Eric Bischoff Looks Back On 2019 Return To WWE Creative

These days, Eric Bischoff has become one of the most newsworthy and controversial voices in wrestling media, a far cry from his days as an executive for WCW and TNA. But things could've gone much differently for Bischoff if his last run with WWE had worked out in 2019, when Bischoff was brought in to oversee the "SmackDown" creative team, lasting only a few months before he was replaced by Bruce Prichard.

Speaking about the experience on "Wise Choices," Bischoff revealed he had two meetings with then WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to discuss coming in, and how McMahon was keen to find out what Bischoff was interested in doing in a high-level role in WWE. Bischoff further stated that he wasn't interested in being part of the creative team at the time, and that McMahon wasn't interested in Bischoff in that spot either.

"The role, as it was described to me, was to oversee the creative team and make it more effective and efficient," Bischoff said. "And...I got really excited about that opportunity is because, by 2019, I had come much closer to having an actual formula that I was about ready to try and implement in a more formal way. Meaning get everyone on board, 'Okay, here's the story arch...here's the three act structure. 

"'Let's build the story arc leading to this PPV, this big live event, whatever it may be. To the end of the story. Let's work towards building that story using the framework of this formula that I had been literally developing since 1995.' And given the role that I was given...ultimately [it] would allow me to try to get at least part of my team on board to develop this concept more fully." 

Bischoff readily admitted that he wasn't looking for a job with WWE at the time, taking it mainly for the large paycheck and for the chance to practice his formula at the highest level. Even then, Bischoff claimed that he was only looking to remain with WWE for, at most, two years, after which he would depart, hoping by that point that his storytelling formula would've taken hold in WWE and left it in a better place. These days, Bischoff realizes that just wasn't possible under that era of WWE.

"Unfortunately, I was never able to adapt to the WWE system and culture," Bischoff said. "[I] never really had a chance to work on that, because the fire hose nature of the way things were being done in WWE at the time, with regard to creative and the way Vince liked doing things, there was really no opportunity to focus on that."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Wise Choices" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription