83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff - Episode 370: Eric Bischoff LIVE from Las Vegas!

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

On this episode of 83 Weeks, Eric joins Conrad from Las Vegas as he prepares to attend the WWE Hall Of Fame. Eric discusses the inportance of him being their when his friend Lex Luger is inducted and what it means to him. Eric and Conrad also break down the WrestleMania 41 card and Eric shares his thoughts on who he believes will be the BIG winners and losers. All that plus everything else happening in the world of professional wrestling on this LIVE edtion of 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff.  ERIC BISCHOFF: EVOLUTION OF THE DIRT SHEETS https://youtube.com/live/WulK6ZUqW-U  ROCKET MONEY - Cancel your unwanted subscriptions – and manage your money the easy way – by going to RocketMoney.com/83WEEKS ATLAS - Get 15% OFF The House of Atlas Razor Kit + Before and After Set with the code 83WEEKS at https://houseofatlas.com/83WEEKS  #houseofatlaspod PAINT YOUR LIFE - Text WEEKS to 87204 to get 20% off and FREE Shipping. Paint Your Life: Celebrate the moments that matter most. STOPBOX - Get firearm security redesigned and save with BOGO the StopBox Pro AND 10% off @StopBoxUSA with code 83WEEKS at https://www.stopboxusa.com/83WEEKS #stopboxpod PRIZE PICKS - Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/83WEEKS  and use code 83WEEKS and get $50 instantly when you play $5! MAGIC SPOON - Get $5 off your next order at MagicSpoon.com/83WEEKS Magic Spoon—hold on to the dream! BLUECHEW - Visit BlueChew.com and try your first month of BlueChew FREE when you use promo code 83WEEKS -- just pay $5 shipping. SAVE WITH ERIC - Stop throwing your money on rent! Get into a house with NO MONEY DOWN and roughly the same monthly payment at https://nationsgo.com/conrad/ 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 https://www.podcastheat.com/advertise now and find out more about advertising with 83 Weeks. 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 https://adfreeshows.supercast.com/

Dr. Sarah Kinsman from the Health Resources and Services Administration tells us about one of the biggest drug overdose poisoning threats we face. In the last several years, almost 70,000 people a year have died from fentanyl poisonings. If a person's alert and active and breathing, you would call Poisoned Helpline and they would help you right away. Get ahead of a poison emergency. Call the Poison Helpline, 1-800-222-122. For the final trivia question, what is the largest mammal in the world? Sir in the orange, phone away, please? Um, my kidda smart smoke alarm sent an alert through the ring app. See, the train monitoring agent is calling now.

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Conrad and his team are routinely helping my world listeners save five, six, seven, even $800 a month. month. Oh, did I mention you get to skip your next two house payments? Take a cue from the last outlaw because if anybody knows how to get the bag, it's me. Strut on over to savewithconrad.com today and see how much money you can save for free. That's right. It's save withconrad.com. In a lesson number 212, non-equal housing lender. Savewithconrad.com. Hey, hey, it's Conrad Thompson, and you're listening to 83 weeks with the Hall of Famer, Eric Fischoff, and Eric is on location today in Las Vegas, just one day before WWE presents WrestleMania 41, but tonight is the Hall of Fame.

And Eric, you've been making a, uh, making a trip of it in Las Vegas. What all have you been up to out there? Well, uh, Lori and I got in, uh, Wednesday night, went out in a nice center on a nice traditional sushi bar just outside of town pretty cool uh and then uh last night thursday night we went to the last match it's a live rock and roll wrestling musical and it was so cool i i went in it was just intriguing enough you know i got the invitation it was a red carpet thing and i normally wouldn't think too much about going attending something something like that.

But I'm looking at it in the description of what the event was. Wow, rock and roll musical wrestling story. I haven't got to see that. So I was thinking about going. And then, of course, WrestleMania, Hall of Fame, Lex and all that, that happened. It was like, okay, that's a sign. I'm going. And I had so, Lori and I both, we had so much fun at this.

It was essentially a showcase for the producers. And obviously the actors and actresses. It was a showcase for, I'm guessing, investors or other people interested in that business. And what a great job they did. I was so impressed. And their business model, what their goals are. We talked to a little bit about that. And it's just fascinating, man.

Had a blast. Everybody seems to be having a blast in Las Vegas. And we hope you guys are as well. thank you for joining us here. We're going to be talking about all things WrestleMania and the incredible news that keeps piling on because WWE is doing a full court media blitz. We want to thank our media partners in the market there. Big thanks to our friend Mark Hoke who is the host of the Mark Hoke show. It's Las Vegas's number one wrestling radio show

we're actually using their studio right now. Be sure to hear him locally on 101.5 Kodon Studios is who we need to to thank for the hookup here today. Eric, this is unique for you, normally doing it in the home studio or, you know, some sort of mobile kit in an Airbnb at the beach somewhere, but here you are in a real deal radio station. What was the last time you were in a radio station?

Oh, I don't know. It's been a couple years, you know, the last time I would have been out doing anything promotion-wise. So maybe when Jason and I were still, you know, actively producing and promoting shows, probably 10 years. But I get it too.

I feel feeling much more professional. I mean, with the hands on and just looks like I'm a real radio guy. I feel a sense of additional responsibility. It's a load. I'll carry it. Well, we're hoping that you're going to be carrying us for a good show here today. We are going to be taking your questions. This is indeed live.

It's 1236 here in Alabama. It's 1036 in Las Vegas. And we are on the final countdown for the go home show for Smackdown. And then this is going to be a late night for you. I think the Hall of Fame starts at like one in the morning Eastern time or something like that, Eric. How are you going to adjust? I think you're usually early to bed, early to rise, but you're staying up late tonight for Lex Lugar, aren't you? Yes, but I don't know how I'm going to do it.

To be really honest with you, certain things I commit to doing, as we were talking about before you joined us and I don't think through the ramifications of that but I'm going to be there I just don't know how I may have to force myself to think a nap like at 3 o'clock in the afternoon forcibly readjust my circadian rhythm

because this body clock punches out at 8 p.m. no matter what I did make an exception last night I would Lori and I were actually made it back to the hotel and we were in bed at 927 that's a stretch for me that's almost an hour and a half

changes everything tonight we're going to be lucky to get back to the hotel at two I don't know how I'm going to do it you're going to need power naps I think that's the only way through this some power nests speaking of power a lot of power has left

New Japan, I guess later today, as I think they're way ahead of us. The 19th is Jeff Cobb's last match in New Japan, and he's leaving, and there's lots of speculation that he's headed straight to WWE. Now, of course, we don't know what that means, is that Raw, is that Smackdown, is that NXT? Does he debut on the Monday after WrestleMania? Are we going to see his impact and his involvement on the Sunday edition of WrestleMania?

the only thing that Dave Meltzer has said is he is not Randy Orton's opponent for WrestleMania what do you make of this opportunity to see Jeff Cobb really getting his first chance with WWE I think he did a tryout back in 2014 so like 11 years ago with the PC and now he's coming in I mean in a different timeline he would have been quote unquote too old for WWE I for one am glad to see we get to see him try his hand in what do you expect i have no expectation because until this very moment i didn't know he was i just don't follow it and but i'm now i'm now i'm interested of course he got a great look looks pretty vicious got a unique unique enough look yeah i'm excited but i have

i had zero idea who he has tell me about what's he let's he compare him to somebody that i might know he's a former amateur wrestler and he's really made his nut in new japan um but a lot of people recognize him from lucha underground from ring of honor pro wrestling gorilla but just a ton of success in amateur wrestling i mean he even represented guam in the o four olympics um so he was like the the nation's flag bear in the opening ceremony now i'm really going to have to support him if he's an amateur wrestler and he leaves him he level amateur wrestler dude I'll be I'll be on hell out of wherever he goes yeah I think I think his style and credibility is something you would you would be interested in but everybody is already talking about that Monday after WrestleMania but before we get there I guess we should mention a little post that John Cena made on social media I thought this was interesting his Instagram post here Eric Stone cold see you Sunday and you see the uh the meme of stone cold with the folded hands there but where

his head is has now been replaced with the top of allegiance stadium i think that's kind of fun that there's been lots of speculation will the glass break will we see john sina and the rock and cody roads and stone cold share the ring together but for john sina to tweet that out see a sunday stone cold that's kind of fun isn't it just awesome it's you know what a nice finishing touch on the promotion and as you're getting you know we're hours away now i guess if you want to start calculating that way you're hours away and they're putting out this kind of really cool off the wall but creative promotional stuff i think it's great it's fun to watch it's been fun to watch all the wd media too it feels like they've done media

with every possible platform i mean it's maybe the biggest media blitz i've ever seen scene. I do want to get your reaction to a few things that have got people chipping and chirping on social media. Triple H did the Andrew Schultz podcast and said something like, the internet is not real life and the bitching and fucking complaining that is on there is not real life. You could read the internet and it'll sound like this thing is dead and I'll use Cody as the example. Cody's already jumped the shark. Cody is dead as a baby face. Really? Because I don't know, I'm in an arena with 10,000, 15,000 people going apes shit for him. He's selling the most merchandise.

Whatever you want to say on the internet is the golden rule to the beautiful thing for our business unlike a movie or a TV show or even a book or anything else is that we have a focus group every single night. What do you make of this quote from Triple H? And is it a good look the week of WrestleMania for that sort of chatter to be out there? I don't know if it's a good look or not, but let's, maybe, maybe by the end of this discussion, I'll feel differently, but absolutely did a great job articulating that. Just a reminder.

