This week on the after show for his 83 Weeks podcast, After 83 Weeks with Christy Olson, Eric Bischoff claps back at claims made by comedian John Oliver about WWE. The former RAW GM also weighs in on Brutus ?The Barber? Beefcake?s Hall of Fame induction, offering his take on whether it?s a ploy by WWE to get Hulk Hogan involved in the ceremony. Excerpts are below?
Eric?s hilarious take on Brutus being inducted into the HOF:
I don?t think it?s [just to get Hulk Hogan involved]. [Hogan] would?ve gotten involved with the show, would?ve been asked regardless...It may have been a rib on Triple H. Triple H has got to put [Brutus] over now and stand next to him and take his Hall of Fame pictures. So maybe I would buy into that.
Regarding claims made by John Oliver on Last Week Tonight:
The precedent for the industry that we call sports entertainment or professional wrestling, that business model has been around forever. If WWE, which is the largest producer of this type of content anywhere in the world, in the history of the world, if they were to change their business model to accommodate a traditional employer model, I?m not sure what would happen to that company. It?s a substantial change. I?m not saying they can?t do it. I?m not saying they won?t.
Eric justifies the risk taken by those who work for WWE:
I knew what I was getting into when I signed that agreement. I knew there was going to be no health insurance. I knew there was going to be no retirement. Nobody talked to me about a 401(k). I?m intelligent enough to read the agreement I signed?I know what to expect, in return for my services. So it?s hard for me to relate to people that bitch and whine about it after the fact. If you don?t like that situation, you don?t like the fact that WWE is not offering you the things that maybe you could get at, I don?t know IBM or Apple or an airline, then go work there. But if you?re like me or I?m sure many people who aspire for an opportunity for greatness, like musicians do, you know what? You gotta roll the dice. And if you choose to roll the dice going into that deal knowing what it is and what it isn?t, then don?t bitch and whine about it afterwards.
On whether John Oliver?s claims are valid: It is true. So much of it is true. I?m not denying it?s not. But that?s a choice they made. And you go into it knowing that. It?s hard for me to feel too much sympathy for people that make choices and take risks knowing what the odds are, and then whine about it after the fact.
For more with Eric, including where to catch him in New York this weekend, watch the latest After 83 Weeks with Christy Olson here: youtu.be/93QlbbzvxPs or listen on Apple Podcasts: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/after-83-weeks-with-christy-olson-af....