Why Eric Bischoff May Be Doomed To Repeat History

TNA employee Eric Bischoff shot his mouth off on his blog in the last few days, calling out WWE for their falling ratings for viewers 18-34 years of age. He points to focus groups and other marketing studies that have proven that “established” stars are what draws viewers to wrestling programming and that WWE’s recent youth movement will be a failure.

Bischoff writes, “One could recognize the direct connect between what TV ratings, PPV buy rates, and ticket sales have proven time and time again, as well as what legitimate focus groups conducted by credible media companies in the business of such have clearly identified: the TV audience (including 18-34 males) rate with ESTABLISHED (and yes older) stars!”

There is some credence to Bischoff’s thoughts on this. WWE, in recent months, lost Shawn Michaels and Batista, two of their biggest proven draws, to retirement. Injury and prolonged rehabilitation have deprived the company of HHH and The Undertaker’s extensive entrances, excessive burial of younger wrestlers and drawing power for PPVs.

These losses, along with Wrestlemania falling into the previous quarter of the fiscal year rather than the most recent quarter—as it did in 2008-09—meant WWE’s financials weren’t as impressive on July 1, 2010 as they were one year prior.

It’s somewhat reminiscent of the early-to-mid 90s in that regard. WWE lost a cast of established stars and proven draws during this period to WCW. The aforementioned Eric Bischoff was scooping up WWE’s hard work: Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, along with Alundra Blayze/Medusa, and a score of others that received paychecks from Stamford, Conn.

As we all know, this led to the Monday Night Wars, the pinnacle of the industry over the last 20 years and, in many cases, the introduction to pro wrestling for many readers of this site.

Of course, as we sit here in 2010, we also know how this story ended. WCW made a ton of money for a few years. The veterans rode high on the hog, partied like an 80s hairband and ultimately burned out. They were unable to maintain their success because despite Hogan, Nash and Hall continuing to be a major box office attraction, they failed to build any young talent outside of Goldberg and DDP, who were both already too old to carry the company into the next generation.

In fact, WCW had many bright, young talents on their roster in the mid 90s that could have allowed the company to remain viable and, dare I say, put Vinnie Mac out of business.

This list included Steve Austin, Paul Levesque (HHH), Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Mick Foley and Rey Mysterio, to name just a few.

These six men all jumped ship to WWE over the course of a few years due to the lack of support they received in WCW. This group, beginning with Austin’s victory at Wrestlemania in 1998, has held the WWE Championship 19 times, and the World Heavyweight Championship (the Big Gold Belt) 11 times.

That’s a lot of drawing power. That’s a lot of success.

They say we must learn from history or we are doomed to repeat it. Based on Eric Bischoff’s blogging, I’m wondering how somebody that LIVED this history and was intimately involved in the process hasn’t learned anything from what occurred as we moved into the new century.

Bischoff’s inability, or perhaps unwillingness, to promote and establish young, talented performers as main event draws proved to be his downfall. He was more concerned about the short-term dividends of spiking ratings and PPV buyrates from a few established (and poached) names than he is creating a long-term solution for consistent success.

While WCW was running Piper vs. Hogan, Warrior vs. Hogan and combinations of Nash, Hall, Sting, Flair, DDP and Goldberg, WWE was developing new stars. Austin, HHH, and The Rock were on the rise. Undertaker progressed his character from a big, scary, supposedly dead dude, to an evil, sadistic cult leader/demon. Jericho and Benoit were moved into the upper midcard and Guerrero and Mysterio proved their worth by curtain jerking with the knowledge that hard work would actually pay off.

There have been many comparisons between TNA and WCW—some realistic, some completely off base. These recent comments from Bischoff should be terrifying to any TNA fan, or would-be TNA fan, like myself, who really wants them to be successful and provide WWE with competition.

Nobody wants to see WWE coast on its past successes and become content and stagnant. Unless pushed, though, this will happen, and to a certain extent, it already has.

This all leads me to question Bischoff’s intentions in TNA. Is he there to strap a rocket to the company’s ass and shoot it into the stratosphere as he did in WCW, only for it to explode and fall back to Earth in pieces? Or is he there to establish a legitimate No. 2 wrestling company in the United States, with sights set on global distribution and eventual head-to-head competition with his former employer and long-time nemesis in the Titan Towers?

