Eric Bischoff Critical Of WWE For Using "Bron Breakker" Instead Of Steiner Lineage

By Marco Rovere

Big E shocked the wrestling world when he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Monday Night RAW a few weeks ago, defeating Bobby Lashley to become the new WWE Champion.

The entire wrestling world joined in praise for The New Day member after the biggest singles win of his career, including some AEW wrestlers. Joining in on the praise for Big E was Eric Bischoff on the latest episode of the 83 Weeks Podcast. The former President of WCW shared his thoughts on Big E and his level of charisma, while also giving him credit for sticking through the journey of the WWE grind to the top.

"There are those special people, of which I think Big E is one, that when they walk in the room, the energy is so positive that you forget how big he is," Bischoff said. "Big E is one of those cats that when he walks into the room, the energy is so positive that you want to be around him. You just do. He's just got it, and I'm happy for him. When you see somebody who has come up, you can only imagine. We all have a pretty good idea how tough it is to make it to the top in WWE, but what we don't know is the frustration and self doubt.

"The anxiety all along the way. We only see what we see on television and we only know about the character or person who plays a character based on what we read in their social media. We don't drive around with them and hear them as their coming up, and being frustrated, and convincing themselves, or having others convince them. We've all heard support from parents, teachers, coaches and friends, but it's tough. Life on the road is incredibly tough. So to see a guy with all of that charisma and all the physical talent – but to see a guy that's come up from the bottom and worked his way through that process, which we all know and hear about from people that go through it how frustrating and grueling it is."

Bischoff continued to praise Big E for surviving the journey to the top of WWE, and to make it to this point in his career. He also considered how E will be viewed as a role model to many for his ability to endure the grind this long. He also shared a story about his time working with WWE in 2019, and how he would see talent like Big E waiting outside Vince McMahons office for hours to speak to him.

"When I was in WWE, one of the things that amazed me during my last run as an executive was the people that would lineup outside of Vince's office on TV day," Bischoff said. "It wasn't just that the line was long, but they would be there for hours waiting for that opportunity to get in and get five minutes with Vince. Often they didn't get a chance to, and you'd see them walk away. And why even try? I'm sure Big E probably went through a lot of that, but he stuck to it and he stayed positive and he kept doing the work. Whether you're friends with Big E or a fan of Big E, seeing someone succeed that has had to go through what you know is such a grueling journey to the top, that makes me more excited than anything. I'm really excited for him.

"Big E will be a leader, he will be an example because he stayed positive and because he kept doing the work. He didn't let a lot of the obvious things that everybody has to go through, some more than others, he didn't let it slow him down or get in his way. He conquered that, he conquered the hardest thing that will ever get in his way in the wrestling business which is the journey to the top. There's nothing harder than that. The rest of it is easy compared. Good for him, kudos, my man."

NXT 2.0 debuted last past week in a big way, introducing several new stars including the son of Rick Steiner, Bronson Rechsteiner, as Bron Breakker. Breakker debuted by beating LA Knight and then making his presence felt after Tommaso Ciampa won the NXT Championship. It was reported after his debut that NXT Announcers were strictly told not to mention Breakker's lineage on commentary during his debut. Bischoff spoke about his relationship with Rick Steiner, and his thoughts about his sons debut on NXT 2.0.

"Rick is one of my favorite people from that part of my life and we're still friends. We don't chat all the time and all that," Bischoff said. "Rick and I became pretty good friends in WCW and we became very good friends after WCW. So happy to see [his son on NXT], but I've got some issues with the Bron Breakker thing. I kept my mouth shut. The only thing that I said, and it was challenging for me on social media when it happened, I was like 'I try, I really, really try.'

"Oh, there's no doubt [he's going to be a star]. I get that they didn't want to call him Rex Steiner because his real last name is Rechsteiner and nothing lasts forever. Relationships generally don't last forever, especially business relationships. You have to plan for the inevitable, and I understand why they would want to protect their intellectual property and give Bronson a real character name that they have control over. I don't like that, but I understand it. It's a fact of life whether I like it or don't like it. The truth of the matter is, the business WWE and AEW are in, you have to protect your intellectual property. I get that. But they just cut a guy by the name of Braun. That's the part I don't get. The Breakker part, that's like a video game kind of mentality. I get why they would do that. I understand it, but I still hate it. But the Bron part of that, the Bron Breakker after they just got rid of Braun Strowman, man. That's the part that got to me, and I just want to go bat s**t livid on Twitter. And I went no, no, then you're just like everybody else. You're better than that."

You can see Bischoff's subtweet about Bron Breakker here:

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

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