Eric Bischoff Rips WWE For Their Promos, Using Excessive Camera Cuts
On the latest episode of the 83 Weeks Podcast, Eric Bischoff talked about the ongoing issues with WWE promos in 2020. Bischoff went on to say he can't stand the way they continuously produce promos in WWE, and he bashed them for their constant camera cuts. He also said they're stuck in the past with the way they continue to produce promos.
"I don't know why anybody today still continues to shoot promos that way, because it's about as 2001 as you can get," Bischoff said. "The technique has advanced so far beyond that. Particularly in WWE, I'm not here to bang on them, but it is what it is, and I've been b—hing about this for the last 15 years, so it's nothing new. But God d–n, figure out a different way to shoot your promos, because they suck as they are for the most part.
"Start looking at some of the ways people shoot these confessional [promos], because it makes them feel so much more real and believable. You get sucked into the story because it is believable. There is nothing f***ing believable about some talent standing backstage in a completely sterile environment, standing next to someone who's asking the question and setting the talent up for the response. For the most part, it doesn't have a story anyway, and then the talent walks off. It's just horrible."
The episode of the podcast was based on TNA Turning Point 2010, which featured a fantastic tag team match between the Motor City Machine Guns and Team 3D [Devon and Bubba Ray Dudley]. Bischoff talked about the promo work leading into that match by Bully Ray, and specifically how he witnessed WWE at the time copy the style of promo TNA was doing in the early 2010s. He said he was happy to see them copy TNA but upset when they stopped and continued to get back to the same old style of promo they've been doing for decades.
"We started to do it in TNA, and then all of a sudden, WWE started doing it," Bischoff said. "Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and I was actually flattered that they were copying what we were doing because I knew it was good. And they gave it up and went back to their old way, which they are still doing today, which blows my fu–ing mind.
"I'm always picking on [WWE] because I'm so passionate about it and I think it could enhance their property so much more. And they do it so often, which is probably the reason I'm picking on them so much more than anyone else. When you don't have the cameras shooting in and out, and fake camera shake and all that other vertigo bullsh** people do– just watch this and tell me if you don't think this makes the story feel more real."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.