Lets get something straight. WCW didn't shut down because of Eric Bischoff. It shut down because AOL/Time Warner no longer wanted wrestling on their network. That is why it was sold to Vince McMahon for 5 million dollars. There are a lot more factors than just 1 man putting a company out of business and on top of that he wasn't even the main reason why they went out of business.
Eric Bischoff now an Executive Producer for TNA
- Thread starter Zeven_Zion
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Mustang Sally
Sells seashells by the seashore
Yes, and the reason they didn't want it was because WCW was losing $60-$80 million a year (according to the Wall St. Journal). That's a pretty solid reason for the conglomerate to want out.
Of course, it wasn't all Eric Bischoff, but since he was happy to take full credit when the company was on top, he should also take his share of blame for it's failure.
Yes he should take his share of the blame and he has, but no one should sit here and act like it was all his fault and he was the single and only reason it failed. WWE was doing very poorly in 94,95,96 and almost was put out of business. You want to know the difference? Vince McMahon owned the company and USA didn't bail on a failing product at the time. Ted Turner no longer owned WCW and the network gave up on it after only 2 years of failing since Nitro hit the airwaves.
I do know Eric Bischoff had a plan for WCW if he was able to purchase it. He was going to shut it down for 6-12 months and repackage it. Of course we will never know what would have happened.
Actually- he created his own production company, which is in the business of creating product for other companies. That's exactly what he's been pursuing.MB1025 said:
On the topic of VH1 and the Scott Baio series: First, the type of programming is extremely easy and some really low hanging fruit. You could do it too, if you had the right phone numbers. Here's the basic formula for every celebrity based reality show:
1) Contact an out-of-work celebrity with some degree of name recognition.
2) Do an interview with them in front of a green screen. This allows you to change the background and cut the interview up into pieces. From there, you can use those segments as filler in your show, or use the vocal track for voiceovers.
3) Take your celebrity somewhere. The show has to be "moving"; no one wants to sit and watch a guy talk in front of a green screen for an hour. The celebrity has to be doing "something"; what it is doesn't really matter.
4) Edit your footage to produce a coherent narrative.
But here's the kicker- what did VH1 ask BHE to do after the Scott Baio series? Did they have any other projects for him? Did they accept any of BHE's show pitches since then? Or, perhaps, did they catch on that Eric Bischoff was a con man, who was great at making ideas sound good, but not so big on actual results?
OK, but he's done licensing deals with companies! This is one thing I'll give him credit for. If there's one thing a con man is good at, it's knowing many people and being able to convince them to sign a deal with someone else. Licensing is being the guy who gets two people together, which is a skill I won't take away from Eric Bischoff. Every con man I've ever known has been extremely good at dealing with people.
You aren't reading between the lines; you're ready to accept what television executives are telling you at face value.MB1025 said:
If Spike TV really wanted more TNA programming to fill the air, Xplosion would be available in America. Do you think someone just walked into an office one day and said "cancel Reaction NOW, and start thinking of new show ideas to fill the spot, for later!" If Spike was interested in filling the spot with more TNA programming, they would have had a plan in place to replace Reaction with TNA programming before they canceled it. Instead, they pull out the 'someday' card. Doubt if you like, that's fine- you don't get to be a successful con man without fooling a lot of people. I'm sure that 'someday', there will be that fresh, hot new TNA show that those paragons of honesty, television executives, have promised you.
Someday.
Oh boy, the *biggest* gulp of Bischoff Kool-Aid that there is. What sounds more plausible; that a new set of accountants looked at WCW's books, didn't see a chance for recovery, and killed the show- OR, a bunch of vindictive suits came down and said "I just don't like the wrestling stuff, I don't care if it makes money", and shut down WCW.MB1025 said:
The second is a narrative that's beautifully designed for the wrestling fan. It plays off of the social stigma that comes with liking wrestling. WCW wasn't canceled because it was losing money hand over fist- no, WCW must have been canceled because those meanie jerks at AOL/Time Warner just didn't like wrestling. It's a cute story; too bad it has no basis in reality.
Do you think Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Kevin Nash, et al are going to go around, saying "I was the guy that sank WCW?" No, each man has their own excuses. Vince Russo's "I let go of the books for 3 months, and couldn't recover afterwards" has always been my favorite piece of bullshit out of that manure pile, but one thing you'll hear in common is "oh, it's not MY fault, my plan was brilliant, but someone else screwed it up." They don't want to talk about those brilliant executive decisions like spending half a million dollars every time Glacier walked to the ring.
