Eric Bischoff Slams Vince McMahon’s Creative Skills: “Not That Impressed”

WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff is a well-known figure in wrestling, and people value his opinions because of his experience. He respects Vince McMahon and acknowledges his contributions to wrestling, but he has also criticized McMahon’s creative skills.

In the 1980s, Vince McMahon bought his father’s wrestling promotion for $1 million and turned it into a $9 billion company. This success was a factor in WWE’s sale to Endeavour earlier this year. McMahon played a key role in creating many legendary characters during the Attitude Era, with ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin being the most notable among them. However, in recent years, many people have criticized McMahon’s creative vision.

While speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff shared his thoughts about Vince McMahon, stating that he doesn’t think creativity was Vince’s strong point. Bischoff believes Vince was good at taking an idea and building on it, especially if he could picture it in his mind. However, he doesn’t see Vince as someone who could come up with a story from scratch while looking at a blank page. This is why Vince has always had people around him to help get things started.

Bischoff pointed out that this isn’t a bad thing; many people work this way. It’s uncommon for someone to walk into an office, get handed a lot of cash, and be asked to write a story for two wrestlers without any background information. Even if someone knows the backstory and the wrestlers, it can still be hard to know where to begin.

“I’m going to say this, and I don’t mean for it to sound as disrespectful as it is, but I don’t think creative was ever Vince’s strong suit. I think Vince was good at taking an idea, and if you brought him an idea that he could see in his head, he would grow that idea; he could possibly take it to the next level and build upon it. Yes, was Vince the guy who could sit in a room with a blank piece of paper and say, ‘Okay, I’ve got to start telling a story. Let’s do it like this’? He’s not that guy. That’s why he’s always had people around him who could kind of get those first couple of gears grinding.

And that’s not bad! I mean, a lot of people are like that. Very few people can sit down, you bring them into your office, you give them an envelope stuffed with a bunch of cash, and say, ‘Okay, I want you to write me a story for these two wrestlers.’ If you don’t have any backstory or know what’s going on, it’s a really hard thing to do. Right? And even if you have backstory and you know the talent, it’s sometimes hard to figure out where to begin.“

Bischoff thinks that once someone suggests an idea, it can help kickstart more creativity. Bischoff noted that this is where he saw Vince doing his best work. From his own experience of spending a lot of time with Vince, he remembers the struggles to come up with ideas.

In the end, Bischoff feels that Vince’s creative talents often shine after someone brings him a good idea. He admits that he wasn’t impressed with Vince’s creative work. Instead, he admires other things Vince accomplished, like his vision for WWE, how he helped the company grow, the risks he took, and the strong team he built. Bischoff believes WWE is still a top company because of Vince’s influence, and that’s where he sees Vince’s true talent, even if he’s not very impressed with his creative abilities.

‘Well, what if we begin like this?’ or ‘What if we do it like that?’—once you hear a couple of those ideas, the rest of your gears start kicking in. I think that’s where Vince was at his best. Just my impression, I spent four months, a lot of late nights, staring at a blank piece of paper with Vince McMahon. So part of what I’m telling you is based on my experience.

But like I said, I think his creative talents came in after somebody brought him a pretty good idea, and he made it better. Do I still feel the same way? I watched Vince work creatively, and I wasn’t that impressed. I’m way more impressed with a lot of the other things that Vince McMahon accomplished: the vision he had for the company, what he did to grow it, the risks that he took, and the team that he built. You know, WWE, even to this day, I mean, you look at it—it’s a blue-chip company. Some of the very best talent in the world at what they do are running that company, and that is in large part because of Vince McMahon. That, to me, I think is his genius. Creatively? Still not that impressed.”

Eric Bischoff also believes that Vince McMahon will work till he drops dead after setting up his new entertainment company. Regardless, there will be many who do not like Vince McMahon’s creative mind and that is unlikely to ever change.

Do you believe Vince McMahon lacked creative skills? Let us know in the comments section below!

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