And, you know, we're talking about wrestling, obviously, and, and the internet's impact on wrestling culture. But the same thing applies, I think, to just about any other aspect of life that people get online and talk about. because it's just generally it's like it's got its own weird algorithm people say things not so much because they believe them or or necessarily agree with them but they know it's going to stir the pot and you'll get reactions people are addicted to the dopamine

that's why so much of the chatter on the internet is so it's like a volleyball game with hand grenades it's it's ridiculous and again it's not just wrestling it's everything and to me that's representative of real life it's a section of it but to triple H's point I don't think it's a representative of the entire culture or the country just have to look at it for what it is and keep in mind what it isn't

which is mainstream opinion because it's not I do find it interesting you know the the way some of this media has come across this week because I felt like one of the secrets of WW success because I think we all agree they've really turned the corner creatively and it feels like they just continue to gain more and more momentum with the leadership change said differently with Vince out of the way it feels like the narrative online

has been much warmer to WWE created would you agree with that that the reception is warmer in the absence of Vince? What is the saying? Correlated but not corroborated or something like that? Yeah, yeah, I mean, those two things are true. Creative is getting more praise and Vince McMahon has been gone and that kind of their timeline is connected in a way,

but I don't, I think they're getting the praise because the creative is good. I'm not arguing that, but I guess what I was getting, to is I feel like I've seen a lot of people inside the tent of WWE, specifically wrestlers, say something along the lines of, you know, it's just such a better place to work now. Oh, you know, I'm not dictated to as much. Now I'm giving bullet points. It's more collaborative. Like we've heard a lot of that sort of speak from the wrestlers as far as, oh, we much

prefer it now. It's going to be better now. We're happier now. And I know this is a bit of a stretch, but I'm a business guy and you are too, Eric. And about 15 years ago, maybe more at this point, Domino's had a pretty effective campaign. I'm talking about the pizza company here in America, but they basically went on TV and said, hey, our pizza used to suck. It tasted like flavorless cardboard.

Now we've changed all that. We're using better cheese. We're doing this. We're doing that. So they almost did what I might call a, hey, sorry, we suck campaign, but we're better now. And it worked fabulously. And I feel like maybe some of this media, this week hasn't been as

consistent as that messaging I just wanted to take your temperature on do you see the parallels of the Domino's campaign because people credit that campaign with being the thing that really turned around Dominoes they were a franchise that was on the way down and now they're seemingly on the way up and a lot

of people say that was the fork in the road that was the shift and I felt similar vibes with WWE and the way they've been presented like hey we know that was bad but now look at us now it's much better now it feels like we're maybe moving away from that a little bit on this press junket this week what say you that's really fascinating and especially the way you laid it out um it wouldn't have impressed me that way at all but i see the point i guess what i'm struggling with is if you if we step back and look at wwe's business over the past

seven years unlike dominoes who I think in your example was probably on the down swing therefore this campaign turned it around I don't think during a seven year window

leading up to today you could look at WWV and say wow their business is really down they had to turn it around from a consumer facing perspective meaning yeah the talent knew the things were frustrating yes the rumor bill and the internet wrestling committee all knew that, you know, things were haphazard backstage and Vince could be bombastic at times

and you never know. I mean, we all knew that backstage chatter. But it wasn't a reflection, it wasn't reflected financially or in terms of ratings. So that's where the parallel is a disconnect for me, but I do understand your point. Well, we appreciate you guys being here live. We are getting these questions coming in. We're going to get to a few of those. But before we do, I want to give you a little pro tip about one of my favorite sponsors. I'm talking about Rocket Money. It's a personal financial app that will help find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, even monitor your spending, and help you lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

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Go right now to RocketMoney.com slash 83 weeks today. That's rocketmoney.com slash 83 weeks. Rocketmoney.com slash 83 weeks. So listen, Eric, we got a bunch of questions coming in. and I want to hit some of these. Let's start with Swerved Daddy. He says, Triple H is saying any fool can run a wrestling company in the red.

I saw that the IWC was up in arms saying that he was taking a shot at Tony. Do you think it was or was he actually explaining how difficult it really is? What do you think on this? Is this a veiled shot at AEW or is he just pointing out that a very few wrestling companies are actually profitable? This is not easy to do. Yeah, I think that's one of the, because Triple H is pretty good at taking veiled shots. I mean, he's smooth, and I think he enjoys it. It's a little bit of a, it's a way to work somebody a little bit, have fun doing it.

I've seen him do that before, but I would really have to hear the context of the whole question and the answer to come even close to whether it is or isn't. But I would say, probably if he could make a point and have a little. fun in the process. I think he's inclined to do that. Nonsense, McGee is with us, and he's saying he's been in Vegas for 24 hours and hasn't had a drink yet. That's got to be a record. What about you? Have you had the Betty Boot Bar or any of your favorite watering holes yet? No, we didn't, we didn't go to the Betty Boop Bar, but I did. It was a cocktail reception, and I did imbibe last night had a couple of cocktails, but that was it. AOTV productions says Rousseau has one.

once again criticized WWE saying everything they do now is for a money grab they're not sincere and McMahon wouldn't have been like this thoughts of course the example he's giving is every match has a sponsor every segment has a sponsor you know they're selling ad space on the actual canvas of the ring the sponsorship dollars are much different now than they were during the Vince McMahon era he did feel like he had some a vision for WWE and some no fly zones if you will that is no longer the case it feels like if we can squeeze a nickel out we will what do you make of russo's assertion here oh i don't know what i mean it's such a silly thing to say that everything w wb is doing now is a money grab they're in business

actually vince rousseau they're a publicly held corporation You know what the fiduciary responsibilities are of executives in a publicly held corporation? Like, you're living, the only reason you have a corporate pulse is to return revenue to investors and to maximize it. That's the law. So to say everything they're doing is for a money grab. fucking brilliant but it does if you want to have a reasonable argument

it begs a question is is it being over monetized to the point where it's distracting from the product because that's the only thing that matters right if the money's coming in and it's distracting from the product

and you have some evidence of that, or even if it's just an indication over a period of time, that could be the case, then you make a judgment. Is it worth it? Or is it better to maintain, you know, certain parameters and when it comes to sponsorship for the integrity of the product and the brand? It's a value valuation. You've got to figure it out.

my guess is people are so used to it it's almost weird if you don't have it it's like if i was launching a company i might suggest i have advertise i might just give people free advertising just so i can say advertise on this show i mean you you want to look like a destination in a valuable asset right it's a perception it's building your brand so I think it's smart. And beyond that, it's inevitable. Because that's what entertainment is, a money grab. Dr. Sarah Kinsman from the Health Resources and Services Administration tells us about one of the biggest drug overdose poisoning threats we face.

In the last several years, almost 70,000 people a year have died from fentanyl poisonings. If a person's alert and active and breathing, you would call Poisoned Helpline, and they would help you right away. Get ahead of a poison emergency. Call the Poison Helpline, 1-800-222-2-2-2. If you've got questions for Eric, be sure to keep them coming. I do want to bring a few more of these quotes from the media tour this week. Speaking to Bill Simmons on the Bill Simmons podcast, WWPresident Nick Kahn, was asked about acquiring too much talent. and not all of them being utilized properly.

And Nick said, that's something we won't do. We won't sign and bench people. We sign people who we want to use. If another entity signs and benches people now, that's not something we would do. And Simmons says, that's the thing that happens.

And Nick replied, that's what I've been told from time to time, not us. Now, of course, John Rossap and others were quick to point out I don't know about that. What about Natalia? I felt like they worked pretty hard to re-sign her,

haven't used her in months. And maybe the idea behind signing her was, we didn't want her to go win the Owen Hart Cup and tournament or something in AW. But meanwhile, she wasn't used. Almost sort of the same thing. You know, it felt like he was slated to be used in a bigger spot. We even saw him do a tour of duty in Noah,

and that seemingly was well received, but he's not wrestling. I mean, there's no doubting that there's some shade here from Nick Con with these comments, but he's not done. He also talked about AEW being a competitor, and here's the quote. In terms of the other wrestling promotional company, they have a lot of talented wrestlers, and we're happy about that. When contractually, they're available to talk to and have conversations with,

assume a number of them will come over. Nothing but respect to the father who finances it and owns the Jaguars and all those things. I God, Eric, we're not even hiding this. This is certainly a shot. What's your reaction to this? Goodness, gracious. I didn't take it that way. Oh, no.

I'm kidding. That was, yeah, somebody's having fun. It's good to see. Good to see high-level media execs, some of the most successful on the planet, having fun while they're doing. it.

This is a professional wrestling business. It's just kind of part of it. It makes it fun. Controversy creates cash. This isn't necessarily controversial. It's just funny. And maybe it's controversial a little bit because it's funny. And it's funny because it's true.

That's what makes good comedy. I think it's great. Yeah, I think the phrase that was used last, year was warehousing talent i think w v and nxte i mean every wrestling company winds up doing that i mean the reality is you know it on a on a football team you've got 11 players on offense 11 players on defense 11 players on special teams for kickoffs a different 11 players out there for you know for extra points and field goals i'm saying all that to say not everybody can be the quarterback not everybody's going to be happy with all the play calls like this is not a new

problem for W at EW. I mean, I don't have to imagine we can read about or watch all the shoot interviews from people who were frustrated, but they're spot in WCW, Eric, like the money can be good and the benefits can be good, but satisfying everything, including checking all the boxes creatively, like, does anyone think Drew McIntyre is thrilled to not be in the main event this weekend or Randy Orton is thrilled to have his match changed at the last moment? Like, these things happen, right, Eric? well a lot of things happen you know sometimes better ideas happen sometimes injuries happen

sometimes life situations family situations happen there's a million things that can require that as a producer you have as deep of bench as you possibly affordably can there's a limit generally but at the same time you have to do that because you don't know when the better idea or the injury or family emergency is going to take your good idea that you've been planning on for the last three months or whatever and just set it off fire what are you going to do not produce a show or produce something that you know going in you know is going to be horrible or you keep enough talent on the bench sometimes two or three rows deep to not only develop and hopefully get to the front of that bench

but also to have a reserve in case you need them or God forbid you get an opportunity to grow and do some things that you hadn't planned on so there's a lot of reasons why I went through it I got the same criticism and you have the same issue with because there are certain people that are on that bench that are tired of being on that bench

and they start grumbling and then it goes from you know, rumbling internally to complaining to the useful idiots. We'll then use that for greasy headlines because that grease catches fire fast. It's really easy. And then it becomes a thing.

But it was for me, it was for WWE under Vince McMahon. It probably will be again, if it's not already at some level. And it certainly is for AEW. We've all heard it. Yeah, we've all heard it. And I'm glad you said that because it's not a new point.

I mean, before AEW existed, and there really was just WWE, we were all hearing, Eric, that they had 100 wrestlers in developmental. You know, there's 100 wrestlers learning how to wrestle. And, you know, some of those guys are just athletes and others are indie talent that are waiting for an opportunity. So there's only so much TV time to go around. That's just sort of par for the course. But a little veiled shots of nothing but respect to the father who finances.

is it? Wow. Look, I'm sure there are AEW fans out there that are just setting themselves on fire because of these comments. And just lighten up. It's just funny.

