie. He does. He really does. You look at all the entrepreneurs, particularly in the media world, who have made such a dramatic impact on not only the industry, but the culture, the politics. Ted is, in my opinion, the entrepreneurs, entrepreneur of the year, of the century. I mean, he's done so much. He's right up there with Elon Musk. And I know people

are going to, what? You know, Elon Musk is putting, you know, rockets in the air and satellites in the sky and electric cars and all the stuff that Elon Musk is doing. But Ted Turner in his era during his time was doing much the same things, much the same way. He's putting where his money where his mouth was and just changing the industry. Uh, we don't talk about, you know, know the television part of your life very much we always talk about the wrestling part but i just got to thinking when you were talking about ted turner really you got somebody really does it needs to do that ted deserves a movie i started thinking man we've seen a lot of great series on like showtime and HBO about things that are if they're not like succession a lot of

people think is loosely based on the murdox maybe all that not all that loosely and then you know we would see other things like i know there was a series about fox news and how they became a thing i could totally see ted turner and all of his influence and then you know it blows up at the end with the whole tom warner thing but i mean we saw the we work documentary and the elizabeth holmes documentary all these great not documentaries but series you know a drama but loosely based on what happened as a series the ted turner story man that's begging to be made. I agree with you. Why hasn't that happened? Do you think it's media rivalries that still exist? I don't know. You know, I don't have an answer to that.

You know, and one of the reasons as we talk about this, I'm getting more excited about it, actually, because Ted's story is a cautionary tale at the end of the day. Ted Turner's, he had his vision, his, all the things that we've already talked about, the fact that he worked outside of the paradigm of the existing media industry to build this phenomenon that was the leader in world news and really was not alone, but was very, very much responsible for the growth of cable television in general. But Ted wanted so much. Ted, when I was there, and after, you know, working with Bill Shaw and others who had proximity to Ted, Ted's dream, for a long time, was to own a network.

This is back when networks actually made money. They don't make money anymore. The only thing that makes money in a network anymore is the news division. Everything else is a lost leader. But Ted's goal was to own a network. He wanted that so badly. He tried to buy NBC. I think he tried to buy ABC or CBS once.

He tried to buy a network, I think, twice and came up short both times, which is why when the AOL-O-L-W-Tormer operas, opportunity became real. I think I'm not certainly can't speak for Ted and certainly didn't have a conversation with him about this. But what I've been told and what I've read about since was that Ted looked at that AOL time order opportunity as the next best thing to owning a network. And his desire to finally reach that level where he was competitive with the network because he couldn't buy one is what drove him to enter into a deal that ultimately. saw him get his legs cut out from underneath them.

And he was relegated to a corner office, but had no, no authority, no voice, no control over the company that he created. And that's the cautionary tale. I think Ted got, I hate to say it, because I have so much respect for Ted Turner. But in his way, became greedy. Just he made a decision because he was so focused on owning a network and because he couldn't, he wanted to do the next best thing. and the next best thing took him out of his own company.

Let's do another question here from Sean Johnson. This is probably a question you've been asked a hundred different times. Maybe you've got an answer here. What was the singular biggest decision you made in your time with WCW that you wish you could have gone back and done over? Is there a single call you wish you could have made differently? I know there's probably a handful, like, oh, maybe I'd do that again or this again, but does one stand out above all the rest? Part of me is disappointed in myself for not challenging myself to deal with the merger differently than I did.

I challenged it. Now, when I say, I didn't challenge the merger, right? Not that. But the effects of the merger, the influence of the merger. I've told the story about going to that meeting at Techwood in July of 1998 and sitting around that table. I could have handled that much better. I could have embraced what was happening.

and aligned myself with that opportunity as opposed to fighting it. I don't think it would have made any difference in the end, to be honest with you, but I think I would have become a better executive in the process. Instead of doing what I did, which is just challenge it, just resist it and fight it, argue about it. There's no way I could win that. And I probably knew that deep down inside, but I wasn't willing to embrace something that I didn't believe in.

And that's why this is so hard for me to answer because I still believe I was right in many respects. In fact, I know I was. It's obvious now. How old were you then when you were already? How old was I in 1998? I would have been 25 years younger than now. How old are you now? 43.

Okay. I would have been 43. But I had never worked on a corporate environment before. Right. I had always been a sole practitioner, if you were. will. I'd always been self-employed or the companies that I worked for, you know, long ago were small family-owned businesses. They weren't corporate environments. I wish I would have challenged myself to adapt and become more of a corporate thinking person only for my own personal

growth, not because it would have changed anything, but I think I would have learned a lot had I taken that approach. I would have learned differently. I would have learned differently. I learned a lot taking the approach I learned. Yeah. Yeah. But not, it's not that that's not valuable, but I would have learned a lot more if I would have embraced the inevitable as opposed to resisting it.

Instagram, a wrestling historian, has an interesting question. One we've never discussed here. Did you ever consider holding a pay-per-view in a stadium like the Georgia dome? Thanks in advance. We saw, you know, lots of mega nitros,

but we didn't see big domes and things. like that for paper views very often. Why was that? I don't know. Honestly, I don't know. It's a very, very good question and an astute observation on top of it, but I don't even have a good answer for that. You know, you would think because it wasn't like we were surprised when we filled a dome. We're grateful, but the reason we would go to a dome was because we had all the market indicators to suggest that it was going to be successful. So why didn't we focus on putting a pay-per-view in a dome? The answer to the question is, I don't freaking know.

Ryan Howard says, when you were a part of the commentary team at WCW, who is usually your quote unquote, Vince McMahon in your headset? And then secondly, were you ever asked or approached about doing commentary while in WWE? I never had anybody in my head. headset. Nobody produced you. Nobody produced me. Okay. If I had a headset on or if I had an IFB on, you know, I typically would wear an IFB. That's just so if something were to go awry, there was communication between myself and the director. Somebody got hurt in the ring or if timing of

the show got messed up during the live broadcast and we had to adjust on the fly, I had to know about it. But there was never anybody in there, you know, producing me and guiding me through the play by play or anything like that. I don't know that I could have functioned that way. I'm sure I could have learned eventually. Like, you know, you can train a monkey to do anything, I guess. I eventually I would have learned to get more comfortable with it, but I'm glad that I never had to.

Let's put it that way. I enjoy, I love doing play by play. I think it's, or color, play by play for me more so. I, when people say, it wasn't one thing you miss about the wrestling business, honestly, I miss doing play by play. And it's not that I was really that good at it, but I love doing it. Right.

It's really an art unto itself. And when good play-by-play people are so valuable, they enhance the product so much. And I've told this story before. There was, he's no longer here in Cody. There was a local sports director that covered all of the local sports for the local radio station here in Cody, Wyoming. I think his name was Cole Havens. he was so good that on Saturdays I would make a point to listen to him call girls high school basketball I didn't know anybody on the team I didn't have any

neighbors who had children on the team I'm not really even very much a bit basketball fan at all really but he was so good at play by play same thing with baseball you know American Legion baseball and high school baseball he would cover that during the season and I would make a point of listening to him calling games because he was so good at it. Girls volleyball. He made me interested in high school girls volleyball. Not because the sport was that interesting to me, but because the way he covered it

was so interesting. And because he allowed me to get to know the players in a way that I otherwise would never get to know them and learn about them and cheer them on. Someone like that is so valuable to the product that I missed that. And I enjoyed attempting to do that type of thing. I had the luxury of being, I don't want to say trained, but yes, to a degree trained to do play-by-play by Vern and Greg Gagnio. You know, and I bust Greg's balls for a lot of reasons.

But Greg really understood psychology. He really understood the play-by-play and color combination because Vern really understood it. Vern was very focused on color and play-by-play. you know he he'd let some things go in the ring but not not on the mic that was like his pet peeve and i'm really grateful for that really great did you uh i mean i don't i don't know that anything ever happened about it but you know somebody reached out to me in the last year or two asking hey do you think eric would be interested in doing color commentary for us

and I said sure and I think they made a pitch we don't have to say any names but have you been did you get pitched on doing commentary and is it something you would consider for the right fit I did and and I miss it but I don't miss all of the travel yes and everything that goes along with it so for that reason look I am not independent well independently wealthy as you know and most people do I'm not you know I'm comfortable I'm good but I just am not willing to give up the lifestyle I have and travel and go through what I'd have to do to do color commentary and to be honest with you I don't think I'd be very I'd be okay on color commentary but there are people that are better than me play by play if it was the right situation I could do it from home sure

or if I didn't have to travel, absolutely. But not color commentary. But yeah, I did get a call or two. And nothing came of it because I really wasn't interested. Lauren Eason has a great question. I'm not sure if either Eric or Conrad has watched the series Heels on Stars, but there was an episode that referenced Ted Turner and I was wondering if Eric could shine some light to this.

A character by the name of Tom King Spade was offered a meeting with Ted Turner about joining WCW. when the secretary said that Ted isn't able to see Tom today which would have been the second meeting Tom would insist that he never saw Ted leave the office and the secretary would reply he has his own private entrance so my two-part question is did Ted Turner actually have his own private entrance and when Ted actually keeps someone waiting that long without actually seeing them I don't know if Ted had because if he had a private entrance it wasn't apparent to me I was only in Ted's office one time

and I didn't see anything that looked like a door that would lead to an exit or an entrance. I do know that Ted had an apartment on top of the CNN Center at one point. So perhaps maybe that's what somebody was inspired to include in that scene about Ted. Like I said, I was only in Ted's office once. so he didn't keep me waiting. It doesn't sound like Ted Turner. No, I think it was just all fiction.

But who knows? By the way, having a private entrance, not that big a deal. I know multiple CEOs who have a private entrance. Leland Patterson wants to know, hey, Rick, love both your shows. My question is, what do you think is the biggest reason for the WWB boom? It really didn't take off until Vince left creative. It was good right after the pandemic because people were itching to get out. But after that initial boom, it was slowing down.

Until Vince left, it's really taken off and now it's absolutely insane. What do you attribute this most recent WWE boom to, Eric? I mean, obviously there's a lot of different factors. Is there one that stands out above all the rest as being most critical or most important from you? Discipline, structured, story, and character development. And I would disagree to a degree with the person who posed that question. I think the bloodline storyline, which started long before Vince left and was getting very exciting long before Vince left. Vince was very much a part of that storyline.

And perhaps some ways at some points, he held it back. Maybe it could have gotten bigger, faster, stronger sooner. but Vince was very, very much a part of that. Vince's commitment to Roman Raines. Let's go back now three, four, five years. Vince was determined to get Roman Raines over. So people can say, oh, yeah, as soon as Vince left, everything got better, it's not a very realistic perspective.

Yeah. I think things have gotten better since Vince left, only because I think the creative process is now much more efficient. I think your writing team can now with confidence start laying out stories without knowing, not in the back of their mind, in the front of the mind, that there's about a 75% chance. So even though Vince would say, yeah, that looks good on Friday on the plane going to raw Monday

morning, he might just tear the whole thing up and start over again. That's a very, that's a very uneasy feeling if you're a creative person. And then you get to the building and, you know, you're going to know that you're going to have two hours to write a brand new show from top to bottom that has to be approved. Not only does it have to be approved, if there is a spelling error in the first draft of what you think you want to do and you want to present to Vince with only two hours before showtime,

if he sees a typo or poor grammar, there's a chance. He'll just rip the whole thing up without reading the rest of it and ask you to go redo it. and let you know what he thinks of your grammar and your spelling on your way out the door. That's not efficient, creative. And it takes a creative person so outside of their game and the train of thought, the frame of mind, the vibe they have to be in.

