Subhojeet Mukherjee on September 16, 2024
AEW All Out featured several solid matches and surprising moments, keeping fans captivated throughout the event. One of the biggest shocks was the implosion of the Blackpool Combat Club. However, Eric Bischoff recently called out AEW over a controversial moment that took place during the show.
During the 2024 All Out PPV, Jon Moxley attacked Bryan Danielson and used a plastic bag to suffocate him. WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff shared his thoughts on this violent moment on his 83 Weeks podcast.
Bischoff said it seemed like AEW was desperate and stuck creatively. He felt the segment was bad and wouldn’t help AEW grow its audience or business. He acknowledged that AEW has a group of hardcore fans who like that kind of extreme wrestling, but he doubted this would attract more people or expand AEW’s reach, even with new TV deals.
“It’s just desperation. I do get it, I’m just searching for a different way to say it, and it’s hard. But I just think creatively they’re in a pit. And apparently the harder they’re trying to dig out of it, the deeper the pit gets. This was garbage in my opinion. It’s not the kind of thing that you’ll build an audience with. It’s not the kind of thing you can build a business around. Look, I can’t take AEW or anything they do seriously. They are what they are, they’re going to be what they’re going to be, which is a niche company that is going to have its base of fans. It’s going to always be a small percentage of the overall wrestling market, but they’re going to have 100% control over that percentage of the market that loves that crazy hardcore stuff just for the sake of it.
Good for them. If they can build a business and be successful in satisfying that percentage of the audience, then go with God and be successful. I can’t take it seriously because I don’t think it’s going to play. I don’t care if they get five more renewals, I don’t care if they get television on other sports cable outlets. All the rumors that I’m seeing, those are all good things. But it’s not going to change the product. It’s not going to grow the business. So hats off to him.”
Bischoff also talked about concerns regarding the impact on younger viewers, but he said that if kids are copying violent acts, the problem starts at home, not with wrestling. His main issue was that the segment wasn’t creative, especially with someone as talented as Bryan Danielson. He felt it was a lazy way to get a reaction from the audience.
Lastly, Bischoff pointed out that advertisers might not like this kind of content. He explained that people in the advertising industry wouldn’t care if it was on PPV or TV; the violent clip could hurt AEW’s image, especially if it spreads online.
“I mean, you can take that justification or that perspective of, ‘Well, we don’t want kids to do it’ — you can take and apply it to just about any other form of entertainment you want to. So it’s a convenient thing, right? It’s a very convenient bitch. I have no problem with any of that, that’s not my issue. First of all, if your kids are doing this kind of stuff at home, just like if they’re recreating video game hijackings and murder scenes, yeah, you got a problem. And it probably started a long time ago, before wrestling came into the equation or a video game came into the equation. So, I’m not suggesting that that’s my issue. My issue is that it’s just cheap. It’s just cheap. It is not creative. Is it a wink and a nod to Funk and Flair? Okay, great. One out of 3,000 people will get that or care.
To me, it’s just — you’ve got Bryan Danielson for God’s sake, who’s capable of doing so much. And you’re going to choke him out with a plastic bag? You’re going to suffocate him? I think my — I don’t want to say disgust, that’s too strong. But my reaction, my negative reaction to it all was just, it’s just cheap heat. It’s lazy, it’s not creative. And to the point someone made about advertisers, I do disagree with you a little bit on that point. Because an advertising agency isn’t going to delineate between, ‘Well, what’s on PPV and what’s on TV?’ That’s a conversation people in the industry will have. But a 28-year-old woman on Madison Avenue who sees a clip on YouTube is going to say, ‘What is that PPV or is that TV? Oh, come on.’ It’s just going to create an impression, it just does.”
A petition was also launched, which urged to end AEW programming for all the violence seen in the All Out event. AEW is known for its tough and intense matches, and this has become a big part of what makes the promotion stand out. Fans expect AEW to keep up this hard-hitting style in their shows, even if some people don’t agree with it and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
What’s your opinion on what Eric Bischoff had to say about the plastic bag spot? Do you believe it was too much? Let us know in the comments section below!
September 16, 2024 9:22 am
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