The following was issued:
Last night on the post-show for 83 Weeks, After 83 Weeks with Christy Olson, Eric Bischoff shared his thoughts on MJF’s recent encounter with a young fan. “The King of Controversy” reveals who he thinks is to blame for the incident, while praising the AEW star’s character work.
Eric also talks about WWE’s upcoming Dennis Rodman special, and if it means Rodman is joining the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame class. The excerpts are below…
Does Eric think Rodman will be this year’s Hall of Fame celebrity inductee?: “If it was me, and I was on the Hall of Fame committee, or I was the person making that decision, or whatever the process is, you would have to consider it, because Dennis is a pretty high profile individual.”
Eric refuses to answer who should induct Dennis Rodman if chosen for the Hall of Fame: “I’m not going there. Honestly, and I don’t mean this to sound negative at all, but I’m kind of fatigued by reading all of the Hall of Fame tweets that come through my Twitter feed. So I tend just to scroll past them and try not to look at them. The less I engage in that kind of dialogue, the less my Twitter feed blows up, so I’m going to skip [answering].”
His response to MJF giving a 7-year-old fan the finger: “My first reaction was, I wouldn’t have done it. But I also understand it. It’s a very tricky thing, because people, when they come to meet and greets…I’ve found that fans really do want to see the character. They really do want to experience the character in real life and in person, more than they want to interact with the guy who plays the character.”
Eric backtracks on whether he would pull the stunt himself: “I understand it. I’m not going to criticize him for doing it, because he was staying in his character and that’s generally what people want to see. But it was a judgement call, and I’m not sure how I would’ve reacted. If I was MJF, I probably would’ve done it myself at his age.”
On the young fan’s family speaking out about the incident: “Especially if the dad knows the character and knows who MJF is, there’s some responsibility on the dad’s part too. If the dad is that sensitive to it, or thinks his son may be that sensitive to it because his son may not understand that [MJF] is playing a character, then that’s the dad’s responsibility to some degree—maybe a large degree.”
Eric’s opinion of MJF as a performer: “I think the world of [MJF] as a character. I think he’s a great, great young talent with an amazing future. He cuts one of the best promos in the industry as of right now, in my opinion. I think that puts him head and shoulders above a lot of people.”
The former executive director of SmackDown Live reveals an idea that got cut short: “I thought Sheamus was somebody that I was really, really excited to work with because I think there’s far more potential there than we’ve seen. There’s a fresh character there that, at least, I saw in my head. It may not have worked. But I saw it in my head and I was anxious to try to make it work.”
For more of Eric’s Q&A, watch the latest After 83 Weeks with Christy Olson here: https://youtu.be/LBDHeAqf2qU or listen on Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/after-83-weeks-with-christy-olson-afterbuzz-tv/id1438060090?mt=2&i=1000425693158.