It's a different world being in creative. And to have that kind of instability throughout the entire process doesn't get you to the best creative. by any stretch of the imagination. And I think now with Triple H in charge, because he was unresteving end to that. Yeah. He was, he, he, he took a lot of the shots, right?

You know, Triple H worked in creative. Stephanie McMahon was ahead of creative for a long time. Even when I was there in 2019 for a cup of coffee, you know, Triple H wasn't involved in a creative process, but he was sitting right next to Vince McMahon at every production meeting and was involved in trying to fix the things that Vince would, would point out. So Triple H knows how much of an negative impact Vince's approach to the process. However successful that process was, because if you look at all the things that it

created over the years, you know, from Stone Cold Steve Austin to the Rock and Jodzina and Undertaker, I mean, so many great things have happened under Vince McFand's watch. But the fact is, he's a very, very difficult person to work with, and it's not necessary. And I I think Triple H saw that and is now streamlining that process as he does. Your creative talent are going to rise. They're going to feel more confident. They're going to be more excited. And you're going to have a better product.

And I think that's what we're seeing now. A more, a consistently better product. We've got another great question coming up, Eric. But I'm going to ask you the question and then we're going to take a break because I want you to think about it and then we're going to come back. But I want you to think about your picks here. Josh B wants to know who are the four closest friends Eric has in the wrestling business that he talks to today and I realize you're going to have to think there Eric because

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that's pricepix.com slash 83 weeks use the code 83 weeks and you'll get a first deposit match of up to $100 is price picks daily fantasy sports made easy so Eric what do you think Who are the four closest friends you have in the wrestling business that you talk to today?

Okay. This is a tough one. A couple things. Number one, I'm anybody that knows me, including my close family, my brother and my sister, who I love Julie. I talk to them on the phone maybe twice a year. I'm just, I'm not that. I don't stay in touch very well. And when you do get on the phone, they're quick calls.

Generally. Yes. generally. And I'm going to limit these choices to the people that I actually worked with in the wrestling business while I was active in the wrestling business, okay? I would say, not in any order, but these are the four people that I would consider close friends. Bruce Pritchard, Bruce and I started working together. When I first got to WWE, our relationship grew in WWE, our friendship grew in WWE, our friendship grew in

WWE, even more so in TNA, and I think the world of Bruce, have a lot of admiration for him. Hulk Hogan, for sure, over the years. Ups, downs, sideways. It's been a challenging relationship since day one, but at the end of the day, definitely Hulk Hogan. Diamond Dallas Page, here's a guy that I probably talked one of phone once every two years.

But when I do, if I do, or more importantly, if we run into each other in an event and we have time, because oftentimes he's busy and I'm busy, we don't really have time. But if there's time, we could sit down over, you know, a dinner and it's like no time has passed. That to me is a good friend. DDP and his wife, page, came out and visited Lori and I a couple of years ago, two years ago, I think, here in Wyoming in the summertime. And we just had an amazing time with him.

And it's absolutely like he still lived down the street for me and no time had passed. That to me is a good friend. Kevin Nash, same thing. Again, much like Hulk, you know, did we have a tumultuous friendship at times because of the business aspect of that relationship? Sure, we did. But if Kevin called me and needed something right now, no matter what it was, if I had it, he'd have it. And vice versa. You know, we'd be there first.

each other in any way i'm not just talking about you know in any way we would be there for each other um was that four so you got kevin nash you got holkogan dd p and bruce pritcher there you go it's pretty good rishan wants to know if you and your team were giving the rights to own wcd of 2023 would you start running the company again and also how would you do it differently this time around. Like at this stage, I don't imagine you're interested in running a wrestling company, fair to say? I, I, I, no, no, no, I'm not interested in doing anything that's going to upend the lifestyle that I have. No, I like working. Don't get me wrong. If I can dive into something that requires 18 hours a day of my focus, attention and time, but I can do it for my

house, I am all in. I will outwork anybody in their 20s or 30s if it's something I'm really excited about and I can do it from home. But the idea of being on the road and doing wrestling and producing television and dealing with the issues that come along with it, absolutely not interested at all. I'm grateful for what I was able to do. I wouldn't be sitting here with you and talking to you or living in the home I live in and part of the country I live in if it wasn't for wrestling. So I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I also know what it took out of me. And I'm good.

I'm real good. Great question here from Chris. Eric, to the best of your knowledge, did Ted Turner ever approach Vern to buy the AWA? No. No. Do you think there would have been any value to? I mean, I know eventually Vince bought the tape library and all that,

jazz but it does make me wonder with the benefit of hindsight why didn't somebody buy the a w a and just do like a a fake war like we had the whole bullshit invasion angle and no one like you could have done something with the a w a right no it was loo it was it was it was burning money was his losing money verne kept funding it long after he should have and if somebody would have come in to buy AWA, they would have looked at the books and run out the door. And at that

time, there wasn't the creative opportunities and upside that there are today. There was nobody interested in carrying wrestling on a cable outlet back then. It didn't already have it in WW. There was just no way. There was nothing there to sell. Interesting idea, but

there was no value. at all creatively or financially or as a business g stack george wants to know what's eric's favorite moment as a performer yeah that's a tough one it's either the chuck and billy wedding or working with steve austin a no way out montreal for two different reasons the energy i felt in montreal because i was in there with steve it had nothing to do with me i was in there with Steve and the story that we had, and I had some heat at the time. But the story between Steve, the backstory and everything we did was so good. It was just so well done.

That moment, you know, and again, Montreal, we all know, Canadian fans are some of the best when it comes to, you know, big events like that. And because it was Steve and he was stomp on the mud hole of me, the energy that I felt while I was getting kicked around the ring. it was so cool it was palpable i mean i could almost taste it it was such a cool feeling but as a performer because all i did was get the shit kicked out of me that's not really performing that's just being punching bag right so as a performer where i'm actually doing something other than get my ass kicked the chuck and billy wedding was phenomenal yeah that was you know

Brian Goers, I think, you know, I still don't know to this day. I'm pretty sure it was Brian Goertz's baby, but the creative for that and the execution of it and the detail that went into it in terms of the makeup and expense that went along with that, that performance and, you know, it happened over protracted, you know, because it's been four, five, six, eight minutes of build up when I knew I was going to pull that thing off and wondering what the crowd reaction was going to be, that anticipation that was like bubbling up inside of my chest for four, five, six minutes, whatever it was while I was out there, you in my thing, knowing at some point I'm going

to do this and shit's going to hit the fan. That was exciting. And I don't think I've ever done anything as a performer or I actually got to do something other than get beat up. That could have come close to that. That was cool as hell. another question here this one is from uh j my question is who in your humble opinion made the best decision going to wcw from wb not necessarily from a financial standpoint but in terms of

getting to do more in their wcd career than they did in wb i think this probably comes from you know the brett heart perspective where people think oh well that didn't work out, but we know it did for guys like Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, but I think even people would wonder, did Scott Hall do more than he did his Razor Ramon? I would say with the NWO, the answer is a resounding hell yes. But is there somebody who stands out more than anybody else? Like, hey, this guy's career really took off. I mean, we know Hulk Hogan had so much success in the WWF and then you know really got there again it's Hollywood Hogan with the NWO but is there one particular talent that really leveled up when they came over well you've

already touched on Scott Hall and Kevin Nash and you know you can say people can argue this until they're fucking blue in the face but if Kevin Nash or Sean Walman to the stay get booked on an independent event they're not wearing diesel shirts Kevin Nash he's not wearing a diesel shirt to the event. He's wearing his NWO shirt. Same with Sean Walton. Certainly with Scott Hall before he passed. Those three individuals, while they were big stars in WWE,

became bigger stars in WCW. You can argue that all the fuck you want, and you'll be wrong. But I think a more interesting choice would be Randy Savage. Now, I'm not going to suggest that Randy did more or became a bigger star in WCW like Paul did and Ash did and Waltman. But they weren't using them like that. You're right. But, you know, one of the reasons that Randy Savage came to WCW is because Vincent made up his mind that Randy was no longer going to perform in the ring and was going to be relegated to color commentary. And Randy didn't want to be relegated.

He wasn't, Randy wasn't ready to step away from the ring. that's why he left. It's not because he didn't like Vince McMahon. It's not because he's not for any other reason, primarily, then he didn't want to stop performing, which I think we can all understand. You know, your father-in-law loves to perform to this day.

Any great performer holds on to that passion for performing, like Mick Jagger, I don't know, Stevie Nix, you know, they're still out there performing, not because they need the money, but because they love the business. They love the connection to the audience. Randy wasn't ready to let that go and came to WCW hoping. This is before NWO, this is before Hulk Hogan turns, it's before all that stuff.

When Randy showed up at WCW, he made his big debut at center stage in front of 450 people, probably 40% of them couldn't pass a breathalyzer test. So it was a big leap for Randy, and it turned out really well for Randy, not bigger than what he did in WWWE, not saying that, but it turned out so well for Randy based on where Randy was at in his career at that time that I think it kind of qualifies in a way. Great question here from Greg Charles. If Eric had it to do over again,

what he've held on to Mark Mero and Sable. I always felt like shifting Mark from Johnny B. Bad to a street fighter with a hot second as a member of the NWO would have been a good fit in hindsight. I know that I would have made him a bad guy and had him join. in the NWO but having him be a WCW guy with a hard edge defending WCW I could have seen could you have imagined him shedding the Johnny B bad character in WCW or do you think that would have been the persona until the end no if if mark would have stayed in WCW I feel confident that eventually and I don't want to suggest that I had this plan in my head and it could have

happened if mark wouldn't love I'm not saying that when mark left I remember the conversation we had. I think it was in the Atlanta airport is what he told me he was making a decision to go to WWE and and Mark was convinced that Vince McMahon and I understand why Mark was convinced because at that time if you remember you know it's funny Vince McMahon I'm going to sidetrack us for a minute and I want to go back to Mark for so long for so many years all anybody ever talked about talent and otherwise was what a genius and how creative Vince McMahon was that conversation has changed now over the last few years, obviously. But Vince did have a track record of taking talent from other companies, obviously. What did he did with Hulk Hogan? He did

Hulk Hogan from Verganya in a pretty interesting way, by the way. When the book, the six-pack comes out, you need to read that book. Great book. Great book. Awesome book. Hopefully he's going to be something beyond a book pretty soon or eventually. But back on track, I think, you know, Vince had such a great reputation for taking marginal talent in WCW or great talent in WCW, which was a marginal company at the time, and turning them into big stars. So when Mark came to me at the Atlanta airport, said, Eric, I'm, you know, here's my decision. I'm going and here's why I'm going. I couldn't argue with him. I couldn't try to convince him he was wrong. I understood what he was doing. I didn't want him to go, but I understood what he was doing and why he was doing it. But had Johnny Be Bad, Mark Merrill, stayed in WCW, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have shitcan the Johnny Be Bad character and morphed Mark Merrill into something that was more realistic because that was the direction I was going with a lot of characters. And because of Mark Marrow's boxing ability and in history, I would have played him up as more of a badass,

a Steve Blackman type of character. And I would have shed that. I would have had him shed that time to be a bad character because it wasn't going anywhere. So, yeah, I would have. And Sable, no, I would have never thought that Sable was so introverted When she would come to the arenas with Mark, you could just feel how uncomfortable she was. She was so quiet and so introverted that it wouldn't have occurred to me in a million years

that that woman who I saw coming into the arena with Mark Merrill would have ever even wanted to step foot in front of a camera. So that would have never occurred to me, honestly. Brian wants to know, I just this morning saw that WWE has a Big 12 World Order shirt. I've seen other NWO shirts where it's like a city, like the Dallas World Order. Is this one of the best marketing campaigns by WWE?