It's all it is is fun. I think it's great for the business. I think it's great. It's creating chatter. So it's good for the business. Tony con did the same thing when he get out there with Tony Chavani and said there's only one, there's only room for one con in the room. Come on. It's just, it's funny. Yes. He gets that. He understands that.

Hey, as I understand it, uh, you went live earlier this week in our new YouTube channel, podcast heat wrestling for a discussion on a topic we've had a lot of fun with here on the program through the years, the dirt sheets, but this discussion was a little different. You were joined by Derek Sabato. who's been a researcher for the observer for many years and for what I'm sure you two have wildly different takes on the good, the bad and the perhaps toxic side of the wrestling quote unquote dirt sheets be sure to check out the evolution of the dirt sheets at the link in the description below and while you're at it be sure to hit that subscribe button and turn on the

notifications bell the podcast heat channel is dropping daily clips compilations and more and it's totally free podcast heat wrestling here on YouTube. to listen Eric we're going to talk about WrestleMania and preview that a little bit but I think before we do we should cover some other news and notes as I said it's one of the biggest media weeks in the history of WWE and John Cena was on the record talking about Vince McMahon and I wanted to share that with you because this is going to get a lot of attention and maybe

it's not all positive I don't care who hears it I love Vince I'm not downplaying anything that needs to be decided or allegations of any kind but when I love somebody I love them wholeheartedly I know people are going to be angry about that but they can't put their value on my relationship with somebody I love I know that's not going to be a popular answer because by and large the internet wrestling community seems to run away from anything Vince McMahon related but Vince had an actual relationship with John just as two human beings. I think what he said is fair.

He should get to decide where he places value in his own relationships. And our opinions don't really matter to him in that regard. What did you think about this? I think John, a lot of respect for John, courage and integrity. You can argue with, but John, I don't even know if you can argue. How do you argue about how someone else feels? what's that? I don't even know how you do that. I mean, the man feels the way he feels based on his beliefs.

And oh, by the way, if being a good human being, or dare I say a good Christian, is you forgive? I mean, how do you argue that? Or worse you out because you can't argue it. why would you why would you frame somebody that said that as John did why would you frame that person as a bad person right I don't there's a huge disconnect for me there

I get it it's an emotional thing everybody wants to beat up on in this case Vince McMan but you know insert you know next person here next celebrity here that you know the internet wants to beat up politician entertainer whatever it's just

yeah respect you out of two balls two balls much respect I know that people are having a lot of fun with that interview but there's another comment out there that I want to share with you maybe you miss this but CM Punk who has not necessarily played it too close to the vest

his politics are if you followed him you kind of know but maybe that means he doesn't always fit in WWE and he's got a quote I want to share with you here Eric and get you to respond to I don't know what people want from us as entertainers I'm just supposed to quit my job because somebody on Twitter says WWE is a MAGA company okay you're on Lord Elon Musk fucking Twitter saying stupid shit shut the fuck up what have you done I've done a lot just don't broadcast it I put my money where my mouth is and the money I make

goes to helping impoverished people I don't need to write my name in on a fucking go fund me to make me feel better about the shitty person I am what do you think about this this comment from seeing punk absolutely respected

yeah absolutely 100% respected and by the way so yeah that's off You know what's really cool? Obviously, you know, it's good to hear somebody at Punk's level being honest, much like John Cena was being honest, not sugarcoating, spinning,

letting the PR department see what you're going to say before you say it to make sure they don't have any notes or comments because that's usually how this crap is done. Clearly that wasn't the case here. And it's really refreshing. really refreshing to hear people speak the truth on how they feel that's off to both John we're live here with Eric Bischoff Aaron Manzo says AEW is the type of wrestling that makes non- Wrestling fans laugh at us wrestling fans for liking wrestling I don't know about that Eric I kind of disagree with that take from Aaron thank you for

contributing and throwing in Aaron we appreciate you being a part of this but I mean listen out of context you and I could take from almost any wrestling show and if we showed it in mixed company we might be like now listen it's not always like this right i mean that's just part of the show like if you really are honest i mean my relationship with professional wrestling is really really healthy i mean i don't take anything too seriously trust me but if you really think about it you know if you're non-wrestling fans, maybe people you work with or somehow, you know, connected to business wise or whatever, came in and sat down and watched TV with you while you're watching

wrestling. They would probably have a different opinion of it. And you know that. You know that. So, yeah, I think it's funny. These comments are hilarious. Swerved Daddy is with us here and he's got a question for us. one story I always wished finished was triple

H and Austin's two man power trip but Triple H got hurt I'd love to see Rollins and Drew reenacted both of them have such similar heat and common storylines could you see a story like that happening Eric thank you for hanging with us today Swerved Addy appreciate the question I don't know man it was there is there enough

residual equity in that situation in their previous storyline to matter so that a recreation of it or something that felt like like an homage to it, would give it a little bit more attention. If so, then sure, why not? Give it a try. He's play it out on paper, see what it looks like. But beyond that,

doesn't sound like something that's going to catch lightning in the bottle. Travis Medway says we've discussed this before, Jense, but with all the money being made by WWE, it's now long overdue, money being part of storylines, contract, negotiations, prize money, just like real life sports. you know, I could actually get behind that, you know, I mean, I know that wrestling sort of moved away from that, but for years and years on the small spot shows or independent shows or outlaw shows, whatever you wanted to call it, they might have like a,

you know, $5,000 battle royal or a, you know, a $10,000 ladder match or whatever. We talked about money as barring as being part of the prize. We don't really do that much in wrestling anymore, but since they are now associated with the UFC and we know that's the way traditional prize fighting goes. Do you think that contract values and the winner side of the purse and that sort of dialogue should return

to the conversation of pro wrestling or will that ever happen in WWE? I don't know that it should happen. I would like to see that or something like that happen and have often thought about that very thing. How can you take people that are

but part of it is because now the amount of money top players are making in WWB is significant enough and true enough that it can actually be used as stakes. The question is, how do you contextualize it? How do you take, but is essentially, you know, guaranteed the income over a period of time. Essentially, I know there's all kinds of reasons why it's really not, but it looks that way on paper. But let's just run with that.

How do you take that contractual value and contextualize it in terms of a promotion? How do you use it to create stakes? I don't know the answer to that, but there is a way. And I think it would really help because, here I go again, on weekends when I'm home, typically, I'd throw my dog, Mickey in the truck, 1995 GMC, 180,000 miles, still runs like a champ. I'll throw my dog in the truck, and I'll turn on Infinity Sports Network, FM station. And I'll listen to talk radio for two hours.

driving around looking at pounds and looking for elk and deer and stuff he'll take pictures up and i listen to it and so much of the conversation all starts with money whatever issue whatever controversy whatever update whatever injury speculation is related to either what you know insert betting platform here odds are are saying today that's your flashpoint for conversation or contractual status in the multi-million dollar lives of people that are making a lot of money. Those two things, sometimes together, is the premise, are the premise, for probably 90% of the chatter on sports talk radio. Find a way to do that for wrestling because people gravitate to it.

When I say it's relatable, in some ways it is, in some ways it is, and obviously there's not a lot of people out there making the kind of money, we're talking about on sports radio today but it's money and it people know what it represents in a real way so it's why it's why it works now figure out a way to do it cool so today's sponsor is this new shaving company called house of atlas and they gifted us one of these razors and honestly i'm kind of blown away not only does it look insanely sleek sitting in my bathroom but it gives an incredibly close shave. It feels weird to gush over a lineup of shaving products,

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Our promo code is 83 weeks. You'll get 15% off your new razor kit and your before and after set. Stop wasting money and time on shaving products that don't look good, aren't effective and cost way too much visit house of atlas.com today trust me you'll love it as much as i did that's house of atlas dot com and use the promo code 83 weeks so eric i feel like we uh we got a bunch of questions coming in but there's so much other news that i want to hit a little bit of news and then we'll jump back to some questions another interview quote from c m puck that we're going to share here this time it comes from the ringer

wrestling show he's basically saying that wwe is trying to lock him down never been more focused and there is life in wrestling beyond taking bumps and being in the ring we'll see what happens i don't plan on well they're trying to get me to sign a five-year deal did you see cmpc being in ring for five more years i mean that is kind of a tall ask i think that for anybody to sign a five-year deal i don't know you know i don't know him well enough to know where his head is at. That's what it boils down to. It'll be 47 this year, just so you know.

Yeah, and it's relevant. You know, his age is relevant, but it's not overly relevant. I don't think with a guy like if he chooses to, now he's going to have to work a lot harder at keeping himself in shape because as time goes on, that gets more difficult. It's just metabolism and a fact of life.

but you can do a lot to mitigate it or slow it down and if he's really committed sure I could see it he's got a strong character and it's only getting stronger in WWE

so he's got as much time as he chooses just ask the question does he want it you heard that comment there's a lot of things in life other than wrestling or something to that effect that came out pretty early in his comment

so that's an important thing to it he may have other plants. The quote was, there's more to wrestling than just taking bumps. I think he's angry. Oh, okay, okay. I want to resign with WWE. I just don't want five years in the ring.

I would like to work behind the scenes. And I guess that's where I was going is. If, if Punk were to look at life after wrestling as far as in ring, but he still wants to be in the biz. Would you think his highest and best use, if it was your call, Eric,

creative as a producer as an on-air commentator like you know is he going to be at the commentary desk could he be the stick man what would the highest and best use post in ring for c and punk be in an eric bischoff organization to creative slash producer think of it almost rather than his producer means it can mean anything. It means so many things. And you're producing, you're just absolutely, I guess, responsible for making everything happen.

So you touch every aspect of whatever it is you're producing, right? Which includes creative, but you're not fully engaged in that process. You're pretty much on the receiving end of it. Maybe you're involved

early in discussions if it's kind of a complex series of things that are going to be produced. physical production. But other than that, you're aware of creative, but you don't have much influence over it. I think somebody, based on what I've seen, punk,

you just said, because I didn't really follow him before when he was in WWE, and I thought his stuff in AEW was just, it sucked. But since he's been back in WWE, a lot of things have really improved. Not so much improved. A lot of things are different.

Let's put it that way. and I really like what I see. I got to ask. I'm going to get to meet up if I don't get a clarification here. When you're saying the stuff in AEW sucked, are you saying the way he would work matches, maybe he would give enhancement talent too much? He was.

