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A WWE veteran recently explained why AEW is losing against its competition.
While the Jacksonville-based promotion had a fiery start in 2019, its popularity and momentum have seemingly dwindled over the past few months. There have been several setbacks contributing to this, including the infamous 'Brawl Out' incident in 2022. As of now, Tony Khan is still struggling to match the viewership and ratings of his biggest competitor.
In an interview with Sportskeeda's Riju Dasgupta, Eric Bischoff slammed the creative decisions of the Jacksonville-based promotion.
"I think AEW has lost ground. They have lost a lot of goodwill with their audience. I think the audience is getting tired of the lack of creative in AEW. Their storylines are horrible, if they even exist. What passes for a storyline in AEW might pass for a storyline amongst a bunch of 8 year olds or 10 year olds. But in terms of a legitimate compelling story that progresses and builds and evolves in a compelling way that people keep coming back and the audience keeps growing, it's non-existent in AEW. It's a mess." (15:00 - 15:47)
Visit Eric Bischoff's podcast, 83 Weeks, for his opinions on a variety of different pro-wrestling-related subjects. New episodes are released every Monday and Thursday.
Eric Bischoff claimed that AEW was never a close competitor against WWE
While Tony Khan certainly has the means to hire some of the biggest stars in the pro wrestling industry, Eric Bischoff believes that the brand was never a threat to the Stamford-based promotion.
In the same interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Riju Dasgupta, Bischoff admitted that AEW had generated a lot of excitement in its early days, but did not deliver on its promise.
"They are not even close to WWE. They've never been close to WWE. Now in terms of the excitement that AEW has generated, particularly on the internet, absolutely AEW. Especially early on, everybody was hoping for an alternative... Everybody was hoping that we'd have another Monday Night War, including Tony Khan, who by the way still thinks he is in a war with WWE, which is delusional to the point of... It's not even funny because it's so bizarre." (13:00 - 13:51)
It remains to be seen whether Tony Khan will clap back at Eric Bischoff in the near future.
Do you agree with Eric Bischoff'? Sound off in the comments section below!
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