And how mad are you? You didn't think of it back in 96. I think if you're mad about anything, you'd be mad that there's no royalty coming to you for any of this shit. And this was your idea. Yeah, that does tend to buy. uh yeah uh yeah what could have been right it's just what they had that crystal ball it's unbelievable it's much different hey since we're talking about n w shirts i wanted to get

your take on this because i don't remember if i have this correct but i think i seem to think that at the beginning you couldn't just go to the merch stand and buy an NWO shirt. You guys had had folks camped out in front of the building selling the shirts out of cardboard boxes like they were a bootleg. It wasn't actually like it wasn't it was officially licensed WCW merch, but it wasn't positioned that way. Do I have that right?

You know where I stole that idea from? Brian Bosworth. Nope. Where? Tommy Hilfiger. Oh, really? Yeah. I know that sounds bizarre, but I had read a story years before the NWO became a thing, read a story how, and for those who aren't aware, Tommy Hilfiger is a, if I'm saying it right, Tommy Hilfiger is a clothing brand, but it's kind of a yuppie, country club-ish kind of brand, that kind of sportswear clothing.

but what they used to do when they wanted to when they first launched it is they would take truckloads of that merchandise and they would leave it unprotected in certain parts of certain cities where they knew kids were going to break into the truck and steal the stuff and post pictures of themselves it's like a badge of honor Tommy Hill and I think it was Tommy Hilfiger I'm almost 80% sure that was the brand actually had a branding strategy where they wanted their merchandise to be a badge of honor in the urban community because that's where the market was. And sure enough, it worked. So when the NWO got hot because of the nature of what the NWO was, it was kind of this invasion and they're not part of WCW and they're from the outside, you know, coming in and all that. I didn't want their merchandise to be available at the merchandise stand because it kind of pops

pops the balloon right ruins the illusion yeah so by making it feel like stolen merchandise or unauthorized merchandise bootleg merchandise it gave it an appeal and it became a badge of honor and it worked but it wasn't an original idea it was one that i just lifted based on a marketing story that i had read about years before i feel like uh it made me think of the brian Osworth deal. You may not know this story, but in September of 87, he joins the Seahawks. They're going to play against the, the opener against the Broncos. And he came in with all this fanfare from college and all this great success. And, uh, there were t-shirts being sold outside of the stadium that said ban the boss. And like 10,000 Broncos fans bought those shirts that said

ban the boss. The seller of those shirts was Brian Bosworth. Is that awesome? He don't care. But I bring this up because it made me think of the NWO shirt and that it wasn't sold like officially licensed WCW merchandise at first. We know eventually it would be.

But at first, that was not the positioning. It was made to feel more bootleg. I bring this up because over the past week, A.W. put out a devil shirt and it says, I am him, and we see this masked figure that we've seen a lot in A.W programming in an MJF storyline that seems to never end. And in the bottom right hand corner, it's got the AEW logo and you can actually go on AEDW shop.com and buy it. And I thought to myself, self, in 1996, Eric Bischoff had people

selling the stuff outside of the building, and it felt bootleg. but if you could just go to the AEW shop and buy it, at least in this world, the K-Fabe, it feels like the next thing would be a graphic that pops up that says the devil is all elite. Like, I don't know what to make of that, but it feels weird. Let's say you. I'm just not interested at all in that whole angle, the whole story. It's just.

Did it jump to shark for you? Did it go too long? Way too long. Way too long. I don't, look, unless the whole CM punk thing is an illusion not really happening and see and punk comes back as the devil under the mask

whoever is going to be unfortunate enough to be revealed. It's going to be a disappointment. The devil behind the mask is going to be the biggest popcorn fart in the wrestling business that particular month, if not the rest of the year. It's a career killer. It's so anticlimactic that whoever it is,

is going to suffer as a result because it was just it's been so poorly constructed well i am going to be the delusional optimist and i'm going to say let it play out but i do tend to agree with you the more something is built up the more it seemingly sets up a disappointment i mean i've said this before but years ago during the pandemic when there was a signing that was going to be announced, Tony Kahn teased that this is one of his favorite all-time wrestlers, one of the greatest wrestlers in history, blah, blah, blah. It wound up being Christian. And we know Christian is now almost been reborn.

He's doing the best work of his career. I think he's a real MVP, not only for AW, but the whole industry. I love his character work. I care. He has made me care. Yes, we can be critical of things here, there. but goodness gracious I'm such a Christian fan right now but I was in the stands that night and all around me I'm hearing people say oh it's Brock Lesner oh it's John Sina oh it's the

rock and I'm thinking I don't know who it is but it ain't none of them and then when it's Christian I heard people go oh but it's almost like you set this expectation where if Christian just showed up these same fans would have lost their freaking mind you know Tony would have kept his freaking mouth shut and not said anything and Christian would have showed up as just a stone cold surprise yes with no buildup his stock would have been three times higher yes and it was because of what you just pointed out which is so accurate it's so true and so obvious that's the part of you know and I said this two years ago relying on oh it's the greatest thing Dixie Carter same thing this is going to change this is

going to change the evolution of the wrestling business everything was like this monumental announcement that ended up being very blah right you do that over and over and over again until the point where you can come out and say whatever you want to say and it doesn't really matter because you've let your audience down they no longer have faith in you they don't trust you they don't believe you anymore when you lose credibility by overhyping and who suffers the talent suffers you just pointed out with christian there's just no value in all that hype there is zero value in all that hype there is a tremendous amount of value in well constructed surprises well i am uh i'm gonna let it play out i'm super hopeful that it's a big

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you get that with a hinson razor the thinnest razors you've ever seen by the way once you own the actual razor it's only three to five dollars to replace the blades not three to five dollars a week or a month or even a quarter three to five dollars a year don't you to really think about that really think about that if someone were to ask you hey what are you spending on razors oh i don't know like a quarter and a dime a month what what it's crazy i can't believe that's even a real sentence that's how affordable this is let's say no to subscriptions let's say yes to a razor that will last you a lifetime i want you to try it i have recommended this to so many people in the office and my friend circle and my family circle

I have one in my travel bag I have one here at home I have one at my vacation house I believe in this I've got my barber that lady's been cutting hair 30 years she uses a hinson razor now and has all of her clients doing the same when you try it you will love it it will make sense it will click this is it for you visit hinson shaving.com slash eric to pick the razor for you

and use the code eric you'll get two years worth of blades free with your razor just be sure to add them to your cart that's 100 free blades when you head to H-E-N-S-O-N-S-H-A-V-I-N-G dot com slash Eric and use the code Eric by the way great Christmas present for your brother for your uncle for a guy in the office for your dad for your son it's a home run gift they don't know they need it but they need it it's Hensonshaving.com slash Eric use the code Eric hey you know what on Henson shaving I left my razor in a hotel, I don't know, about two months ago.

So I went back to the razor I was using prior. Yeah. Kind of, you know, it's got three blades in it and whatever, very, very popular manufacturer brand. And I got so frustrated with it the other day. I mean, I get one, maybe one and a half or two shaves out of a blade, which is ridiculous. they clog up so fast i got so far i got i got out of the shower lorry and i were going somewhere and she goes you might want to go back and get oh and you might want to go back it's like it was just a bad shave that the other day i ordered a new razor and then i had the option you know

standard five to seven day you know mail you know three to five day mail i chose overnight express wow this the shipping cost me half as much as the razor avals but i was so anxious to get my razor back my henson razor back i never want to have to use anything else again in fact i'm going to go so far saying this and i know you're going to get pissed off and be should if you don't dave green certainly will but i don't ever want i don't ever want to advertise another razor i don't care. I agree. Even if Henson says we're no longer going to advertise on podcast, I never want to have to try to advertise another razor because I'd be lying. It is, Henson shaving is the best razor and option available to any man walking the face of the planet on this given day

or any other day going into the future. And I can't tell somebody that another shaver is as good or better. I'm not a razor. Is this good or better? I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to lie to our listeners. So I'm invested. Henson's shaving for life, brother. I love it. I love it. Delgado has a great question for you. With as big as wrestling as today, do you think WCW can make a comeback being completely separate from WWE or do you feel like it'd be better off as a memory? I think I know your answer to this one, Eric, but you know, you sort of chuckled when I pitched the whole WCW thing. I don't know that we would ever get raw or Smackdown or a big brand like that off the road.

I think those will continue to be touring acts and make a bunch of money. But if we're going to go with the idea that we're going to have a residency for an attraction, if you will, in Las Vegas, like a Cirque de Saleh or what have you. And by the way, there's like a dozen of those shows over the years that have happened in Vegas on the strip. What if there was like, they called it a WWE Nitro? And you had a WWE themed restaurant and gift shop and little hall. the fame type thing that's surrounded like sort of like what dorian's doing with with triple a down

in that mall in cancun where he's got like a dinner theater type thing and it is a show that you just show tourists when they're coming in but what if it looked and felt like nitro it had the old theme and the old sign and the old logos and i i do think a nostalgia thing as an attraction. I don't know. Could that work? Could you see that? You know, I mean, it's a, it's a fun idea to think about it, isn't it? I mean, what if? Oh, my two favorite words. What if? Almost gets me horny. I love the word. Simone, what if? Um, but if you have a residence and you have the ability to have a themed restaurant and merchandise and all that kind of stuff. You got, you got seven nights a week. You got a book, right? Yeah. What if? What if?

You have a Monday night, WWE Nitro, and it's themed and produced, and you have the logos, and it's a callback to, and maybe you have talent, especially younger talent that's developing. That's another great place, by the way. That's another great idea for that residency is you have the ability to have your young talent working in front of fresh crowd every night. That's an awesome opportunity. But you can have talent, adopt the characters that were, you know, popular in WCW.

So you have a young character that's paying homage to crow sting or even surfer sting and bringing those nostalgic characters to life in a current environment. And oh, by the way, you could do the same thing with NWA. Yes. You can go back and have somebody being Harley Race, you know, and pay homage to Harley or Dusty. I think that would be really fun. So you could have a WCW night.

You could have an NWA night. probably have to work with Billy somehow, but you could pay homage to some of the performers from different organizations, not just WCW, and then have your Friday and Saturday night or your big Saturday and Sunday show, whatever it is. That's your, you know, Raw and Smackdown presentation, so to speak. But I think it's a cool idea. It would be fun. It would be fun to work on creatively. I don't know how effective or how successful it would be, but it sure would be fun. I could see WCW, the WCW brand as an homage type of presentation, legacy presentation, being a fun thing to do,

but to try to create it as a storyline in today's world, I mean, it's just been too, it's been too long. There's nobody left. Those that are left shouldn't be in the ring participating. C. Spartan has a great question. I know you've discussed issues wrestling had with advertising due to its reputation. However, did the ad sales teams ever consider pitching pay-per-view sponsorship to more adult-focused businesses like beer and alcohol companies.

Seems like they would have been a great fit in the late 90s. I know briefly there was a sponsorship in WCW, you know, before you got there, maybe when you were there with Coors, where, you know, they had some Coors sponsorships, I think, around the ringposts and things like that. I was during the Heard era, though, really before you came to power. Was it just, you know, these companies were nervous about, young children watching the program or was a beer whatever ever within reach no now you could the way the beer business works is you have your you have your national brand you have

your anise of bush for example but then and iza bush has local distributors now some of those local distributors are massive ridiculous amounts of money but some of them like my local you know, Beardt, Anheuser-Bist distributor here and Cody, Wyoming is a small family-owned business.

