Eric Bischoff Thinks AEW Has Brought Down CM Punk’s Image

Ratings in pro wrestling are a fickle thing. If there’s anyone who should know that well, it’s Eric Bischoff. Yet that hasn’t stopped him from attacking AEW in recent weeks. It was on his 83 Weeks podcast, that he delved deeply into his issues with the promotion and CM Punk.

Essentially, Bischoff feels that Punk isn’t as over as the company have made him out to be. he also makes claims that there is not enough story development on AEW programming, especially surrounding Punk and Bryan Danielson. We wonder if Mr. Bischoff watches Raw. Perhaps then, he would truly find something to complain about, but I digress.

When asked why CM Punk or Bryan Danielson haven’t garnered AEW 2 million views an episode, he responded by saying:

“No story. You had all this anticipation. ‘Punk is coming. Bryan Danielson is coming. This guy’s coming. This girl’s coming. This is going to be great.’ They came, they saw, and nothing really happened. They got a big pop, yay!. The crowd reacted. That was awesome. The crowd reacted. They sold a bunch of T-Shirts, even better.

Advertising

Advertising

Now what? There’s no, ‘Now what?’ It’s not episodic. That’s the example, ‘Yay, I’m going to tune in.’ How many people tuned into Rampage when Punk showed up, 1.3 (million)? How many showed up three weeks later?  500,000. Why’s that? Because you didn’t give them a reason to come back. That’s why.”

When asked if CM Punk working with younger members of the roster is a good idea, Bischoff responded by saying:

“I think it’s a mistake to put Punk on such a pedestal that you think he’s so over that all he has to do is show up and sprinkle Punk dust on his opponent and that Punk dust will elevate his opponent. I’m not taking anything away from Punk. I think Punk, the way he’s being used now, and this is constructive criticism, I think they’ve diminished the perception. There was great equity in that perception. He shows up, does a great promo, gets a great reaction, and does pretty much nothing. ‘Punk is coming, yay! Punk is here, yay!’

Punk showed up and Punk’s not doing anything. Again, I’m not putting myself over, but compared to Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, because I’m not the one that did it first, Punk did. But Scott Hall and Kevin Nash showed up immediately was in a story and that sh*t went through the roof and stayed that way for a long time. But showing up, getting that big pop, he’s here, and then having nothing going on for two or three weeks in a row doesn’t help Punk. It doesn’t help the product.”

Again, these comments seem to come with an agenda. Anyone who says CM Punk isn’t over, is jealous about something for sure. The man practically broke the internet with his return to pro wrestling, and his fans would undoubtedly like one and all to remember a little promo known as ‘the pipe bomb’, which in 2011, when it happened, broke the internet even before ‘breaking the internet’ was even a ‘thing.’

So the comments by Bischoff seem to be a little bit of sour grapes for sure right now. He’s been on an all-out assault against AEW – a company that has come this far in a mere 2 year period – and his intentions are not quite clear. Regardless, he has an opinion and a right to it undoubtedly, especially as someone who spearheaded the Attitude Era with the formation of the NWO in WCW (1996), but CM Punk isn’t really the individual, and AEW the company, that he should be going after right now, as mentioned earlier…especially when it comes to story development.

What’s your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!