On a recent edition of his “83 Weeks” podcast, Eric Bischoff discussed Bryan Danielson being involved in the creative process in AEW, whether The American Dragon should oversee the booking of the Collision brand and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On if he thinks Bryan Danielson could book Collision: “I am excited about the potential, for sure. And I say that — now, I don’t know Bryan Danielson at all. We’ve probably had brief conversations occasionally over the course of the years, especially when I was back there (WWE) for a minute in 2019. But here’s what I do know. I’ve watched his work. I watched him in the ring. I’m very impressed with him, but what I’m most excited about — not so much as a performer. I think Bryan Danielson is knocking on the door of the end of his career. Just age, injuries, all of the above, but I don’t think that’s where his real value is either.”
On Vince McMahon being impressed by Danielson’s creative: “When I was working in WWE back in 2019 — and I hope I’m not speaking out of school here. I don’t think I am, because I’m doing it as respectfully as possible. But I know that Vince McMahon was very impressed with Bryan Danielson. His creative, and his psychology. And I know that there was some conversation, I don’t know how serious it was at the time. Vince mentioned to me that he was possibly interested in bringing in Bryan Danielson to be very involved in the creative side of things. Vince is a pretty bright guy. And you can say whatever you want about him, but I think that suggests that there is a lot of great potential there.”
On the upside, in the long-term with Danielson being involved in creative: “I think if Bryan Danielson — or anybody else, but let’s talk about Bryan. If Vince’s instincts were accurate then, and I don’t know why it didn’t work out. I really don’t. Vince never shared that with me. But I know there was interest there, because I had the conversation with Vince myself. And that suggests to me that Vince saw a lot in Bryan creatively. I think if that potential exists, Bryan Danielson is three or four, or five, or 10 times more valuable to Tony writing and overseeing the creative of AEW, whether it’s just for Collision or ultimately all of the shows. Because that’s not Tony’s strength. Tony wants it to be his strength, he wants to convince people it’s his strength. It’s not. His creative, his booking has not been, in the history of AEW — I hear people say history, the company is 48 months old, barely. But it’s still history, like it’s been around for 50 years.
“In the amount of time that AEW has been with us, the 48 months or 46 months, whatever it is: creativity is not their strong suit. Have they had some great matches, but that’s not the same thing as great creativity, is it? It’s just a great match. That is where the potential upside is long-term for AEW. That’s the breath of fresh air frankly that AEW needs. And if I were Tony, I would give that Collision show to Bryan. Not just be my right-hand man and let him bounce ideas off, give it to him. Say, ‘Here you go. Here’s your notepad. Here’s your computer. Here’s a pen. Here’s an office. Call me when you have a show ready.’ And then go over it and go through it, and learn, and understand, and get an idea of a different kind of creative process or creative perspective than Tony currently has, either because he’s doing it all himself or because of the people he currently has around him. Whatever the case is. But give that thing to Bryan, let’s see what he can do. And if he does what we all would hope he could do and prove that there is a better way to approach creativity, then bring him into Dynamite and let him have a voice there as well. Maybe not the voice, but a voice. Because it’s the creativity that is the opportunity for Tony right now. It’s not bringing in Edge. It’s not bringing in anybody because that doesn’t matter, and that’s been proven over and over and over again.”