But your local distributors have discretion in terms of how they want to promote and where they promote in their market. So you could go, if you had a relationship,

like, for example, if I was in the wrestling business today and I knew I was coming to Cody, Wyoming, I could go to the local distributor and probably convince

a local distributor to do something on the ring post and the local advertising, anything that was happening on the local basis. But if I were to try to go to the national office and Hazard Bush and St. Louis, you wouldn't get past the security guard if you told them you were from a wrestling company. The beer companies on a national level, corporate level, wanted nothing to do with professional wrestling. Not because of the reputation, but because it was perceived in the market as a teen and preteen product. That's like it's like going to

An Isabush and saying, hey, we got Muppets on Ice coming, you know, next week in New York's Medicine Square Garden. And I said, Bush, would you like? Because the parents bring the kids, so you're marketing to the parents, it's Muppets on Ice. It's a kid show, no, we're not going to touch it. And there was no way to overcome that.

Not for us. Here's an interesting question. Francis Reyes wants to know. What have you learned from Conrad the most during all this podcast and vice versa. Conrad learned from you. Thanks for making fans happy from the UK. The thing I've learned from you the most is a lot of business stuff. But my favorite, and I talk about this all the time, and I've given you credit for this privately a bunch, you know, the old different than, less than, better than. If you can't be better than, you're doomed to be less than. So it's best if you could

find a way to be different than. And I've applied that to different areas of business in my real life. And it's become like a mantra that I use and credit you for all the time. So I think of all the things I've learned more than less than different than that's probably number one for me. I can't imagine you've learned a thing for me except that I'm a pain in your ass. No, not not true. I love you, brother. You've enhanced the quality of my life in a lot of different ways. But the thing that I think I learned early on, I observed and then continue to observe is the value that comes with surrounding yourself with really quality people that you enjoy working with. Yes. You have, and not just on the podcast side of things, but on the mortgage side of your

business, you, the quality of people that you have around you. is so consistent, and there's such good people that it has made clear to me the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people and people that you can trust and then letting them be the best. I know this sounds corny as fuck, but letting them be the best they can be. That you have illustrated the significance of that

in ways that nobody else has. That's the one thing I've really learned. the quality of the people you surround yourself with that really determine your success i'll take it i love that uh ryan king wants to know what is the most hot you've been at someone over something that happened during a show is there one thing that pissed you off above all else no i can't even think of it there's been so money oh my god i couldn't even think of it rousseau i mean nothing you know made me want to you know grab a tire and beat somebody to death or anything like that but Um, there's been so many moments like that.

It's hard to catalog them. Uh, Drew Landry wants to know. I don't remember watching the Goldberg Hoagram program after Goldberg won the title from him in Atlanta. Why did we not see that? What do you think about that? Why wasn't there a big paper view rematch?

I mean, that seems like that's a natural easy thing. God, I hate to say it, but I don't know. I don't know. I'd have to go back. see what we were doing afterwards. Perhaps it's because that whole idea came together spontaneously. It wasn't part of a long-term plan. When Hogan called me one day when I was driving down the road and said, hey, I got an idea. Let's do this. That was completely so far to left field and not part of any existing plan at the moment. So perhaps because it wasn't part

of the plan and it did happen spontaneously, we just kind of picked up where we left off before that spontaneous opportunity came our way. That might have been the answer, but to be honest with you, that's the best job I could do of explaining that one. Respectfully, I think it should have been the main event for Starcade 98th. I know we got Kevin Nash.

I know the streak ended, but it feels like it's just right there. You're fresh off of this incredible match with Hogan and Sting, or the, I mean, the match wasn't, but the build was. Do it again. You know,

maybe it's Hogan and Goldberg at Starcade, the big rematch. You could have still had shenanigans if you wanted it to be. Or maybe the result of Goldberg keeping the belt would have been a catalyst to have that Hogan Nash match set up with the finger poke. I don't know. But it feels like if you were going to do it, Starcade would have been the place to do it, maybe. I think you're absolutely right.

We left a lot on the table by not following it up and not making it, you know, whatever plan we had in place. should have been modified and adjusted to accommodate that Starcade match because you're right that would have been and you could there's so much I mean just sitting here I get a little excited thinking about what the creative opportunities could have been there's a lot of different ways you could have gone with that that would have been a better choice no doubt what's crazy to think about too uh at least to me is you've got this incredible pay per view that sets all kinds of records. Everybody knows the success of Starcade 97 and how many buys it did. Fast forward

to Starcade 98. The two guys in the primary story that sold all those pay per views Sting and Hulk Hogan, they're not even on the card at Starcade 98, which is just like, how's that possible? But I mean, because Hogan was there at Starcade 94 and 95 and 96 and 97 and 98, nothing. But then there's the argument kind of where it's like, okay, now. already let's give us something new give us something fresh so you're you're under that pressure as well to not just keep going to the well and doing the same things or versions of the same things over and over again and maybe that was part of the reason why i don't know i don't think so it couldn't have been because 10 days later you did the finger poke and yeah was back on hoagin yeah so i don't know

i think it was just a matter of doing something different well i mean you were so hot i mean it was still a huge financial success. It was like you almost felt like at the time, I'm sure we can do no wrong. And maybe that's when that's when you start to feel in hindsight like, oh, maybe that wasn't the right way to handle that. Uh, Scott has a great question. If Eric only had four members total for the entire NW run, what four would they be? So we know the first three, I'm sure, Hogan, Hall and Nash. Who's the fourth? There's just one that's, it. Woman.

Yeah, I think so too. Yeah. I was wrestling a little bit with Savage. Oh, okay. Yeah.

I think that's a tough, you know, because Conan brought the edge. Yes. He brought so much. Credibility. Street cred. Yes.

He was so authentic. Unbelievable. And he brought a fresh edge to the product that up until that point was hadn't been there not in an authentic way so it's a tough one but i would i would say woman chris has a fun question given what you know of wb's culture do you think they're going to trust pump this time around do you think they consider giving him a world title and be the face of the company or do you feel the potential liability of doing so was too high for them to want to do so you know i don't know the culture

that exists today i knew the culture that existed last time i was there and i was in a and i'm going to be very vague but i'm doing it intentionally out of respect so please accept that but i was in a meeting where punk's name came up and All of the key decision makers in WWE at that time were in that meeting. And that name came up, and the conversation lasted all of three minutes. And that was the end of that. That was the culture then. I don't know what the culture is now.

I don't know. I don't, you know, Triple H used to work for me. Paul Aveck worked for WCW before he went to WWE. But I never got to know Paul then. A couple conversations with him, really. Even when I worked with him, when I first went to WWE as a talent, very little conversation with Paul Levick. When I worked there in 2019 for a cup of coffee,

that's why I interfaced with Paul Levick more than I ever had the previous 20 years. But even then, I didn't really get to know him. So I don't know how Paul Levec thinks and what his tolerance is for situations like CM Punk rings. I suspect that two things. One is I don't think CM Punk's going to even try to exert the kind of, nope, I'm going to call it bullying, right? He ain't throwing his weight around backstage in WWE anywhere, right? The company's so much bigger than him. There's no room for that there.

And nobody will tolerate it. And I think because of history, people will be watching very carefully how Phil Brooks, as an individual, handles himself professionally behind, because there's no question the CM puck character is viable and is valuable. The question mark is, is Phil Brooks, the professional that he needs to be to make it work? I suspect he probably is. I suspect that I hope. The Phil Brooks is going, wow, this is a hell of an opportunity. I can write the end of my own story.

I can retire from this business on a positive note. And oh, by the way, I can pocket millions and millions of dollars along the way. But I got to be a team player. That's what I hope. And that's what I think is probably going on. He has to be a smart guy to get where he is right now. But I do think that there's probably eyes on Phil Brooks in the way he conducts himself. But I don't know where the,

I don't know where the guardrails are. But I don't think it's going to be an issue. I really don't. I said this before he even went there. Yeah. Speculation was, you think he'll go. I said, sure he'll go. If he has the opportunity, I would, he'd be crazy not to.

Yes. But he's not going to get away. isn't there there's no CM punk running a muck backstage no one's going to get choked out no one's going to be in fear for their life you're not going to have the craziness and the michigas going on backstage in a drama that went on in a ewe because it's an entirely different environment my mom used to say you teach people how to treat you and recently jeff charrett went to sunday school and the lesson that day he shared with us on his podcast and it was culture is created by the positive things you celebrate

and the negative things you tolerate and i thought man that's profound i dedicated it to memory and i think the culture in w w e right now i don't i don't see that happening i'm with you i think i think punk's going to enjoy some great success and this be the last big uh end run of his career and I think I think this ends a lot differently than a lot of people a lot of the naysayers and doubters have said from the peanut gallery Alexander the great 39 wants to know Eric do you regret never having a WrestleMania moment that's not something that people talked about maybe 10 or 15 years ago but now we have started to hear that be a thing a WrestleMania moment do you do you wish you had a WrestleMania moment I don't think about it

I mean, I'm so grateful for what I have had and what I've experienced in the wrestling industry and what it's provided for me and my family. I don't regret anything at all. I'm just, I'm, I'm glad I was invited to a few as a WWE performer. I got to be there and be a part of the team. And I say that with all honesty. I never, I would have felt uncomfortable, quite honestly, having a part in WrestleMania because I've always looked at my character as like garnish on the plate.

It's not the main course. It's not the steak. It's not the potatoes, it's not the vegetable. It's not a side order of corn. I'm the garnish. I'm a little decorative stuff. I was the little pieces of parsley they put on the plate to make the presentation look a little better and bring it all together.

And to give someone like my character time, in a WrestleMania where you've got people who have worked, I mean, really worked their whole lives for that opportunity, I would have felt guilty. Really, and I mean that, I would have felt awkward. Maybe not guilty because it would have been my choice, but I would have felt very awkward and uncomfortable had I been given one. So no, I don't regret that at all. It would have been, like I said, highly inappropriate in my opinion creatively.

Adam Leeson wants to know, in Eric's opinion, who was the greatest mind in the wrestling business and what's one wrestling event Eric would have loved to have been at that he wasn't so let's answer that one first is there a wrestling event you would have liked to have been present for that you didn't have the opportunity to just with you know that's a great question and I really appreciate that one because and again I'm not pitching this I'm not hyped in it but when I read the book the six pack yes by Brad Belugian now it's going to come out in April, you're going to hear a lot more about it on ad-free shows. You're going to hear a lot more about it on this podcast as we get closer to the release.

But that book made me so interested in WrestleMania 3 that I wish I would have been a part of that. Because that was a pivotal, that was a pivotal pay-per-view. No doubt. That, you know, we talk about things that change the world, right? Or change the business. And we want to enumerate them all here. There's been several big pivot points. And that was one that I didn't appreciate to the extent that I should have and now do.

I would have liked to have been a part of that just because it's such an important part of history. Carmine Rocco wants to know. If you were to start a wrestling company in this era and had everyone at your disposal, who would be your very first signing? Hmm. God, people are going to hate me for saying this. I'm ready for it. Randy Orton,

I would want Randy to be, I'd want him to be the, I'm not suggesting that Randy would wrestle for the next five or ten years. But I would, he's only 43, just so you know. How old is he? 43 years old. Yeah, he's 43, but he's, he's been through a lot.

Yeah. I don't, I don't see Randy working for another five years. First of all, he doesn't need the money. And I think at some point, Randy's going to want to spend time with his family exclusively. But that, that's that. Randy Orton, he would be my rock. He would be my Stone Cold Steve Austin. He would be my Hulk Hogan, right?