Yes. Yes. Expand on that a little bit because this is just going to get painted and quoted, like everything he did in AEW suck, but almost implying he wasn't a good wrestler, but now he is. That's not what you're saying. I'll be so I'll be so crystal clear on this

that anybody that inverts this or tries to distort it to mean anything other than I intend it to mean is going to look like a complete ass but have it have had it anyway. Whenever I watch Pung in AEW, I essentially saw a version of this character that was so overwhelmed with emotion, and barely hanging on to his last breath

in this victory over an enhancement talent. That it just felt, I don't know, desperate's not the word, but it felt like, why, why are you so unhappy? I couldn't understand why that character was projecting consistently in a motion that didn't fit the scene

and so much so that it was awkward for me to watch I was like what why and that right there that and the way punk tried

to reconnect with the audience in his first couple promos some of the things that he said you know to media to me looked like cheap heat and generally speaking when i look at somebody that's a pro in the business when they

rely on cheap heat the low-hanging fruit the easy stuff it usually indicates they don't have a lot going up meaning they're not that creative they're not fast on their feet they're not entertaining they're not quippy they're just doing what's easy and that disappointed me as much as anything else because I kept hearing about this guy's you know my mom promo and all that and then the first time I see him live it's like really

like wrestling 101 cheap it's what you bring to the table the first time you show up whether it was fair or unfair I'm being honest with what impressed me or in this case didn't and I saw that kind of

presentation with punk pretty consistently in AEW, which is why I have the opinion I have. There's nothing to do with what his potential was or what he was capable of doing. What I was seeing the characterization of the CM Punk character in AEW was like

damn near broken down and desperate, but I didn't get that. Lots of people commenting. Aaron thinks that CN Punk would be a great general manager on NXT. That's not a terrible idea. I could see him doing commentary. I could see him working behind the scenes in a creative role.

There's a lot of comments on our live chat here saying they don't really see him being an agent. And I think that's probably fair. I don't know that I would maybe see him as an agent either. Not to say he's not qualified, but I don't know that he would be motivated to do that. Does that make sense? Yeah, but none of us know. I mean, he he could be really, really valuable creatively as a part of a team at a very high level. or he could suck at it. None of us know, right? It seems like somebody, I mean, just common sense would suggest that anybody,

whether CM Punk or anybody else, who comes in and over a long period of time, learns how to create a character that is clearly effective. That person has knowledge, depending on that person's personality and personal goals. Maybe they want to coach others, or develop others or produce others or actually direct others. That's where the director-producer thing gets wanky for me.

But I think somebody that's proven the ability to create their own and keep their own and get their own character over for an extended period of time has a lot to teach, has a lot to coach, a lot to give back. If they're motivated to do that. Some people like it teaching others just don't. So it depends. That's where I would see them. you know high level creative and and directing talent and helping to get people that were like him

at some point and get them comfortable so that they can deliver their own that's a fun process if you like doing another quote came up from see and punk where he was discussing being in the WrestleMania main event he says if it were up to me believe it or not rhea Bianca and E.O. would be the WrestleMania main event. I'm not saying which night. I can tell you that if I was in Triple H's spot, I would gravitate towards that. My researching for that is, when does EO ever going to get another chance? Bianca has done it already. It would be great if she got to do it again. Ria hasn't done it. You look at people that say,

WrestleMania main event, Ria Ripley is top of the list. I agree. I do think, think ria rippley is going to have her fair share of russomania main events in front of her but this year in particular it would have been really hard for me to put that match on in the main event spot that have been your call or do you agree with c m punk this is like the c m punk love fest here but um i tend to agree with him but again you know it's hard for me because i'm just not watching closely enough to have a different to have a better feel really watching from afar and paying attention more by keeping up with social media on an airplane than anything else but yeah I'm leading punk today oh my gosh

navy 41 81 is with us here live and says hey I just watched the russomania nine documentary it's over on peacock and it is a fun watch by the way is there any similar wcw archive footage from the nitros or paper views so eric I don't know if you've seen it but The idea is they were filming behind the scenes, construction of the set, some of those backstage moments, people getting ready and arriving at the building. You know, these days, they've had all those things going for years because they would post little clips on social media or certainly still images. Usually they'd give them a black and white look and then post them the day after or the day of

and that sort of thing. Do you remember WCW ever recording a behind the scenes piece of footage that maybe didn't make here that you? that you know is out there somewhere, it just never aired? Only if it would have been like a promo that just for whatever reason got edited out of a show or shot it and use it for pre-tape, for whatever reason, probably timing it never aired. But nothing, you know, behind the scenes, you know, unscripted type footage, not that I recall ever. It's too bad because, man, it could be a movie really.

I mean, you can do a really good job with the documentary during that period of time, if it exists, but it doesn't. King of Games says, how is there not a billion dollar man gimmick in wrestling right now? That gimmick would have so much heat right now. I think he's on to something, you know, I do see that a lot, you know, eat the rich and, you know, a lot of billionaire hate. People hate billionaires. They're the most hateable, blah, blah, blah.

You hear that a lot on television and on social media. media. Do you think that that's overdue that someone should portray a billionaire gimmick and just get heat for that? Would that work in 2025? I could see it, Eric. What's say you? I guess I wouldn't do it. Let's just go start with that. Would I do it? No. Do I, is it something that even though I wouldn't do it, I think could work? I don't think so. I think it's lukewarm. at best it's lukewarm yeah in certain markets

it'll actually get heat I mean look at the UFC crowd if anybody believes there is some percentage of crossover between television especially crossover between UFC and WWE

I don't know what it is I don't know if anybody knows what it is we'll figure it out at some point sure somebody will figure it out but you have to assume there's a fair amount of crossover and that crowd is they're not going to jump on the hate billionaire bandwagon just not but in other markets you probably could get some traction with it Seattle LA Chicago probably that's about it the rest of the country I think they would just be lukewarm to it

AOTV Productions is with us and they're asking the question a lot of people are. Some are thinking Tiffany and Charlotte could possibly turn into a shoot. Eric, what do you think? Well, we'll see any live rounds thrown in this Charlotte Flair Tiffany match? I have no idea, but I love the fact that it's a discussion point. And I hope a lot of people feel that way or have that thought because it's just me. you're interested and by the way this kind of thing doesn't come along very often where you've got two opponents who presumably based on what we've read and seen have real heat that could turn

into a fight and we just don't know when you tune into the premium live event you're going to find out i think it's great i love it's that line you know we've talked about it's sweet spot right I know all that wrestling stuff is fake, but that's real. That's like, that's hitting the home run. Bottom of the knife. Face is loaded. Tide game.

It's awesome. I saw a question on our live chat here, where they were asking, hey, does anybody know why the Hall of Fame isn't going to be airing live? I'm of the opinion it is airing live, and that it's on the peak. website and the peacock app tonight have you heard any differently that the hall of fame is not live tonight no um but i haven't you know i haven't tuned in to to social media much

the last couple days so i i haven't heard uh i just assume it is i can't imagine it wouldn't be on netflix well be sure to check it out tomorrow morning at one a m uh on the east coast yeah eric is going to be miserable hey uh we saw the reveal this morning during the Pat McAfee show he revealed the set for this year's WrestleMania let's take a look at that from WrestleMania 41 what a spectacle this thing is going to be I mean just look at the lighting rig it's kind of overwhelming how much thought and attention to detail some of these sketches leaked about a week ago and I think they actually started setting this up about a week ago

of course Stephanie is the one who welcomed us but what did you think of this set presentation and just the overwhelming time that goes into the production for this this is bigger than the finals or the college football championship or even the super bowl as far as the staging if that makes sense wouldn't you agree this is i'm i'm almost speechless i mean look at that shot i can't imagine what it looks like in person you know in three-dimension, get a sense of space and scope of it all, what a, what, it's hard to believe, man, I can't even imagine what that set costs and the design that went into it. There's a reason it's red and yellow. Those colors have been proven to, to be the kind of

colors that just help you, it encourages your dopamine hit, basically. It's a pleasing color combination to the mind and sets of mood and a tone and the way they've used those colors here is really pretty fascinating look at that set right there look what a great shot that is i mean it looks like it's about a half a mile deep right you know what i think we ought to do is i think we ought to take a picture of that with our phone right now and then i can take a picture of you and maybe stephanie for me you kissed her on Smackdown. I think I can actually put that into a portrait at Paints Your Life.com.

And that would be really great to give to Stephanie in time for Mother's Day. And if you're really looking for something special for Mother's Day or Father's Day this year, let me just tell you that I've discovered you can have any photo turned into a portrait. It'll be of one of their favorite memories and it can be all done and delivered in time for Mother's Day or Father's Day. thanks to Paint Your Life. I'm a big believer in this product.

I've used it for my own mother-in-law, my father-in-law, and my own mom and dad. This year, let me just tell you the plan. My cousin Derek, he is a new dad, and unfortunately, his parents passed away before they got a chance to meet their grandbaby. Well, that's obviously a traumatic thing for a young guy in his 20s. So I managed to sneak a photo of his mom and dad holding him when he was a baby.

I uploaded that to Paint Your Life.com. And then I took a picture of his. his son Harrison and now they're going to be combined into a super portrait all from paint your life that derrick is going to get this year for father's day i'm telling you that because eric's more of a double uh my buddy derrick is more of a double j guy he's not listening to eric bishaw's podcast so i can tell you the secret but this is the gift i mean we've all heard that cliche before what do you get the guy who has everything guys my father and all's rick flair what do you get that guy he doesn't already have a painting of his daughter

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See terms for details We're live here and taking your questions So be sure to hook us up here If you've got one Keep them coming Jared says I thought for sure we were going to see Roxena and Travis Scott in a Hollywood faction

any sense this was abandoned. No, I mean, I think Travis Scott and The Rock are going to be at WrestleMania, but based on what Sina showed us on Instagram, maybe Stone Cold's going to be there too. Do you think we've seen the last of a faction, if you will, for these big shows, The Rock and John Sina and Travis Scott, do you think that can become a more regular thing, Eric? I hope so.

I think so because it makes sense, right? It's an attraction. it provides you an opportunity to bring something unique and different at a very high level to the table that doesn't involve a wrestling match therefore doesn't take away from anything I think it's great if you could figure it out

of course you know, you think of all the media that's going to come with it and the attention and the coverage after the show all of which will continue to build a brand for next year. Yeah, you can imagine they won't if they can.

