Eric Bischoff

[6.0] "As a booker - not great. He created one of the most important storylines in NWO but then ran into the ground. His TNA stint was equally as bad - rehashing nwo at least three times (The Band, Immortal, Aces And Eights). But as a on screen character i've always enjoyed him - he plays a corrupt authority figure well."

[5.0] "A booker who had three genuinely brilliant storylines - the NWO, Crow Sting and unbeaten Goldberg, 10/10 stuff ... until Bischoff fucked it. His messing around at Starrcade 97, only the highest selling PPV in WCW history, ruined the main event, killed momentum and whilst they pivoted it into some high-selling follow up PPVs, it should have been a point to move forward and create new storylines rather than continue on the NWO bandwagon which eventually faltered because Bischoff didn't know what to do with it, and the Starrcade mess also ruined Sting's big moment. Bischoff could start a good storyline but he had no idea how to finish it, so he drove every idea of his into the ground. His time with WWE and TNA were pretty mediocre to plain bad. He had 2 great years as a creative lead but could never follow it up."

[2.0] "An awful rate, good job guys. Eric Bischoff is one of the worst and most controversial worker who ever took part in a great promotion. Except for the creation of NWO, he is a very bad booker, tribalist, sore loser, contributed to the failure of an important wrestling federation, tried to do it again on another promotion but fortunately was stopped, nepotist, unfair, bad criticist and this list can continue for more and more. He is the perfect companion for Vince Russo, the only difference between them is, and I don't understand why, Russo is way more hated than him."

[3.0] "Eric Bischoff was part visionary, part wrecking ball. While he helped WCW rise with bold moves like launching Nitro and creating the nWo, he also helped steer the company into the ground with bloated rosters, backstage chaos, and short-sighted booking. His WWE run as a character was entertaining but mostly surface-level. Then came TNA, where his partnership with Hulk Hogan nearly dragged the company into a similar fate as WCW. Overbooked nonsense, wasted talent, and bad business choices followed. His legacy is big, but it's messy"

[7.0] "I don't understand the hate towards EzE. It is true that he was partly responsible for the sinking of the WCW ship, and he muddled the waters in TNA Wrestling, but he also was responsible for producing some of the most exciting wrestling television in history. His strengths and his weaknesses lie in the fact that he was a good producer of television, and not a wrestling booker or promoter. Nevertheless, his 83 Weeks podcast is a good resource on the old WCW days."

[1.0] "(to respect the laws of the website, I'm not gonna start a fight between AEW and WWE and everything I say is just a mention of what Eric's been doing). embarrassing! Dude's straight-up tribalistic, always dunking on AEW with petty jabs like calling them a "flop" or shading Tony Khan! Isn't it obvious what exactly he's trynna do? His X posts, like picking fights with Dax Harwood, are just bitter and attention-grabby, stirring up fan wars instead of hyping wrestling's vibe! Plus, his WCW days? What a mess. He tanked it with awful booking, pushing the same old NWO story until it was stale, and blew cash on bad deals while ignoring new talent. Guy's got no room to talk crap about AEW's hustle when he ran WCW into the ground. His hypocrisy--knocking AEW's stories while WCW was a dumpster fire, shows he's clueless about his own flops. yes, Bischoff did some cool stuff back in the day, but now he's just toxic noise."

[1.0] "There are not enough words to describe how terrible Eric Bischoff was. He actively made wrestling worse every time he was on a show, not to mention he admitted himself that he didn't like wrestling matches. His decisions as head of WCW were all to fuel his overblown ego and the damage is still being felt today as the business will never recover from the joke of a product he put on TV. Worse commentator than Mongo as well because Eric actually thought he was good, but his phony announcer voice is as bad as it gets. 1 star for getting lucky with the beginning of the NWO but everything he did after he joined the group was bad to terrible."

