Eric Bischoff Explains Why He Thinks AEW Is Flat Right Now

Few people in the world have had the experience of producing and booking an internationally televised wrestling company, making reliable advice in the field hard to come by. One of the individuals who does have that experience is Eric Bischoff, with varying degrees of success over the years. On the latest episode of "83 Weeks," Bischoff, who was Senior Vice President of WCW and later had a backstage role in TNA, spoke about the importance of planning out major stories ahead of time and offered his opinion on why AEW has seemed "flat" in recent months.

"I never said, ever, because I don't believe it ... that every match should have a story. But your main event, your top three or four matches and your main event, better have [a story]," Bischoff said. "And that is my comment — that those stories are not compelling, and I think ratings back me up. AEW is flat. ... All you have to do is take a look at AEW's record for the last, whatever, six months, eight months. It's flat."

In recent months, Bischoff and AEW CEO and co-owner Tony Khan have exchanged jabs in the press. Here, however, it does seem like Bischoff is attempting to give genuine advice on how AEW can grow its audience from his perspective. AEW's ratings for "Dynamite" have floated around 1 million viewers for the past few months, but over the past three weeks the ratings have been lower than they were at the same time last year.

Bischoff acknowledged that his take on the matter may in part be due to personal taste. "I don't like wrestling matches just for the sake of wrestling matches," he said. "They do not get my attention. I cannot pay attention long enough for it to matter. I will find something else to watch."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "83 Weeks" podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.