WWE & AEW Aren’t Doing Enough To Create Same Buzz As WCW Nitro Says Eric Bischoff

Eric Bischoff spearheaded WCW Nitro through the Monday Night Wars, and he knows what it takes to get attention. He sees what is going on in the pro wrestling world today, and he doesn’t see the same hype.

While speaking on 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff mentioned that he can see the challenges that exist today. The pandemic has created a much different situation. He also said that WCW and AEW aren’t doing enough to secure the same kind of momentum that WCW had in their prime.

“That challenge still exists today. A couple weeks ago I made a comment, it certainly read more critical than I wanted it to when I said it. I referenced the fact that WWE or AEW aren’t really doing anything any different than has been done 20 years ago. They’re doing it with different people, with different outfits. Other than [the COVID situation] which was a necessity to stop the bleeding more than anything else which didn’t advance the product, neither AEW or WWE are coming up with anything really new or big to have the same impact that Nitro did in 1995, 96, 97.”

“We changed the way the product was being presented. We changed the audience that we were marketing to. That strategy of being different worked. That strategy of going after males [ages] 18-49 worked. Guess what? The world changed, 2 years later guess who was going after 18-49 males? Because the world changed. WWF followed our footsteps.”

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AEW and WWE were able to continue through the pandemic and keep original weekly programming on the air. There were weeks when news channels posed huge competition, especially during a tumultuous election period.

We’ll have to see if they can get that same WCW Nitro buzz, but the pro wrestling landscape has also transformed dramatically since then.

Thanks to Wrestling Inc for the quote