The Thread Killer

Even though the accepted theory is that the new producers won't be fully in place until after Extreme Rules, I am not expecting to notice significant changes on either show right away anyhow. If it is even possible, it's going to take time to turn things around, especially considering the mess both guys are walking into. If you inherit a show where one (or more than one) of your main angles involves Shane McMahon, or you get saddled with Baron Fucking Corbin as your top heel, I don't care how good a writer you are - your show is still going to suck. I wouldn't expect to see any noticeable differences until Heyman and Bischoff both are in place for at least a month - and that's even assuming that Vince actually lets them implement any of the changes they want to make, which knowing him, he probably won't. I think SummerSlam will probably be a good indicator of how different things are or aren't going to be with the two new Executive Producers in place.

I have to be honest, I don't get @El-P's hate of this past week's episode of Fusion. It wasn't exactly "must see" TV or anything, but it was what I would have expected for what it was supposed to accomplish. This episode was pretty much designed to do two things: reintroduce Austin Aries and hype up Kings of Colosseum. It accomplished both of those goals, in my opinion. I do agree with El-P and @Migs wholeheartedly, there were some issues with the way Austin Aries was added back into the mix, but not all of those can be blamed on MLW. I agree that Aries just didn't look good, physically. He has lost a noticeable amount of weight since the last time I saw him, including muscle mass. He's never been huge to begin with, but on this show he looked a bit puny. I assume during his time off he wasn't doing a ton of weight training - not to say he looked out of shape, don't get me wrong. Secondly, his overall physical presentation was awful. I'm sorry, but he needs to have a serious word with whoever gave him that haircut. Having his head totally shaved on the sides combined with an epic beard is just a weird look for anybody, especially him. Add that to his new thinner look and the basic, plain full length black tights and he did not look like the Austin Aries I remember from a purely aesthetic point of view. He didn't look like a star. If you compare how he looked on this show to how he looked in WWE or even Impact, it's a significant change. On this show, he looked like enhancement talent, honestly. As far as the match goes. I don't know who Adam Brooks is, but all I know is that Austin Aries gave this kid WAY too much in their match. That match had no business going that long (12 minutes) and I can't believe some of the offense that Aries unloaded on this kid, only to have Brooks fight it off. That Death Valley Driver on the ring apron was insane, and a spot like that should be reserved for a PPV match against a name opponent, not a TV match. And then on top of that, Brooks fights his way out of a submission hold which Aries has clamped on. If Aries wanted somebody to be really competitive against him during his first match back so he could show everything he could do, then they should have put him in there against an established name, not some new kid nobody has ever heard of making his debut. That just made it look like Aries had way too much trouble putting a kid away. As for the post-match, like I said previously, I don't think Jim Cornette had anything to do with that post-match promo. I think that was all Aries. I am somewhat intrigued by the potential Aries/Teddy Hart match they seem to be heading towards. I thought the Fatu squash was great. It made him look like a total monster, which he needed going into the next show. Jacob Fatu is so damn good. That moonsault was crazy. As far as the Main Event goes, it also made sense leading into Kings of Colosseum. There's no way they were going to have their champion lose, and they also want to keep Samael and Contra Unit strong, so having a brawl that gets out of control made sense to me. It was what it was - a TV Main Event leading into a big show. Then again, I really like Josef Samael so maybe I am more inclined to enjoy stuff he is involved in. This is a guy who has patterned himself after the original Sheik, and it shows. My only major criticism of this episode (aside from Aries giving Adam Brooks too much offense) is that they are overdoing it with the constant inserting of the Contra Unit clips throughout the episode. It's making it look like an nWo ripoff, or something. I like the Contra Unit as a stable, but they probably don't need to have their logo flashing across the screen every five minutes, it's overkill to me.

