Eric Bischoff Speaks Out - Impact Wrestling, Sinclair/ROH

Eric Bischoff was on Monday Night Mayhem on May 23, 2011. Here are some highlights:

Bischoff said Macho Man's death hit him pretty hard when he first heard of it. Hogan called him about it. Bischoff said it's still hitting him now but he hasn't talked to Macho in a long time as Macho was a private individual and Bischoff respected it. Bischoff said it's hard to believe that Macho Man is not with them anymore. He said Hulk said it best as there was so much life/energy/intensity in Randy's eyes. It's difficult to imagine for Bischoff that Randy is not here.

What is Bischoff's overall reaction so far regarding Impact to Impact Wrestling? Bischoff said that the main changes were cosmetic (graphics, lighting, staging). He said anyone that wanted expectations that Impact Wrestling was going to be a completely different show than they had seen probably had misaligned expectations. They will try and improve the show in different ways. He said what TNA is going to do in the summer leading into the fall, they will try to experiment with format and structure of the show.

Bischoff said the conversation about the rebranding was discussed probably around 10 months ago without him. He said he can't speak about it too much, but on a personal note, he said it was a good idea. He said Impact Wrestling, the title, says more to the fan. He said Impact may be more compelling than the TNA.

Ring of Honor's sale to Sinclair Broadcasting? Bischoff said he will get a lot of heat for saying this, and he has nothing against Ring of Honor and wishes them the best as it is nice for talent to have different places to work. That being said, he says people are kidding themselves. He said Sinclair is like 20 television stations with 22% market penetration in the United States. 22% means you don't exist from an advertiser's point of view. It means Nielsen doesn't track you as a network. From a pay-per-view standpoint, it won't register on the Richter scale and that is assuming they get clearing in 20 television stations. He says it's good that RoH has something. He said people are getting excited for a lot of nothing. The syndicated television market is not what it was 15-20 years ago. People back then used to migrate to Vegas for an executive convention and tens of millions of dollars were spent by syndicators/producers, with bands from around the world brought in. Now, it takes part in a lobby in a hotel in Vegas. He says while syndication is not dead, it's just not what it was 15-20 years ago.

Question about whether Bischoff will have increased duties with TNA. Bischoff says in regards to Terry Taylor's talent relations position, he says it is a thankless job and doesn't like the idea of having talent's futures in his hands. He doesn't like hearing about talent's problems. He said Jason Hervey and he have a lot going on at his business Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment and he has a significant portion of his time taken up at TNA already. He has no interest in a talents relations position.

Recently, Bischoff commented that Karen Jarrett rocks on his Facebook. A fan asked him to compare Vickie Guerrero to Karen Jarrett. He said it's hard to compare the two for many reasons. He said Karen is a phenomenal actress, and is a natural talent. As a character/performer, Bischoff thinks she is one of the best.

In regards to the X Division, he says "Stay Tuned". He doesn't like to give away too much story. He says in this business, focus and story are two of the most important elements.

Christian's short title reign was brought up. Bischoff was asked about short title reigns. Bischoff said there's no formulaic answer as it depended on each case, story. Generally speaking, he said short title reigns are risky as fans don't get a chance to grasp it. But he said you cannot make a generalization for it, it may or may not work well depending on many circumstances. He has no idea.

Talk on Chyna on TNA. Bischoff says that's a good question but he is not going to answer it because it will be inappropriate.

Worst injury Bischoff has seen would be the Sid Vicious leg break. He said that was pretty disgusting. He has seen scary ones with Marcus Bagwell breaking his neck as you weren't sure how bad it was until the results came out. Visually, it would be Sid Vicious.

How important is it to have an established star/veteran to show up at a TNA live event? BaseBrawl is brought up. Bischoff loves going to non-televised events, house shows, as it's a different kind of experience. He said fans are so passionate. He wishes Flair, Hogan, even him get to go to those. He said he wishes he had more time to do it as it would be great for business. He said it would give back to the fans as you're giving the big stars and it looks more to what it looks like on TV. Bischoff said Dixie mentioned that going the extra mile for the fans at house shows. At first, it didn't sit well with Bischoff, but he said after thinking about it, it's smart. He said dollars are hard to come by, and ticket prices are high. People are struggling in today's economy. He said nothing is better than to have the big stars show up at the house shows.

Source: Martin H/Monday Night Mayhem