The world of professional wrestling is secretive and protected by those involved. It’s done to separate the real world from what’s happening behind the scenes, and it’s called kayfabe.
Most of us know this and can’t get enough. Like starving or greedy gluttons, we love to hear the juicy gossip about or favorite wrestlers, promotions, or commentators.
Since 1996 and the Montreal Screwjob, kayfabe isn’t as closely guarded anymore as Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff have blown the doors to the inner sanctum wide open.
So, having these two working together would seem the logical thing for success, right? Not so fast.
On October 15, Eric Bischoff was fired for the second time from WWE by Vince McMahon. The two parties (WWE as Vince McMahon) have kept it amicable and left on decent terms. Why or how are questions we all tend to ask, as we’re rarely asked to leave our jobs amicably.
Into this foray good ole Jim Ross stepped in to offer some of his thoughts on what may have been the reason and why it happened.
Special thanks to Jim Ross’ podcast, Grilling JR and 411Mania.com for the transcription.
Executive Director Position
One of the points Jim Ross made was that he doesn’t believe anyone in the position of Executive Director will last. His phrase, “hired to be fired” and comparison to a football coach (or any sports coach) seems spot on. After all, in those circumstances you’re handed the keys to a multimillion or billion dollar product and expected to lead it to the promised land.
When missteps are made, whether through the coaches’ fault or not, they’re replaced. One can’t help injuries or bad luck, other times it’s just plain mismanagement of someone in over their heads. Well, given Eric Bischoff’s successful past, I think we can ignore the last point. Also, Jim Ross may have something to say about that.
Part of it could be Vince McMahon not used to a new method of doing business.
JR: “Now, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Sometimes you’ve gotta restructure your deck and create a new structure. But the infrastructure there is a little sketchy at best. It’s the last guy you talk to sometimes, there’s a lot of mistrust. A lot of looking over your shoulder-type situations.”
That’s where the new process could’ve failed. It’s hard letting go and allowing another to have full control. Delegating can be a difficult but important task to master.
Was Eric Bischoff the Scapegoat?
This is a popular opinion among fans, especially given reports that Brue Prichard has been running Smackdown and leaving Eric Bischoff out of the loop. It would explain the reports of Eric Bischoff being aloof and not knowing people’s names, wouldn’t it?
Of course, this is conjecture on everyone’s part, but Jim Ross does have his own thoughts.
JR: “For God’s sakes, I didn’t know the Friday Night Smackdown show was going to lose a million viewers from week one to week two, you lose a million? I didn’t expect that. So the calamity there, and of course Vince wants to keep Fox happy. I don’t blame him. They’ve got a lot of money, and they’ve got a lot of skin in the game … He was a foil. He was the guy, he took the hit.”
This goes back to the coach analogy. More times than anyone wants to admit, a coach is the victim of his circumstances. If the star players are injured, the team and coach loses. If the players have marginal talent, the team and coach loses. If ticket sales are dropping, the coach loses.
Sports and Sports Entertainment are reliant on ratings, ticket, and merchandise sales. If any of those drop, someone has to have their head on the chopping block. Though, in this case, if Prichard was already running things, this does seem like a setup.
However, if any show losses a million viewers, whoever is running it is basically a dead man walking.
Was Eric Bischoff taken care of?
Most companies offer severance packages, and in this case, it’d only make sense. After all, Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff may need each other again at some point. That makes it important to leave things on good terms, because most will return to a company that took care of them even while showing them to the unemployment line. In a small world like professional wrestling, it’s even more important.
JR: “He probably got a nice little package walking away. Vince will take good care of you when he’s kicking you out the door. He’ll give you something to go home with, put something in your bag to remember him by in the form of cash or some sort of payout. And he deserves that.”
Again, this goes back to not burning bridges. It’s an important thing to not take things personally and understand the business you’re apart of. In this case, Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff probably see eye to eye, even if they may not agree on the outcome leading to this.
Bruce Prichard’s future
As mentioned earlier, Jim Ross doesn’t view this as a lasting job, and his thinking makes perfect sense. Nothing is guaranteed, especially in a business as volatile as professional wrestling.
JR: This whole scenario is set up for a succession process. Do you think that Bruce [Prichard] is safe? You think Bruce has got a job like a Supreme Court Justice, for life? Are you kidding? He don’t think that. I guarantee, he don’t think that. He knows that his time will come. It’s like football coaches. They get hired to be fired. And the guys in that position like Bruce is in now, running Smackdown, can you imagine a few years ago, because I’ve been in these meetings, man. I’ve been with the old man when he’s talked about Bruce and he’s talked about Bischoff. And sometimes they weren’t in glowing terms. Just like he talked about me. I get it.
And we’ve come full circle. As much as we may agree or disagree with the way Vince McMahon runs things, with how Eric Bischoff carries himself, or even with Jim Ross’ insight, this is how the business works, for better or worse.
Like all businesses, they’re there to make money. The entertainment aspect is a means to an end. Yes, they want to put on a great show. Yes, they want us to enjoy and love their product. Yes, they want us to come back again and again and tell them how much we love what they’ve accomplished. And yes, the bottom line is convincing us to part with our hard-earned money so it can become their hard-earned money. During the process, fans will be lost and found, employees will come and go, but the product will ultimately decide which of those happens and in what order.
Following letting Eric Bischoff go, the WWE sent out a press release that spoke highly of Bruce Prichard taking over.
“Prichard brings nearly 40 years of experience in sports entertainment with an extensive background in character development and creative storytelling,” the release read. “Over the course of his career, Prichard has served in a variety of roles including announcer, producer, agent and on-screen personality. Earlier this year, Prichard returned to WWE as a member of the company’s creative team.”
However it works out going forward, Bruce Prichard will have a lot on his plate to deal with given Smackdown’s falling ratings. For the moment, he has Vince McMahon’s blessing.
But the clock is ticking.
Sources: Grilling JR and 411mania.com for the transcription.