He could be our undertaker because he's got so much credibility in the equity that he's built in his character and his name over the past 20-some-old. years would be hard to beat and and again not that he would be the world champion for extended period of time or anything like that but if I was going to launch something and I wanted it to have credibility and people to give it at least give it a chance I'd want Randy there and I'd be looking at people like LA night and I'd be looking at some of the younger newer talent that's coming up but my first call would probably be to New York. Thomas J wants to know, was there ever any interest in signing Owen Hart?

Did it ever come close after the screw job in 1997? No. And I can't say specifically why, because I don't remember. And because it never even came up in conversation. There's nothing actually to remember, probably because Owen was under a long-term contract and there was no option for Owen to make a jump or for us to reach out to him. Likely that was the situation, but it never, ever came up in conversation. Well, something that I think should come up in conversation more often is pet insurance.

We've been talking about embrace here for the past several weeks. And I'm going to continue to, first of all, because we really believe in this. Eric and I are dog lovers. I know we sometimes seem like assholes and jerks to each other here. on the program. But man, we're not for our dogs. Nicky, Ginger, and baby, no, their dads have all the love in the world for them. And I'm sure you feel the same way about your dogs. I mean, they're more than just a pet, whether it's a cat or a dog, whatever. It's more than just your pet. It's a part of the family. It's a really big part of your life. And our partner

and embrace pet insurance, man, they're just going to give you peace of mind for a really valuable member of your family. I mean, let's be real. Having a pet is expensive. From natural pet food to pet sitting when you go on vacation, the cost can skyrocket quickly. But one thing that's definitely worth it for your fur baby is pet insurance. This podcast is sponsored by Embrace Pet Insurance because we believe it's time for you to upgrade your pet insurance game. Whether you have a dog or a cat, Embrace Pet Insurance has customized plans for your pet's exact needs. And you need it now more than ever. Vet prices have increased by a third.

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but this is something that's near and dear to me because my daughter lost her pet of nine years earlier this year and man it was it was emotional it was just a bad experience and if you've went through that you know what I'm talking about but her and her mom were faced with something right before that they never imagined hey we've got this surgery we could do it probably won't work but it could but it will definitely cost over six thousand dollars unfortunately that pet passed away within an hour of that conversation it was too late but there wouldn't have even been pause had there been insurance in place i'm happy to say ginger and baby are covered with embrace pet insurance i think your pets should be as well just read the

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Make sure you go to Embracepetinsurance.com slash 83 weeks or else they won't know that we sent you. That's embrace pet insurance.com slash 83 weeks. Matt Ryan says, Eric, you've spoken about your admiration for Pat Patterson. Did you meet Pat during your WW tryout? If not, what was it like to meet him when you finally debuted in 2000? too. I did not meet Pat during my tryout in 90 or 91. I think it was 1990. I did not meet him. I met Lord Alfred Hayes. I actually did, I think for part of my tryout, I did play by play on a match in the studio with Lord Alfred Hayes. So that was pretty cool. But that was it. And I didn't meet Pat

until 2002. And we just hit it off. You know, and when I first got there, I was like, I'm just going to keep my head down my mind. This is what I do anyway, you know. I'm not a social animal at all. And when I would go to television tapings, I would do my business. Now, I would hang out after the shows in the bars and watch the replay on TV with everybody, things like that. But typically, when I got to WWE, I did none of that. I just kept it myself.

And one night I was sitting after a show, I was sitting at the bar. and by completely alone and pat came up sat down next to me and we just started he started telling me old vergania stories and nick bachwickle stories and ray steven stories and and ray was a good friend of mine someone that i really enjoyed being around when i was in the a wa so much fun listening to those stories and by the end of that first night i think we probably sat at the bar an hour hour and a half maybe and uh from that point four And he was, other than Bruce Pritcher, you know, Pat Patterson was one of the only people I'd really talked to during the entire course of a day or evening, other than the people that I was working with. But you really got to be pretty good friends and even more respect for him.

The more I got to know him, the more respect I had for him, especially his creative abilities. But he was funny, too, man. He'd get frustrated. He reminded me a Vern sometimes. he'd see things or hear things or he'd get frustrated with creative and we'd sit down and talk about it at the end of the night. God, I don't believe it. It was so much fun watching him and being around him.

He's a great guy. We got so many questions here. I don't think we can get to all of them. I'm going to bounce around a little bit and make Dave Silva's life hell. But I'm really excited about a couple of different questions. One, and this is interesting for me as a collector. Ronnie wants to know if there were three pieces of memorabilia that you could retrieve from your time in wrestling that meant the most to you. What would they be and why?

I know you're not really a memorabilia guy. We can see behind you. We know you've got your Hall of Fame, you know, plaque where you went into the WWE Hall of Fame and things like that. And we know now thanks to our friends that paint your life, you've got that awesome portrait behind you. But if there was like an artifact from your ruin and wrestling, a piece of ring used or set, you used or just a part of WCW or the WWF where all of your wrestling days held the AWA2 what would like be three things you would have liked to have hung on to somehow oh I think I would love a representation of the most important moments points in my career

obviously an AWA logo would be great you know to have up on that wall somewhere the WCW Nitro on the set I believe there was like this gray kind of big bold letters WCW and the Nitro I really would love that you know because you know nitro was a defining moment in my career as a television producer not just a wrestling guy but as a television producer so that would be really cool. You know, I don't think, I didn't contribute really that much to WWF. I don't look at that part of my career or something that I would consider important, important to me financially, you know, in terms of fun. But I don't think I contributed anything there that makes anything stand out that I can say I was really a big part of that. Again, I was a garnished.

on a plate. I was the best garnish going at the time. But maybe the poster, some kind of a poster, you know, with Steve Austin and I leading into No Way Out probably because that was, again, other than Chuck and Billy, and that's a different thing. That was a pretty cool moment for me. I guess something from that event would be cool. I wish you had all of the, what was left that night of your, your mask and makeup. The big reveal. If you could find a way to preserve that glass box, that would be cool. Yeah. Yeah.

That was fun. I get a kick out of it. You know, you know how it is, you know, on this date, you know, whatever.

So every year on the anniversary of that Chuck and Billy wedding, I probably get no, no fewer than 50 or 75 people sending me that clip. And it makes me smile every time. Alex wants to know, Eric, what is the nitro segment you were in that you had the most fun with the NWO? firing peewee yeah randy anderson yeah that was freaking awesome and there was a lot of other

ones but that when you you know that was that was believable yeah i mean it actually was believable unfortunately to a lot of people um they complained to turn a broadcast of human resources because i fired somebody on national television in front of his children they actually believed I did. So that was cool. You know, when you can hit that kind of a nerve in a professional wrestling show where everybody that comes to it

knows that it is scripted entertainment and nothing is real, they believe that was real. And that's like a... Hello compliment. That's like the professional wrestling version of an Academy Award. That's pretty freaking awesome.

When you can get people that wound up because they thought it was true. That's pretty awesome. So, yeah, that was that for me. Terrell Lewis wants to know, Mr. Bischoff at any point, did you ever consider bringing Tully Blanchard in? No, and for no specific reason, I think I was led to believe that there was an injury

that made it impossible for Tully to come back, even if anybody wanted him back. But his name never came up. Keep in mind, I wasn't familiar with him. Tully Blanchard. Tully Blanchard was a big deal long before I came to WCW or, you know, he was a very important part of the four horsemen and the, you know, Crockett promotions and all that. But that was all before my time.

So I wasn't firsthand familiar with Tully Blanchard. I learned about Tully Blanchard after I got to WCW when I first arrived as a, as a talent. But it was very, you know, I didn't learn a lot about him. So it just wasn't, it wasn't a name that came to mind when I was in a place. position to look for talent. Interesting question here from 80s kid yelling at clowns. Who wants to know after Brett joined the company after Montreal, Nighthart and the Bulldog came along.

Was there ever any talk of having them appear with Brett similar to the Hart Foundation did in the WWF? Like that was probably. And again, you know, I want to be clear. I was involved in some things creatively. I was very involved. in NWO related material and a few other things. But there were a lot of other people involved with creative as well.

And I do believe that there was probably conversation early on about, hey, if Brett's coming, perhaps there's an opportunity down the road. So let's bring this talent in because it's available. That I think was probably the context of those conversations. I don't believe there was anything. And again, it's a Kevin Sullivan thing. Kevin might have a different perspective and a different. answer because he was also deeply involved in all things creative, not just the NWO and

some of the things at the top of the cars, so to speak. So perhaps it was, not that I was a part of, but it doesn't mean it didn't happen. A couple great questions here. Dan Potts wants to know any truth to the room where you wanted to have a Nitro or a pay-per-view at Yankee Stadium. No. Adam Leeson says, I read somewhere WCW was planning to run Madison Square Guard. Garden. Is that true? Was it ever an option? It was an exploration, but we got shut down immediately. The contract, the agreement that was in place between MSG and Titan Sports at the time was such that WWE maintained a perpetual first right or refusal. So if any wrestling company wanted to book a date at MSG, Madison Square Garden, Madison Square Garden was

by way of their agreement, it was a very friendly agreement for obvious reasons, was obligated to give WWE the first chance at that date. So it effectively, in effect, we were blocked out. There was no way WCW or any other wrestling company was going to promote a live wrestling event in Madison Square Garden because WW would have the option of taking that date first. You just couldn't get in. Here's a great question that we've not spent any time talking about with you.

Miguel wants to know, how has wrestling affected your marriage? Is it hard to have a relationship while being on the road so much? Again, I wasn't on the road as much as professional wrestlers were, talent. I was on a road a lot. And from 93, 94 to the end of 98, I was gone a lot, but not as much as a talent and a performer. um it worked out well for us you know i made my family the priority even though i was gone a lot when i was home my focus was out my kids and my wife um not that i didn't bring work home with me occasionally i did there were nights during the week when i'd be on the phone till midnight or one o'clock

in the morning all that shit did happen but i spent a lot of time with my kids and my wife um i was able to bring them with me a lot. I brought my kids with me to Disney when we were shooting for seven or 10 days at a time and made it work. I have an amazing, you know, Lori and I have been together now for 42 years. Unbelievable.

Married. This summer in August, we will have been married for 40 and together for 42. So to say that I have a solid happy marriage is quite the understatement. So, you know, a lot of it has to, the majority of that has to do with my wife. No doubt. She, you know, I would say it's almost all her. I tried my best to be a good husband and a good father.

And I think I was a pretty good dad. Good husband. You're a good salesman, but she's the glue for the family, right? I mean, Mrs. B keeps it together. She keeps it together. Yes. She always has.

Let's, uh, let's do an interesting. question here and boy it's kind of rude but i know you'll have some fun with it f f handbook wants to know if every penny you have was invested into a wrestling company that had to be booked by either tony con or vince rousseau who would you choose oh i think rousseau can be fixed there to work you know i know i look i think rousseau would be a very very good you know i know i look i think rousseau would be a very valuable part, not very, I think he would be a valuable part of a creative team where Russo went wrong was being the guy. He can't be the head of anything. But I do think there's enough there with Russo that he could be fixed and he could be a valuable

part of a team. I don't feel the same way with Tony Con. I see patterns there and I don't know Tony Con, really. I know who he is, but I don't know him, know him. But I see the patterns, consistent patterns, repetitive patterns that indicate to me that that's not fixable. So I would reluctantly dump all my money into a Vince Russo situation where I would try to find a way to fix him and keep him from being the sole practitioner when it came to creative. uh i'd put my money on tony con tony con's going to have a lot more connections to uh pull the nose up financially uh mike back no but but well wait but that's not the question the question was if i was i was financing yeah yeah that's right but i'm just saying Tony con i'm not talking about he's

going to write a check and reimburse you but i'm just saying he's going to have inroads in the entertainment sports and finance world yeah but you got to deliver on it you've got it at the end of the day all your relationships and all your connections in the world aren't going to matter if you've you've taken advantage of those opportunities and been unable to deliver because you don't have the inherent talent and instincts that are required to be successful about business. I know you said and I hear you there was criticism about whether or not Tony could work in a team without you actually saying it because you just kept saying Vince could be a part of a team. I get that. But aren't we sort of glossing over the fact that Tony Carnes started from absolute scratch and is, and I know you said top line doesn't matter, but on some level, it is the only metric we can use.

