On a recent edition of his “Strictly Business” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff discussed the ratings of AEW Dynamite: Big Business with Mercedes Mone’s debut, his usual criticism of AEW, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the viewership drop off after Mercedes Mone’s 1 million viewers opening segment on Dynamite: “In a best case situation, you want to build on your lead-in. So if you’ve got a million viewers leading into your show — what is the show that comes on before Dynamite> It’s like Big Bang Theory or some s**t? It’s a very successful show that does does great numbers. Well in an ideal world, you’ll take those million viewers, or 900,000, or whatever the number is, it doesn’t matter. And you’ll build upon it throughout the one hour or two hours of your show. That’s what traditionally, program executives strive for. Part of that is laying the groundwork; if you know something is going to happen in the main event, something that you want the viewers to stick around and watch. You’re building to it. Then you have to kind of lay some groundwork throughout the show. Two or three times in a two-hour show would be adequate, would not be overkill. And that can be 15 or 20 second bumpers, sound bites, perhaps an angle. There’s a million different ways one could achieve it. But you have to plant some Easter eggs, so to speak, throughout those two hours to hold on to that audience in anticipation of whatever it is that you’re building towards. Failure to do so results in dismal ratings. Again, Ospreay. Okada from the week before. That — I mean, supposedly Tony Khan spent $4.5 million a year to get Okada and look at the numbers. Look at the audience, they did not respond. Now part of that is, I think, because Okada is… no one knows him. Outside of the hardest of hardcore wrestling fans, the internet wrestling community, those who worship the ground Dave Meltzer walks on, nobody knows who the f**k this guy is. And it’s not a reflection on him, it’s not his fault. He’s been wrestling in an obscure wrestling promotion that no one watches, really. It’s incumbent upon Tony and AEW to build him up and to make him feel special. Same with Will Ospreay. They didn’t do that week before, and as a result I think the debut of both of them — we’ve seen Osprey before, obviously, but he’s not full-time on the roster — that should have been a cause for celebration. That should have been a big deal. There should be something that’s done throughout the show to get us excited about that moment. And there wasn’t; nothing was done. Therefore, no one got excited and the ratings reflected that.
“Same thing here with Mercedes. I mean, 800,000 viewers on the show where you’re bringing in arguably one of the more recognizable female stars in the wrestling industry? Who spent — I don’t know how many years? A decade at a high profile position within the largest wrestling company in the world. And you bring her into AEW, and you get 800,000 viewers? And I know — you know, Dave Meltzer immediately went ‘Well, they didn’t advertise her, that’s why.’ Bulls**t, who are you kidding? If there was anybody who was a wrestling fan, or a fan of AEW who didn’t know that Mercedes was going to make her debut in Boston? Then I don’t know what to tell you. If people like Dave want to believe that, there’s nothing that I’m going to say that’s going to change anything for them because they’re stuck in a rut, in a small way of thinking, and nothing is ever going to change for them. But the numbers don’t lie. 800,000 viewers for Mercedes Mone? I don’t know. And I know everybody’s all, ‘Well, wait till next week, now that everybody knows!’ I have news for you, folks. If that number moves three to 5% either way, plus or minus, I’ll be surprised. I’ve said I said it six months ago, when the rumors started floating around about Mercedes going to AEW. And the question was, ‘Oh, do you think you’ll have any impact?’ And my answer was, ‘No, it won’t’. Just like no one else that’s come from WWE has made an impact on the ratings. It’s not the talent. The creative — there is no creative. There’s no functional creativity in AEW. I mean, basic television formatting as we just finished discussing, it doesn’t exist. It’s unbelievable. It’s like a bunch of wrestling fans who’ve never produced five minutes of television got together and said, ‘Hey, let’s put on a wrestling show.’ And they’re entertaining themselves, I guess, but not the audience. With the exception of a nucleus of internet wrestling fans that just love AEW. I don’t know, man. It’s really sad. I feel bad for talent. I don’t know Sasha Banks, Mercedes. I don’t know her; I don’t know that I’ve ever even had a syllable of conversation with her. But I feel bad for her. Just like feel bad for Will Ospreay and Okada and, you know, Christian Cage.”
