By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast with Eric Bischoff
Host: JP John Poz
Twitter: @TwoManPowerTrip
Website: www.tmptempire.com
Interview available at Tmptow.podomatic.com
On Roman Reigns: “I think Roman is probably more over now than he has been in the last 995 days that they’ve been pushing him. They’ve been pushing him for a long time. Three years. And even before this most recent push, there were several long-term attempts to push him and get him over that just didn’t work. He’s the A story. You have the main plot, Roman Reigns, you have a subplot, what’s going on with Sami [Zayn]? What’s going on with Jey [Uso]? Where do those two characters go? It’s all within the context of the same story. It’s all within the context of the A story, but there are sub stories going on within the A story subplot and in the case of wrestling, because it’s a three hour show, two or three hour show, that airs 52 weeks a year, you’ve got multiple stories.
“You’ve got a B story, you’ve got a C story, you’ve got a D story, and then you’ve got some segments that don’t necessarily have to have stories cuz you’re introducing talent or you’re creating a backstory for a future story. Right? So not everything has to be, you know, layered and detailed and executed with the same level of discipline and planning as an A story because it’s not that important. But eventually, hopefully those D stories turn into C stories that turn into B stories that turn into an A story. Because you spent time along that journey defining those characters, giving yourself some backstory to work with. Because it’s all fictional and you get there. But right now in this story, I agree. It’s all about, it’s all about Roman Reigns.”
The Bloodline over the NWO: “The Bloodline storyline is definitely way better, technically much better storytelling than the NWO. I mean, technically, The Bloodline won’t have as big of an impact on the wrestling industry as the NWO did, but that’s more about the timing and the shift in formula. Going from teen and pre-teen WWE, yay, woo, garbage man, dentist, crazy IRS guys and all that stuff. And we did some of that too, you know. As Kevin [Sullivan] will tell you, we did have the Dungeon of Doom, but the NWO changed all that. And because it changed all that for the very first time, I think people regard the NWO differently than they’ll regard the Bloodline.”
On storytelling: “(The) Sting storyline built slowly. There was a very, very well done act one and a well done act two and a well done act three all the way up until the final five minutes. From a technical perspective, I think Sting storyline was better than the NWO, but the Bloodline storyline is even better than the Sting storyline because of the discipline. Maybe they’re gonna have their last five minutes. Maybe they’re gonna ‘Dexter’ themselves in the end. I don’t know. But as of right now, I wouldn’t bet on that. It’s not putting him over. It’s just being honest and recognizing what makes a good storyline and what doesn’t, which is what 99 9 percent of the fans who live on social media and live on Reddit and live in Dave Meltzer’s dirt sheet universe, they have no idea what… hell, a lot of people in AEW, including Tony Khan, don’t know what makes a good story. You know what they consider a good storyline is like? I don’t, it’s not a storyline. It’s an angle with a couple promos and a finish.”
Other topics include WWE, Vince McMahon, The Bloodline, Roman Reigns, storytelling, WCW, the NWO, Kevin Sullivan, booking, Hulk Hogan, Sting, Starrcade 1997, creative control, his podcast 83 Weeks with Conrad Thompson, and more. Enjoy this 600th episode extravaganza and as always thank you for listening!
Really enjoying reading that until he did what he always HAS to do, and that’s get a shot in on the guy he has so much envy for it’s ridiculous and sad, Tony Khan. He really needs to get over that.
He’s not wrong.
Say what you want about Bischoff and how he did it and for the short amount of time it was but he is the only person ever to beat WWE. The one thing I respect about Bischoff is he admits he let his ego get the best of him and he made mistakes. Cocaine Khan has shown he’s nothing but a man child
Bischoff nailed these comments exactly. Very well stated across the board.