Eric Bischoff didn’t want to adapt when he made his WWE return in 2019.
The former WCW boss was a shock rehire by the WWE in 2019. As the show struggled creatively, Vince McMahon enlisted Eric Bischoff the oversee Smackdown while Paul Heyman took over the same job on Raw.
While this was an exciting prospect, it soon fizzled out. He was appointed in July 2019 but was gone from the role by October. Bill Pritchard replaced Eric Bischoff and he has only made sporadic appearances since.
Eric Bischoff appeared on the JAXXON Podcast recently and discussed his time in the WWE five years ago. He explained that he didn’t adapt to the culture of the WWE which is why his tenure was so short.
Eric Bischoff On WWE Return Failing
“They brought me in, but more on the creative side of the business. I was hired to be essentially the showrunner for SmackDown on Fox. Just to oversee most of it. But that didn’t work. From my perspective, I just didn’t have the ability to adapt to that culture.” Eric Bischoff said.
“I know this sounds, you know, stupid in a way, but I live in the middle of nowhere—Wyoming—and I like it because there’s nobody around me. I was into social distancing before it became a thing. That’s why I moved to Wyoming: because I generally don’t like being around large groups of people.”
Eric Bischoff continued. “And I had to move to Stamford, freaking Connecticut. Back up—I live in a 5,000-square-foot house on 20 acres, right outside of Yellowstone National Park. I can literally see it from my deck. Like Sarah Palin can see Russia, I can see Yellowstone. So to go from that to a two-bedroom corporate apartment in downtown Stamford had a much bigger effect on me than I thought it would.
“I was always uncomfortable there. Now, I’ve got to go to work, and I’m working directly face-to-face with Vince almost every day—sometimes for six, eight hours at a stretch, going until three or four o’clock in the morning.” Bischoff added. “If you don’t really have good chemistry with someone that you’re working with like that—if it’s bad chemistry, you’re just not feeling the vibe—it’s brutal.
“It just didn’t work for me. And, you know, I can’t do my best work in an environment like that. I just can’t. I don’t want to. And that was my fault. I was given the opportunity; I could have—I could still be there if I had chosen to adapt. But I’ve just gotten to the point in my life where it’s like, f** it.* I don’t want to adapt that much. I’ll adapt a little bit, but not that much,” he added.
He Explained What He Misses In Wrestling
“I miss the collaborative, creative part of it. I love creating characters, I love bringing stories to life. And that’s the only part I miss.” Eric Bischoff continued.
I hate travelling—I just despise it. So I don’t miss that part. I don’t miss having people’s careers in my hands. That sounds like a cool thing, like, ‘You manage all these talents,’ and yeah, but they’ve got wives, they’ve got kids, they’ve got bills, they’ve got issues.
And sometimes, you know, you’ve got to make decisions that affect people’s lives. I don’t ever want to be in that position again.” Eric Bischoff said.
