Eric Bischoff says MJF is not wrong about veterans protecting their own position, but that 99 percent is too high a number.
MJF told Bleacher Report ahead of All In that young wrestlers make a mistake by seeking out veterans in the locker room, and that most of them do not want anyone getting better than they are at talking or wrestling, because that takes money out of their pocket. He put the figure at 99 percent and said the only person a wrestler can trust is himself.
Conrad Thompson read the comments to Bischoff on 83 Weeks and noted it is something young wrestlers say privately but rarely in public. Bischoff said the underlying point holds up more often than not, without going as far as MJF did.
“I understand it. I think it’s probably true in some, maybe even most cases, but I don’t think it’s a general rule. I’ve seen and listened to veterans really try to help younger talent, especially younger talent that has potential. I’ve seen it. I’ve experienced it,” Bischoff said. “So I don’t think what MJF is saying is totally wrong, but it’s not correct 100% of the time. And he said 99% of them. I think it’s fewer than that. I think there’s probably 50, 60% of the wrestlers that would rather not be bothered necessarily, or if you’re going to bother them, they probably don’t have your best interest in mind. They have theirs.”
He then gave an example from WCW that he said supports MJF’s side of it.
“When Bill Goldberg came along, immediately talent started flocking to him, surrounding him, because they knew at some point, or hoped, they were going to end up working with Bill. So they wanted to establish their relationship with Bill,” Bischoff said. “I’ve never talked to Bill about this, and he may disagree with me, just an observation from a distance, but I think in the very beginning it was very confusing for Bill because he was being pulled in a lot of different directions.”
Bischoff described the shape of the advice Goldberg was getting.
“I’m not even saying that he was being pulled in wrong directions, but you’ve got wrestler A, who’s a veteran, who’s making seven figures, is going to come in and he’s going to tell you what he thinks is best for your character. Now, maybe what he thinks is best for your character is also pretty good for him. And then another one’s going to come from over here. He’s going to see it an hour later, and this person’s also a veteran, also at the top of the food chain. He’s going to give you his perspective of what you should do to improve your position, especially if it improves his,” he said.
He stopped short of calling it deliberate.
“So there is that. I don’t want to call it manipulation, but manipulation in some cases with some people. But I’ve also sat and listened to guys spend a lot of time trying to help younger wrestlers who have the potential. So I don’t think there’s a flat answer across the board on that,” Bischoff said.
Bischoff was running WCW during the period he described, so the locker room he is talking about is one he was responsible for. He was in charge when Goldberg was built into the company’s biggest draw in 1998, and the veterans he is describing as pulling Goldberg in different directions were on contracts Bischoff signed.
MJF’s own position gives the comments a particular weight. He came into AEW in 2019 as one of the first names on the roster, has held the AEW World Championship, and has spent most of his run positioned opposite established veterans rather than alongside them. His feuds have repeatedly been built on the argument he made to Bleacher Report.
He did not leave Wembley Stadium with anything. MJF entered the Casino Gauntlet second and did not win it. Andrade El Idolo took the match, pinning Nick Wayne to earn a future AEW World Championship shot, in a field that also included Chris Jericho, Tommaso Ciampa, Speedball Mike Bailey, Mark Davis, Komander, Mistico, Daniel Garcia and Jack Perry.
