On a recent edition of his “83 Weeks” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff discussed the progression of Logan Paul in WWE, the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the Royal Rumble: “It is my favorite pay-per-view. I mean, I love the spectacle of WrestleMania. I just, I will always be amazed every time I see one, just how big the industry has become. And I love that, that’s my thing. But Royal Rumble is really — I think the most interesting pay-per-view of the year. Because historically, the Royal Rumble and the outcome, the stakes — again, a storytelling must have — the stakes are there. How many times have we seen the outcome of the Royal Rumble pretty much set the direction going forward. It’s a big move, storyline-wise.
“So what do we have as a result? We have anticipation. You’ve got a story, you’ve got anticipation. You’ve got reality, the reality is the authenticity of the format in this case. It’s something that everybody knows, it’s organic, it’s unique to WWE. So you can check the reality box with regard to the format and just, the basic premise of it all. Story, anticipation, reality — surprise, boom, there you go. That’s a biggie. That’s like — of the five elements, that’s the one that really matters the most. I would say surprise and anticipation are the two that are almost like milk and cookies, and they go together. But any action is the action, it’s self-fulfilling as a result of what it is. So it’s a perfect SARSA formula, controversy equation, call it whatever you want. But it’s the reason why — it’s the reason why — the Royal Rumble, Pat Patterson’s creation. One little tweak, as you pointed out, and it’s in a class all of its own as far as PPV.”
On Logan Paul joining WWE: “Logan came in as an attraction, he came in as a YouTube star. Brought all his audience with him, and everyone was like, ‘Oh, holy s**t! This guy can wrestle like crazy! He wrestles like he’s been in the ring for 15 years.’ And he’s his major success story. When you take somebody from outside the business, thrust into the business at a very high level, and then they overdeliver to the extent that Paul has, you still want to give him that stamp of credibility amongst the wrestling fans. And I think the US Title was a great way to do that. And that’s my long-winded way of saying I absolutely agree with you. He doesn’t need that title. I think the title served him. It served the purpose. It wasn’t just, ‘Oh, let’s just put a title on him.’ It served the purpose of putting the period at the end of his credibility sentence. But now it’s time to move on. So yeah, I could see — I could see it. Will losing the title hurt Paul? No.”