[6.0] "Easy E is a little tough to rate. When he was hired to run WCW in 1993 he was the impetus behind putting tapings at Disney to cut costs and limit house shows. Both tactics worked and WCW at least broke even that year after running in the red for years. His hiring led Flair to return, which meant signing Hogan was possible since Flair helped broker the deal. Which in turn led to Savage debuting and Luger returning. It was Bischoff's idea to run a live program opposite Raw and of course he helped spearhead the NWO invasion angle, arguably the most important and most popular angle in the history of wrestling. Eric was the first on screen evil boss character, (he was basically playing himself if the stories are accurate). He also has a decent run as Raw general manager from 2002-2005. That's it. All of that is very important but since 2005 his contributions to wrestling have been almost nil. Even worse is in the last few years he's taken to the angry anti-AEW grift which is very profitable but also sleazy and disingenuous. Quick aside, I'm not saying if anyone doesn't like AEW they're immediately a paid shill or wrong, I'm saying it's pretty obvious to spot the ones doing it just for a payday."

[5.0] "His claim to fame is the NWO, which he created and then eventually destroyed with terrible booking because he actually had very little creativity of his own beyond that singular idea. His booking foibles might not be as egregious as Russo, but Bischoff made a boatload of terrible decisions that actively destroyed two companies. He could be a fun character at times, but grossly over exposed himself and all his friends and family to the business."

[8.0] "I really like Eric as an on-screen character. He was very easy to hate, had the mic work and charisma to really get people riled up. Gets way too much credit for the whole nWo thing, as he basically knew of the whole UWF vs. NJPW storyline and decided to do an American version of it with WCW folks. From what I've head and read, he was quite the asshole back in the day. Seems to have mellowed out quite a bit now, not somebody you could rely on 100% for the truth, but does seem quite open about telling his side of things. His work in WCW was great for a while, got pretty stale though. He could only do so much, and you're not going to put him in a match week-in-week-out so him running his mouth with no pay off wasn't great. Probably took on too much responsibility in WCW and was one of the many reasons why the promotion ended up failing. In my opinion, he was too focused on the short-term and never thought too far ahead. Gave too much power to wrestlers, but at least he helped get them a lot of money with contract signings. Really loved his WWE run, he was just fantastic as Raw GM and left before it got stale. Had lots of memorable moments in wrestling, will go down in history as kind of a grey character. Did a lot of good and a lot of bad for professional wrestling."

[7.0] "One of the most important characters in Pro Wrestling history, as if it wasn't for him, WWF might've ended up sucking still. In 1995 he was really innovating but then late 90s WWF ended up copying him better than what he could do. It was a shame he got thrown out with Vince Russo (didn't go well) but towards the end of his WCW career he made it special (although all sparks were gone by then) and reinvented it as something unique again with the 2 months hanging off of it. It was special once he came back to RAW on 15/7/02 as the general manager. That worked shoot he also did to promote his book in 07 was cool too. His tenure in AEW wasn't special if people really think about it but with his recent comeback in MLW has me having a feeling his career isn't done yet. My biggest issues with him is that he simply won't let go of the fact like "Oh yeah I dominated WWF for 83 weeks." and other things, but then suddenly has a lapse in his memory of all of the bad things he did. He has a lot of memory lapses when it comes to him narrating and also in his book "Controversy Creates Cash", but I kind of expect it since he's had a long life."

[3.0] "Give a blank checkbook from Ted Fucking Turner to anyone in the world with half a mind for pro wrestling and I promise you they'd do just as good of a job, if not better, than Eric Bischoff did when he was handed the WCW reins in the mid-90s. Creatively, what did Bischoff actually, like, do? The nWo, which was just him ripping off an angle from Japan a few years earlier (which he will gladly admit to), and...? Seriously, name one other storyline or angle this dude is known for. Sharing spoilers for Raw? That put a lot of butts in seats, didn't it Eric? nWo was cool and all but WCW was fucking dead less than five years later. Bro is literally just an upjumped gopher for Verne Gagne with a nice smile and a penchant for networking and kissing the right asses. That's literally it. He did not have the first clue how to book a wrestling show, because I don't think he ever considered himself to be a booker. No no, Eric was a big-time producer for a major cable TV series, not just some wrestling show. He cared more about hanging out with all the cool wrestlers and making himself and his buddies look cool on TV than creating actually interesting, compelling content, and as a result created a pro wrestling monopoly for the WWE that has lasted for nearly a quarter of a century now. And then, for some godforasken reason, TNA decided to bring him on board when they were at the peak of their popularity, and he fucking DESTROYED their product. TNA became The Hulk Hogan Show for like three fucking years, because Eric Bischoff is a creatively bankrupt toadie with no actual ideas or convictions. I genuinely don't understand how anyone could look at Bischoff's track record and think "oh yeah, he's a legend" or even "he knows what he's doing". And for the record, 83 weeks ago today would be May 9, 2023. That's not a very long time, is it? 2.5 rounded up because as an actual on-screen performer he was quite good. Should've just stuck with that tbh."

