Eric Bischoff Doubts AEW’s Potential New TV Series Will Succeed on FS1

AEW has made significant strides over the past five years, particularly in the production quality of their shows. Recently, rumors have surfaced about a new show called “AEW Shockwave.” Despite this, Eric Bischoff has expressed confidence that AEW wouldn’t struggle to attract viewers if the show were to air on FS1.

On September 6, All Elite Wrestling officially applied for the trademark “AEW: Shockwave” with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. The application is currently being reviewed by a trademark examiner. Rumors suggest that “AEW Shockwave” could air on FOX, with the network reportedly showing interest in a deal with AEW, sparking excitement among fans.

We then reported that AEW and FOX are in active discussions for a new show. While speaking on 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff was asked about AEW landing a deal with FOX.

Eric Bischoff doesn’t believe AEW will do well if it airs on FS1. He thinks the Fox network will never take AEW, and even though FS1 is more possible, it doesn’t get a big audience. He pointed out that AEW is already having trouble on TBS, so moving to FS1, which has even fewer viewers, wouldn’t help.

Bischoff also said it’s a bad idea for AEW to try to create another show when they’re struggling to make their current ones successful. Bischoff mentioned that one recent AEW show only had about 168,000 viewers, and fans need to be more realistic about the situation instead of always being positive. He doesn’t think this move would be a win for wrestling because FS1 mainly fills time with content that doesn’t get much attention.

”It’s not Fox network. Fox network is never going to put on AEW—ever, ever, ever. That is not happening, as much fun as it is to talk about. But FS1, Fox Sports, um, maybe. They have a lot of stuff on Fox Sports 1 that you’ll never find anywhere else. It doesn’t get much of an audience. I don’t think AEW is going to do very well on Fox Sports 1 for a lot of reasons. It’s not doing very well on TBS, so to imagine that they’re going to somehow create a new show—first of all, creating another show for a company that can’t figure out how to produce one is going to be a real challenge. It’s just more. They don’t have a system down yet, they don’t have their feet underneath them yet. So, to take on another show on top of what they already have, that they can barely hold an audience for—they had like 168,000 viewers the other night on one of their shows, Friday night or Saturday night—I mean, come on people, you’ve got at some point put down the Kool-Aid and have a cup of coffee and wake up. It’s just silliness.

I don’t think it’s a feather in the cap of wrestling if Fox Sports 1 takes another show which basically has no audience and no production values. It is what it is—they’re filling airtime, they’re filling schedules with content. That’s all Fox Sports 1 really is.”

Bischoff remembered when TNA was on FS1, and the show’s schedule was different depending on where you lived, making it hard to promote. Even if AEW gets a primetime spot, he doubts it will find a big audience. If the show gets moved around due to more important sports, it will be difficult to produce and probably won’t get many viewers.

”Then you’ve got, you know, talk to Jeff Jarrett about Fox Sports 1, he’ll tell you all about it. Sounds great, makes a great press release, gets people excited, but you can’t do anything with it. The show will probably end up—if it follows the same pattern that TNA did with Fox Sports 1 when they were there for a minute—your schedule is different depending on what part of the country you’re in. It’s hard to promote that show because it’s all over the map—or at least it was back then. I don’t know what the situation is now. If it’s in a regular primetime spot on a night of the week where it makes sense, maybe it’ll find an audience. But if it’s going to move around the Fox Sports schedule depending on other sports that are taking place and take priority, it’s just going to be a burden that somebody’s going to have to produce that isn’t going to generate much of an audience.”

We have also reported on the internal reaction to the deal with AEW and FOX. AEW President Tony Khan has not said much about the future of “AEW Shockwave” yet. Nevertheless, we will have to wait and see whether AEW will find success on FS1 wherever ”AEW Shockwave” will become a reality.

What’s your view on what Eric Bischoff had to say about AEW’s potential deal with FOX? Do you believe it will be a success? Sound off in the comments section below!

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