Eric Bischoff Gives His Opinion Of FTR

Eric Bischoff spoke about the past few weeks of wrestling on the latest episode of the 83 Weeks and gave his perspective on the uptick in the wrestling business outside of WWE.

The former WCW President believes that WrestleMania 38 put everyone on notice and enhanced the level of product across the board in all companies.

"In a general sense, I think all boats rise with a high tide," Bischoff said. "It's not just the event of WrestleMania, it's the hype, the build, Undertaker going into the Hall of Fame. There's so much in the stories leading into WrestleMania, it just elevates the entire industry right and I think everybody, not that people don't already work hard because they do, but there's an emotional charge that takes place around this time of year and it seems like everybody is operating at a higher level."

As far as who came out of the weekend as the biggest takeaway for Bischoff, FTR topped that list. After wrestling The Briscoe Brothers at ROH Supercard of Honor, the ROH Tag Team Champions faced The Young Bucks on AEW Dynamite, having two stellar matches during the fallout from WrestleMania 38 week.

Eric Bischoff described what he loves about FTR as a group and why he believes both Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler are not trying to be a character.

"These guys are just so committed," Eric Bischoff said. "That's the one thing I noticed. Social media to me, I take it with a grain of salt, most people should. But certain people are consistent with the way they present themselves to the public. They're authentic and real, I've talked a lot about Becky Lynch and why I became a fan of Becky Lynch, which is essential because she did such a great job in early 2019 with her social media because she stood out amongst the rest.

"She used social media differently than so many other people and that's what caught my attention. FTR is doing the same thing their way, they are not portraying a character so much, that's who these two guys are. How do you not become a fan of them? And then on top of it, to over-deliver, not only from their execution and athletic presentation and some of the dynamic things that they do but they're true to their style, which means they're true to their character and they're staying true to their entire backstory.

"I just dig that, I've always been fans of theirs. I've had little interactions with them very briefly back in 2019 when I was with WWE, but it was minimal at best. Obviously being around AEW just a little bit, hanging around backstage just a little bit, I got to talk to them a little bit more, and more importantly, watch them. Watch them interact backstage and watch them with their promos and I went, wow, these two are different.

"Not taking away from anybody else but these two are kind of the real deal and they're not trying to be a wrestler. Oh, I shouldn't have said that, but they're not trying to be a character. They're just themselves and they love to wrestle, but they're staying so true to their brand, their individual tag team brand, and as people. These are grounded guys, they're not in the 'I'm a wrestling superstar' ether because that's very temporary, doesn't last long and it's not real, to begin with.

"When you are able to live your real life and work as an extension of who you are as opposed to being a mirage of who you are, that's the kind of character that I gravitate towards. If I haven't already said enough good things about them, I don't think I can. FTR right now, in this moment, with the heightened awareness of wrestling and everybody competing for attention, these guys broke way the f*** out of the pact. Not that they weren't doing it before but it just became more noticeable all of a sudden."

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