Bischoff was one of the people who helped sink WCW; of course he's going to blame it on other people. I imagine the man probably wanted to work in television again.
I bet they had a very successful year. Good con men make the money, while leaving their marks with nothing to show for it. So, how'd the company that hired them do in 2010? What financial gain do they have to show for it?MachoMadness1988 said:
Oh boy, do I *love* this statement.MachoMadness1988 said:
First- every time someone says "no offense", they're preparing to say something offensive. Get your balls up and just say what you're going to say next time.
Second- are you implying that anyone who hasn't been a television executive can't comment on this? That's one surefire way to trim out anyone who might disagree with how the Bischoff Kool-Aid tastes, the old shattereddreams method, "he has the job, so obviously he must be smarter then everyone else and no one who disagrees has a right to comment." As if anyone who hasn't done his job can't see if he's doing anything for the people he's hired.
Third- I was trained to write and think properly. When I say something, it's because I believe what I'm saying. Therefore, when I write, it comes off as if I'm saying I'm right, because I believe I'm right. Now, if my goal in writing wasn't to convince other people of my beliefs, and instead sound like a mealy-mouthed pussy, I would attach all kinds of "This is my opinion..." or "This is just what I think...." statements. But since I believe in what I'm writing, it comes off as assertive.
It's the result of having a high confidence in my own abilities, and it's a well-deserved one if I do say so myself. Self-confidence is an alien concept to many people on these boards; I'm sorry if having some is a bit disarming to you folks without.
MrHashasheen
Enjoying Wrestling
Considering they lost billions in the merger and that WCW was still one of their top programs even at the very end, I'd say it was still a ******ed move. But then again, Jamie Kellner was the guy who did it. And he's an ass who canceled Anamaniacs.
Regardless if WCW was profitable or losing money... It's future at Turner Broadcasting was coming to a close anyway after the merger with AOL. If it was still making money they would have likely spun it off as a separate company or sold it.
AOL Time Warner wanted to turn TBS into a pure entertainment company that produced cable content. That's why they sold all of Ted Turner's sports team (Braves and Hawks), movies studios, hotels, arenas, and stadiums. It also helped that it could help the parent company with it's money troubles selling all these assets.
AOL Time Warner wanted to turn TBS into a pure entertainment company that produced cable content. That's why they sold all of Ted Turner's sports team (Braves and Hawks), movies studios, hotels, arenas, and stadiums. It also helped that it could help the parent company with it's money troubles selling all these assets.
WCW's least profitable year was 1999? Lol was WCW in 2000 so much of joke that it doesn't count?
And people say how Bischoff made so many mistakes in '98, but you have to look at the ratings and buyrates for that year and see why Bischoff did so many things that might be considered mistakes in retrospect, but at the time it was drawing the money, so he thought "If it ain't broke don't fix it". Like others said by the time WCW really began losing money Bischoff had become restricted on how to run the company and he was letting the inmates run the asylum.
And people say how Bischoff made so many mistakes in '98, but you have to look at the ratings and buyrates for that year and see why Bischoff did so many things that might be considered mistakes in retrospect, but at the time it was drawing the money, so he thought "If it ain't broke don't fix it". Like others said by the time WCW really began losing money Bischoff had become restricted on how to run the company and he was letting the inmates run the asylum.
AntiChristDeicide
Championship Contender
Either way, i say give Bischoff a chance we might be surprised.
MrHashasheen
Enjoying Wrestling
What, you're basing this on 1.0 to the 1.8 or so they had at the end? You'd have to update that for population changes to be sure that's the case, because otherwise....
Also, Nitro only showed serious decline around when Russo took the reigns. Before that, it was in a serious slump, but still viable for rising up. If McMahon hadn't got the Radicalz plus the Dudley Boys and Tazz to bulk up the actual wrestling part of his roster, WWF would have stagnated for a bit while WCW's fall wouldn't have been as bad.
AntiChristDeicide
Championship Contender
What, you're basing this on 1.0 to the 1.8 or so they had at the end? You'd have to update that for population changes to be sure that's the case, because otherwise....
Also, Nitro only showed serious decline around when Russo took the reigns. Before that, it was in a serious slump, but still viable for rising up. If McMahon hadn't got the Radicalz plus the Dudley Boys and Tazz to bulk up the actual wrestling part of his roster, WWF would have stagnated for a bit while WCW's fall wouldn't have been as bad.
Quite true, demographics change but TNA's problem is that they are on Spike TV. Don't get me wrong its a good network if you live in the USA (I live in Quebec , so no Spike TV for me), but if it was on NBC,ABC, CBS, Fox they would get better ratings.