Eric Bischoff Questions AEW's Judgment Over MJF's Antisemitism Storyline

In the past, certain wrestling storylines have been a representation of current affairs; Sgt. Slaughter portrayed an Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War, and Muhammad Hassan highlighted stereotypes faced by Arab Americans following the 9/11 attacks. As such, when Juice Robinson threatened to assault MJF with a roll of quarters on "AEW Dynamite" last week, many perceived it to be a sign of AEW tapping into the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Although MJF later clarified that the angle was meant to touch upon an incident in his life and not promote hatred towards any community, many in the wrestling community lambasted AEW for displaying a lack of sensibility at such a trying time.

On the latest "83 Weeks," Bischoff joined the chorus of wrestling fans displeased with the controversial storyline. Bischoff prefaced his comments by clarifying that he "admires MJF's intent" and thinks very highly of the AEW World Champion. "We are on the brink of World War III," Bischoff said. "There are horrific, unbelievable images being live-streamed as we speak — things that none of us are even comfortable saying out loud. And it's only going to get worse. 

"I know I've said before that timing is everything, and yes, heat is life. But there's a time, a place, and appropriateness ... and the judgment ... however honorable the intentions — and I do believe they're honest. I 100 percent believe MJF was being sincere with his tweet. That doesn't mean the judgment was correct, or the timing associated with it. I don't know what's going on in AEW or at TBS, all I know is professional wrestling is a form of over-the-top entertainment ... it's not a documentary, and it's not a format to engage something as serious and unprecedented as we're seeing right now."

Bischoff hopes the storyline is buried by AEW creative and not broached upon again, suggesting the backlash from it could serve as a valuable lesson for MJF and Tony Khan.