As the old saying goes, “Controversy Creates Cash,” and that is a mantra that Eric Bischoff continues to live by, more than 25 years after coining the phrase.
For proof of this, look no further than Bischoff’s current war of words with AEW wrestler CM Punk.
The war started back in 2021, when CM Punk compared his, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole’s arrival in AEW to that of the nWo.
“I’m not Hogan, I’m not Savage,” Punk stated at the All Out 2021 media scrum. “Daniel Bryan and Adam Cole are not The Outsiders. I see the parallels. This is totally different and I’ll go ahead and say it – people can quote me and they’ll be pissed off about it – to me, this is bigger.”
Well, people did quote him, and people did get pissed off.
One of those people was Eric Bischoff.
Bischoff took exception to Punk’s stance back in 2021, and he brought it back up last week after Punk responded to Bischoff’s claim that AEW needed to stop booking for “one small segment of the audience.”
Punk, taking exception to Bischoff’s claims, clapped back in the way only CM Punk can.
Following that, Bischoff brought up Punk’s 2021 quote and sardonically asked how that was going for Punk and AEW.
After the drama of last week, Bischoff’s podcast co-host Conrad Thompson brought up the verbal barbs on Monday’s episode of 83 Weeks, and Bischoff wasted no time in adding fuel to the fire.
“I love to counterpunch sometimes… I don’t really wake up until I’ve been hit really hard; it’s just my nature. But, you know, he threw a punch on social media and I thought, ‘Well, this will be fun.’ So I responded in kind…kind isn’t the right word.”
Bischoff then once again brought up Punk’s comments at the All Out media scrum, and proceeded to bury the challenger to Adam Page’s AEW World Championship.
“For a guy that thinks he’s a bigger deal than Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, you know, coming to WCW, or Randy Savage…so far he is falling flat on his face.”
“I took his quote and posted it and said ‘How’s that working out?’ Which, it isn’t, obviously. In terms of a return on investment, this guy has to be the biggest financial flop in the history of wrestling.”
Bischoff’s co-host, Conrad Thompson, took umbrage with his stance, stating that Punk has contributed to AEW’s success in terms of merchandise, tickets, etc. But Bischoff said, in terms of television ratings, Punk has not been successful.
“I’m only talking about ratings… In terms of ratings, he’s fallen flat on his face.”
Bischoff and Thompson then spoke at length about previous criticisms that Bischoff has levied against Punk, Tony Khan, and AEW as a whole. Thompson, to his credit, raised many counterpoints to Bischoff’s claims, but Easy E still held true to his position.
Bischoff said that much of criticism comes because Tony Khan once stated that he knew more about professional wrestling than Ted Turner. Bischoff said that quote, that idea, was disrespectful and that’s when he lost a lot of respect for the AEW owner.
Towards the end of the segment, Thompson actually had some very good advice for Bischoff, and for wrestling fans as a whole when it comes to watching the product.
“Man, I’ve got friends on both sides, and I’m pulling for wrestling. I’m pulling for the boys and girls performing in it, and I hope that everybody gets bigger television contracts, and makes more money, and has more fun. I think the real debate about who’s winning and who’s losing, well, the real winners in all of this are wrestling fans…”
In the end, Bischoff admitted that he does want to see AEW succeed. He even stated that he wants AEW to overtake WWE (though he said it would probably never happen). He also acquiesced that maybe, just maybe, he could be a little gentler when it comes to his criticisms of AEW.
But he probably won’t. Because, after all, controversy creates cash.
Full audio and video of this week’s 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff can be seen below:
If you use any of the above transcription, please credit Bodyslam.net.
