10 Things We Would See In AEW If Eric Bischoff Was The Booker

Eric Bischoff has one of the most distinctive minds for the professional wrestling business of all time. With over two decades of experience behind the scenes and in front of the camera between the AWA, WCW, WWE, and TNA, his influence has been felt on a variety of levels. That’s not to mention his successful 83 Weeks podcast that has lent fans a great deal more insight into his thought processes.

RELATED: 10 Things We Learned From Eric Bischoff's 83 Weeks PodcastRecent years have seen Bischoff in a war of words with AEW. Despite making an early on-screen appearance for the promotion, Bischoff has since traded barbs with Tony Khan and been largely critical of the company’s creative and business decisions alike. But what would AEW look like if Bischoff were actually in charge of things, particularly from the booking perspective?

10 A Dominant Top Heel Stable

One of the staples of storytelling under Eric Bischoff—particularly, his most famous work heading up WCW, but also his time behind the scenes at TNA—is the focus on a dominant heel stable. In WCW, the New World Order caught fire and may have been the single most important component of WCW temporarily surpassing WWE. The company later saw the New Blood vs. Millionaire’s Club angle and rise of The Magnificent Seven with Bischoff’s influence. In Impact, it was first Immortal, and later Aces and Eights that Bischoff contributed to.

While AEW has a quite a few factions, there has rarely been a single, dominant heel group on top. While groups like The Inner Circle and The Elite showed shades of the kind of stables Bischoff loves, we haven’t seen the company lean into that dynamic long term the way Bischoff might.

9 More Emphasis On Stories

One of the key points Eric Bischoff hammers home time and again on his podcast is that the key to drawing and retaining an audience is to tell compelling stories. Bischoff has repeatedly framed AEW’s current booking as not storytelling, but rather setting up scenarios that are excuses for matches.

It’s debatable the degree to which Bischoff is right in his critique. One point that is very clear, though, is that given creative power in a major wrestling promotion, Bischoff would focus on character development and three-act story structure for major angles.

8 More Marquee Matches

One of the hallmarks of Eric Bischoff’s time on top of WCW in particular was putting together huge marquee matches. That included positioning Hulk Hogan in a lot of early Nitro, free TV main events, and booking first-time collisions between former world champions on a fairly regular basis.

RELATED: 10 Bizarre WCW Nitro Matches That Fans Forgot AboutWhile AEW has thrived in assembling matches that appeal to a certain indie sensibility, they haven’t been as successful in putting household names into featured positions such that even casual fans would understand they’re seeing a dream match. That would be one of Bischoff’s specialties.

7 More Non-Finishes

One of the caveats that came with Eric Bischoff booking so many dream matches, particularly on Nitro, was that they often failed to deliver. Indeed, it almost became a trope for WCW that they would advertise incredible main event scenarios, only for the matches themselves to only last a couple minutes before a run-in, disqualification, or the situation otherwise unraveling so fans didn’t feel like they really got the match they expected.

While Bischoff may not be able to lean on this formula as aggressively in 2023, it nonetheless wouldn’t be a surprise to see big match non-finishes spring up on a fairly regular basis again under his direction.

6 More Promo Time

When Bryan Danielson made the jump from WWE to AEW, one of reasons he cited was that AEW was an actual wrestling show rather than a show about wrestling. He suggested that WWE’s weekly television tended to be very promo and vignette heavy, in contrast to holding actual matches.

Tastes will vary, but one thing Eric Bischoff has made clear both by way of example in the products he has produced and in discussing matters on his podcast is that he’s a big believer in pushing storyline and character development in ways that tend to fit a more promo-heavy, less-in-ring intensive show week in and week out.

5 More Prominent Positioning For WWE Alumni

Eric Bischoff has had more than his share of critique for AEW, one of the overarching threads is not holding the new talents in very high regard. Moreover, in discussing the moves he made when he headed up WCW’s product, he has consistently defended the choice to sign stars made in WWE.

For better or worse, Bischoff’s proclivities tend to be driven by ratings and revenue. One of the surer ways of attaining these goals in wrestling, at least in the short-term, is leaning into wrestlers who are already popular, and it seems likely Bischoff would place an emphasis on performers with WWE histories.

4 Hulk Hogan In AEW

Eric Bischoff has a long history with Hulk Hogan, starting with their close working relationship atop WCW and carrying forward through Hogan’s time in TNA, when Bischoff says The Hulkster brought Bischoff in primarily to manage his creative.

Tony Khan has publicly stated that Hulk Hogan will never have a place in AEW, based on his past use of racially charged language, in addition other purported behaviors that have made modern talents uncomfortable with the idea of working with him. If Bischoff were in charge, it stands to reason he’d advocate for his friend, but all the more so one of the most proven draws in wrestling history, even if Hogan can’t go in the ring anymore.

3 More Worked Shoot Angles

One of the strong suits of WCW under Eric Bischoff was the product taking on a more realistic edge, and a part of that puzzle was merging real life happenings from behind the scenes with storylines. Even Bischoff’s own on-air persona as a cocky, power-hungry authority figure seemed to riff off of hardcore fans’ perceptions of who he was in real life.

RELATED: 10 Best Worked Shoots In Wrestling HistoryWere Bischoff booking AEW today, it stands to reason he’d continue to explore this style of wrestling storytelling. Despite his stated disdain for CM Punk, for example, one has to imagine the controversy coming out “Brawl Out” would have explicitly become an angle by now under Bischoff’s direction.

2 Continued Collaboration With Wrestling Talent On Plotting Out Matches

One of the reasons a number of performers who’ve signed with AEW seem to appreciate working there is the amount of input they have on their matches—not feeling beholden to micromanagement from the powers that be backstage like what purportedly happens in WWE. This is actually one area where Bischoff likely as not wouldn’t change much in AEW.

On his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff has more than once been quite open that, given his own limited in-ring experience in pro wrestling, he wasn’t confident telling performers—especially veterans—what to do bell-to-bell. So, Bischoff would likely “stay in his lane” with crafting storylines over getting into the minutiae of dictating match mechanics.

1 Greater Celebrity Involvement

One of the Hallmarks of Eric Bischoff’s time atop WCW was aggressive use of celebrities. From the NFL’s Kevin Greene, to the NBA’s Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone, to show business’s David Arquette and Jay Leno, Bischoff didn’t shy away from courting media coverage and casual fans via big names from outside the business.

Sometimes Bischoff’s ploys worked, like with Rodman and Malone both drawing ratings and delivering at a high level for non-wrestlers; other times, he went too far, like when Arquette winning the WCW Championship met considerable backlash from fans. Regardless, there’s every reason to expect Bischoff would return to this playbook if he were back in a prominent booking position today.

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