Why Eric Bischoff Doesn't Like Mixing Religion And Pro Wrestling

Pro wrestling has seen its fair share of religion-based storylines. Some of the examples include Jake Roberts being "born again" in 1996, Vince McMahon unveiling himself as "The Higher Power" of the Ministry of Darkness, Reverend D-Von Dudley serving as a spiritual advisor and preacher, and even the time when Goldust turned to evangelists to save him from his sinful ways. There was also the time when Shawn Michaels teamed up with "god" in his battle against the McMahon family. 

While some of these storylines had memorable payoffs, former WCW President Eric Bischoff was never fond of wrestling promoters invoking religion. 

On "83 Weeks," Bischoff recalled the time when Farooq and Bradshaw of The Acolytes served as the henchmen of evil Undertaker. "I was just uncomfortable with the whole presentation," Bischoff said. "I don't want to say blasphemy, but to use religion as a premise in professional writing is just too uncomfortable for me to get behind — regardless of how well it was done. I get it ... it was very consistent with what WWE was doing, kind of breaking the mold when all their programming [in the '90s] was kiddy programming. Now, they were going after 18 to 49-year-old demo, going to extremes to get their attention, much like Howard Stern did with shock jock. I understand it, but it doesn't make it comfortable for me."

Bischoff then pointed to the recent controversial angle in AEW involving MJF and Juice Robinson, which was perceived to be antisemitic by many fans. "It backfired — I don't think that storyline is even alive today." 

Although AEW's excessive use of the term "The Devil" in another MJF-related storyline doesn't make Bischoff uncomfortable, he feels that AEW has pushed itself into a corner by taking too long to unveil the mystery assailants. "The longer it goes, the more anticlimatic it's gonna be," Bischoff added.