(no subject)
I read Eric Bischoff's book this week - Controversy Creates Cash. You know, even though he's an easy guy to hate (something he used to his advantage through his career), I've always had a soft spot for Uncle Eric... so I was looking forward to the book immensely. Having finished it, it's basically a book of two halves. The first half, featuring Bischoff's ascent to power in WCW and an insight into the philosophy and business decisions behind how he made WCW #1 was really enjoyable. I definitely felt I had a better insight into "Bischoff the businessman" than I had before, and a lot of what he was saying made a hell of a lot of sense with regards to the branding of WCW and the shift from the old to the new mentality. There was precious little in the way of details about WCW storylines or characters, but it was all good stuff.
The second half of the book was significantly less good - although it had the potential to be brilliant. While he acknowledged some of his mistakes, he simply blames WCW on the corporate mentality and the AOL Time Warner merger - stating that a number of people wanted WCW "off the books", and worked against it at boardroom level. Rather than work within the new confines set by Standards & Practices, Bischoff seemingly just *gave up* and watched WCW wither and die. Okay, so the mandate comes down that WCW can't do edgy TV any more... that sucks... but for God's sake find a way to produce engaging TV within those boundaries. Don't just go on the defensive and bitch about it! If nothing else, it gives the impression that Eric was a one trick pony who found the so-called "sweet spot", but had nothing to offer once he was forced to change his product. All in all, pretty sad stuff.
Meltzer is writing about the history of WCW and Bischoff now too, so that'll be an interesting counterpoint to Eric's book. I definitely think it was one of the more intriguing wrestling books that I've read, but overall it was less than I'd hoped.
In an ideal world, I'd love it if Bischoff was to leave WWE and get given full control over TNA - because frankly, TNA is an absolute mess these days. I've gone out of my way to watch the last two weeks of Impact on TWC, and it's just awful stuff - Angle/Joe stuff aside. It might get crushed, but how awesome would it be with a Bischoff-led TNA going head to head on Monday nights against Raw?
The second half of the book was significantly less good - although it had the potential to be brilliant. While he acknowledged some of his mistakes, he simply blames WCW on the corporate mentality and the AOL Time Warner merger - stating that a number of people wanted WCW "off the books", and worked against it at boardroom level. Rather than work within the new confines set by Standards & Practices, Bischoff seemingly just *gave up* and watched WCW wither and die. Okay, so the mandate comes down that WCW can't do edgy TV any more... that sucks... but for God's sake find a way to produce engaging TV within those boundaries. Don't just go on the defensive and bitch about it! If nothing else, it gives the impression that Eric was a one trick pony who found the so-called "sweet spot", but had nothing to offer once he was forced to change his product. All in all, pretty sad stuff.
Meltzer is writing about the history of WCW and Bischoff now too, so that'll be an interesting counterpoint to Eric's book. I definitely think it was one of the more intriguing wrestling books that I've read, but overall it was less than I'd hoped.
In an ideal world, I'd love it if Bischoff was to leave WWE and get given full control over TNA - because frankly, TNA is an absolute mess these days. I've gone out of my way to watch the last two weeks of Impact on TWC, and it's just awful stuff - Angle/Joe stuff aside. It might get crushed, but how awesome would it be with a Bischoff-led TNA going head to head on Monday nights against Raw?