[0.0] "Remember when WCW beat WWF for 83 weeks in the mid-1990s? I do, and so do you, because Eric never fucking shuts up about it. But as time goes on, it's becoming clearer that achievement is less a Super Bowl MVP performance, and more Al Bundy putting up four touchdowns in high school. But people liked Al Bundy, whereas Eric is stuck pushing 70 in a make-work job shilling mortgages because he flamed out in spectacular fashion multiple times in the wrestling industry. Eric had one brilliant idea (which, by his own admission, he took inspiration from Japan) and its star shining bright for a while clearly left him with the impression to never ever try again, because he ran the nWo into the ground until it was a laughingstock. His inability to come up with new ideas, coupled with his terrible stewardship of the Good Ship WCW both creatively and financially, saw a once-proud promotion shut its doors for good. He was very clearly still bitter WWE wouldn't give him the pencil nearly a decade, on because he decided to jump ship to TNA with Hogan, try to relitigate the Monday Night War, and failed so badly that he ended up driving away what made Nashville great, and left it dying on the side of the road. I don't know what Vince McMahon was thinking in 2019 to hire him back for a third try, but the fact he lasted less than a month before getting the pink slip says something; how terrible must you be to be not good enough to book for WWE in 2019? Perhaps if he quietly went away in 2001, history would remember him as an Icarus figure, someone who took a worthwhile risk that didn't end up working out. But Eric has an almost pathological need to be acknowledged, and like a true narcissist, won't ever admit to his mistakes. If only he did, then his commentary might be worth listening to. But instead, he's stuck in a loop of complaining that his true genius is being overlooked, when the reality is that we've all seen his "genius" and found it to be lacking. It's not 1996 any more, Eric. Just put the fries in the bag, bro."

[5.0] "On one hand there's a number of things he did that people don't talk about enough, but on the other hand there are a number of things that people should be roasting him on the daily about more often. His three or four years of good work probably balances out a lot of damage he did from 1998 on in WCW and then pretty much the entire time in TNA but it's close."

[8.0] "I really don't think Eric gets the respect he deserves, directly took Vince and the WWF on and actually managed to surpass them, some iconic Wrestling moments have come directly from Erics booking decisions, he definitely made mistakes but WCW at its peak gets a lot of its success directly from Bischoff."

[7.0] "A very complicated and controversial character, and he knows it. Brought back life in WCW but was also involved in its downfall. Showcased cruiserweights unlike any other promotion of that size at the time, and many other talents that wouldn't have gotten a second glance in the WWF, but also was massively disrespectful to those same talents either in disrespecting their culture like Lucha Libre or firing them through mail or over the phone. One of the best heel authority figures but also one of the worst depending on the year. Let's not even talk about TNA. But, I can't deny the importance of what he did for professional wrestling. And hey, at least he isn't Vince."

[8.0] "Bischoff obviously has a very, very complicated career, but I think it's easy to look past his faults and acknowledge all of the great contributions he's made for the industry. I shudder to think of a timeline where he doesn't exist for both WCW and WWE's sake, which I think makes up for his obvious creative shortcomings as well as the TNA fiasco. Not to mention his character work is typically amazing."