It's top line gross. It's the biggest for any wrestling company outside of WWE since WCW, right? And only the best years in WCW would have, would have been there. I'm not saying that WCW didn't have better years. I'm not arguing that, but I'm saying top line gross. gross you got to give the man some credit here not really i don't why it doesn't matter it and there are there are other data points that we can point to other than top line gross which i think is very very misleading and it's it's a PR point it's a headline it's a day melts

a dirt sheet no no it's not i mean people talk about it as a draw if we're if we're gonna from an entertainment from a from a promoter perspective how much money does did they draw that's the that's the verbiage that people use draw means top line it doesn't mean net no we can have a separate conversation about managing the business and the budget and all that sort of things but i'm saying in terms of generating revenue in the wrestling business besides a only a handful of wcw years tony cons generated more than anybody in wrestling history besides vince like there's not been a territory or wrestling promotion that did 170 or 175 million in a year, outside of WWE and a handful of WCW years, right?

Quite a handful. I mean, WCW, and again, I don't want to get, this is not important enough to get into the math, but adjusting for inflation, there were plenty of years before WCW became profitable that it was generating on a adjusted for inflation basis, more money than AEW is right now. that's not really a true statement. And again, I don't think it really matters. It's interesting. It's a data point.

I'm not denying it's interesting. And does Tony Khan deserve credit for spending his inheritance, or a portion of it, I should say, to create this wrestling company that is his fantasy? Sure. Absolutely. I don't mean that with any snark involved. Absolutely. He's put his money where his mouth. is and he's pursuing a dream. And I think that's admirable. But in terms of, if you were

buying a business right now or if you're looking at AEW as a business investment, I don't think you would invest in it unless it was an emotional investment or a hobby. Just the top line is interesting, but you've also got, look at the ratings. That's also a data point that we can look to aside from the gross top line revenue where's that going the answer is down it's not even flat anymore it's trending downward slowly but you look at what's going on with collision it's collapsing you look at what's going on with rampage it's almost a punchline it's embarrassing it's a Wednesday business yeah and you look at what's going on with dynamite it's at best flat yes and probably year over year in the negative.

It's down a little bit, yeah. About 11%. So, well, what's, what's to get excited about? Well, I think what's to get excited about is you just look at, let's, let's imagine that we're starting from scratch when Ted Turner bought out the crockets. So let's fast forward five years. we're like where wcw was in 93 that's kind of where a w is now timeline wise and i think i would argue that a w today is doing better timeline wise than than wcw was in 93 now we know right

around the corner 94 holkogen's going to be there and man it's a whole new world not arguing that But in 93, I think I might argue that AW might actually be doing better than WCW was five years in. Top line. Yeah. Well, we go back and find that number, I'm sure somehow. But I would, but I would guess you're right. Yeah. I'm not denying that.

But I can also assure you that WCW didn't throw nearly as much money at WCW in 1990. And prior to 1993, as Tony Kahn has an AEW. He spent a lot more money launching that brand than Turner was spending on WCW at the time. Well, because one owned a television network and one didn't, right? Right. And one's getting $45 million a year in licensing fees and the other didn't. Yes. Things are so different economically and in terms of the business model that it's really unfair and unrealistic to compare them.

take take take take the television revenue out of of AEW right now yeah and tell me and tell me how they're doing now you can compare AEW today to WCW in 1993 and tell me who's outperforming who that's an interesting way to look at it um Mike wants to know you mentioned before liking the former announcer Chris Cruz but having to let him go once you discovered something can you talk more about that no let's just say if if someone was working for you conrad and you found out that this could be any individual right saying okay but if you if you found out that they were taking advantage of situations financially that was inappropriate you'd fire them whether you liked them or not because

you've got to trust the people you work with and I'm not saying that Chris Cruz did anything illegal or anything like that but there was a pattern of behavior that was concerning let's put it that way copy that Matt Richards wants to know was there any thoughts for a Paul Orndorf and Hogan feud when Hogan arrived in 94 considering how big the business was for the M and 86 and the WWF? No, I think Paul's, Paul had a, and I don't remember what

the injury was, but Atrophy in the arm, right? Yeah, well, I think it was a neck injury that caused the atrophy in the arm, so I'm going to call it a neck injury, and I may be wrong about that, and I apologize if I am, but I think the injury, whatever it was, that led to the

atrophy in the arm was significant enough and was a no-go as far as in-ring performances go. So there was never a conversation. Paul was excited as hell to have Hogan there, but it wasn't because, oh, maybe I can get a match with them someday. It was never a conversation. Let's have a conversation about what I know you're going to be talking about with your spouse and your family conversations in the coming weeks shopping. It's always hard this time of year. I've always got somebody who's hard to buy for. My wife and I've had several of those

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Eric, we've got a question here about our podcast. Tad Brown wants to know when this podcast started, what were your realistic expectations? Did you ever dream you'd get to 300? I think the answer is no on 300. But what were your expectations, Eric, when we first started this pod? You know, I didn't have any.

And the reason for that is I had tried a podcast with Nick Hausman. And, um, it was fun up into a point, and, you know, the chemistry wasn't right. And there's nothing against Nick. He was a hardworking guy. He's very passionate. But it's just the chemistry wasn't there. And I learned a little bit about the podcasting business.

I didn't really know much about it. One of the reasons I did the podcast with Nick is, you know, I had been approached by other people about doing a podcast before Nick. And I'd asked questions that I knew nothing about. the podcasting business, really, other than I could Google find out quickly. But when I asked questions of Nick, he had answers. And I felt like, okay, this guy at least knows a little bit about the podcasting business, certainly a lot more than I did. So let's give it a try and see what happens. You know, and that's the way I approached it with Nick. The, it didn't turn out well.

I mean, it wasn't horrible. It was an unsuccessful attempt at a podcast. And I had pretty much washed my hands of it and decided, well, it's just not for me. It's not going to work for me. And then Bruce Pritchard, you know, you and Bruce were having so much success. And obviously I was in, you know, constant contact with Bruce. And I was looking at his success and looking at the numbers you guys were creating so that however the subject came up, but maybe, you know, trying one with you was like, well, hell yeah. I mean, if there's any chance at all of me being successful in this podcast, space. I want to do it with somebody who's proven that they can do it in the wrestling business. So doing one with you was, was, was, was an opportunity that I was very much excited

about because of the success you created with Bruce. But I went into it realistic. And one of the things I've learned in life is I like setting goals. One of the reasons I went into this five day water fast was because I felt like I really need to go back and focus on my discipline because I've become very undisciplined in my day-to-day life because I can be. And that sounds arrogant and I don't mean it to be. But, you know, it's great to be able to do the things you want to do with the people you want to do it with when you want to do it. That's freedom to me. But it's also set me up for complacency. And Lori and I we're driving this is going to be a long-winded answer but i promise i'll get to it

laura and i were driving back from minneapolis from from thanksgiving we're with my brother and sister and her family we're driving back we're in a conversation we're listening to some podcast and somewhere along the line the phrase comfort is a thief came up and it just it almost stopped me mentally in my tracks because it was kind of profound to me because it applied to me comfort has been a thief. It's, it's stolen my discipline. My comfort is overtaken my discipline to a degree my drive and ambition because I'm just too comfortable. And I've quit challenging myself. I used to challenge myself all the time. Learn something new, do something new, attempt something you've never attempted before. That's always been kind of part of my makeup,

up, right? And I've lost that edge over the last 10 years or so. Now, back to the podcast and expectations. Part of that has been, I've learned how to manage my expectations because I'm not driving, because I'm not challenging. I approach projects with the idea of I'm going to put 100% into it, and if it's fun, I'll keep doing it. And if it's not fun, I won't. And that's exactly the way I approached doing the podcast with you, because I didn't know. I didn't know if you and I would have chemistry. I didn't know if I was enough, if anybody gave a shit about anything I had to say to even listen to a podcast I was on. I mean, I was realistic. I don't have the super high inflated value of who I am, never have. But I thought, what the hell? It's working for Bruce.

This guy Conrad knows what the hell he's doing. Why not? Give it a shot. If it's fun, it'll work. That's the other thing I've always believed. If you work hard and you have fun, the money will come. It's inevitable. It'll happen. And that was my only really expectation was, is it going to be fun? And there were a couple of times early on where it almost wasn't fun. You know what I'm talking about. You got hot. I got hot.

I hung up. We stopped the podcast. And for a minute, I thought, well, that's a last podcast I'm going to do with this guy. He's not going to want to do it again. And I'm not sure I want to either.

And I thought about it for like a minute. And I went, okay, that's not right. So I called you right back. We had a conversation. Everything was fine. Yes.

but and I'm really glad and we did have that conversation because this has been a it's been a blessing to be honest but it was fun after that little speed bump it kept getting more fun and more fun and more fun and going back to one of the things that we talked about earlier one of the things I've learned from you and with you and as a result of doing this podcast is I've learned how to look at forget about success that's easy everybody can look at success. Everybody does look at their success. Very few people look at their failures or mistakes or shortcomings and really embrace them and analyze them. One of the things that I've learned doing this show with you is to be able to be mature and look back at the

decisions and the choices that I've made and analyze them and accept them for being mistakes or errors in judgment or shortcomings and not beat myself to death over it. That's how you learn and fortunately it's it's been getting more this is this is a different kind of show you and I haven't had this type of a show before and it's fun I enjoyed doing it I got to go on at free shows with Cassio the other night and we had some of our ad free shows remember I had the most fun that night that I've probably had in three weeks just it's been a blessing but it's been fun at the same time and because it's been fun and we've worked at it not just you and I but the team of people you've got working

with you it's been financially successful so formula works great question here from uh op w chris recently the ex-fail and the usFL announced their intent to merge in 2024 in the future could you see this new spring football entity presumably having the rocks involvement become part of TKO. They offer wrestling and MMA. Football could expand their content offering. What do you think? Could you see the rock, given his family relationship with Nick

Conn, could you see the rock bringing football to the TKO opportunity? Wow. That's interesting, isn't it? I never would have thought about it. And I don't know enough about their business. Yeah. Their business model and what the opportunities are, I inherently, every time, you know, spring football comes up, I just kind of look the other way. Yes.

Because I just can't rep my head around football in the spring. Because it's never worked. I just can't. It's never worked. So, but if I could overcome or set aside that reaction and just look at perhaps the model. or the business model that could could maybe work be an interesting conversation for sure definitely something I would explore yeah but I still have a hard time getting over the spring football hump I just do Lucas wants to know which wrestler besides

Brent Hart do you wish you could have done more with in WCW I can't think of one. You know, I say, oh, you know, Ray Mysterio, Chris Jericho,

but those guys weren't ready for prime time back then. That play wouldn't have worked if we would have thrust one of those guys into that main event, carrying the company. And I don't mean just putting them on a main event in a pay-per-view. That's easy to do. But I mean, a sting kind of build, a Goldberg kind of build,

the Hogan NWO kind of build, the Randy DDP kind of build, the Randy DDP kind of. build that younger talent that went on to become and prove that they should have a main event opportunities, the Jericho's, the Raymisteros, the Eddie Guerrero's and such. You know, down later on, yes, they, they earned that opportunity and prove that they could carry it to a degree. But they weren't ready back then.

