Eric Bischoff: TNA was a reflection of ignorance

[Mike the Executioner]

TNA was far from perfect before Hogan/Bischoff came in but it had an identity and was a viable alternative to WWE, hell there were times when I’d be much more interested in TNA than WWE.

Hogan and Bischoff came in a change EVERYTHING and made it a knockoff WWE with a bunch of old cacs trying to relive their WCW and ECW days complete with a bootleg NWO and Four Horsemen, even had a tired ass ECW reunion. Completely pushed their youth to the side. They never recovered from that era.

I only watched TNA from 2009-2011, and it was at the end of 2009, so the majority of what I watched was the Hogan/Bischoff era. What were they brought in to do? Were they consultants, bookers, executives? I'm asking because I know there were a lot of changes in 2010, but how much power did they have? Sounds like a WCW situation, only worse because they weren't talent and had been away from the business side of wrestling for a while so they didn't need to have any of their ideas taken seriously.

 

[RammerJammer]

I only watched TNA from 2009-2011, and it was at the end of 2009, so the majority of what I watched was the Hogan/Bischoff era. What were they brought in to do? Were they consultants, bookers, executives? I'm asking because I know there were a lot of changes in 2010, but how much power did they have? Sounds like a WCW situation, only worse because they weren't talent and had been away from the business side of wrestling for a while so they didn't need to have any of their ideas taken seriously.

The Nasty Boys and Bubba The Love Sponge being brought in and the 6 sided ring immediately being taken away tells me that they had a lot of pull.

I still honestly believe that Vince sent Hogan to kill TNA, not that TNA was a threat but you know how Vince is. Only reason nobody has infiltrated AEW yet is that AEW is TK’s baby and he’s holding on to it with the grip of a 1000 pound gorilla.

 

[King Sun]

Eric is probably the last dude to talk business about. He was on his way of putting out WWE only to blow it later and sell to the WWE for literally pennies on the dollar.

 

[dh86]

Made exec money for years only to go bankrupt business and personal

 

[drifter]

I only watched TNA from 2009-2011, and it was at the end of 2009, so the majority of what I watched was the Hogan/Bischoff era. What were they brought in to do? Were they consultants, bookers, executives? I'm asking because I know there were a lot of changes in 2010, but how much power did they have? Sounds like a WCW situation, only worse because they weren't talent and had been away from the business side of wrestling for a while so they didn't need to have any of their ideas taken seriously.

This is gonna be a lost post but they (Hogan) were brought in to get more viewers. TNA had been the better product between it and WWE for a bit at that time. Reaping the rewards of signing Christian and strapping the rocket on him to main eventer that Vince never did, Kurt made the jump and the match vs Joe was their highest buy rate ever, Sting's there & Steiner too, X-Division made WWE's cruiserweight booking look outdated, Kong/Gail main eventing shows and getting more reaction than a lot of men in both companies. And the women's roster was just stronger than WWE's with the Divas.

Even with all those names and innovative shyt it was a slow creep and they thought Hogan's involvement was one of few things that could give that boost they needed and Spike was all for it so that was all she wrote.

They had significant pull since they were there to pull TNA to larger audiences so whatever they said went. Eric doesn't like how Dixie didn't pay him 100k he was owed or his son that 50k, that's why he's still talking shyt. But like I said, he's the reason they scrapped the X-Division and the 6 sided ring, so everything that made them different. After a while Hogan stopped being a draw, so to not look like nobody cared about him anymore, he started scheduling himself to go on after the knockouts who were still getting about the biggest numbers on the show. They had control over formatting, presentation, and off the screen time Hogan's buddies got and him inserted into random people's feuds, they had booking too.

Between them controlling the company now, Russo on the boards booking, Dixie not knowing how to run a promotion, on top of getting a big head and turning into a female Vince without any of the knowledge of the business or respect surrounded by sharks there just to take her daddy's money, on top of getting banged out by few of the boys. Yeah...the writing was on the wall before that wall even got finished being built lol.

 

[drifter]

I still honestly believe that Vince sent Hogan to kill TNA, not that TNA was a threat but you know how Vince is. Only reason nobody has infiltrated AEW yet is that AEW is TK’s baby and he’s holding on to it with the grip of a 1000 pound gorilla.

WWE used to have a blog on their site where they covered wrestling outside of Vince's world and they covered TNA/gave opinions on the matches, storylines etc

I say that to say much like with AEW today, I don't think WWE was ever threatened. And I was a TNA stan 100%. Looking back at it they were probably less bothered by them than by AEW which is almost crazy looking back at it, seeing how little regard they have for AEW in real time

There seemed to be a more concentrated effort on Vince's part with AEW as far as offloading people he didn't want anymore and letting AEW bloat their payroll with losers. Hogan just found a Down South Princess that didn't know anything about the business she had a company in, that would pay him way more than Vince would've at that time to do anything and took advantage.