If the former is more along the lines of Bischoff’s plans, they are working.

The EV 2.0 storyline is riding the coattails of a semi-successful wrestling company with a cult following that ultimately failed. He is bringing in some young talent to partake in the storyline which they hope to cash in on in the future: AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe and Beer Money. However, this storyline once again pushes a cast of young, talented potential stars down the totem pole and off television and PPVs, as long as TNA continues to produce PPVs.

As long as half the show or more will be dedicated to getting over the stable wars of EV 2.0 and Fortune, you’ll be seeing a lot of—too much, in my opinion—Tommy Dreamer, Raven, the Sandman, Sabu and Team 3D with RVD being lumped in with this motley crew.

When TNA brought in RVD, I was excited because I was always a fan of his in-ring ability. He had been off WWE TV for a long time and could bring a fresh vibe to the main event scene without it feeling like rehashed WWE storylines. Now that he’s paired with this group, it’s more of the same-old rather than anything new and exciting.

Meanwhile, Samoa Joe has been public about his discontent with TNA management and his role with the company. Homicide left some time ago, asking for his release after recognizing that his role would be limited to jobbing out to the flavor of the month.

Then there are two guys that I’m sure WWE would love to scoop up and turn into stars: Matt Morgan and Hernandez, who both appeared to be on the fast-track to the main event before being consistently forgotten and pushed to the side.

While not being especially young, Christopher Daniels was at least homegrown and identifiable as a TNA star. (Brutus) Magnus has all the skills needed to be a legitimate midcard powerhouse with main event potential. I take it that Kazarian’s in-fighting with AJ will now be completely ignored since Fortune is united against EV 2.0 and Flair’s battles with Jay Lethal will be glossed over.

Then there is D’Angelo Dinero—"The Next Rock," as TNA was so properly building him. He will get pushed into the background. With Beer Money focused on EV 2.0, what happens to MCMG? Do we have a spotfest of a “feud” with Generation Me that will amount to nothing more than little guys doing flips with no real storyline? The only other tag team that won’t be involved in the main event stable feud is Ink, Inc., Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore—that’ll put butts in seats.

In place of these talented young stars will be WWE retread Mr. Anderson and the enigmatic (and not in a good way) Jeff Hardy, who has totally lost the momentum he held less than one year ago. We’ll be seeing a lot of a never-was in Stevie Richards. Then there is Hogan’s pet project in Abyss, who has been screwed with so many times that fans can’t decide what to think of him.

Mick Foley will be a mouthpiece and, sadly, a participant in some matches. Sting will somehow factor into all of this, even though he never seems to finish a storyline that he begins.

Then you have Kurt Angle, who is supposedly written into a long-term storyline that involves him basically putting on badass matches with anybody ahead of him in the ranking system regardless of face/heel affiliation and connection to any other storyline that is in place. This sounded like a great idea, but with the TNA Championship tied up in this stable war, I don’t know how Angle’s pursuit will go.

If this EV 2.0 storyline generates a spike in ratings and increased PPV buys, Bischoff will see this as a victory. Unfortunately, two or three years from now while Dreamer, Raven, Sandman, Rhyno, Stevie Richards and company are working bingo halls again and TNA is looking for another quick-fix to jump their ratings, WWE will have hopefully elevated a few new names into the main event scene: the new “established stars” that Bischoff will be hoping to pilfer in the future in order to make some money himself.

However, not every young guy with talent actually breaks out. Sometimes they just don’t connect with the audience. For every Austin, there are numerous “Bad Ass” Billy Gunns and Carlitos that creative works hard to get over but can’t find anything that works.

So, I like how WWE is hedging its bets with a wealth of young talents, rather than banking on a select few. If just a couple of the following names connect with the audience, put on strong matches, and develop characters that people are willing to pay to see, then WWE’s youth movement, the one Bischoff is slamming, will be effective:

Jack Swagger, CM Punk, The Miz, Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, Skip Sheffield, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, John Morrison, R-Truth, Justin Gabriel, Sheamus, The Usos, Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith, Evan Bourne, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio and Luke Gallows.

Without going too long on this column, which has already dragged on quite a bit, here is my short assessment of this list.

Locks for success: CM Punk, The Miz, Sheamus

These three have already proven an ability to draw serious crowd heat. Punk and Sheamus have been championship, and The Miz will be a champion. I put Sheamus and Punk in this list because, despite winning belts, they haven’t proven they can draw money on their own.