Dude, I think you're way off on this one for two reasons. Firstly, Cornette is just a Color Commentator and Part Time producer. I don't think he has anything to do with creative in MLW. He can't really, because he doesn't even work for them Full Time. And even if he did, the second reason I think Cornette had nothing to do with this is that Cornette and Austin Aries hate each other. It's well documented that Austin Aries and Jim Cornette have big time heat from Cornette's time in ROH when he actually did have input into creative. I really can't see Jim Cornette going to Austin Aries and telling him what to say, and Aries happily agreeing to say it. I believe that promo may actually have represented Austin Aries' actually feelings on the current state of the Pro Wrestling industry.

I do agree that his work during the UK tournament was excellent. To be honest, prior to that I'd never thought he was even capable of that. I didn't think he had the skill. Which in a way, almost makes his usual performances more maddening - he could be great, he just usually isn't. I guess my big complaint is that Cole seems to embrace Vince McMahon's version of what makes a good play-by-play man with a bit too much gusto.

I agree that even if he did agree to be split off from The New Day, WWE "creative" would probably screw it up because hey...they pretty much screw everything up lately. I just don't get a guy with all the physical gifts that Big E has limiting himself like that. But it could very well be that he thinks he's better off being comfortable in the New Day than having creative botch a potential singles run and hurt his potential long term viability.

Some of that is on Big E. I've seen interviews where he says that he has refused to be split off from The New Day under any circumstances. There's only so much mileage you're going to be able to get from a guy throwing pancakes around and swivelling his hips. Considering his abilities, he could and should be considered a monster, but apparently he'd rather dance around in costumes and give the fans breakfast cereal.

Oh man, KS. I normally admire your ability to find something positive in even the most negative aspects of the WWE product, but I really think you're off base on this issue, in my opinion. For example I watched Super Showdown, and yeah that show was horrible and maybe one of the worst shows I've ever seen - but Michael Cole was at his all time worst during that broadcast. He doesn't even call matches anymore, he just lovingly and gleefully spouts cliches ("Vintage Undertaker! Vintage Shane! Vintage Vintage!") in the most insufferably insincere manner. To me he personifies everything about Vince McMahon's vision of Pro Wrestling that I hate. Even within the confines of Vince McMahon's announcing production, I'd take Tom Phillips or Vic Joseph any day of the week. The only play-by-play guy I hate more than Michael Cole is Mauro Ranallo, and that's just due to Mauro's constant idiotic pop culture references and the constant screaming. And when it comes to screaming, sometimes Cole gives Ranallo a run for his money.

The whole question of AEW's target demographic is an interesting one, isn't it? I've heard Tony Khan say in more than one interview that he hopes AEW appeals to new fans, and to lapsed fans from the 90's. Fair enough. So the question becomes how are they going to do that? Based on what I've seen from their first two shows, I am guessing they are going to take the approach of trying to provide a bit of something for everyone. For example, if you like theatrical/comedy stuff then they will use guys like Orange Cassidy and his little shin-kicking spot, or this whole Librarians angle. If you like lots of action and spots, they've got the Lucha Brothers, Young Bucks, etc. If you want the more "hardcore" stuff they have Joey Janella, Jimmy Havoc, etc. And if you like the more traditional old school stuff, they've already proven what they can do with Cody/Dustin and I am betting Moxley will fit right into that category as well. The main question is will some fans be turned off by some of that stuff. I know some fans hate the hardcore stuff. Others don't like the comedy. I myself can't imagine anybody not liking the matches like Cody vs. Dustin, but who knows. I know I was planning on ordering Double or Nothing until I saw the price. I wasn't going to pay $50.00 to see a show that only had one or two matches I was interested in, and having since seen the show I am glad I kept my money in my pocket. I know a lot of fans (rightfully) like to criticize WWE for being too samey and generic - and they unquestionably are. But I don't know how many new or lapsed fans AEW will be able to draw in by having such a wide variety of stuff on the menu. That's the main reason I want to see what their TV is like. A couple of months of television should be able to answer the question about what the overall tone and style the promotion is going to have. Those are questions that can't be answered by two PPV's, the second of which was being done for a very niche audience, even among wrestling fans.

