Various News: Bischoff Teases Wrestling Return, TNA/Savio Vega, CMLL Stars Set For Two More TNA Shows
Posted by Ashish on 07.19.2008
A few Saturday news items...
- TNA has announced that CMLL stars Rey Bucanero and Ultimo Guerrero will be working the 8/1 house show in Corpus Christi, TX and the 8/2 house show in Laredo, TX. The two were part of Team Mexico in TNA's World X Cup.
- TNA is considering bringing in former WWE star Savio Vega as an agent to replace Scott D'Amore.
- In a blog entry on his official site, Eric Bischoff says that working on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling reality show as "whetted his appetite" for pro-wrestling again. He goes on to say that when it comes to him returning to pro-wrestling, never say never.
Bischoff involved with wrestling again... Might be interesting. he's a great heat magnet and with the right people (Not Vince Russo) around doesn't screw things up too much.
Posted By: Davis (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 12:42 PM
if done properly, bischoff in TNA could work
Posted By: Hank (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 01:13 PM
eric bichoff back in pro wretling = epic fail!
Posted By: Tyrone (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 01:21 PM
Eric Bischoff was at best "in the right place at the right time". He was no great genius with booking either, MOST of the ideas came from the talent. Once again, "the right place at the right time".
He proved to be second tier at best during his time with WWE, and is almost always the case being a heat magnet isnt always a GOOD thing. Not if you cant become SYMPATHETIC and turn that heel heat into FACE heat. Bischoff is JUST not that sympathetic so bringing him in as a "big heel" will work up until the next PPV.
Let sleeping dogs lie.
Posted By: CM Wolf (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 01:25 PM
bischoff or regal as gm on monday's raw?
Posted By: tom (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 01:30 PM
The only 90's figurehead who deserves to come back to the current landscape is Heyman and that would be strictly in a creative role as he cannot manage finances.
We all see what the 90's mentality of Russo and others is doing to TNA. The AJ fact turn and Booker heel turn was going so well. Joe was gaining momentum as the champ and now look... AJ is jobbing every week to the WWE dream team, Joe is a whiny bitch, and the focus is back on an almost 50 year old Sting. So Bischoff coming back.....hopefully not.
Posted By: Willie D (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 01:39 PM
You can't say Bischoff "was in the right place at the right time", he was an intregal part of the nwo which saved wcw since the high ups at turner didn't want it. There were numerous good wrestling people/minds at his position prior to him that had the same atm that bischoff had access to and they didn't do jack shit in his position.
He took Hall and nash from wwf, but you have to remember wwf took them from wcw first. Then, bischoff tuns them into bigger stars than they were with vince.
People don't like Bischoff so they make excuses for his success. You can't argue over his success, he beat Vince at his own game for LONG time, and no one has done it before and no one will do again.
TNA has nothing to lose and everything to gain by bringing in eazy-e. Whats gonna happen will they go from a 1.1 (when rounded up) to a .9? Oh no, Epic fail right? No, that would be a great move, since Hogans stupid federation will be aweful.
People watch the MOnday night wars dvd and take that as fact. Vince and Shawn Michael both say and I will quote "We never worried or even looked at the ratings at that time>" hahahahahaha. Ya right, that is the biggest load of shit I ahve ever heard. Bischoff = success. bottom line.
Posted By: Guest#8732 (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 02:12 PM
Bischoff should have tried a little harder to buy WCW. I'm sure it would have helped Vince keep his game up instead of all the slacking off he's doing now.
Posted By: TWilliams (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 02:26 PM
Remember folks this was a man who as head booker for the AWA brought us the "Turkey on a pole match"....
This was the man who thought it would be a good idea to turf Ric Flair when WCW had the WWE by the throat when flair was a major draw for the company
Posted By: Guest#7466 (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 02:32 PM
I wouldn't necessarily say that Bischoff was in the right place at the right time. He certainly wasn't the sole catylist that lead to the success of WCW but he played a big role. From a business standpoint, he took over the runnings at a time when eve Ted Turner and his billiions of dollars was ruining WCW. He made it a profitable company again. He spearheaded Nitro into a viable competitor for Monday Night Raw, upped the ppv ante by scheduling 12 ppvs a year and relentlessly competed with Vince McMahon's empire. The man had some serious balls to have the drive to make WCW a competitor to WWF at that time.
Posted By: bighustle (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 02:34 PM
Sorry to say to you people above, but Bischoff as GM on Raw was a fantastic role. He wasn't second tier at all, he was one of the top heels and always enjoyable.
Posted By: Guest#9599 (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 02:38 PM
Why isn't TNA living up to their name anymore? Russo was there back when they had PPV's on wedensdays,and the show was AWESOME! When they first got on television Russo was there,and the show was AWESOME! Why are Double J and Dixie allowing him to do all this drama crap? Impact is now rehashed garbage that we saw in WWE years ago. What the hell happened to Total Nonstop Action? Vince needs to go,and bringing in Eric would just be like picking up where Vince left off! F@$# that! If TNA would focus around the X Division like they did before,they would have better ratings.
Posted By: JC (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 02:41 PM
Eh, I think Bischoff has a great mind for wrestling. He just trips over his feet sometimes. If he can live with not being the star of his show and surrounding himself with the right creative/talent he can do wonders. I think of the last month or two of WCW and how amazing it was. Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles anyone? Just imagine someone forcing Paul E. and Bischoff to work together, that would be the greatest car wreck ever. With the winners being us for getting to watch it all.
Posted By: Kip (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 03:15 PM
First off, DO NOT compare Bischoff to Russo. Two different people. Don't judge him on stuff he did in the AWA either, that was almost 20 years ago.
