What did Eric Bischoff think of CM Punk's much-talked-about interview on "The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani" from this past Monday?
What was he shocked by during the appearance?
Let's find out!
On the latest installment of his 83 Weeks podcast, WWE Hall of Fame legend and former WCW Executive Vice President gave his thoughts on CM Punk's lengthy interview with Ariel Helwani from earlier this week, which saw "The Best in the World" talk at length about his multiple physical incidents behind-the-scenes in AEW, as well as his lack of respect for Tony Khan as a boss.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the 83 Weeks podcast with Eric Bischoff where he touches on this topic at length with his thoughts.
On CM Punk’s MMA Hour interview overall thoughts: "First of all, Ariel’s in a class all of his own. He’s really good at what he does. When you watch an interview that sounds like two guys shooting the s**t at the bar and you just happen to be able to overhear it? That’s a good interviewer. That’s the way that felt. I was surprised, given all of the discussions about non-disparagement agreements and non-disclosure agreements, both of them are NDAs. But given so much of that chatter, I was really shocked that Punk would come out and talk about anything other than WrestleMania."
On Punk saying Khan is not a good boss: "Well, I think that’s been clear. I mean, looks — O’m gonna get this out of the way, I’m only gonna say it once… what am I gonna say other than, ‘Yep, been talking about that for three years.’ Now, I don’t have any perspective on what Tony’s like backstage. I got a glimpse, like a brief glimpse, almost like a drive by right? Which doesn’t really tell you anything. So I don’t really know what he’s like backstage, but if you look at the patterns — dot, dot, dot — connect the dots. Ooh, there’s a picture, pattern at least of everything that we’ve seen for the last year, two years, three years have all indicated that Tony just is not a leader. How many times have I said it on the show and upset you, or been put in my place. Sometimes appropriately so. But it’s just obvious when you see how the lack of leadership manifests on a regular basis."
On the backstage environment in AEW: "We all know what’s going on, or at least we were told what’s going on backstage. There’s an impression that one has just if you know people that know somebody. But you also look at it — like I say, some of the things that we’ve seen over the last couple of years. The Punk situation is probably the most obvious. That’s lack of leadership. I talked about it for three weeks, I talked about it Strictly Business. And then I get crucified, ‘He’s just an old man. He’s bitter because Tony Khan wouldn’t give him a job.’ Are you f**king kidding me? After the CM Punk interview, I’m way more convinced I’m 100% right, that I would never want to put myself through that kind of drama."
On whether his thoughts about Punk has changed due to his comments: "Let me — first off, I want to kind of tag the first question you asked me and my thoughts about Punk and if they have changed. The reason my thoughts hadn’t changed is I really didn’t have any thoughts about Phil Brooks, the person. Didn’t know him, didn’t have a feeling one way or the other. My feeling about him as a character at the time in AEW has not changed, clearly. Now, now — and if you again, go back and listen to some of my comments when the rumors were floating around that Punk may go back to WWE. I think it was Strictly Business, I said to Alba, because Alba asked me, ‘How do you think he would do there?’ I said, ‘I think he’d do fine there. Because he’s not going to be The Guy. He’s going to be a part of a team. A well-organized team, a well-managed team, and a team with structure in leadership.’ This is almost exactly what I said. So that’s the difference between things that Punk said in AEW, which I still think is low-hanging fruit, things that I reacted to and just cheapened his appearance for me, and my impression of him as a character. Now after listening to this interview, the person I’m hearing, Phil Brooks is somebody that I would — you know, it’s never going to happen, likely. But sit down, have a stake with that guy? Sure. Because a lot of what he said is rooted in common sense. It’s not a radical theory, folks. It’s just basic fundamental business, and especially wrestling business."
Check out the complete episode of the 83 Weeks podcast featuring Eric Bischoff via the YouTube player embedded below. H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes.