 

[KFBF]

The Lapsed Fan has been covering Hogan's TNA run. Hogan was trying to cash checks, and Bischoff was trying to 1. Use Tna spike connections to sell his dumb-ass reality shows with Jason Hervey, and 2. Get his bum-ass son in the business. He had it written into his contract that Tna had to pay for his kid's wrestling school.

Bischoff is a hack, and the next great original wrestling idea he had would be the first one.

 

[Bugzbunny129]

The people who claim tna was something to look out for pre hogan are lying.

Might as well been MLW

It didnt work, but bringing in hulk was sound as far as getting them looks. Pretending otherwise is lying.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

The people who claim tna was something to look out for pre hogan are lying.

Might as well been MLW

It didnt work, but bringing in hulk was sound as far as getting them looks. Pretending otherwise is lying.

Wrestling core perspective TNA was making noise as the ratings were somewhat a big deal ala how Dub is doing nowadays (1.5's etc). The Hogan/Bischoff fiasco was more of pulling a red wire, while having to deal with the blue wire in the end. The fan base hated the changes and sadly that made up the majority of the ratings. The casuals came in but went when they realize that Hoegan was being a bytch made blonde asshead about every day thing (not showing up,, getting rid of the six sides and gloating about it, and trying to bring his old ass friends to kill the vibe). I mean, this cocksucker brought in the Nasty Boys .

Laspsed Fan pointed this out...fans wanted to see Hoegan wrestle, and not so much being an authority figure. The whole era made TNA look like chumps from Dixie damn near throat gagging him, Jarrett bipolar ass trying to make the dumb ass storylines work, Bischoffs obsession with bikers and shyt, and just throwing the TNA OGs in the bushes for old ass wrestlers and a drugged up Hardy.

Once IMPACT slowly found themselves, the damage was already done. Hell, they had to make a meme match to get a buzz, but sadly it became a solar eclipse of potential MOTY candidates (Spud/EC3).

IMPACT will forever be an enigma of professional wrestling. It should have died so many times, but somehow they are still holding it down. Meanwhile, companies like CZW are damn near in ICU.

 

[Dipsey Doo]

The people who claim tna was something to look out for pre hogan are lying.

Might as well been MLW

It didnt work, but bringing in hulk was sound as far as getting them looks. Pretending otherwise is lying.

TNA was always ridiculed on the IWC since its inception, save for a few bright spots.

The revisionist history is hilarious to read

 

[Playaz Eyez]

The people who claim tna was something to look out for pre hogan are lying.

Might as well been MLW

It didnt work, but bringing in hulk was sound as far as getting them looks. Pretending otherwise is lying.

TNA was always ridiculed on the IWC since its inception, save for a few bright spots.

The revisionist history is hilarious to read

Two liars right here. TNA around 03-08 was a legitimate alternative to the WWE (07 was shaky but still). The crowds were great, some of that cringe was gone from its inception, and you were just straight up having great matches. Punk, Joe, Styles, Angle, Daniels, XXX, AMW, (and the tag division in general), Monty Brown, Abyss, and several others were holding TNA down during that period, including the woman. I will say that TNA’s downturn did start before Hogan/Bischoff came in, but when they did come in, it was a swift descent. They basically hit the restart button (similar to WCW when they vacated all the belts) and you saw every single non-homegrown TNA getting rocketed in front of homegrown guys.

 

[Damnshow]

bytchoff is one of the biggest idiots in professional wrestling history. Ruining two professional wrestling companies and being a part of one of the worst WWE Raw product era's ever, circa 2002-2004.

He's like Doc Rivers, living off one two successful years in his entire career, while constantly given a great talent to fail over and over again.

He's a sneaky salesman, so he'll obviously pitch his ideas and convince bunch of marks how he was innocent in all of that fiasco. I am glad bytchoff hasn't been a part of any wrestling promotion for a while. There are enough idiots already.

 

[Flex Luger]

The people who claim tna was something to look out for pre hogan are lying.

Might as well been MLW

It didnt work, but bringing in hulk was sound as far as getting them looks. Pretending otherwise is lying.

TNA was always ridiculed on the IWC since its inception, save for a few bright spots.

The revisionist history is hilarious to read

Two nikkas who have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about

 

[KFBF]

It didnt work, but bringing in hulk was sound as far as getting them looks

If it didn't work why does it matter that it got them looks? TNA was mid for the most part pre Hogan but it was something worse than that after Bischoff and Hogan were done.

 

[KFBF]

Just seeing the caption pisses me off. Eric HAD NO IDEA WHAT HE WAS DOING!