You know, we've got the inside scoop here we've mentioned at the top of the show that we wanted to give a shout out to our man Mark Hope who has the number one wrestling show in the Las Vegas area so he knows a thing or two about the way things operate in Las Vegas and if Silva can throw up a photo of that set for the WrestleMania set this year Mark is giving us the inside scoop and he says they actually changed the set because the fountain blue which is a new well failing resort in Las Vegas they actually changed the set because the fountain blue paid them off it was supposed to look like a flamingo that's what those buildings are of so the outside these buildings above

there that's patterned to look like the fountain blue hotel which i believe is where the hall of famous today and i've heard the rumor in innuendo is that these cats actually lose like 300 or 400,000 dollars per day every day uh it's a bad time in los vegas but goodness gracious they're spending some money here and wwe has found a way to monetize every bit of it like we all knew that the exfinity thing right there that we're seeing was paid for but now to know hey they got paid to even make part of the set look like wow they figured out a way to monetize everything eric bravo right i wonder if they have something written in the agreement they get the first option to buy the place do because they're kind of putting it on the map adding value to it like why wouldn't you

want to use that leverage and use it to maybe somehow no on a hotel well they've done that before with the debby reynolds experiment way back when but that was vince and that was then this is now if you could get a distressed asset at a deal and and run all your UFC and w i don't know we'll see i don't know all hall of fame physical hall of fame oh all kinds of stuff you could do hang on hang on are you heard things or you just like no i'm just connecting dots that are obvious okay well speaking of some other dots uh big e has confirmed the dots that we all suspected about rusev he says i reached out to him and he confirmed that the news is indeed true. I don't know when

he'll be back. A blast from the past. And actually it's very topical because he has just announced that he is returning to the squared circle here in World Wrestling Entertainment. That was right off of a fanatic stream. So Rusef is back. No big surprise, I guess.

But, you know, listen, everybody wants to know, when will we see him? Do you think we see him over WrestleMania weekend? Is it the Monday after WrestleMania? Or do you think they hold off a little longer on the Rousseff debut? I think it all depends on what their plans are. If they have plans and they want to reintroduce the character

and get as much attention on him as possible, I would wait until after WrestleMania because there's so much going on. Yeah, all eyes are on WrestleMania, but at WrestleMania has a billion cool moving parts, hard for any one of them to stand out. And if you're bringing somebody back, you want that to be kind of a standout moment.

So for that reason, I would wait. if I have a plan. If you don't have a plan, you definitely want to wait until you do. Unless he would be involved in an angle that would have an out, you know, continue after WrestleMania, I would have, I'd be shocked to see him. We got some other news about Roman Raines. He recently did a pretty big time interview with a variety and, I'm sorry, vanity fair and he did a photo shoot as part of this that's got some attention but one of the things

that he said that i want to have a chance to give you a chance to respond to here eric after i finish the contract that i'm in we probably got another year or two max then it's time to take on a less physical form of entertainment so i think that his current contract eric is good through like next year maybe may of 2026 something like that then he says another year or two So that might mean we see Roman Raines wrap up at like 20th, WrestleMania 27 or the year 27 or the year 28. So we've got two or three years left with Roman Raines. Are you surprised that he'd be talking like this and sort of calling his shot out front?

Surprise, no. I find it interesting. I'm reading into it, you know, because I don't know Roman Raines at all. but he seems like a thoughtful person based on quotes and other things that I've read that he has said. It seems like a really thoughtful guy that has a really good head on his shoulders, meaning he knows what's valuable to him. And I wouldn't be surprised if he has made up his mind that he's going to give it 36 months

and he's going to start winding down and make the most of it. and, you know, walking to that next chapter. Sounds to me like that's what he's thinking. So good for him. What a great, what a blessing that is to be in a position where you're healthy, you're at the top of your game, and you can set your, you can basically write your own exit strategy.

That's freedom. Very cool. It is cool. I do think it's interesting, though, because I don't know that everybody's paying attention to this right now, but a lot of the top stars they're sort of making it known hey we're finishing up

I mean a lot so we just mentioned Roman Raines who said he's got a year or two left on his next contract so this one runs out we'll call it a year from now so two or three years he's out he's 39 years old

which is the same age as Cody Rhodes so if Cody feels similarly to Roman that maybe he wants to go try his hand at wrestling or Hollywood after wrestling maybe Cody and Roman both find themselves doing something else in a few years you've heard punk have a little bit of heartburn about signing a five-year contract meanwhile randy orton you know he's seemingly saying he thinks he's got five years left rock lesner we hear is maybe doing i think he's uh 47 which is the same

age as a j styles who said that he maybe has one more year wrestling and set ralins he's only a year younger than Cody and Roman in five years the WWE seemingly when you take a look at the top and it is crowded right now I think all of those guys are gone Eric like they've got to focus on making that next group of stars right now guys like Braun Breaker maybe guys like um Jacob Pitu there's a whole lot of stars that are out there but it does feel like we're seeing sort of the senior class come through right now these next few years are going to be critical, I think. Wow, that's a really, it's a good observation.

I hadn't thought about it that way, and I'm really paying attention to some of that chatter, but wow, you know what? I mean, if I was in NXT right now, I'd be doing double days, you know, I'd, everybody else goes home, I'd say, I would put a, I'd put a couple more hours in somebody, bring time, and working on my character, whatever I need to work on it, Because what a hell of an opportunity. You know, because, yes, those, let's say five guys, five of those names, all within, I don't know, let's say three years just for discussion. All of those guys are gone over the next three years.

That means starting probably today, they're going to start at least thinking through who are some of those people that are going to elevate potentially into that spot. And it's not like you can make a decision on Monday and affect it on Tuesday. If you pick a couple people out, now it's a process, and it takes a long time. And those people are going to start getting, and you're doing it with multiple people at the same time. There may be five spots, but you're going to have to really try to move 10 of them along, and see who's going to fill those spots. There's going to be a lot of additional opportunities and interesting storylines and, People give it a chance to cut through the clutter, get to the front of the line.

It's fun. Well, somebody who's going to try to break through on the other channel, we saw debut earlier this week. Josh Alexander, who's a former TNA world champion and one of the more well-respected guys who recently went through free agency, has now made it official. He signed with AEW. He was the mystery opponent for Hangman Adam Page and the Owen Hart Memorial Cup. hangman gets the win and it feels like immediately here comes don callus to align himself with josh alexander yeah the long-term fans of t and a they remember him being a fabulous tag team with

ethan page down in nx t i think a lot of people thought maybe they'd get back together josh went on a tear was maybe the golden boy for the scott d'more version of t and a for years and now we're seeing josh alexander i believe represented by barry bloom so i can only assume making more money than ever before. I'm happy for him. What did you think of the news that Josh Alexander is officially a part of AEW? Good for him. I've worked with him a couple times over the last several years,

two or three years. One time in Australia, last time I was there, a couple other appearances together with Salt Lake City, and our tables were right next to each other. So I got a chance to get to know him a little bit throughout the day and more importantly watch how he handled himself with fans and he's a real he's a credit to the business congratulations dr sarah kinsman from the health resources and services administration tells us

about one of the biggest drug overdose poisoning threats we face in the last several years almost 70,000 people a year have died from fentanyl poisonings if a person's alert and active and breathing you would call Poison Helpline, and they would help you right away. Get ahead of a poison emergency. Call the Poison Helpline, 1-800-222-2-2-2-2. That makes me want to ask you this question. Coach T from Wolfpack Basketball says, given his experience in management,

how does Eric think he would do as an agent for wrestlers today? Is that ever something you even considered? No. Why not? Um, well, for me, an agent has to have an absolute thorough understanding, have experience and a unique talent in communicating physical part of wrestling and what's expected in a match and the psychology behind it and the ability to coach it and to paint that picture in a way that, for someone that you're working with, a wrestler, um,

can really understand what you see in your head and how to bring out the emotion that's required in the story at the precise time. It's a really, it's a tough, it's a really unique job. And it just would require so much in-ring experience and expertise, not just experience, but expertise. And I don't have that. I wish I did, but I don't. But it's, it can be a really,

Remember earlier on we were talking about punk and backstage stuff? It's almost more of a director. I like that more than producer because producers are responsible making sure everybody's at the right place at the right time. We get the right lights. We get the right audio equipment. Everything's functioning properly. And I've got my script.

Okay, there's a director, three, two, one, go. That's a producer, putting pieces of things together. The director has a lot more to do in my perspective. of us. Everybody has their own. But the director is more responsible for creating the emotion and the scene and the tone. It's a much more creative-driven process as opposed to making sure all the assets are in one place. And that's the kind of thing that I see somebody like doing. Would I enjoy doing something like that? Absolutely, I would enjoy it. Would I choose to do it for a living? No, not, not this because it requires travel. It requires a lot that I wouldn't

be willing to do. But I love, I love doing it. Like, would I do it as a one-off as a guest? Or if somebody would just let me do it just to have fun by myself in an indie show or something? Hell yeah, I'd do that. But not as a commitment. Carl Bennington is saying that you're the best boss on the planet. Eric Bischoff is the best boss on the planet. And then he also has a fun question. Boy, this is one I never even thought of. Never crossed my mind, but maybe it could have worked. When the NW.O. Wolfpack started dying off. Did you think you should have added more hot women to it to make it grow? Why not Stacey Keebler? She was a massive Wolfpack fan. You know, listen, I mean, you did have the big bad booty daddy. You had big sexy Kevin Nash.

Was that a Turner call to have to not make such a priority? The scantily clasped women that maybe WWE was showcasing at the time? Well, it depends on the time. There was a point, 96, like immediately after NWO, all of 97, probably until March of about 98, before any influence of Time Warner began to manifest. It was just like, I didn't, there was no term mandates. very rarely communicated with anybody about what I was doing creatively ever even Harvey Schiller after Time Warner and AOL got involved I still didn't communicate what I was what I was

doing creatively to my boss because they didn't ask they had no they had no interest they were only interested in the numbers associated with the creative but they never wanted to take the time to understand or even approve. So I never ran anything by it. So there was a period of time from like I said 96 to first quarter 98 where had someone come to me and said or if I had the idea, hey, maybe we just need to get a little a little more risque, kind of bring in a more adult theme, you know, female presence in the show, maybe the storylines need to get a little racier.

had I decided to do that I would not have had to get it approved and within what I know are my own bounds was doable and not doable I don't think I would have had any issues and I still would have been able to lean into it to the extent that I would have been comfortable personally

which is a lot would have been fun but I think by 98 by second quarter 98 that's when I would have had issues in terms of I do want to get your take on an interview that Sean Michaels did recently, but before we do, I want to give you a heads up that if you own a handgun for self-defense, your storage likely fits into one of two very frustrated categories.

