Eric Bischoff rejects the idea that social media and spoiler culture killed the chance of another nWo-style storyline, pinning the blame instead on wrestling’s creative teams for mass-producing disposable factions.
Speaking on 83 Weeks, the former WCW executive producer argued that another takeover angle can still work today, but not the way the industry currently books groups.
Bischoff was asked whether something like the nWo could still hit in an era of leaks, backstage scoops, and fans hunting for information. His answer was yes, with one condition: wrestling needs to stop cranking out new factions every few months.
Yeah, it could. It could. I think for any faction that would be nWo-ish or -esque, we’re going to have to kind of take, let’s not have any more factions for a while. We just keep cranking factions out like they’re cookies in a cookie dough press. And they all suck, with the exception of The Bloodline,” Bischoff said.
For Bischoff, the problem is not fans watching clips on their phones. It is that groups get cool posters and strong positioning, then collapse before the story ever develops.
What has come across the line? They’re really cool factions and they get positioned well and they got really cool posters and all kinds of cool [stuff], but they fizzle out within 90 or 120 days. Next, let’s do another one,” he said.
Bischoff Points Back To The nWo Rollout
Bischoff said wrestling should let the faction concept breathe before attempting the next major takeover. To make his case, he walked back through the original nWo build in WCW: Scott Hall arriving first, Kevin Nash following, Bischoff getting powerbombed off the stage, and Hulk Hogan turning heel.
You laid out the story the way you laid out week one, Scott Hall, week two, week three, here comes Kevin Nash. Week four, Eric is powerbombed off the stage. Then Hulk Hogan turns heel,” he said. “The beats within that story were timed so perfectly that the story is what made it work.
That is where Bischoff grew frustrated with the modern excuse-making. He rejects the notion that changing viewing habits make this kind of angle impossible.
This is bulls***. You’re just making excuses for the fact that you can’t come up with a good f**ing story. Everything is story-driven. Everything,” he said.
The Bloodline As The Exception
Bischoff has repeatedly held up The Bloodline as the lone successful modern faction, and he circled back to it here as proof that patient storytelling still works.
Fans followed The Bloodline because it gave them a real story, he argued: the same way the nWo unfolded at exactly the right pace.
Crapping out factions once every three months hoping to get lightning in the bottle is not creative,” Bischoff said. “Nor should anybody judge the potential success of the next Bloodline or the next nWo based on the fact that, ‘Well, that was then, this is now, and people get all their entertainment on their phones.’
His conclusion was blunt: another nWo-style angle could still land, Bischoff believes, but only if it is not forced, rushed, or assembled like every other forgettable group photo. The answer, in his view, is not another logo but better storytelling.
