Eric Bischoff has called for a Cody Rhodes heel turn and shared his feelings that the current WWE product as having “flat-lined,” telling 83 Weeks listeners that the company needs to hit the refresh button ahead of the Cody Rhodes vs Gunther WWE Championship match at Clash in Italy.
Rhodes defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Gunther at Clash in Italy on May 31 in Turin.
“I’d turn Cody heel. Cody probably has no interest in it. I don’t know if he does or doesn’t, but I need to hit the refresh button here. It’s great and all, but it’s been great and all for a long time. I need something that’s a little different in order to engage, not that it’s not good, it’s great.”
He detailed the broader critique of the WWE product.
“It’s great business-wise, maybe there’s no reason to make any changes, and it’s all about the business. It dictates what you do, but if the business is not what it once was, and there’s an opportunity to light a new fire under it and create new business, I’d be all about it, especially right now. WWE has kind of reached a flat line. I said it, that doesn’t mean it’s dead, that just means it’s kind of cruising along, just doing the same old stuff every week. That’s not good TV. Good TV grows.”
Bischoff discussed the seasonal opportunity for WWE to heat up its product.
“For certain times of year, it’s a little harder. It’s harder this time of year for a lot of reasons. It’s harder in the fall when football kicks in. But there’s a period between the end of the football regular season into the playoffs, and about now when the NBA playoffs get hot. So you got a window there in a couple of months, you can really heat things up, so that you could go into the summer with the audience engaged as best you can.”
Bischoff discussed the Cody Rhodes character specifically. “I’d love to see a different character out of Cody.”
Bischoff also weighed in on the Roman Reigns vs Jacob Fatu Tribal Combat match.
“From a distant perspective, on the outside looking in, I think my instinct would be to protect Roman. This might not be the best opportunity or the right time.”
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.
