Eric Bischoff Says He Wants AEW To Succeed, Wonders If Tony Khan Is Struggling
Renowned AEW detractor Eric Bischoff is back again to analyze Tony Khan's every move, this time imploring the AEW boss to delegate responsibilities rather than trying to juggle between his roles for AEW, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Fulham FC. Speaking on his "83 Weeks," Bischoff urged Khan to hire a full-fledged AEW creative team rather than doing everything himself.
"Tony wants to see himself, so badly, as the Vince McMahon of WWE or the Paul Heyman of ECW or even the Eric Bischoff of WCW — when it was successful," Bischoff said. "Tony wants or needs that recognition so badly that — whether it's because he's so immersed in other things or if he's just driven by his ego — he's not making those decisions [to delgate] or choices to let other people [help him].
"Tony has people around him, at this moment, that have so much more experience and are probably way better at creative and understanding the wrestling audience. Because Tony, I think, understands the wrestling audience that, in his mind, he was. He's writing for himself, he's writing for 14-year-old Tony Khan who is showing up at ECW events, and writing things that stimulated him at that point in time."
Bischoff added that Khan "does not understand television" or "storytelling" and only "understands what he enjoys" and urged the AEW boss to rely on the "wealth of experience" he has access to.
"I want them to succeed ... what I get upset about is loss of opportunity. But he keeps going down the same path and it isn't working. It drives me nuts."
Bischoff clarified that a lot of his criticism stems from Khan saying in October 2021 that Ted Turner "didn't know 1%" of what he knows about pro wrestling and that WCW would have still been alive if he did. He stated that he "lost all respect" for the AEW President from a professional standpoint, even though he respects Khan at a personal level.