Eric Bischoff built the nWo, the angle most fans and historians credit as the most impactful storyline in wrestling history. Now the WWE Hall of Famer is on record placing a rival creation above his own legacy work, calling The Bloodline the best storyline he has ever seen.
Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff praised the WWE saga in unqualified terms while also flagging a caveat: TKO’s corporate influence could be the variable that makes or breaks the storyline’s next chapter.
“I think the Bloodline storyline is absolutely the best storyline that’s ever been written and produced in this industry. Nothing’s even close,” Bischoff said. “That doesn’t mean it’ll have the same impact on the industry as the nWo did for a lot of other reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the story.”
That last point is the distinction Bischoff keeps coming back to. He separates creative quality from business impact, conceding that The Bloodline may never reshape the industry the way the nWo did, even if the writing and execution outclass it.
The TKO Question
Bischoff’s optimism comes with a condition. He pointed to WWE’s parent company TKO as the factor that could determine whether the storyline keeps its momentum.
“I do think that WWE will get through this hump with TKO. I think creative will settle into a rhythm and things will be just fine,” Bischoff said. “And if I’m right, the Bloodline could be really, really good, and we’ll be talking about what a success it is. If it’s not, if they can’t kind of get where they need to be creatively and corporately, then yeah, it might be a miss. We’ll see.”
The comments came on the 83 Weeks Podcast (Eric Bischoff). Bischoff, a WWE Hall of Famer inducted in the Class of 2021, has been vocal about both WWE’s creative direction and the corporate landscape it now operates in.
For more from the Hall of Famer, Bischoff recently detailed a recent meeting with CM Punk and responded to the latest Bret Hart controversy.