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order when you use the code 83 weeks at stopbox USA.com, but they're also giving you a buy one, get one free for their stopbox pro. That's 10% off and a free stopbox pro when you use the code 83 weeks at stopboxusa.com discover a better way to balance security and readiness with stopbox. So listen, this quote from Sean Michaels is about the evolution of the business Eric and he says old timers like me often talk about these kids don't sell anything like we did but at the same time i remember people saying that to me this is generational i think you have to change with the times football basketball baseball they all need to be faster than they once were to keep an audience entertained and locked in and our business is no different he said that

on the bobby bones show what do you think of that i've said the same thing and And many times, you know, we all, I've told stories here with you about, you know, sitting with Ray Stevens, Ray the Crypt of Stevens and Wahoo McDaniel and Greg Gagne and Vern Gagne is sitting in their office after hours when I first got to work in the business and having a couple beers and listen to these guys all tell stories. And part of those stories were before you got to the good stuff, we're always their view on the current product. You have to sit through a bitch fest that usually lasts at about an hour. hour, two 12 packs between the group. That's about an hour and then to get into the good stories, right? And I started out hearing the same thing that Sean's talking about. Those same guys, these young kids, these don't get it, not protecting the business,

I don't know how to sell. And I've heard it throughout my entire career, different people at different stages of their lives. let's talk about some other news and notes in the wrestling business i want to get your take on another departure from new japan but before we do want to give a shout out to jared craston who says seeing the cool stage of this year's russomania i fell off of watching wrestling in the 2010s as i thought matches were becoming less storytelling and more stipulation based can we bring vintage paper views back i think he's talking about the old set designs you know, once upon a time, every set had a different theme.

Of course, you recall, you had the giant Halloween Havoc set, you had the incredible bash at the beach set. It does feel like WWE has sort of moved away from that. Is this just the evolution of the technology that you can get all the screens and lights and things like that? So they're just pushing production forward that way, or should they lean into this nostalgia that fans seemingly want with the old set design?

Should that be the new norm? or should they just dust off the nostalgia once or twice a year, Eric? I'd find a solution in the middle because I love the idea of pan homage, you know, celebrating something that's memorable for whatever reason, even if you want it to be perceived as memorable, even though it's not. But let's take, for example, the Halloween Havoc set design, one of them.

Rather than dusting it off and bringing it back, Because it would feel, kind of dated, cool for a minute, but three hours of it would be a little much. But what if you use today's technology to build bigger, brighter? So you use the design, the theme, the colors, the imagery, but then you blow it up with today's technology so that it's larger than it actually was that. I don't mean physically larger. perception of it is it actually larger like that home that flamingo hotel whatever it was the

blue hotel that looks way cooler than it really is i'm sure of it i've never seen it i'll see it tonight but i'm absolutely sure that graphic representation of it or that representation of it in the set is way cooler than it physically really is do the same thing with some of those old really cool sets it'll be fun i for one would love to see them embrace it a little bit here there. Let's talk about Naito. He's one of the top stars from New Japan and it's come out that he and New Japan have mutually agreed to not renew his contract. His final appearance for New Japan is going to be on May 4th. And I'm bringing this to your attention Eric because we just recently saw not too terribly long ago. The Rock appear on Instagram

wearing a New Japan shirt. And of course that got everybody stirred up. Oh, does that mean w v is going to try to have a partnership with new japan and seemingly take it away from a w i thought they're going to buy it well i don't think w w is probably in the mood to buy any wrestling organizations right now i could be wrong but we'll see i mean i guess that is a possibility we know that jeff cobb is seemingly headed in uh we've seen once upon a time massive exodus from you know gallows and anderson a j styles shinskay nakamura it was a mass exodus from new japan to w w once upon a time several years ago uh in in january do you expect naito to show up in w o'e or do you think he's headed to a w

or if you had to forecast is there anything to this why is the rock wearing a new japan shirt is it simply he's hung in cheek responding to carl anderson's criticism does it mean anything at all eric oh i don't know i i don't know could certainly got everybody talking which is pretty easy to do I guess if you're The Rock on social media but it's kind of cool to get people buzzing over

effectively absolutely nothing guy wore a shirt what is it mean good at me as far as Naito where does he go if I had to bet I would bet a EW that would be what I

would write my money I'm more curious as to why so many people are leaving, you know, is there an issue with New Japan? I mean, where is their business today? Are they successful in Japan? They're down. They're down. Well, you can be down and still be successful. Are they down compared to where they want to be?

Or are they facing, you know, financial challenges? I heard a few years ago that it could be bought. They're facing financial challenges. then these departures are a little more interesting and potentially there's more going on behind the scenes that meets the eye more than just I want to go explore the other market see what I can do if they're having financial trouble and I have a hard time keeping top talent you could be seeing a sale quicker than you would expect I do want to talk about some other news and notes before we do I want to remind you we're live here with

Eric Vischoff and you can ask a question anything you want and I want to get a cheap plug-in when the final curtain falls on WrestleMania night two Eric and I are going to be live here at 83 weeks.com go out of your way to join us go ahead and do us a favor hit the notifications bell right now so you'll be notified the moment we're live this will be immediately following night two I do have some some friends and family who are going to be in the building at WrestleMania so if we miss anything we'll be able to talk about that we'll be going around the same time as the press conference so if there's any breaking news or opinions or fallout we'll be here to cover it and it's happening

this sunday night immediately following russomania i'm going to make sure eric takes a power now so we'll be here to have a good time uh katherine summers is with us she's been with us for 10 months appreciate all your support katherine and she says hey eric what's your take on the main event and how do you think sina is going to come out hey that's an interesting question you know he's had some pretty over the top wrestling mania entrances this is seemingly his last one he's coming in as a bad guy you think they pull out all the stops for seeing his entrance this year oh yes absolutely i think this is uh this is a johnsino wrestlemania in a lot of ways so definitely aot tv productions says what do you guys think

of the chances that Travis scott gets a receipt from cody this weekend. Do you think we see that? No. I think it's crazy. I don't think it probably is as big a deal to either as soon as it is to the people that are reading about talking about. But I could be wrong. You never know. Cody can get hot. Well, I mean, Cody's been saying he's looking for it this weekend. So there might be a playing spot. You know, Cody's one of those guys. You just wouldn't expect him to, you know, get emotional and do something drastic because he's a pretty, he's a pretty cool cucumber right he's not the guy that's just going to go off for no reason but he kind of has a reason so i don't know it would be fun i don't wish i don't wish anything

bad on anybody go cody guy w john says what are the chances we hear the glass break in stone cold turns out to be the third man that could be interesting you know let's remember that would be awesome right john sina said of this Sunday, Stone Cold. Imagine if the 1, 2, 3 did become seemingly previous Mount Rushmore

of WWE, the guys who were in the Cody spot prior to him. Of course, we're talking about John Cena, the rock, and Stone Cold. I mean, really, if you go back to 1998 to now,

I mean, if you slide Roman rains in there, those are the guys who kind of ran the show with the exception of triple h don't you think i mean what is the topic who's your mount rushmore or rushing but they're going to create one yes and merchandise the hell out of it yes it'll be some of the hottest selling merchandise in wwee within the next 60 days that's what they do because it's such a cool idea and who's the mount rushmore is always the question, and they're going to merchandise the answer. See, I love a good money grab because it, unlike the people that usually complain about

money grabs, it takes creativity, it takes thought, critical thinking, initiative. It's art, it's fun. This is a cool idea. I'm going to order mine. Put an order in even if it doesn't exist. So when it does, I get my first. I got to say it would be cool, too, to see Seth Rollins teaming with Cody Rhodes in a tag match against Rome. And so I'm sorry, Seth Rollins and John Sina in a tag team against Cody and Roman in a tag team.

There's a million different ways to do this. I think everybody's really anxious to see what happens. But I keep seeing more of this like what Aaron says here. If Sina loses, we riot. A lot of people are coming to WrestleMania hoping to see John Siener. win the 17th world championship breaking Rick Flair's record. Oh, yeah. Last WrestleMania main event.

I mean, if you were pulling the trigger here, would you have Cody retain? Or do we walk away with the new Heel-Cena championship reign? Sina, Heel, Chase, Cody. There's your future. that would be that's what I would so I'd be excited about Carl Bennington says Austin Rock didn't like the NWO entering the

WWE so they killed it McMahon shouldn't care what people think Rock and Austin retired the next year anyway that is an excellent point you know when the WWE brought back the NWO in 2002 of course wasn't with everybody but it was Scott Hall

Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan and very quick they turned Hulk Hogan baby face and well the NWO thing never really got off the ground and what he's saying here's true shortly thereafter Rock and Austin were gone anyway

do you think the WWE like if if the NWO was coming to an end now if WVE was buying WCW today in 2025 and Vince McMahon's out of the equation and Triple H is helping navigate all of this do you think with the negotiating skills of

Nick Kahn and the creative collaboration of Triple H that the invasion would have been handled differently or do you think it's always going to result just as it did? No, I think it could have been handled way differently. I think it was ill-conceived from the

get-go. It was rushed and slapped together without a lot of planning from my perspective. And by the way, as not anybody's never, nobody's ever shared that inside information with me, just looking from the outside end, and having a little bit of inside information.

But, look, despite the fact that it was rushed, it was slapped together, there wasn't a lot of planning, there wasn't a lot of forthrighted, it's like, hey, let's get these guys here, let's do this, and we'll figure it out as we go. My guess is that was pretty much the creative strategy for this. But even if there had been a plan and everything else was fine, there were other issues with some of the talent that would have just it wasn't going to go anywhere

there's bad timing in that regard and it was destined to failure for a lot of reasons some of them obvious some of that's much well I'll tell you what's obvious everybody's having more fun with prize picks I'm a big believer in prize picks

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but everybody's talking about WrestleMania, including Michael, who says, do you have a Mount Rushmore of WrestleMania matches? And Eric, I know that you watch wrestling differently. Of course, when I was a little kid, Polk Hogan and Randy Savage at WrestleMania 5 would have been one of mine. And then the next year, Paul Kogan and the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6

would have been one of mine. Now as an adult, I can say, man, that latter match with Sean Michaels and Razor Ramon at WrestleMania 10, that fabulous I quit match that you and I just recently watched from WrestleMania 13. Yeah.

