WWE Rumors: Backstage details on reasons for Eric Bischoff's exit from SmackDown

WWE has gone through a big week, with the release of Eric Bischoff from the post of Executive Director from Friday Night SmackDown and his replacement with Bruce Prichard.

While Bischoff's release and replacement have been the talk of the WWE Universe this week, Tom Colohue talked about what happened behind the scenes on this week's episode of Dropkick DiSKussions.

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Eric Bischoff replaced by WWE on SmackDown

Tom Colohue speculated that the reason Eric Bischoff was released by WWE had to do with the WWE Draft. He said that he was told that there were concerns about personnel changes and that there might have been pressure on Bischoff from both sides.

"I don't believe WWE have used the word fired or let go, they simply stated that he has been replaced. So it's possible of the situation as has been alluded to, maybe the ratings drop affected things. There was also a concern about personnel changes, that's what I was told by Fox. It could be that they were unhappy with the Draft or they were unhappy with this element or that element. It could be that under pressure from both sides, Eric Bischoff decided it was not worth it."

Colohue went on to state that as far as whose decision it was to make the change, it was completely Vince McMahon's. Fox management were happy with Bischoff, but there was only one person who could make the decision about Bischoff's post.

"Fox was not unhappy with Eric Bischoff. I can say that with some reliability. He was well-respected in that role where he was liaising with Fox. The contacts I have there were very clear that they did not dislike Bischoff; he was doing okay, at least a passable job in that regard. However, there was a lot of nuance in Eric Bischoff's role, he was not there to just keep Fox happy. The decision was ultimately WWE's and there was only one person who ranked above Eric Bischoff. It was Vince McMahon's decision. Even if Fox were unhappy, they could not fire Eric Bischoff."

"Vince made the call, he made it quickly, and that was that for Eric Bischoff."

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Now, with Bischoff gone from SmackDown, Bruce Prichard is the man in charge. The coming weeks will show what changes are awaiting the Blue brand on Friday nights.

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