[5.0] "This guy has a pinfall victory on Terry Funk for the WCW Hardcore championship. That's all you need to know. Oh, and also that he was a good booker but also a terrible booker on other periods. An okay GM, but often had terrible ideas. Helped WCW getting mainstream and helped killing TNA because he was out of touch. So a middle of the road 5 is more than fine for me"

[6.0] "Had the guts to take on Vince McMahon head on and counter programmed Nitro to screw with Raw. Used a lot of Guerrilla tactics but in the long run, he hurt the company by letting Hogan do whatever he wanted and everybody just burning through money eventually killed WCW. Became pretty obnoxious when he wrote himself in as a member of the nWo but I guess that was the point."

[5.0] "I can't stand Bischoff. He's smarmy, self-aggrandizing, and just exudes the personality of the guy that subscribes to playboy for the articles and cigar aficionado. I do not care for this dude."

[7.0] "Eric Bishoff has a complicated legacy and career. His booking of the NWO in WCW created one of the biggest successes in pro wrestling then it fell off a cliff because of backstage politics. In WWE he played a good GM and did a lot of good work. His worked in TNA destroyed any promise the company had as he did not learn from his mistakes. Legendary figure in pro wrestling but not always the most successful."

[3.0] "He's a good promo, but my god after 1997 this dude lost all understanding of pro wrestling. I'll give him credit for bringing in the joshis and cruiserweights to WCW. But he then replaced a whole women's division with cheerleaders, and then took all the masks off the luchadors, and refused to push talents like Chris Jericho & Eddie Guerrero. And then there's the whole reboot Nitro that's just dumb. In WWE where he was only an onscreen personality, he did his job well and got heat. In TNA he nearly killed the company with Hogan, he was unbearable and then he brought in his talentless son to wrestle. He went toe to toe with Vince, but he got deservedly knocked out twice."

[5.0] "Before I assign a numeric rating: I just wanted to say that if Eric was my boss, there is NO WAY I would last more than 2 weeks. The reason Eric Bischoff would fire me, is because it would be IMPOSSIBLE to stay awake once he starts talking. He will not stop and he will take 3 hours to say NOTHING. By the first company meeting I would be caught snoozing. As far as rating "how watchable he is", then we must focus on other matters: His tenure in AWA was... BWAHAHAAHAH oh sweet merciful crap that company was totally horrible at that point. In WCW his commentary was passable to strong, but the way he would rapid fire "FRONT LEG BACK KICK! " didn't make it sound any less dorky. As a heel I ended up fast forwarding almost every time and through every segment. I absolutely DESPISED the nWo angle, and it's still absolute f#ckery! However because of various talents he hired, he DID make WCW very compelling in the mid to late 90's (guys like, oh you know the ENTIRE CRUISERWEIGHT DIVISION). His WWE work is honestly... quite good! I liked his stuff there. He made good use of himself up in McMahonland. "How about TNA? " . Yeeeah about that. Overall, I'd have to say the final verdict is lukewarm. 5.25 rounded down."

[5.0] "WCW with him was great, he was on top of WWE for so long but eventually his stupid business decisions led to WCWs demise. People love to blame only Russo for that but you can't overlook Bischoffs role in company dying. And after about a decade he came and buried TNA. "Business genius" indeed."

[10.0] "Easy E, maybe, not the best booker or best promoter, but one of the greatest on-screen personalities, without any doubt. He built the most influential stable in the history of professional wrestling, dammit."

[8.0] "Bischoff is a very controversial figure. On the one hand, he pushed WWE to the brink, and it feels like he very nearly came out on top. The NWO was one of the very great ideas in wrestling history. But he didn't come out on top-- his promotion went under. But as a character and manager, Bischoff is pretty excellent."

[7.0] "Eric was a decent business man and knew how to adapt to the ever-changing market, and was skilled in using pre-existing ideas for a global audience: this was how the nWo became a thing in the first place by Eric taking the ideas from invasion storylines in Japan. He was a pretty savvy promoter and knew how to play the corporate game with bigger networks, wiggling WCW into multiple very successful deals and making them a lot of money, as well as sharply increasing how much exposure the company got. The issue, ofc, was that he gave too many massive contracts to talents who could then veto anything people came up with: guys like Hogan, Nash, etc etc could basically run things if it didn't go their way. Ultimately his idea of bidding wars with huge inflated contracts and signings caused them to lose a lot of money very quickly, which resulted in WCW falling apart due to a complete lack of synergy or strong creative. As a talent, he's perfectly fine, good on the mic and can play a asshole boss very well for himself, but he was insufferable in TNA with his changes to the company only causing it to die quicker with bad signings and copycat attempts at mimicking the top storylines of WCW. Ok producer in the short term but the vast majority of his work isn't very successful at all, and he's pissed more money away than perhaps anyone else has."

