On the latest “83 Weeks” podcast, Eric Bischoff was asked for his thoughts on a possible return of CM Punk to AEW:
“I don’t give f**k. Straight up. Who cares? This is just such drama for the sake of drama. It’s a good thing that this drama is actually taking place because there’s nothing worthwhile watching AEW for. It is what it is, and if you’re a fan of AEW, God bless you. Go with God. Enjoy the product, but it’s flat. It’s boring. There’s nothing going on except for the drama outside of the ring. If Tony Khan had the ability to somehow manufacture a fraction, a small fraction of the drama that’s taking place outside his company and figure out a way to integrate it inside of his television product, it would be another situation, but it’s not. When the drama outside of your company far exceeds the drama that you’re able to create inside your company, if you’re a scripted wrestling company, you’ve got a problem, and I think this is indicative of a much bigger problem.”
“CM Punk got leverage, right? Two of the cosplay executive members of the executive committee, whatever they were, executive vice presidents, got into a physical confrontation with him. CM Punk got leverage and God bless him for using it. I don’t blame him. He’s a smart guy. I don’t particularly think he’s that talented. I think he’s overblown. I think he’s highly overrated. I think he’s been able to manage and create this persona that has somehow survived, and good for him for doing that. That’s an art form in and of itself. But in terms of what he can actually deliver in the ring, we’ve seen it. We’ve experienced it. It doesn’t live up to the hype of CM Punk. But hey, he’s got leverage. He’s probably got a multi-million dollar lawsuit waiting in the wings and attorneys that are more than willing to go after that. He’s probably getting a check every month. I don’t know what Tony is paying him. I’ve heard numbers ranging from 4 million to 7 million dollars a year. So while he’s waiting in the wings for Tony to figure out what Tony is going to do, and the attorneys representing Tony, he’s got all the leverage and he’s taking advantage of it.”
“Wrestling fans are right there and they’re waiting for him. They’re there for him. So it is what it is. I think when he comes back, if he comes back, it’ll make a lot of noise. Everybody in the AEW world will be foaming at the mouth and frothing at the bed and can’t wait and they’re all excited, and a month later things will be right back to their where they are right now, which is an average viewing audience of 850 to 900,000 people and nobody will give any more of a damn six months from now than they do today. That’s my take.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit AdFreeShows.com with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
