Eric Bischoff discussed his opinion on why Randy Orton is the most believable character in wrestling during a recent edition of 83 Weeks.
Here is what he had to say:
Eric Bischoff on Randy Orton’s character: “Watch Randy Orton. You watch Randy Orton, and there is not an ounce of wasted motion. Everything he does means something. He’s so fluid, he’s like water going through a river over the rocks. It’s just poetry in motion because he’s so comfortable in his character, and he’s been doing it for so long. He has the natural talent and God-given gift that a lot of people never will have. Randy has it and the experience.”
On Orton believing in his character and how it compares to Goldberg and other wrestling legends: “It’s one of the reasons I think so many talents today – as great as they are in the ring – when you put a microphone in front of them, it lets all the air out of it. They’re way more comfortable with movesets and moves and execution and all the physicality – that they’re pretty comfortable with – but they still don’t believe in their own characters. I’ve taken improv classes over the years, and there’s a point where it’s like method acting. You have to believe you’re the character. You can’t play a wrestler, you can’t play a tough guy, you can’t play a nice guy, you can’t play a bad guy – you have to believe you’re a bad guy, and you have to believe you’re a nice guy. It sounds so simple, right? ‘Just sit down and have a conversation with yourself and believe it.’ That’s why there are great actors and that’s why there are people who wish they were. Some people can become a character – they can read a character on a piece of paper and they can find ways to make that character their own to the extent that it actually becomes them.
“Those are great actors. They’re also great wrestlers – Randy Orton. And I keep using Randy because I can’t think of anyone better than Randy Orton. I don’t think anybody comes close to Randy Orton when it comes to what I’m talking about. Nobody. It takes time, talent, and guidance. You have to learn how to do it. There are a lot of ways you can learn it. Unfortunately, I think in WWE, the train is moving so fast. We hear the phrase drinking water out of a firehose, and that’s true for everybody in WWE, including the talent. You don’t really have a chance to learn much other than what you do every time you’re there. That’s the difference between superstars, legends – a guy like the Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper. Roddy believed, Randy Savage believed, Goldberg believed. I’ve got more quarters in my pocket than Goldberg had movesets, but it didn’t matter because he believed he was that guy when he came through there and snorted fire and spit smoke. Guess what? He believed in that moment he was that character, and the audience believed it too.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
