Eric Bischoff to bring pro wrestling to. . . .CMT?

Photo courtesy of obsessedwithwrestling.com


This past weekend, I read an interesting article on 411mania.com that stated Eric Bischoff (pictured above) was in preliminary discussions with Country Music Television (CMT) to possibly develop a new professional wrestling organization to air on the network.

This news comes off the heels of Bischoff’s latest blog entry, in which he stated that working on the soon-to-be debuting “Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Wrestling,” which Bischoff is the executive producer of and will air on CMT starting Oct. 18, "wetted his appetite to get back into wrestling."

In addition, Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com reported that Bill Goldberg might somehow be involved, given Goldberg’s recent statements that he was training for a wrestling comeback and his comeback would NOT be for either World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) or Total Nonstop Action (TNA) wrestling.

For those who are not familiar with Bischoff or forgot who he was, he was the mastermind behind the New World Order (NWO) storyline that helped World Championship Wrestling (WCW) beat the WWE in the “Monday Night War” ratings for 83 straight weeks.

Bischoff was also the individual who offered big-time GUARANTEED contracts to WCW wrestlers, as well as allowing creative control clauses in their contracts, meaning the wrestlers had final say on how their characters were portrayed on television and not the bookers or writing team.

I have mixed feelings on this issue. No doubt having another wrestling promotion on television would be a good thing as the wrestlers would have another option to find employment and another organization would create a chance to make new stars. Also, if someone is going to start a new promotion, it might as well be someone who has experience in the wrestling industry and knows what to do behind the scenes from both a production and business standpoint.

On the flip-side, how well accepted would this promotion be accepted by the fans? Let’s be honest, ever since the original Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) went out of business in Feb. 2001 and WWE bought WCW in March 2001, the popularity of wrestling has died out amongst pop-culture and even long-time fans who have simply lost interest.

Another area of concern for this promotion would be talent. Honestly, who exactly would be in this company? One has to keep in mind that WWE employs nearly 100 wrestlers, not including their developmental territory wrestlers, and TNA employs another 50. In addition, nearly all of the big-name talents from the “Monday Night Wars” have either retired, stopped wrestling due to injuries or moved on to other endeavors.

“Stone Cold Steve Austin” had to retire because of a neck injury and is attempting to become an actor; Goldberg is currently a commentator for the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organization EliteXC; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is making movies in Hollywood; Scott Hall is constantly in-and-out of rehab; Bret Hart retired as a result of post-concussion syndrome; Page “DDP” Falkinburg retired due to a neck injury and is now a yoga instructor; Kevin Nash, Booker T, Scott Steiner and Sting are currently in TNA and Mick Foley does the occasional once-a-year match.

Also, airing the program on CMT would be a huge mistake in my eyes as not that many households receive the channel and would give the start-up company a stereotype of being a “hillbilly” promotion, something TNA was viewed as in its early years when they held their shows at the Nashville fairgrounds from 2002-2004.

Should this organization become a reality, both CMT and Bischoff have a lot of work ahead of them. The idea in intriguing in theory but what matters is what is given as the final product. Both parties need to be careful and take their time as rushing into something this big without considering all-factors could put this company on the shelf before it even gets started, such as was the fate of the "XWF" and "Wrestling X Society."