On his criticism of AEW: “I mean, if you think about it, what reason I have to be critical or to be angry, or to just tear AEW apart. I have no dog in the hunt. You know, I can’t explain that any more clearly. Personally, I have no investment, emotionally or otherwise — with the exception of the fact that I want to see the business as a whole survive, grow, and prosper. The business as a whole. Not just WWE, but I want to see AEW grow like I really thought it was going to in the very, very beginning, and I was very supportive of it. If you go back and listen to some of my commentary back then, if you go back and look at some of my social media posts back then, it was very, very positive. It’s — again, and I don’t want to beat up something we’ve already talked about. But Tony Khan came out immediately and challenged WWE, and started taking shots at WWE. And so did a lot of the talent, some of them are my friends. I’m not going to name drop them here because it’s past, it’s not going to change anything. But a lot of high profile people’s talent into AEW immediately came out and started making pretty bizarre predictions about what was going to happen in the competition between AEW and WWE. Tony himself — up until very recently, I think he’s toned it down quite a bit over the last few months. I think it’s finally dawned on him that the backlash from doing so isn’t worth it. But there’s just been so much cosplay competition between the two, it was totally unnecessary and we talked about it last week. Had Tony adopted the Paul Heyman approach and embraced his role as an underdog.
“And I know this is gonna sound crazy, especially coming from me. But there were two different situations, meaning I was going literally head to head-in a real-world way. And Tony’s not, and hasn’t, and won’t. So that is a big difference that people tend to want to forget about, I guess. But had Tony embraced his underdog status and actually put over WWE in a constructive, positive way. Not gloated over them, but I mean, really acknowledge their growth and their success in almost an aspirational way. The amount of goodwill that he would have been able to cultivate and harness and enjoy would have been phenomenal. And I really thought that’s where he was going in the beginning. But he took another path, and that — you know, we’re talking about tribalism. A large part of that is because of Tony, and the talent at WWE. They started it, they created it. And now that they’re on the receiving end of course, anybody that says anything critical — constructive or otherwise — is being accused of being a hater. And that’s certainly not the case with me. I want them to be successful. Ther’s people there that I know pretty well and respect. There are people that are that I don’t know at all, but still respect. And I want them to be successful. I want the business that I spent 30 years of my life in, I want it to prosper and continue to grow, even if I’m not in it. I have no desire to be in the wrestling business again, especially in today’s environment. Zero desire, zero desire to travel, zero desire to deal with the drama and the egos, and the bulls**t that I know is going on backstage in both companies. I just don’t want to do that. That’s — I’ve been there. I’ve done it. I’ve been to the mountaintop twice, as a talent and as an executive. So for me to go back into a business, there has to be something really, really exciting about that that I haven’t experienced before. And that’s not there for me. And I’m really good with it. I’m so good with it that it’s hard to articulate. But that doesn’t mean that when I see things that are just fundamentally flawed, just the most basic things like formatting a television show, that seems to escape anybody in AEW. It boggles my f**king mind. And I’m going to say something. Doesn’t mean I hate anybody. Quite the contrary, really.”
In a recent episode of his podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff discussed the ratings of AEW Dynamite and shared his usual criticism of the promotion. One of the topics he touched upon was the viewership drop-off after Mercedes Mone’s debut segment on Dynamite.
Bischoff explained that in an ideal situation, a show should build on its lead-in viewership. If a show has a million viewers leading into it, the goal is to retain or increase that number throughout the duration of the show. This can be achieved by laying the groundwork and creating anticipation for key moments or matches. However, Bischoff believes that AEW has failed to do this effectively, resulting in disappointing ratings.
He cited the examples of Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada’s appearances on AEW, which did not generate a significant response from the audience. Bischoff attributed this to the lack of promotion and buildup for these debuts. He emphasized that it is essential for AEW to make these moments feel special and create excitement throughout the show.
Bischoff also discussed Mercedes Mone’s debut on AEW Dynamite, which garnered 800,000 viewers. He disagreed with the notion that her lack of advertising was the reason for the relatively low viewership. According to Bischoff, anyone who is a wrestling fan or follows AEW would have known about her debut in Boston. He expressed skepticism that the viewership numbers would significantly change in the following weeks.
When it comes to his criticism of AEW, Bischoff clarified that he has no personal investment or agenda against the promotion. He wants to see the wrestling industry as a whole thrive and prosper. However, he believes that AEW’s approach to competition with WWE has been unnecessary and counterproductive. Bischoff suggested that AEW should have embraced its underdog status and acknowledged WWE’s success in a constructive and positive way.
Despite his criticisms, Bischoff reiterated that he wants AEW to succeed. He acknowledged that there are talented individuals in the promotion whom he respects. However, he finds it frustrating when he sees fundamental flaws in AEW’s television formatting and production. Bischoff emphasized that his criticism does not stem from hatred but rather a desire to see the wrestling business improve.
In conclusion, Eric Bischoff discussed the ratings of AEW Dynamite and shared his usual criticism of the promotion. He highlighted the importance of building on lead-in viewership and creating anticipation throughout the show. Bischoff also expressed his desire to see AEW succeed while offering constructive criticism for improvement.