Eric Bischoff Criticizes NWA for Controversial Cocaine Segment

During the "83 Weeks" podcast, Eric Bischoff reflected on the controversy surrounding Jim Mitchell's portrayal of snorting a substance on the NWA Samhain PPV. Reporting by Nick Hausman suggested the incident might lead to the show being moved from The CW network to its app, which Billy Corgan has refuted. Bischoff commented on the unique position of wrestling in television, noting that while scripted series regularly depict drug use, wrestling is scrutinized when it mirrors such acts.

"It's weird, isn't it, how wrestling has still to this day, despite how mainstream, how large it's become, how powerful it's become, still finds residence in this weird spot in television where certain things are just off limits. If we're going to watch a scripted series, I don't know how many of them I've watched where you see somebody doing cocaine or shooting heroin, or doing whatever within the context of a scripted presentation, but yet, when wrestling steps outside of the bounds, I don't even know where the boundaries are. I don't think anybody else does either. There's no definitive right or wrong. It's a matter of taste and judgment at a particular point in time.”

“But in this particular case, you've got people doing cocaine on camera. It's not real cocaine, we all know that, but if you're using cocaine to advance a character or storyline, you got people throwing flags. I think a lot of that has to do with the reason why beer companies still are hesitant to this day to advertise in wrestling because there's still either a real or perceived component of the audience, too large of a component of the audience, that are children and that's where I think the gray area is. Some television executives recognize it for what it is. Some of them are still like, 'Oh, no. We don't want to be associated with that.' They're fearful of it.”

“But I think, you know, TV versus pay-per-view, doesn't fu**ing matter. It's still the NWA. It's still your brand. It's still your characters that we see on TV, and yes, pay-per-views are seen on television. So I think to find any kind of comfort where you're able to get away with things, big things, controversial things like a cocaine spot, but you're gonna be allowed to get away with it because it's on pay-per-view and not on television is naive as hell. That's just inexperience, not having dealt with television networks, not ever having been in a position where you've got a television partner that actually cares about what you do. It's just a reflection of naivete. That's all it is and a fair amount of stupidity because you know you're bringing that attention to yourself. You got people dropping dead in the streets from snorting blow, from fentanyl. I don’t know man.”

“I don't know Billy Corgan. I've had lunch with him and spent a little bit of time with him, but that was just flat out frickin stupid. especially when you're trying to emerge. You're trying to break out of YouTube and actually get a television deal and you feel strongly about a cocaine spot, which by the way, didn't get anybody over anyway. What was the purpose of it? You're gonna get Jim Mitchell over? Are you kidding me? The guy has never been over in the 20 years he's been in business. How is this going to make a difference? The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get because it's the kind of thing that really damages the wrestling genre for television. It's just like people are inventing ways to screw stuff up. I hate when people blow opportunities. They're hard to come by folks. They're really freaking hard to come by. Why would you do something that you know is going to blow up in your face and if you don't know it’s going to blow up in your face, get out of the business because you shouldn't be in it.”