Eric Bischoff Sets the Record Straight on Retirement Talk

Eric Bischoff isn’t going back to running wrestling shows full-time—but don’t confuse that with retirement.

After sparking a wave of headlines that claimed he was completely done with the wrestling industry, Bischoff has now cleared the air in a new interview and slammed the wrestling media for jumping the gun.

Speaking to Adam Cailler of the Daily Star, the former WCW boss explained that his original comments were taken way out of context. “The wrestling media were sloppy as it were,” Bischoff said. “I was asked a question and made a comment and it was taken out of context.”

So what’s the real story? “The context was ‘Eric, do you think you’ll ever be involved full time in the wrestling business? Do I ever want to run a wrestling company, or own a wrestling company, or work full time for any wrestling company?’ My answer is absolutely not. That’s never going to happen again. That is in my rear view mirror, as I like to say.”

Bischoff did make headlines earlier this week on his 83 Weeks podcast, where he revealed why he no longer has any interest in returning to the business in a significant capacity. “I realize now that there is nothing I could do in professional wrestling that’s ever going to bring me fulfillment,” he said on the show. “It’s just not because I’ve done it, and I’m proud of what I’ve done.”

However, Bischoff isn’t closing the door entirely. “But that doesn’t mean that I won’t make appearances from time to time. I have been doing these things for the last five years – if there’s an opportunity to do what I refer to as a one-off or just simple appearances or something like that, of course, I’ll do that. Full time will never happen again,” he clarified.

And for those quick to slap a “retirement” label on him, Bischoff had one last jab: “Somehow that got written into a headline that made it seem like I retired from wrestling forever. You could have said that eight years ago. I guess that’s the wrestling media.”

So there you have it—Bischoff’s done with full-time wrestling roles, but he’s not vanishing from the scene entirely. Just don’t expect him to show up running creative or owning a new promotion, especially if Vince McMahon is behind it.

Should Eric Bischoff still have a seat at the table in today’s wrestling industry? Or is he right to leave the business behind for good? Drop your thoughts in the comments—we’re reading them all.