Eric Bischoff weighed in on the recent, controversial comments from Chris Jericho, who praised a TNA Bound for Glory crowd as “WWE level” while comparing an AEW Dynamite show to “a Tony Condello taping.” On his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff said he was not surprised and that he believes it is all part of a “brilliant” strategy by Jericho, whose contract is reportedly ending soon.
‘Chris Is Constantly Playing Chess’
“Here’s the fun thing about Chris. I’ve been watching the prequel to all this for about a year and a half. I’ve seen this train coming,” Bischoff said. “Chris is constantly playing chess. In my opinion… I kind of think I see what he’s doing, and I think he’s brilliant”.
Bischoff does not believe Jericho’s leaving AEW is a “foregone conclusion”. Instead, he sees it as a masterful negotiation tactic. “He’s raising his stock value,” Bischoff stated. “And guess what? If he stays with AEW, he’s more valuable than he was six months ago. And if he’s not going to stay with AEW, he has value that he didn’t have six months ago… But Chris is smart enough to see that”.
‘Drawing Attention To Your Commitment’
Bischoff also pointed to Jericho’s recent physical transformation as part of this calculated plan .
“If you had seen him a year ago, I did. I went, Whoa, Chris… Have you seen a mirror lately? You know not to be cruel, but you know when you’re out there in your underwear, you kind of got to be aware of what she looked like, I guess. And it didn’t appear that Chris cared, looked at him now,” Bischoff said. “And the reason I noticed it is because I also know that Chris is smart enough to use that… you’re drawing attention to your commitment to whatever it is you’re about to do next”.
Bischoff said he would personally like to see Jericho stay in AEW. “I really hope that, you know, this is Chris making a move so that he has more value to AEW… I’d like to see him raise his stock and make it matter in AEW”.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can listen to the podcast every week on all major podcast platforms.
