Eric Bischoff Praises Production Of WWE SNME

Ever since WWE revived "Saturday Night's Main Event," reactions to the NBC special have been mixed. While some aspects of the show, such as its pacing, have been criticized, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff has offered strong praise for one aspect of Saturday's show: the production.

Bischoff recently appeared on a post-show reaction livestream to broadcast his thoughts. In the beginning portion of his hour-long review, Bischoff complimented the show's production, and specifically mentioned Jesse Ventura, who returned to participate in the pre-show and the Steel Cage match between Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre.

"Just hearing Jesse's voice — and I know people already criticizing him and some people are really putting it over," Bischoff started. "I love hearing Jesse's voice. I almost don't give a damn what he says. It's just Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and it's like coming back home and smelling homemade chocolate chip cookies."

Bischoff's admiration of Ventura was mostly situated in nostalgia, as Bischoff credited Ventura's evocative presence as a large benefit to his "fandom" and aspects of WWE's demographic. Bischoff's production praises continued to be mainly rooted in sentimentality as he continued his review.

"The graphics, the open of the show with the old black and white TV," Bischoff continued. "It actually, to me, has more of a 70s vibe than an 80s vibe, but that's, just — I love it. It works for me."

Bischoff went so far as to claim WWE's production was its selling point, and the main reason he tuned in to Saturday's NBC special.

"WWE's production has always been so far ahead of almost everybody else in so many different ways," Bischoff finished. "They are probably one of the most...far advanced live television production company, possibly, on the planet. If not, probably in the top three."

Bischoff specifically tipped his hat to Lee Fitting, who took over for Kevin Dunn when the latter was fired from WWE after decades of production work for the company. While Bischoff clarified that he had "a lot of respect" for Dunn and the positive precedent he set for WWE's production, he acknowledged that Fitting's addition to the company has "reset" the standard. He also acknowledged Fitting's easy access to stellar production technology — something Dunn did not have access to in his 40-year career. This is not the first time Bischoff has extensively praised WWE's new production methods, as he came out publicly to enjoy the broadcast changes immediately following Dunn's 2023 departure.