Eric Bischoff has a message for wrestling fans clutching their pearls over WWE cooling off from last year’s insane run: chill out.
The former WCW boss tackled the topic on 83 Weeks and admitted WWE probably did hit a peak heading into WrestleMania last year. Between the TKO merger, Vince McMahon headlines, the Janel Grant lawsuit, and WWE firing on all cylinders creatively, Bischoff said there was no denying the company was riding a massive wave of momentum.
“Do I agree with you that we kind of peaked out in terms of enthusiasm, excitement, engagement—all things measurable—for last year’s WrestleMania? Absolutely. And you look at all the things leading up to it over the couple of years leading up to that, right? Including the controversy in WWE and the Janel Grant stuff and the TKO stuff and the merger and the acquisition—I mean, there’s been a lot of drama and controversy that has created a lot of cash and enthusiasm leading up to last year’s WrestleMania.”
But according to Bischoff, people are acting like a cooldown period means WWE suddenly forgot how to do business, and he thinks that’s ridiculous. He pointed out that some of the biggest stories that helped fuel discussion have quieted down, including the McMahon-Grant situation heading to arbitration.
“And what has happened since then? Well, things have kind of settled down. I mean, from a controversy side of the equation, okay, Vince and Janel have agreed to fight their shit out privately in arbitration, so that’ll be out of the headlines. There’s not going to be a lot of energy talking about that. Creatively, did we hit an apex for a period of time? Probably.”
Bischoff then turned his attention to fans who seem to expect wrestling to stay red hot forever, essentially saying that’s not how any entertainment business operates. Whether it’s television, sports, movies, or music, he says everything has ups and downs, and wrestling isn’t magically immune from that reality.
“Guys, you can’t stay at a 10 fifty-two weeks a year. If you think you can, you’re delusional. You don’t know. You don’t understand. You are one of those people that live in a room, in a bubble, that don’t really understand anything outside that bubble. Nothing works that way.”
Bischoff wasn’t done there. He mocked the online doom-and-gloom crowd that immediately jumps to declaring WWE is in trouble anytime ticket sales, TV ratings, or fan enthusiasm dip from peak levels.
“The music business doesn’t work that way. The movie business doesn’t work that way. There’s no form of entertainment that works that way. Sports doesn’t work that way. So why do we think wrestling is going to reach an apex and maintain that apex indefinitely? And if they don’t, WWE is going into the shit—’Oh my gosh, the business is collapsing. This is scary.’ No, it’s not. It’s fucking Darwin’s theory of evolution for television.”
Bischoff also admitted he isn’t entirely innocent, saying wrestling personalities and media figures often feed into the cycle because controversy and panic get people talking. He even lumped himself into that category, acknowledging discussions like these happen because everyone wants engagement.
“And I think we tend to overanalyze and overreact to it because we want engagement. And I’m throwing myself into this bucket—we’re doing it right now. And hopefully people are finding what you and I are talking about as an interesting perspective on an issue that everybody else is talking about.”
At the end of the day, Bischoff isn’t saying WWE is as hot as it was a year ago. He’s saying that’s okay. Businesses cool off, audiences shift, and trends change. As far as he’s concerned, WWE isn’t collapsing — it’s just not living at peak Mania season levels 365 days a year.
Do you agree with Eric Bischoff that fans are overreacting to WWE cooling down, or do you think there are legitimate concerns about where the industry is headed? Let us know in the comments and share your thoughts below.
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