These three are also very interesting because they are all so different from one another. Punk has the total package in that he can cut great promos and wrestle great matches. For this reason, he will have a job for a good, long time, even if he doesn’t become a transcendent champion.

The Miz has the best chance for mainstream success because he may be better on the mic than anybody in the company not named Chris Jericho. His in-ring ability has improved, and we know he is a hard worker based on just how far he has come.

Sheamus has a fantastic look, and say what you will, but he has improved immensely in a short time. His ring work is solid for a man his size, and he has developed a few moves that are distinctly his. His promo work is strong, despite the problems with his thick accent.

Good bets: Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger

These four need creative direction. In each of their cases, they have “it.” They have what it takes to get over, connect with the crowd, and put on exciting matches. It’s a matter of whether or not the creative team chooses to throw their weight behind any of them.

If committed, Bryan could be Kurt Angle, which may sound like heresy, but when Angle came along and people said he could be Bret Hart, people thought the same thing.

Barrett could be similar to HHH. I have gotten that feeling from him all along. HHH wasn’t always the ring general he was during his prime, but he always had a look, an aura and command on the mic with the ability and willingness to learn.

Swagger also falls into that “next Kurt Angle” conversation, if only because of their similar backgrounds. Swagger is that Angle-Lesnar hybrid that I expected WWE to grab onto and ride as far as it could go. Instead, his push has stalled and we’ll see if he can get his momentum back.

Kofi showed in his feud with Randy Orton that the kid can unquestionably go in the ring and cut a sick promo. His recent mean streak may be the beginning of something big for him, but we’ll have to see.

Not getting my hopes up: John Morrison, R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler, Evan Bourne

These four are role players in my book. Morrison doesn’t look like he’ll pan out at this point. He may be a long-term project. Truth is far too gimmicky for my tastes to be considered for a main event push. Ziggler has the goods, but I think he is going to get lost in the growing, young heel talent pool on Smackdown. Bourne is just too small, and while we said that about Mysterio, Bourne doesn’t have the built-in Hispanic following and look. He also would have to deal with the stigma of being the “next Mysterio.”

Not impressed, but still in the running: Drew McIntyre, Justin Gabriel, DH Smith, Tyson Kidd

These four are perfect for tag team wrestling, which is good because two of them are the tag champions.

Gabriel’s offense is too limited at this point and his inability to cut a convincing promo makes it worse. He simply may not be a heel and his current affiliation with The Nexus makes it difficult for him to fit in, but at this point in his career I can’t help but see a young, green Jeff Hardy.

The big splash, the risky offense and big selling are his calling cards, but he is not ready for a singles push anytime soon. It’s been said before, but I’d love to see him paired up with Evan Bourne after the Nexus storyline has run its course and take a shot at some exciting tag team matches against the Hart Dynasty.

McIntyre has been very “meh” in my book. He doesn’t have the look or the power that Sheamus does or the chops on the mic and ring presence of Wade Barrett. Fact is, there just isn’t enough room for that many guys from the UK at the top of the card.

Smith and Kidd are good for what they are, and I just hope they don’t Cryme Tyme them by splitting them up with no follow-up plan to speak of.

Dark horses: Skip Sheffield, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Cody Rhodes, Luke Gallows, Alberto Del Rio

I’ll start with the two big men: Sheffield and Gallows. When Evolution was formed and the former Deacon Batista was pegged as the muscle, many groaned. Witnessing his growth in the last 5+ years was incredible. I wouldn’t put it past either of these two to come across with similar success. Gallows is more athletic, Sheffield is more powerful and intense.

Rhodes and Del Rio are both part of the crowded young heel pool on Smackdown. Rhodes, who I thought would be a flop after Legacy broke up, has been dedicated to getting the “Dashing” character over and if nothing else, it will put him on the good side of creative, who will have more confidence in him going forward. I won’t spoil anything, but if you read the Smackdown results, it’s clear WWE has big plans for Del Rio, at least in the short term.

They are the darkest of dark horses, and I know I’m probably on a deserted island on this one, but I love the Usos. I think they have a great look, some skill in the ring and have shown the beginning of what could be really strong mic skills. If given a chance, one of these two could really go places.