A lot of people still consider the Undertaker and Sean Michaels at WrestleMania 25 to be the all-time best, but usually when people talk about best WrestleMania matches, they go to Randy Savage and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat from WrestleMania 3. Do you have a favorite WrestleMania match, or can you do a Mount Rushmore? Do you have

four of those? No, I couldn't. And, you know, this is going to sound really strange, but, and a lot of it had to do with my age and what was going on in my life at the time. But, you know, I grew up watching wrestling from the time I was 8 until the time I was about 15, right, wrestling was front and center in my, in my entertainment diet, so to speak. Then from about 16 to 18, I still kind of dropped in and watched, this is pre-Rustlemanias now, right? By the time WrestleMania became a thing, and by the time they get hot, you know, three, four, five, seven, nine, for example, we were just talking about, I really wasn't

watching wrestling too much, and I really wasn't watching WrestleMania. I had other things in my life that just was I fell out of my wrestling fandom during that period of time, which happens off of Kentucky. And then I got back into it probably, oh, when I came back to watching wrestling again, it would have been after Lori and I met, so it would have been 1982, 83, but I was only watching, I was only watching local wrestling because that was my thing. I was aware of WWE and I had some friends that were aspiring to wrestle there and some who I knew that were wrestling in WW at the time. Brad Rangings, but I was just never that big of a fan to tune into the WrestleMania. We're live here with Eric Bischoff. If you got a question, keep them coming.

Josh Henney says, at the end of the weekend, what is the WV's biggest success do you think, Eric? revenue generated stories ending or starting or progressing or great matches or is it something else what is the biggest success this weekend eric i think it's all of the above and i think it's really what's the commentary post show how does the how does the worldwide audience feel about the product they watched you're going to obviously you're going to get your you know hardcore wrestling fans internet wrestling fans the age match rankings you know club, we're going to feel very strongly one way about the quality of the matches.

But generally speaking, how is it perceived on mainstream audience and even sponsors and supporters? If the vibe is good, that's really what's important because it sets you up for next year. If the overall vibe is like flat because it just didn't deliver on the expectations, that's a challenge you need to fix that so we'll see i've heard speculation eric about the uh the gate this weekend and i heard a very well-educated guess do you want to take a stab at it no i wouldn't order to begin how does 60 million strike you say what what was that 60 6 zero okay and what does that represent uh the gate from russalania just the live gate I don't know all the details.

They're going to make $60 million from WrestleMania. No, that, okay, but I was wondering, I mean, does that all things, you know, license and where you're all Sunday night and I'm sure we'll break it down, but $60 million for a WrestleMania, no matter how we get there. I mean, there's lots of rumor and innuendo. They got $21 million just to get the space and nothing cost any money and it was all free because nobody wanted to go to Vegas on Easter. So they broke the bank for that.

But I've also heard speculation where people were sort of clowning. that, oh, WV's not even going to sell all their seats. This is the highest price WrestleMania of all time. And if you've seen their trends in the last two weeks, that's when tickets really start to move. But no matter what it is, because of sponsorship, because of revenues from merch, because fanatics is handling their convention,

they've monetized this in a way with sponsorships for every match, for the pregame show, for the post game show. This is going to shatter every record in WrestleMania history. And I think this will be the most viewed because we're here in America, we're all going to be watching on Peacock. But the rest of the world, Eric, they're going to be watching WrestleMania on Netflix. This is the most viewed, most revenue.

This is the pinnacle of wrestling history this weekend, is it not? As Wayne Gretzky said so famously, you know, this is where the puck is going, folks. You can use other events as your reference in terms of a and gates and all that because, you know, it's something to talk about, but this is where the business is going, and it's all about the money at the end of the day. If the number is $60 million all in for everything, that's the number that you're going to be hearing about, as you should, because it represents success, it represents growth,

represents wider distribution, it represents life in any business, especially this one. It's pretty cool. we're going to quickly run through some matches and I'm going to get you to give us a prediction we got the war Raiders against the new day the war Raiders are coming in as the tag team champions of course this is a different new day than we've seen there's no big E and there's no power of positivity we've got the new heel version of the new day if you had to pick who's going over Eric the war Raiders or the new day new day I would agree next up we've got Ray Mysterio and El Grande Americano. Who this guy is? I don't know how he got a WrestleMania booking so quickly. He's only been with the promotion a few weeks

or a few months. I've even seen speculation that much like Hulk Hogan wants to disguise himself as Mr. America, perhaps El Grande Americano is actually Vince McMahon. I don't know that.

I don't know that. The camera in innuendo will have to see If he found a way to sneak in to WrestleMania, that would be fascinating. Who do you think goes over here, Ray Mysterio, or this young upstart, El Grande Americano? I think somebody is going to get exposed,

and I think Ray Mysterio is going to do the exposing, and I think it's going to be fun as hell, and it's a great comedic, lighthearted, totally entertaining segment of Russell Media, and looking forward to it. It's fun. jade cargill will be in there with naomi i think this might actually be one of if not the very first women's singles match in russomania history that wasn't for a title jade cargill of course

is the bright new shiny object from a e w and she's been a tag team champion but now this is really the first storyline with real teeth that she's had in w o'e she faces off against Naomi her former friend the story of betrayal who do you got here jade or naomi i'm going to go with jade i'm going to bet that this is her coming out party and not in the sense we've seen her obviously

she's debuted she's been active on television but this is this is a russomania coming out party designed to get her over and to really launch her into the next phase of her career that's my back and if i'm right

She's going to. The last time we saw a women's singles match for non-title at WrestleMania, we'd have to go back 19 years to Tori Wilson versus Candice Michelle in a playboy pillow fight. Wrestling change just a little bit there. Match four will be LA night and Jacob Pahoo. The U.S. title is on the line. L.A.

night has been hotter than donut Greece for a couple of years, but Jacob Pahoo is supposed to be what's, next in WWA you've even predicted you think he could be in the main event as soon as next year that was the trajectory that we saw John Cena take he wins a U.S. title at a WrestleMania and then the next year what do you know he's in a battle for the world title having won the Royal Rumble do you think that March starts this weekend for Jacob Pahue too Eric I think it has to and I almost hate to say that because I'm such an LA night fan and it just seems like he's you I'll slow down a little bit in terms of his momentum.

But Jacob Batu's, it's destiny for him. He's on his way. And I think this is just one of the big first steps. We got Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair. Tiffany is the champ. Lots of people are ready for some live rounds in this one. There's lots of hurt feelings, I guess. And in real life, there's speculation these ladies don't get along.

No matter what's real. what is real is the anticipation people are ready to see something happen here Eric what do you expect is the result does Tiffany walkout champ or a Charlotte back in the driver's seat I it's hard to get a feel for this one because their characters are so similar like from a motivation point of view it's like they're both not really baby faces and they're both not really heals. It's like the crowd is dying to get behind one or the other.

And if I write on that, then it becomes what does AAA see? What is WWEC in the story? My gut, just my gut, if I had to bet, I would bet Charlotte comes out of this as more of a baby face and she's chasing. we've also got the world title the world heavyweight championship on the line gunther comes in as

the champ he's going to be taken on j uso who uh has requested to come out first and start the show on saturday what do you hope happens with j uso and gunther i want to see gunther i like gunther as a character he's got so much potential i mean he's already there he's there and he's such a unique character. He's so different than anybody else that it's just refreshing his health. The match that perhaps everyone is paying the most attention to on Saturday is, after all this time, finally, C.M. Punk in the main event. Now, it is the night one main event, but still, it's going on last and it'll close the show

as he steps between the ropes with Roman Raines and with Seth Rollins. what do you expect to happen here and while you're thinking about that eric i want to remind everybody about magic spoon magic spoon is the real deal i've been supporting and talking about magic spoon for years and years and it's all about nostalgia and if you like nostalgia well that's why you're listening to this show you like nostalgia and here it is man in breakfast form because magic spoon's breakfast cereal tastes just like the ones you grew up on except without all the sugar and now packed with a bunch of protein. Did I mention their high protein treats? Well, they're crispy, they're crunchy, they're airy, and it's an

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that's magic spoon.com slash 83 weeks for $5 off and we're live here and we've got some fun questions coming in I'm seeing some comments come in Shout out to you, IDK, anymore. I do not suffocate Mrs. Flair because she's not Mrs. Flair. She's Mrs. Thompson. She's happy to be there. IDK, I'm sorry to tell you, I am not on the AEW payroll.

But if the check is in the mail, I'd be delighted to get it. Now, I was on the WWE payroll, as you may remember. It's hard to believe, but seven years ago this week is when we announced something else to wrestle with Bruce Pritchard. and now Bruce Pritchard is back in the confines of WWE. Who would have thought? Papa Wheely says

Please tell my idiot friends why the CM Punk Seth Roman match doesn't need a title to mean something well I think that's all because you know the story, the story of Triple H, the story of punk in the main event of WrestleMania, the story of betrayal where Seth left

the shield to join the authority over a decade ago. There's a lot of story under the uh what is it water under the bridge with these three guys uh jim wants to know what match or matches are you guys looking forward to we want to hear from you tell us in the comments what you're looking forward to the most personally selfishly i'm really anxious to see what happens with tiffany and charlotte i would love to see jacobitu get his hand raised but the main event on both nights that's really got me uh taking up some some attention and

thinking hey how do they go with this What's next? Does it mean anything that John Sina is advertised after WrestleMania, but Cody is not? Or is that just a coincidence? I guess we'll have to wait and see. Darren Buss wants to know, what's your upset match for WrestleMania?

That's interesting to think about. I think the upset might be Dominic Mysterio, leaving with the Intercontinental title. I could be wrong, but that's what I think my upset would be. Appreciate Jared showing up and showing some love. greatly appreciate you guys we also have some other comments and questions here but how about a super sticker i've never even got one of those before thank you steve combs for that greatly appreciate

that aotv productions he's always got questions about rousseau i wonder aot tv do you hate listen to rousseau or are you a rousseau fan because he's saying hey eric if rousseau met nick kine and said he needed to replace triple h with him how do you think nick would react well that that doesn't even feel like something that would ever happen. So, but thanks for joining us here today, AOTV productions. What we really want to know, though, is Eric, this three-way dance on Saturday night, who do you got? Is it John, I mean, is it going to be Roman Raines?

Is it going to be seeing punk? Is it going to be Seth Rollins? What would you book? I think it's going to be punk. I think punk is ascending. I think he's going to be punk. All right. Let's talk about night too.

