Eric Bischoff Believes NXT Is A Threat To AEW

If there's one thing wrestling fans love more than in-ring action or frequent name changes, it's quibbling over ratings. So for as long as the likes of AEW and WWE exist at the same time, ratings will be a point of contention. That brings us to Eric Bischoff, who certainly holds strong opinions when it comes to AEW. Whether he's labeling it a "vanity project" or sounding a warning that some talent simply shouldn't go there, the man doesn't hold back. And while "WWE NXT" and "AEW Dynamite" aren't competing head-to-head on the same night anymore, Bischoff believes the latter may be in for a surprise sooner than later.

"At this point, NXT is probably going to deliver more ratings than Dynamite does by mid-summer," Bischoff told Conrad Thompson on "83 Weeks" this week. Now talking about television ratings in the year 2023 may seem like a futile endeavor, which Thompson alludes to by pointing out they'd just ribbed Chris Jericho for recently doing the same thing, but that didn't stop Bischoff. 

Instead, he pointed to the trends. "Don't listen to me," he continued, before suggesting to look up the work Brandon Thurston continues to show with regard to the business side of things. "If the trend that you can see visually continues, my prediction for 2023 is that NXT is going to outperform Dynamite unless things change pretty quickly." So, what's the one thing Bischoff believes needs to change? 

"If the focus of your product is match quality at the expense of legitimate, well-constructed, disciplined storytelling and character development, then you're going to appeal to an audience that is never going to grow," he declared.