Bischoff Confirms He’s Moving to Connecticut

On the latest edition of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff discussed his new job as Executive Director of Smackdown. He called the job the “great opportunity I’ve had in this industry,” described the job as “23/7”, and confirmed that he will be moving to Connecticut. He and Conrad Thompson also confirmed that 83 Weeks will continue in the same format with no changes, but that the 83 Weeks Live shows will come to an end. Highlights are below.
On the response he has gotten to the announcement of his new job with WWE: “First of all, I want to say thank you, I’m overwhelmed with the support and positive response that I got on social media after WWE made the announcement that I’ll be joining the team and getting involved with Smackdown. The amount of response I got, I knew I’d get response, I knew it would probably be a lot, but I was absolutely overwhelmed by the nature of that response and how positive it was and the sheer volume of it all. I think people are really excited.”
On understanding the magnitude of the opportunity he has: “The magnitude of this opportunity and the challenge and the commitment that goes along with it is not lost on me. There’s been a couple of times over the last few days where I’ve been driving around on my truck or taking my dog for a hike and I’m like, ‘Wow.’ This may be, it’s not may be, this is the biggest opportunity I’ve ever had in this industry. Granted, when Bill Shaw made me president of WCW, obviously that was a very big moment. But I was learning on the job there. I had nothing to lose there. I was taking a company in WCW that had never turned a dollar of profit, that was such a distant number two to WWF at that time that we weren’t even really number two. A company that was fraught with a bad history and all kinds of internal issues, so I had nothing to lose. In this situation, this is an entirely different ballgame here. This is a very sophisticated company in WWE. There is a great team already in place. They’re moving the Smackdown show to FOX Network which is obviously going to have a lot of eyeballs on it in every way. So the magnitude of the opportunity is not lost on me.
On when he will be moving to Connecticut: “I’m honored, I’m humbled, and I cannot express even here, because this is a different kind of excitement for me. I haven’t felt this way in, maybe in forever, but at least 20 years. This is a whole different ballgame. Honestly, Laurie and I, and my dog Nikki, we’re going to load up our truck and we’re headed out to Stamford, probably on the 10th or 11th of July, I mean literally we’re going out there with the clothes on our back and some of it in boxes and we’re starting over from scratch and I’ve never been more excited. The opportunity at this stage in my life and in my career to be able to make a move like this is so, it’s not, exciting doesn’t cover it, it’s thrilling, and I just can’t wait.”
“This is not a remote control kind of opportunity. This is a deep dive. This is, I’m sure, a 23/7 kind of gig. This is not something I can do on my laptop remotely. This is the real deal.”
On if 83 Weeks will be ending: “Oh hell no! Hell no. That was one of the things I was most concerned about going into this, because I love doing this show. And Conrad, I know a lot of people jokingly said ‘Oh, he’s the kingmaker, if you want to get a job in wrestling, just do a podcast with Conrad Thompson.’ It’s not quite that easy, but I think you’ve, couple things that have happened as a result of this podcast. One, you’ve given me the opportunity to go back and look at these shows and discuss all this stuff and even in my own mind, been able to look at things from an entirely different perspective than I ever had, as a result of doing this show. I feel more energized about the industry as a result of doing this show. And I think both of those things probably had some impact, hard to quantify it, but probably had some impact on this entire process. It’s a lot easier for me now to get as excited as I am about the product as a result of sitting around and talking about it with you two or three hours every week for the last year or so. It did have a factor, just reengaging to the extent that we have has really helped me a lot. And that was important. And I have fun doing this, I have fun when you bust my balls, I just have fun doing it, and it was really important to me, I really was hoping that I didn’t have to give up this opportunity.”Click Here: brisbane lions jersey