Eric Bischoff believes WWE put Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes in situations that chipped away at their larger-than-life images during Fanatics Fest. While the activities may have created content for the event, Bischoff couldn’t understand why WWE would risk making two of its biggest stars look ordinary.
The discussion unfolded during the 83 Weeks podcast after Paul Heyman revealed how he helped Reigns develop the Tribal Chief character. Conrad Thompson questioned whether WWE should have waited until Reigns retired before pulling back the curtain on that process.
Thompson then pointed to Fanatics Fest, where Reigns attempted three-point shots, Rhodes attempted field goals and several celebrities tested their strength on a boxing machine. Thompson argued that WWE was placing its biggest names in situations where failing could make them feel less special. Bischoff agreed and questioned what WWE actually gained from the activities.
“I don’t get that at all. You’re taking little nicks—not big nicks—but you’re putting little dings and dents in the character that are completely unnecessary. Again, I go to: for what? What is the benefit?”
“Is it so entertaining that people will feel more compelled to tune in to WWE to see what the offering happens to be? Or is it just, ‘Yeah, these guys sure aren’t nearly what I thought they were’? You’re probably going to get more of that. ‘You mean Cody Rhodes can’t even kick a football? Wow, my 12-year-old can.’ I don’t know.”
Thompson compared the situation to WWE’s treatment of Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin at the heights of their respective runs. He couldn’t imagine WWE putting Hogan in a home-run contest in 1985 or asking Austin to kick field goals in 2000 because failure would have damaged the superhuman image surrounding either man. Bischoff said Vince McMahon understood the importance of controlling how fans perceived WWE’s biggest attractions, even if McMahon could become obsessive about minor details.
“If you look at Vince McMahon and his approach to the business, regardless of how anybody feels about Vince McMahon, there’s been nobody who has had a greater impact on the industry than Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan in the early days.”
“One thing Vince was very aware of was creating the perception of these larger-than-life characters. When you send Cody Rhodes out to kick a football and he’s not able to do that, or you put a baseball bat in Roman Reigns’ hands and he’s not able to hit a ball, how is that creating a larger-than-life character?”
“What does it do to the perception? It’s undermining it. There’s just no other way to look at that.”
Bischoff acknowledged that WWE may have agreed to the activities as part of its business relationship with Fanatics. He explained that major sponsors and licensing partners frequently pitch promotional ideas, which are then passed through marketing departments and company executives. However, Bischoff believes the person who approved these particular ideas may understand marketing without fully understanding how professional wrestling stars need to be protected.
“The question becomes, from a business perspective, is there a reason? Did Fanatics come to them? This happens with sponsors. You want to maintain your relationship. You’re constantly looking for new ways to integrate and leverage that relationship so all parties can grow and be successful.”
“Sometimes those ideas come to the company through the marketing department. They’ve got a list of things they’d like to try, your team sits down with them and weaves through it, and before you know it, it ends up with somebody who has to make a decision about it.”
“Somebody is making that decision and green-lighting it who really doesn’t understand the wrestling business. They may understand a sht ton about marketing, promotion and licensing, but if they don’t understand the basics of the wrestling business, it can be detrimental.”*
Fanatics Fest gave fans a different look at Reigns and Rhodes, but Bischoff believes that was exactly the problem. WWE may have created a few entertaining clips, but he feels the company did it at the expense of the carefully protected star power surrounding two of its most valuable names.
Do you think the Fanatics Fest activities made Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes feel more relatable, or did WWE undermine their larger-than-life presentation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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