WWE Rumor Roundup: Top Superstar not turning heel, veteran fired from the company, exciting new signings - 16th October 2019

#4. The Eric Bischoff saga: The reason why he was fired and more

Eric Bischoff was brought back to the WWE amid much fanfare in June earlier this year and he was handed the pivotal task of being the Executive Director of SmackDown.

Four months into the job and he has already been replaced by Bruce Prichard while also being released from WWE altogether. It was a short, uneventful and utterly forgettable stint for the former WCW booker.

So, what happened?

The talents backstage saw Bischoff's departure as an inevitable phenomenon, as revealed by Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez. Bischoff was mostly found in catering and was never really reachable when he was needed backstage. A section of the talents reportedly didn't even like to work with him.

Bischoff was unfamiliar with the product as well as the talents involved and most importantly, he wasn't taking any special efforts to learn. He would also disappear after meetings and when the talents were asked about who was running SmackDown, the answer was always Bruce Prichard.

Sports Illustrated (SI) was told that Bischoff's role was to merely observe while Paul Heyman was given the power to creatively alter the product as per his liking.

"Bischoff’s four-month run working for Vince McMahon will be marked by his failure to assimilate into the corporate structure of the company, though his dismissal is not a complete loss for WWE."

It has also been speculated that Bischoff may have been kicked out due to the dip in TV ratings for SmackDown, however, that's a tall claim as the Blue brand has been on the FOX Network for only two weeks.

Bischoff may have been hired as just a scapegoat as it would be easy to remove him if the situation on SmackDown went south. That was the rumor going around when Bischoff was hired. All said and done, Bischoff is done with the company and is free to appear for any other promotion as he didn't have a 90-day non-compete clause in his contract.

Bischoff's firing has also been seen as Vince McMahon's way of letting FOX know that the company is serious about making SmackDown work on the new network. Prichard has been Vince McMahon's trusted aide and he will oversee the creative aspect of the Friday night show alongside Ed Kosky.

“Bischoff’s firing is Vince McMahon’s reaction to the ratings and a message to his stockholders that he is entirely committed to the future success of SmackDown on FOX.”

It is interesting to note that Bruce Prichard was the man who originally pushed WWE to sign Bischoff as the Executive Director. It evidently didn't work out and there seems to be no bad blood amongst all the parties involved, that is if all the statements are taken into account.