So as much as, you know, hardcore wrestling fans and people that, you know, live in the dirt sheet narrative, that's why you went out of business. because you didn't make Jericho a world champion. Yeah, okay, great. Have fun with that idea. But at that time, the timing wasn't right yet. And of the people that I think about that should have had main event opportunities,

I kind of think most of them got them. You know, DDP, certainly Goldberg. You know, I think Sting became a bigger name as a result of the NWO and the Chrome. character than he was as Surfer Sting. It's almost like we reinvented him. No doubt. Hall and Nash we've already talked about,

Walt Moon we've already talked about. Look what we did with, you know, I can go on and on and on. I don't feel like there's anybody that I should have done more with. In hindsight, sure, you know,

I would have liked to have kept Chris Jericho. I've talked about that a lot. Wanted to keep him. Offered him a lot of money to try to keep him. But Chris was right. You know, Chris knew the timing wasn't right in WCW for him. And he went to where it was. Interesting question here from Adam.

We've never talked about this before. During your time running WCW, well before internet piracy was an issue, there were cable hot boxes. Where hot boxes ever are concerned for you when you were looking at pay-per-view revenue and did you simply look at it as something out of your control and didn't give it a second thought? Well, you bitch about it. complain about it, but it was out of our control. It wasn't us, it wasn't up to WCW to try to find a solution for that.

That was a pay-per-view. It was a direct TV challenge. That was a challenge for the pay-per-view providers themselves. It wasn't something that WCW could have, in any way, had had any kind of an impact on. Terrell Lewis wants to know, you've talked about reducing and ending house shows when you took over WCW to reduce losses. in your opinion, given the drop in attendance. Do you think AEW would benefit from running smaller venues for their weekly shows or would that give the perception of the company being smaller?

It seems like weekly shows and smaller venues would present really well on TV. Great question and an even better observation. And I follow Russell Ticks on social media, kind of keep track of the trends of what ticket sales are doing for WWE and AEW. And you look at WWE, they're going into 10,000-seed arenas typically for a raw or a smackdown, and they're selling 10,000 tickets. You look at AEW and they're going to 10,000-seed arenas and they're blocking it all off and they're having a hard time selling 5,000 tickets.

So right off the bat, you're spending a lot of money for an arena that you're using half of, number one. The real negative impact that that has is the energy. I would rather have 3,000 people in the right venue than having 5,000 people in the wrong venue. And the reason for that is those 3,000 people in the right venue, meaning a venue that's built for 3,000 or 4,000 people. A smaller arena that's filled and people are shoulder to shoulder, creates a commitment. environmental. It makes it more fun. It's like going to a bigger, cooler party. And the energy is so much different when you've got your people in a relatively confined area, all close proximity, they're not spread out all over the place. The energy in that environment is palpable. It's

noticeably different in the venue, but it's also different on television. You feel it. You see it. People become more animated in their seats because they're all having fun together. It's like a big party as opposed to think about it like this. It's like you get invited to a party and you go to somebody's house and there's two people in this room and there's five people over there. There's four or five people there and there's a couple people outside and they're all having fun. But you walk in there and there's just no vibe. There's no energy. And you go down the street to another party and there's people in every room and they're

laughing and they're joking and they're telling stories and the energy is completely different. Which part are you going to go to? Which part are you going to tell people about when you go to work on Monday? And that's what's happening to AEW. For whatever reason, I have no idea. They're booking these big venues and they're struggling. I saw one the other day. You know, they're scaling these things down to 4,000 people. Why go to a 10,000 seed arena to do that when the energy and the vibe is dissipated? Go to small our venues. The energy will be different for the talents in the ring. The energy will be different for the audience and the consumer experience will be greater. And the energy that you deliver to

the households using television watching your show will be noticeably different. And your viewers at home will actually feel better about watching a show that looks like everybody's having fun at, just like going to a party. G wants to know. Can you talk us through the Hall of Fame ring process? Do you get to select what finger it goes on? Is it engraved? How far ahead do they get your ring size?

I don't remember. And number what? I don't think I was asked which finger. No, I wasn't. And it's a good thing. They made it for my right hand because I broke a knuckle on my, I can't wear a ring on my left finger.

I can't get it over my big knuckle on my left finger. And if I were to be able to figure out the way to get it over, I would never be able to get it off. You'd have to cut it off. Mrs. B still false for that line? No, it's true. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I couldn't possibly get a ring on my on my ring figure. But I don't remember. I don't remember how they got my ring size. They must have asked me at some point. I just don't remember that the conversation or the email. Blaine Shores wants to know.

What was the thought process behind the diamond plate look for nitro? I always thought it was a cool. look for a wrestling show just wanted to have an industrial kind of vibe it's the fire the sheet metal the textured aluminum the color schemes i wanted to be very urban industrial kind of a vibe suave beardson says bash of the beach 96 hogan stays red and yellow sting is the third man walk us through the next year on how that would have played out if he didn't have plans that far ahead just fantasy bucket uh let's talk about instead how would the match have happened like we know that if sting was going to be the third man and we weren't sure we weren't sure we weren't

sure it's sting lex luger and macho man against scott hall kevin nash and a mystery partner we know at some point during the show we're going to cart lex lugar off i assume this would have meant if it would have wound up being sting sting is the guy who gets sent to the back and Sting returns and that's how the reveal is happening or what is the execution in that particular match of how Sting becomes the bad guy. God, I don't know, man. I can't come up with that sitting here on this show. That's something that you and I would have to sit down over a beverage or two.

And I'd need a couple hours with to play with. I couldn't possibly figure that out right now or even have fun trying to figure it out. Matt asked us to know you've talked about Mike Tyson's WWF involvement being a pivotal moment and changing perception of the company and helping Austin reach another level. If Tyson hadn't signed with the WWF and instead cut a deal with WCW, do you think it would have slowed down the Austin and WWF momentum significantly? Yes. I think it was that pivotal.

I mean, it wasn't the only thing, right? Yes. Having Mike Tyson wasn't the only reason everything took off. But it was such an important part of it. It's like if you take the two out of H. 2-0. You don't have water. You know what I mean? I think if you took Tyson out of that formula, you wouldn't have had the Austin McMahon story that you had because there wouldn't

have been that catalyst. There wouldn't have been that powerful visual, emotional moment that really launched Mr. McMahon in Austin. So I think, yes, it would have had a major impact if Tyson would have been or if Tyson just wouldn't have been available for WWE. I don't think the awesome McMahon story would have started off as hot as it was great question here from Jake in the book Nitro by Guy Evans it was said that you had an idea to fake your own death in a helicopter crash and come back as a ghost at a Halloween havoc pay per view can you elaborate on this more yeah I wasn't a helicopter crash it was a plane wreck and at the time

I had my own airplane I was a licensed pilot obviously and I was licensed to fly high performance complex aircraft and I had my instrument rating I was really into it and I had done a lot of flying around the country I used to fly myself to nitros anytime it was within probably seven or eight hundred miles

of Atlanta where we lived I would fly myself excuse me um and because i was so into flying at that time i think i was down around arizona flying around southern arizona somewhere for some reason and i you know i got fairly close to the mexican border had to be very aware of that because you don't want to fly into the mexican border you know unannounced but anyway somehow that that spurred the idea i think it was it was like in a summer leading into Halloween havoc late summer and Halloween Havoc was coming up, coming up with ideas. And I thought, wow, wouldn't it be cool if somehow I could create the illusion,

and I'd already thought about how to do it, create the illusion that I was flying around Southern Arizona, inadvertently, evidently had found myself in Mexican airspace, got lost in my plane crash somewhere in Mexico. and I was presumed dead. I could have pulled that off because people wouldn't have been able to find out. You can't call the Mexican version of the FAA, especially back then.

Nothing, you know, you didn't have the internet. It was a different world back then. So I could have faked me disappearing in my plane in Mexico in being presumed dead. I could have orchestrated that illusion. And I said, okay I want to do this so I knew you know I would tell my wife and my kids and I wasn't

going to tell my parents were alive at the time I wasn't going to tell my parents would tell my brother and sister we're going to tell anybody other than my wife and my kids but I had to run up by Harvey obviously and when I ran up by Harvey and by the way here's this scenario when the time was right somewhere between Halloween havoc I was going to disappear in Mexico presumed dead as a result of a plane crash my plane just fucking disappeared off the radar and all that stuff i could have fake that and then just hide for a month or so and then show up at Halloween having not as a ghost but as a part of a scene where i'm coming back from the dead i guess that's a ghost but i wasn't going to be like a hologram or anything like that it was going to be me but everybody would have thought i did it was

like I rose from the dead, so to speak. So I went to Harvey with that idea. I was so excited about it. My wife was not, by the way, but I was going to do it anyway. And I went to Harvey. I think he thought I was joking at first. And I kept precedent, precedent, precedent. He said, Eric, you're the president of a division of Turner Broadcasting, which is a publicly

held company. And I know you don't think this to be true. but that kind of thing can get us in trouble with the SEC when you're faking the death of an officer of a division of a company not a good idea the risk is not worth the reward so he shut it down and I wasn't able to do it I would have if he would have greenlit that I was going to do it I'm glad you're not dead

no I wasn't going to get near dying I was going to get down uh Jake from the windy city wants to know what are your favorite TV shows of all time? He wants you to name your top five. I used to love MASH, Black Sheep Squadron. I used to love that show. Again,

because I was a pilot. I used to learn about World War II pilots in the South Pacific. So Mash and Black, what did you call it? Black Sheep Squadron. Okay. So there's two. I know you like the Animal Kingdom.

Does that make the list? Succession? Well, okay, that's modern times. I would have to say all time, all time favorite five. All time. Succession would have to be there. Breaking Bad absolutely would have to be there. Sopranos make the list.

I like sopranos, but it wasn't as much as everybody else. I didn't like it as much as Breaking Bad. I mean, maybe it'd be number four, number five. I still go back to MASH. I guess, you know, putting it in a modern day, I probably wouldn't put Black Sheep Squadron in there. But yeah,

I think that's about as close as I could get to a top five. One last one. Dan wants to know, is there anything you're sick of being asked? No. Well, all right. There you go.

I mean, you know, every once in a while, depending on my mood, if I get asked a question, especially on this podcast where I know people, you know, 300 episodes, 600 hours, I doubt there's a lot of questions that haven't been asked,

at least in one way, shape, or form. But that's the thing is a lot of times a question, it could be on the same subject, but it comes at you from a different angle, which requires me to think about the answer from a different perspective. Actually, Cassio, the other day, we were talking after we wrapped our thing for ad for show. And he said, you know, it's really, you paid me a compliment. I was appreciative of it. But he said, you know, it's really interesting.

I know you've been asked a lot of these same questions. but you make the listener feel like it's the first time you've ever been asked. And it's not that I'm trying to pretend it's the first time I've ever been asked a question before. Is it so often, yeah, the basis of the question is the same. But the perspective is slightly different. And that forces me to think about the answer from a different perspective. And I actually enjoy that. So it's never like, oh, I can't believe somebody's asking me that question.