Secondly, Bischoff, unlike Heyman, was able to market his product to compete and almost beat the WWE. He created a new type of wrestling product that got people watching.
Thirdly, if you want to talk lucky, why not talk about McMahon who took the already established Hogan (in the AWA), who his dad fired years earlier, and pushed him to the moon making millions.
Fourthly, Heyman is horrible as a business man (even he has admitted that) and does not know how to market his product. Bichoff has been successful as a business man in wrestling and out of wrestling. Despite what people claim, WCW did not die under Bishoff's watch.
Posted By: JF (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 03:37 PM
What kind of sound does Savio Vega make when he hits a ceiling fan? KWANG!
Posted By: Krowe (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 04:13 PM
Ok good points all around but imagine this...
Character Development...Jim Cornette
Storylines...Paul Heyman
Marketing/Business...Eric Bischoff
If I am Panda Energy why wouldnt you make this happen.
Imagine this team putting egos aside and working together. Besides having Mc Mahon himself that is one heck of a team
Posted By: Chris (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 04:48 PM
WCW STARTED to die under Bischoff's watch because he didn't know how to change with the times and was more concerned about beating Vince in the ratings than freshening up the product. He had talent in his ear, he spent needless millions, and flat out told certain people they'd never draw or put asses in the seats. And mind you it took about 2 or so years after Bischoff took over before any glimmer of hope began to shine through. Let's not kid ourselves.
Posted By: His Bubbliness (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 05:16 PM
The thing that I find funny here is that a lot of people hate Bischoff because of who he was onscreen...which is basically him multiplied by 1.5. Face it people: Bischoff is good.
Posted By: Crazy8 (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 05:27 PM
First of all, Bischoff didn't come up with the Team Challenge Series in the AWA or the Uncooked Turkey match. He gets blamed for those ideas but they weren't his. I've heard/read this from numerous sources.
Also, Eric Bischoff is the only person to ever beat Vince McMahon at his own game. Don't forget, the WWF was THIS CLOSE to going out of business in 1997. They let Bret Hart out of his contract because they couldn't afford to pay his contract. They GAVE Bret to WCW. It turned out to be the right move for WWF in the long run, but I'm sure they didn't want to do it at the time.
Posted By: JTX (Guest) on July 19, 2008 at 11:15 PM
"Bischoff should have tried a little harder to buy WCW."
You should really look into what you're talking about before you talk about it. Eric Bischoff did just about everything in his power sans selling his soul to buy WCW.
And Eric Bischoff had about jack and shit to do with ANYTHING you saw on AWA television.
Posted By: James Thomlison (Registered) on July 20, 2008 at 01:21 AM
The wCw era, technically, did not die under Bischoff's reign, it died under Russo's. In the end, they brought Eric back to try to save it, but it was too late...the damage had already been done. Russo tried to introduce the "asshole boss" angle when he came in...oh yeah, already did it on WWE. Then it was Goldberg turning heel...oh wait...Stone Cold already did that when he joined Vince's "Corporation". Russo did nothing but bring the WWE's ideas to wCw to try to look like he was about something. besides, if you watch the "Monday Night wars" dvd, you'll find out that all those Ideas weren't his anyway.
Posted By: swoltz (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 02:05 AM
People, when Bisch was GM of Raw, keep two things in mind:
1. There is no such official position - what happens is determined by bookers and Vince
2. Big E did NOT want, or get, any booking power
He was a figurehead, just like every other GM of Raw/Smackdown, even the Commissioner role is just an act. So please don't give flak to Bisch for Raw.
Anything else may... or may not, be fair game.
Posted By: Faustus (Registered) on July 20, 2008 at 04:13 AM
Bischoff is also more successful outside wrestling than Heyman, which people fail to ignore.
Bischoff will not return to pro wrestling. He just playing with you guys. There's no money to be made in the business, SERIOUSLY. Eric knows this,this reality wrestling show is more about reality tv for him.
Posted By: USAUSA1 (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 10:42 AM
"What kind of sound does Savio Vega make when he hits a ceiling fan? KWANG!"
PURE COMEDY GOLD!!! Thank you for this old school laugh.
Posted By: Guest (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 01:05 PM
if tna wants to ever compete with the wwe, they must fire russo and bring in eric.please tna listen to your hardcore fans.we all want tna to succeed but it will never happen as long as russo is there.
Posted By: dam (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 02:00 PM
I'm not saying Bischoff was the savior of wrestling, but he did give WWF a very good run for their money. It ONLY took two years for him to take a dead on its feet promotion and make it into something profitable. that's pretty damn impressive if u ask me. U just don't see that type of turn around in wrestling anymore. As un-original as some of his ideas were, he was still able to market them into a successful business formula. In the end, WCW fell to both bad booking decisions and a bad parent company. AOL Time Warner was ready to give up on the company and Russo became desperate to repeat the success he had in WWF.
When you think about the position that Russo was in, you really can't blame him solely for the death of WCW. He simply crumbled under the pressure of trying to save a company that was losing to WWF in the ratings. He tried previously successful angles that he used in WWF to try to "shake things up" in WCW, and when that didn't work, he resorted to publicity stunts i.e. David Arquette. And when those didn't work he put young up and comers in the main event. And when that didn't work, he used crash booking to make the show more exciting. And when that didn't work he tried to appeal to the "smart" fans, and even that didn't work. At that point, AOL Time Warner had already given up on WCW and the fans followed suit. It's sad 'cus he literally tried everything he could think of. It's hard to fault him for that, but you kinda have to.
Posted By: bighustle (Guest) on July 20, 2008 at 11:52 PM