[7.0] "On one hand the Monday Night War can in large part be attributed to Bischoff. On the other hand, WCW still went under, and his time on WWE after that was honestly not very impressive. Great on the mic though, can't really argue that."

[6.0] "Deserves credit for taking on WWE & making bold decisions like bringing in the NWO, but ultimately, he failed WCW & people should not forget that. On Raw he was a good authority character, but that role wore out its welcome (and the heel authority continues to be terrible in every promotion its featured in today). He royally messed up TNA. He's getting ready to work as a key player for Smackdown soon, so it will be interesting to see if he helps to right that ship. But to be honest, I have low expectations."

[6.0] "Whilst Eric deserves points for pushing Vince McMahon, the fact is that Eric's run on top was very short, and WCW went out of business, so his run on top ultimately meant nothing because the other guy still ended up winning."

[10.0] "Lots of credit to Eric Bischoff. He was able to bring real competition to Vince McMahon & beat him for an extended period of time. Can't take that away from him. Also a great on-screen character in his own right."

[8.0] "As a promoter, he was an excellent builder who ultimately couldn't maintain and expand the foundation he had built for a variety of reasons. He was only ever an OK commentator although he became unbearable after he went heel. Despite that he truly did shine in a heel authority role where his natural arrogance and great smile drove pretty much everyone who watched him absolutely crazy."

[8.0] "Bischoff was a visionary for his time. He was able to lure guys away from Vince with mega contracts, thus restarting the concept of bidding wars. He made mistakes because he did not make new stars in 1998. They created a hype machine and superstar in Goldberg but he should have pushed hard to keep the belt on him until their younger guys Raven, Steiner, Benoit, Guerrero, and Jericho could take him. He also had a bad habit of letting the inmates run the asylum which ultimately collapsed from within. He gave us cruiserweights and international stars on national television and forced McMahon to make good weekly TV. When he came to WWE, he was excellent as the smarmy authority role, he's got great camera skill and is a pro mic worker. Bischoff's business is a mixed bag but on camera, there was none better at getting heat."

[3.0] "Terrible at wrestling! I thought his name was originally "Bitch-Off". He couldn't beat a lick out of Steve Austin. I give him credit for being a great heel manager and general manager. What I like about him was that he was with the NWO. WHen he was with WWE he was great a t first then went down when he changed his hair white."

[8.0] "Eric Bischoff the character is a great authority figure for wrestling. The way he talks and carries himself leads to great moments that he proved in WCW, WWE and TNA. The man behind it has had ups and downs and not always the best career decisions. But as a whole Eric coming out and being apart of a wrestling event makes me happy he chose to be around."

[7.0] "Legitimately one of the most arrogant bastards on the face of this Earth (inside the wrestling business or not), but damn if he wasn't entertaining. He helped turn WCW into a major force, but he was also partly responsible for its eventual demise. He's tough to rate, but he was always a great authority figure, because his smugness and ego made him incredibly easy to hate. As an authority figure on wrestling television, I always preferred him to McMahon. As an actual authority figure in a wrestling company, he had his good points among many bad points. I doubt we'll ever see him the WWE Hall of Fame, but he'll be remembered by any true wrestling fan."

[9.0] "Eric Bischoff wore many hats in the world of wrestling : owner, manager, announcer, authority figure, etc... It is really interesting to see how hard he tried in every one of those, but he shined the most as a corrupt on-air character, furthering stories with his smarmy demeanour which made him a really memorable figure. In many ways, his influence on modern wrestling his huge, almost rivaling the McMahons."