Eric Bischoff Responds to Claim He’s On WWE’s Payroll

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff addressed the claim made by Bryan Alvarez that he is on WWE’s payroll, a statement linked to Bischoff’s recent critical comments about AEW. Bischoff took the opportunity to set the record straight, discussing the accusation and his stance on AEW, among other topics. The conversation shed light on the ongoing tension between the two wrestling promotions and Bischoff’s views on the current landscape of professional wrestling. You can check out some highlights from the episode below:

Eric Bischoff on Considering One-Off Appearances with WWE and Other Promotions: 

“Definitely. Look, WWE does it right. And if that opportunity were to be presented to me, I’d have to give it serious consideration. Honestly, I don’t want to make it sound like I’m too good for anything, because that’s not the case at all. For me, it’s just very personal in terms of travel. I mean, I say it all the time, and I don’t think people really believe me or understand how committed I am to this, but it’s just so hard for me to travel anymore. My biggest issue is the travel part.

“So I guess it depends on where, when, how often, and that type of thing. But I’m never going to turn down an opportunity to do anything with WWE. They’re a class organization. They treat you right. I almost always have a great time. I always keep an open mind, for sure. And especially something that’s kind of groundbreaking, as is WWE ID. To be on the ground floor would be something I would be interested in for sure.”

Eric Bischoff on Bryan Alvarez claiming he’s on WWE’s payroll: 

“That’s so funny. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met Bryan Alvarez, but what a dumb little fu**er. Here’s how stupid he is. I mean, you don’t even have to have much experience or common sense to figure this out, but clearly Bryan Alvarez is short on both. I just did two WWE episodes, one on NXT and one for WWE on the A&E Network. And then 48 hours later or 24 hours later, whatever it was, I’m on an MLW show. Who by the way, was in a lawsuit with WWE. Do you think, you stupid little f**k, that if I was under contract with WWE?

“I don’t even have a Legend’s agreement with WWE. I can’t wait for the back paycheck to show up. I don’t have a written agreement with anybody. I don’t even have a handshake deal with anybody. If they call and I’m available, and it sounds fun, I’ll show up. And that goes to everybody. If TNA or Impact were to call me and say, ‘Hey, we’re doing something. We’d like you to show up.’ If it fit into my schedule and it sounded fun, I’ll do it. So again, this is a perfect example of guys like Brian Alvarez, the needy little fu**ing elf, and his partner Dave Meltzer talking out of their ass when they don’t know what they’re talking about, ever. They just don’t know what they’re talking about.”