We got Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. taking on Bailey and Lyra. The women's tag titles are on the line. What do you expect in this one? Is Liv getting her hand raised again and maintaining that gold? Or does Bailey walk out with some new hardware? I just don't see it for Bailey. I want to because I just like her as a person,

Gethynor, just a little bit. And I want it for her, but I just don't see it. I think it's Liv. I think the big question mark here, does Bailey have a meltdown after the match? I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. I'm also curious what they do with AJ. She plays good crazy, though. Great crazy.

Yeah. AJ styles and Logan Paul, you know, Logan Paul has been a big match performer. I know he's worked closely with Hurricane Helms and some others. I know that this match is going to deliver some viral moments. But when it's all said and done, does AJ pick up the win? or does it make more sense to have Logan win, in your opinion, Eric? Business-wise, it makes more sense for Logan. It just does.

And I don't have any joy in saying that. I hope I'm wrong, actually. But you just look at where AJ is in his career trajectory at this point, where Logan is, what Logan brings to the table, what AJ brings to the table. I think it's just, you know, it's just valuation. It's no different than real estate, you know. You just, where do you get the biggest bang for your buck? You have to look at Logan as the future and AJ is, you know, on his way out.

Four way for the intercontinental title, Braun Breaker, Pinta, Finn Baller, and Dominic Mysterio. Penta is the bright new shiny object. Bronbreaker has been on a tear. We all know he's going to be in the main event of WrestleMania eventually. Dominic Mysterio has turned even his biggest critics and his biggest fans. And Finn Baller is like a modern day Dolph Ziegler. and that he might actually be so good, it's detrimental to his career. I don't know how that's possible, but who's who in this four way?

If you were booking it, Eric, who goes over? Ron, in the, not even a discussion, Bron, and I'll be shocked if that's not where it goes. Everybody else can make sense. There's a reason why you could argue it, but if you look at where Bronn, Breakery is in his career and just kind of look at the pace and the trajectory of his push. It's picking up steam. It's been picking up steam in terms of the last 90 days leading up to this moment this weekend, which suggests to me that's why this match is even taking place.

It's all designed for Bond to take the next step in his journey. Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre are going to hook up in what's being called a Sin City street fight. What's your picker saying here? Is it priest's time or McIntyre's time? Feeling priest, no reason, just vibe and energy feeling priest. The three-way dance for the ladies that CM Punk said he would close the show with, like he didn't say which night, which means night two. he thinks it's more interesting than Cody and Sina.

It's E.F. Sky, Bianca Belair, and Ria Ripley. What would you do here, Eric? I'm going with Rio all day long. She is such a star. She is such a unique. It's not just her look. I mean, she's got obviously a very, she's a beautiful woman,

but she's got that got that got got that gothoth edge to her. But there's something else about her, and I don't know what it is. I can't describe it to you. There's an energy, a swagger, kind of swagger, but different. Super confident. Just the level of confidence that she exudes is tangible to me. So, yeah, I think it's really tough.

Not that, you know, she hasn't had the limelight, but I keep using that term ascending star, but it's not like somebody that's reached the level and it's not going to go beyond that anymore. She's reached a really high level and she's not where it can possibly go yet. You're seeing more and more of her. You're seeing more of her character. She's probably learning as she's going

and discovering parts of her in terms of how to present it in the ring and have fun doing. Yep. Can you tell I'm a Ria fan? Yeah, it's coming through loud and clear. I'm sorry. I try to keep that shit to myself.

Lock in your, your answer here John Sina Cody Rhodes who walks out the champ John Sina I kind of agree I kind of agree

Travis Medway says hey Eric in retrospect what is your gut feeling about how the proposed nitro relaunch being based in Vegas would have gone were you basing projections around the constant stream of tourists

of course this comes up because you really helped put Las Vegas back on the map for professional wrestling I know that some people are going to say, yeah, but there's some many and none. I'm not arguing that, but you did a nitro from there and certainly Halloween Havoc

that became like the home away from home. It was a big deal for you to get that MGM grand partnership gave it a big fight feel. I loved it as a fan. And I know you were high on perhaps making a residency of sorts for a relaunch of your vision for what WCW would have been, had the acquisition gone through.

Being out there this weekend, are you, sort of brought back to those times and do you maybe have a few cocktails and your mind winder to hey what if not so much you know over cocktails you know and reminiscing necessarily but i do believe that it was a good strategy i think i don't like saying stuff like this but i think i was ahead of my time i saw something here for wcw that had had things gone according to to the and I think it would have given us a really, really great advantage in so many different ways to base our operations here and have a full-time presence here. It would have helped with acquiring talent, it would have helped with transportation,

it would help with costs, having your trading facility here, your production facility here, and being based out of here has so many downstream financial benefits, as well as, you know, tactical benefits in terms of being able to train under one roof and have a venue where you could run every night of the week if you wanted to as part of your training environment, you know, somewhere close to town. So many ways that you could have made that work that I think about it like that from time to time. I would jump by a studio here called Area 15.

Big, huge production facility there. and it's kind of like a big, huge production facility for smaller events, promotions, film projects where people could come in and it's almost like time share it from my understanding. So, yeah, it would have been a great idea then. And it may have taken a while to really play itself out, prove to be the idea, prove out its potential, but it would have for sure. Eric, since you and I've been live, Eric,

Pat McAfee's been broadcasting, and he's basically hinted very strongly to where it feels like it's definitely going to happen based on what I'm reading here, that the president of the United States of America is going to be at Russellmania. And what my friends have called the chili pepper necklace, the Ulifala, I think is the way you say it.

He was awarded that yesterday. in the Oval Office. This feels like a simulation, Eric. The idea that the president is going to WrestleMania, that wouldn't have made sense a few years ago, but it's happening. We're not talking politics on the show, but that's a first,

isn't it? I can't remember a time when the president was at WrestleMania before. Well, you know, we know the story of the relationship with, with the Trump's, or at least Donald Trump and the McCamp. It goes back a long ways.

I think it's great. You know, Donald Trump is obviously, you know, embracing middle America and the people that love middle America things like wrestling and UFC and as well as golf. And, you know, the other end of the cultural spectrum. So it's good, look, it's cool to see. It brings people together. People will get excited.

It's fun. It is fun. And speaking of fun, so is the new Eric Biff's, shelf action figure that you got a chance to see this but how what? Oh. New Eric Bischoff action figure here with that WCW. I think you called it the cat's ass logo.

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Hey man, Blue Chew. It's the real deal and uh that read was you set me up what i mean to yeah but i mean it just happened people people people are going to be listening to this ago oh they they rehearsed that whole bit no i didn't i had no idea he just you played me like a fiddle and it was fun hey tonight is the uh w w hale of fame and i know that's the real reason you're out there uh your great close personal friend lex luger is finally taking his rightful place in the the WWE Hall of Fame. He's going to be inducted by Diamond Dallas Page.

We've talked about this induction a long time. I mean, this is one that's way overdue and one that motivated you to leave your homestead. And that's not something that's easy to get you to do. The rest of the class looks like Michelle McCool. She's going in and inducted by her husband, The Undertaker. Then we'll see Triple H,

who I presume is the main event. I think he'll be inducted by Sean Michaels the natural disasters are going in that's the former earthquake in real life he was John Tenta and of course typhoon in the WWV but shockmaster over on the WCW side of things Fred Otman he's going in the Hall of Fame they're having the first ever immortal moment that'll be the match between Brett Hart and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 and I think CM Punk is going to introduce them but I wanted to bring up to you the legacy wing. These are names that are going in posthumously. Dory Fawkes Senior, of course the father of

Terry Funk and of course Dory Funk Jr. Ivan Koloff, the man who put a stop from Bruno San Martino and a hush fell over the crowd after that incredible run he had at Madison Square Garden. And Kamala, he worked with on the WCW side of things and certainly he drew money as a big opponent for Hulk Hogan. I think Jeff's dad, Jerry, actually created the gimmick what a class this is this year i know that you're always really high on the hall of fame and you've even told me privately hey man i'll watch russlemania at home and i want to be there for the hall of fame it's your favorite part of the weekend what are you looking forward to most tonight obviously uh i i want to share the experience that lexas going to have i want to be in

the room and share that with everybody because we're all going to feel that everybody in that room is going to feel that emotion firsthand and I wouldn't miss an opportunity to be one of them. I think people watching at home are going to, are going to feel it. And not just with Lex, with all of the inductees, because they each have their story. And those stories, when they're communicated to us, are they're all, it's the most real thing ever in wrestling or out of wrestling. It's real. those emotions are real and the stories are fascinating and sometimes they're really funny and sometimes they'll make you cry but they're good they're good stories from good people

I wouldn't miss it it is my favorite part it's the most meaningful part for me well it meant a lot to us that you guys showed up to us sort of previewing WrestleMania it's going to be a big weekend as a reminder every independent show in the world is happening in Las Vegas this week you can see a who's who at wrestle con of course WrestleMania or WW world is blowing up and selling more merch than ever before tonight is Smackdown and then the Hall of Fame then we get another fabulous WrestleMania night one and then a WrestleMania night two and then the roast of WrestleMania this thing used to be a day then it became a weekend

now it's a week in a few years Eric but we start saying this is WrestleMania month? What's in store? I mean, where do we go from here? No, they'll say WrestleMania season and they'll actually mean it because it'll replace like spring. Spring will be gone. So it'll go, you know, winter, WrestleMania, summer, fall. That's what it'll be. Well, let's do it, boys and girls. Make plans to join us right after WrestleMania night two. When it's all said and done in the final curtain falls, Eric will have had his power nap and we will live taking your questions and sharing our opinions about

WrestleMania the good the bad and the ugly join us this Sunday night late night and when the final curtain falls on WrestleMania come see us at 83 weeks.com Eric did we get it all in are you pumped are you ready to get foot loose and fancy free on the strip tonight yeah I think Mrs. V and I are going to spend a little time back in a hotel room and then maybe grab a bite to eat and then head over to Hall of Fame. So the rest of the day should be really fun.

Have fun, boys and girls. Enjoy WrestleMania and we'll see you Sunday night right here on 83 weeks with Eric Fishall. Hey, hey, it's Conrad Thompson here to tell you a little more about what ad-free shows.com is all about. Get early ad-free access to more than a dozen of your favorite wrestling podcast every single week, starting at just nine bucks. That's less than 20 cents an episode each month. And yes, you can listen to them all directly through Apple Podcasts or your regular podcast apps. How easy is that?

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