Eric Bischoff Slams AEW And Makes Prediction About Its Future

Former WCW President Eric Bischoff says he's given up hope that AEW will change it's ways.

Eric Bischoff at his 2021 WWE Hall of Fame Induction / WWE.com

All Elite Wrestling is for the 'sickos' and no one else, at least according to Eric Bischoff.

The former President of WCW has long been a harsh critic of Tony Khan's company and did not hold back his opinions Monday on the current state of AEW during an appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show.

Bischoff admitted that he used to get very frustrated when analyzing the weekly AEW product, because he felt the company could be doing much better across the board. He said he hates seeing good opportunities go to waste, but he's now lost all faith in a turnaround.

“They’re horrible," Bischoff told Helwani. "There’s no hope for them. Nothing’s going to turn their company around. There’s no light bulb gonna go off on anybody’s head and realize, oh, this is actually getting people who watch TV. They have no idea about what they’re doing and they’re too stubborn to learn."

AEW's flagship show has seen a steady decline in the overall viewership and in the key 18-49 demo over the past year. Last Wednesday's episode of Dynamite, which featured opening round matches for the Continental Classic, brought in just over 500,000 viewers according to Wrestlenomics.

For comparison purposes, the Thanksgiving Eve episode of Dynamite drew an audience north of 845,000 people each of the last three years.

The fundamental flaw for AEW, according to Bischoff, is that the creative team lacks the understanding of how to appeal to a larger audience. In layman's terms, there's a severe lack of storytelling.

“There is nobody there who knows what a story actually is. I use this analogy sometimes because it’s easy to understand. Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. That’s a story. It’s not very compelling. Nobody cares, but if Shakespeare gets a hold of it, it’s kinda like a version of Romeo and Juliet."

Whether or not you agree with Bischoff's assessment of AEW, Warner Bros. Discovery was apparently more than happy enough with the performance of All Elite Wrestling and recently locked the company into a new multi-year TV deal.

MORE: AEW Announces Max Streaming Debut, AEW Revolution PPV, And Other Live TV Dates

Tony Khan has long said that AEW is where the best wrestle. It's become the company's slogan and badge of honor. Bell-to-bell there may be no wrestling promotion that delivers higher quality content on a weekly basis.

Even Eric Bischoff lauded the high octane performances that are delivered inside of an AEW ring, but he's steadfast in his belief that the company will never grow beyond the hardcore audience without more of an emotional investment in the talent performing the maneuvers.

"It’s just not viable for the masses. As Tony [Khan} calls them, it’s for the sickos," Biscoff said. "Tony’s vision for the company I guess is to provide content for that percentage of the audience that only cares about high risk, high altitude, fast-paced action and not about story and not about characters.”

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