Because it's an invitation for me to think about the answer from a different. perspective and it keeps me on my game so no i never get bored well thank you guys for keeping us on our game for over 300 episodes next week will be episode 3001 we will be back right on time we're going to be talking about your relationship with new japan and wc w the ups and downs and everything in between i think officially now we've had more episodes of 83 weeks than there were nitro just crazy to think about hey by the way if your business targets man that are 25 to 54 sold there's no better place to advertise than right here with us on 83 weeks find out how effective and how affordable it can be for your business at advertise with eric.com just in time

for christmas you can check out grateful by eric bischoff it's available now on amazon or bischoffbook.com an ultimate stocking stuffer and if you can't find what they got there or maybe they already have that man there's tons of new swag over at box of gimmicks.com including the infamous mucker feather hoodie all that and more available now at 83 weeks merch.com or box of gimmicks.com love to have your social interaction if you've got a question for us about the new japan wcw relationship or just want to pick eric's brain about what's new in his life with the water fasting and everything else he's got going on it's at 83 weeks on twitter or directly he is at e bischoff i am at hey hey it's conrad on twitter on instagram

he's at the real eric bischoff i'm at hey hey it's conrad thompson and of course the best cheapest easiest way to support the show is to support us on youtube uh throw us a comment hit the like button hit the subscribe button turn that notifications bell on it's 83 weeks on youtube.com and uh in the new year we're going to have new content every single month exclusive to youtube you don't want to miss out on that they will be interactive it's 83 weeks on youtube.com Um, Eric, I never know what to sit down and expect whenever we do and ask Conrad, or I'll ask Eric rather. We did over three hours of picking your brain today. I had a lot of fun, man.

This was, uh, I like just bouncing around and covering a lot of different topics. Yeah, it's fun to change up the format every once in a while and just engage with the audience. And again, spurs different trains of thought, different conversations. So I appreciate it very much. Thank you. Thank you. And thank everybody that's sending questions. And, uh, I guess I should ask.

I didn't mean to keep you three hours. Do we want to talk about the water fast today or do you want to do that next week once you've started? Well, next week, here's what I'd like. Because I'm starting a carnivore diet. I'm actually, I was going to start tomorrow, but I'm actually going to start today. The five-day water fast, I did it because I wanted to challenge myself, as I talked about earlier. But the health benefits are freaking amazing. And I know I'm going to sound evangelical about this.

And I don't suggest everybody because we're all different. We all have different metabolisms. We have different lifetabilisms. We have different lifestyles. styles, we have different goals, so there's no one size fits all. I'm just going to tell you about me. I did this not to lose weight or anything else. I did it because I had to challenge myself to do something that I don't normally do and to be uncomfortable because comfort is a thief. And it was relatively easy for me the first day because I've been doing intermittent

fasting for quite some time, you know, 16 hours on, meaning I would need anything for 16 hours and I would eat over eight or 18 hours on and eat over six hour window. So I was used to not eating a lot for extended periods of time. So the first day was a breeze. Second day got to be a little more challenging. But the third day, I had this overwhelming sense of well-being that I'm still enjoying now. I went off the fast on Friday. It's just an, I mean, like I've never had before.

It was almost spiritual. spiritual, actually. And there was a clarity of thought that I have not experienced, maybe ever. The thought, my thought patterns were crystal clear and concise. My focus, my ability to focus was just something I really had a hard time with my whole life. It's one of the, you know, people I said, oh, you've always got so many things going on. It's partly because I have a hard time focusing on any one of them. And I knew that that is slowing me down in my personal and business life. So I really wanted to attack it.

And everything that I read about a Waterfest says that it provides you the opportunity to do just that. And I wasn't sure I'd experienced it or not. On a third day, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and on the third day, I went, whoa, this is what they're talking about. Fourth day was a bit of a challenge. I actually got physical hunger pains. I'll call them not pain, but there was a discomfort. I was so hungry.

But I was able to manage that very easily with ice cold water with a little bit of electrolytes in it and it took care of that. In fact, that night, Lori and her sister were making pizza and I was sitting in the den watching television. I'm going, oh, my God, that was a bit of a challenge. But like I said, I just chucked down some ice cold water with some electrolytes in it and I got through it. Fifth day, I woke up and said, okay, I can break this first.

fast and I almost did it an extra day. That's how good I felt. I'm going to do a five-day water fast every month for the rest of my life because the health benefits to come with it and I encourage people to research it. This thing called autophagy where when you put your body in a stressful situation like I did in a fast, your body actually kills off old, dead, unhealthy cells and they get passed through as waste and you get a natural surge of human growth hormone that your body produces naturally and you produce all new cells

to replace tired or diseased cells or dead cells. I love that idea. And for that reason and because I just feel so freaking good when I do it and it's not that hard. The only downside, Conrad, was that my sleep pattern was really disrupted. It was harder for it.

for me to fall asleep. Like typically I get ready to fall asleep around 8.30 quarter to nine at night and I wake up at 5, 6 o'clock in the morning. I'd be up till 10.30 or 11 and I'd wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning. So my sleep pattern was greatly affected. But it didn't, it didn't hurt. I still had great energy throughout the day. I didn't have the weakness, you know, a little bit of lightheadedness day two, day three, a little bit for 15 seconds at a time or 10 seconds at a time. But I love it. I love it. I encourage people to do your own research before you jump into it because it is a bit of a challenge. Do your own research. Make sure you're relatively healthy and go for it because if nothing else, you'll experience it as a challenge.

I can't wait to learn more and check in with you next week. See how it's going. If you've got questions about that or New Japan, be sure to hit us up at 83 weeks and tune in next week right here each and every Monday to 83 weeks with Eric Bischoff. Hey, hey, it's Conrad Thompson, and there's one thing we can all agree on. Health insurance sucks. It's confusing, expensive, and frustrating. Well, for the last several weeks, we've been telling you that there's a better way. Welcome to the alternative that is crowd health created to get rid of the headaches of health insurance.

Here to tell us more about crowd health is the founder. Andy. Andy, what's going on, man? How are you? Thanks for jumping on. Hey, thanks for having me. Doing great. Can't complain. Man, in reading your story, I can see why you looked for an alternative. For our listeners that don't know, tell us why you started an alternative to health insurance. Yeah, it was right around this time of year, several years back, where I was coming off of my old company and so didn't have health insurance. Most of us get health insurance to our companies. And so I went to Obama. Medicare, Healthcare.gov, and got a plan. It was $1,200 for me, my wife, and my two girls. And I kind of joke, it worked until I had to use it. My little one, who was one at the time, was having recurring ear infections. And so he went to the ear, nose and throat doctor, who said she's got a hole in her eardrum. You have to get surgery. So head off, got surgery,

15-minute procedure, got the bill, $8,000 for 15-minute procedure. And little did I know the insurance company a few weeks later was going to send me a note saying that they wouldn't pay for it. It was medically unnecessary. They wouldn't pay for it. So it was at that point where I was like, man, this health insurance does suck. We have to come up with an alternative. You know, I've have been super fortunate. I can write an $8,000 check, but most people in the United States can't write an $8,000 check. And it's putting people into bankruptcy. So we've got to figure out a different way to do health care that keeps people from going into bankruptcy is easier to use, allows them to get better care.

And so that's why I joined R.I started crowd health. I've actually read where over a quarter million people, over 250,000 families with insurance still wind up declaring bankruptcy due to medical bills. Can that be right? Yeah. I mean, that's a crazy thing about our system is you can have health insurance and have a medical event and still go bankrupt. So for my example, a pretty benign thing happened.

this happens to lots of kids all over the place, holes in the eardrum because of recurring ear infections. And it was $8,000. So, you know, if you don't have $8,000 in the bank, that's going to put you into bankruptcy. The other thing I found out is with some of these Obamacare plans is in 2021, the last data that we had, 48 million claims were denied. So, you know, I was, you know, one of those people. One of my claims were denied. And it's fine if, you know, $100 office visits denied, but what happens when a $8,000 or $15,000 or $20,000 claim gets denied, you know, that puts people in really financial, you know, difficulties. So what we've done with crowd health is that, hey, you pay the first 500 bucks of a health event. We have a community that

will help you out with the rest. And so if you go to the ER, if you have a surgery, if you have a, you know, any of any big health event that you can think of cancer, it's 500 bucks. anybody should be able to come up with $500 bucks. And so over the last three years with 6,000 people as a part of crowd health, nobody's had medical debt, nobody's gone into

bankruptcy as a result of health care, and so that's something we're super proud of. Hey, something I wanted to ask you, I know one of the things that everybody hates about traditional insurance is having to choose a doctor from a certain network. With crowd health, can you only still see

certain doctors, or how does that work with crowd health. When I was starting the company, it's the first thing my wife asked me, because she would be always the one that would ask me is my OBGYN, you know, in network or out network. Yeah, that's a great thing. It's you can go anywhere you want. You know, we don't limit where you can, you can go. So if you have a favorite doc or pediatrician or whatever, there's no networks to worry about. All we ask that you do is go and say, hey, can you give me the cash pay rate? And typically that cash pay rate, funny enough, is 30 or 40, percent less than what they get from a big health insurance plan.

And so that's what makes this model work is we're just getting way better rates for our members than even health insurance plans. The Vegas companies and the planet get for their members. So that's the beauty of this system. Well, Andy, you've told us how it works when you go to the doctor, but what about prescriptions? How do prescriptions work with crowd health? Yeah, here's the great thing, right?

So if you have a health event, like I said before, is you're, um, you're, um, you're, um, you're, You commit to paying the first 500 bucks, and then anything after that, then we submit to the community. So whether that's a follow-up visit, whether it's imaging, so let's just say you have cancer. And there's going to be many doctor visits, many imaging visits, many prescriptions. All of those things are included in that health event. So you'll pay the first $500 of that health event, and then we'll submit the rest to the community. And so those prescriptions and everything is included in that. And we've done, you know, everything from a $49 pediatrician visit to a several hundred thousand dollar, you know, brain hemorrhage.

We've got five or six cancer cases going on right now. We've had, I think, 150 babies. So, you know, it's not only for these little events, but these big events, too, which include, you know, some of these prescription drugs that are really, really expensive. Let's talk about the cost. I see where it's simply 175 for an individual or just 575 for. for a family or four or more. What do you get for those fees, Andy? Yeah, I mean, you only,

so any of the big events, you get the 500, you know, it's 500 bucks and then you have a community. What you get is a community behind you who will help you with these, with any of those big events. But the other cool thing that you get is you have a care advocate at crowd health. One of the things I hate about health insurance

is when I call in, I'm talking to a call center in India somewhere that I'm telling them about my health event, And then they don't know what to do. So they punt me to somebody else. What crowd health, you have a person internally that you can call anytime you want to. They're going to help you through whatever health event that you have. They'll provide you access to also online virtual urgent care. So if you have an urgent care thing pop up, my daughter fell off of her bed a few months back.

We called a virtual urgent care. They were able to take care of it as opposed to us having to go to the hospital to take care of it. You get unlimited virtual primary care, so you can go on your app, and there's a primary care doctor that you can talk to pretty much any time of the day. You have talk therapy, so unlimited talk therapy. So if you wanted to have some counseling with an online counselor, you can have unlimited online counseling. So all of these things are incorporated and more into the crowd health service. Well, our listeners already know this, but I want to take a minute here to remind them. Because you listen to our show, you can get started with crowd health today for just $99 per month,

first three months, when you use our code wrestle to get the health care you deserve. Learn more at join crowdhealth.com. Andy, thank you so much for coming on and telling us more about crowd health today. Thanks, brother. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Thank you. And happy holidays. Be sure to check us out at join crowdhealth.com. Use that promo code wrestle. and you'll get crowd health started for $99 a month for the first three months at join crowdhealth.com with the promo code wrestle.