If nothing else, this last episode discussing the Draft proved that JR is not taking the Bruce Prichard route. JR clearly doesn't give a shit at this point about burning any bridges with WWE, so if he has an opinion he's going to share it, regardless of how it sounds. I don't agree with all of his opinions, but it's refreshing (and quite humorous) how blunt he's being. For example, Conrad reads the news item about WWE re-hiring D-Lo Brown. Conrad asks JR if he thinks Vince did that for appearances, to try and prove WWE isn't racist. JR doesn't miss a beat before he responds "yes." You think Bruce would have admitted that, even before he went back to work with Vince? No way. He was always hedging his bets. Bruce didn't mind admitting when he thought a particular match or angle was bad, but we've gotten more honest answers out of JR in a month than we got out of Bruce in a year.

I've been a bit surprised to see some people being so...angrily dismissive of AEW before they've even gotten out of the gate. To me, it's mind-boggling to write them off before they've even started producing TV. I don't think anybody is going to be able to honestly judge what AEW is really going to be like until we get to view an entire run of television leading up to a PPV, and then the subsequent PPV. Then we'll finally get to see how they manage to juggle airtime for their talent, how they build storylines, how much is going to be based on in-ring action and how much is going to be based on backstage segments and promos, and we'll see who they'll be pushing and who they won't be. Will it really be a serious product based on wins and losses, or will it be more comedy based? Or will they try and balance both? Nobody knows yet. AEW has run two shows. To write them off at this point seems short-sighted and ignorant. You have to ask why some people are being so negative, and the obvious answer is that there is a segment of hardcore fans who don't want AEW to succeed at all, for some reason. Maybe they're die hard WWE fans (although I honestly didn't think there really was such a thing anymore) who find the mere idea of somebody daring to compete with Vince to be an insult therefore AEW must be stopped. Maybe they're just like a lot of Twitter trolls who are being negative and overly critical of everything in a sad effort to bring attention to themselves. Who knows. There's a flip side to that coin, though. Since the moment AEW was formed, there has also been a subset of fans who are trumpeting every little thing AEW has done when honestly - they've barely done anything yet. Or if you try and mention a good match you watched in NXT or on 205 Live and somebody barges in and starts blathering nonsense. "Who cares about NXT? How can you watch that crap? Plus, Saudi Arabia! Now AEW, that's a good product! 205 Live only wishes they had Luchasaurus! Blah blah blah!" Yeah, we get it. You're excited about AEW. Now go sit down. And gawd forbid somebody criticize what AEW has done so far. Then the person who criticized AEW must be a dinosaur who is stuck in the past and doesn't understand "modern" Pro Wrestling. Both groups are equally annoying, as far as I'm concerned. You can't honestly write AEW off before they've even started, but by the same token just because somebody didn't like some of the things they have done already it doesn't make their opinion invalid. Especially if they're voicing that option rationally and reasonably. I've been a Pro Wrestling fan for 36 years. By now, I know what I like and what I don't like in Pro Wrestling. To be honest, I am not excited about AEW for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it remains to be seen if I'm even going to get to see their TV. We don't get TNT in Canada, and so far they have not announced a Canadian TV deal. Secondly, I honestly am not a fan of a number of the wrestlers they have used thus far, and I don't care for the style of wrestling it looks like they're planning on presenting. I'm not a fan of overly choreographed or theatrical stuff that is meant to be humorous. I don't care to watch guys like Sonny Kiss, Orange Cassidy and Michael Nakazawa. I don't even much care for Kenny Omega or The Young Bucks. I suppose they're very good at what they do, I am just not a fan of what they do. I can't see myself going out of my way to watch those guys. But if you do like that type of wrestling, then more power to you. I certainly don't want AEW to fail. I think it's great that there is now a company where guys like Jon Moxley and Shawn Spears can get work and be creatively satisfied. Even better, guys like Rusev and Luke Harper and The Revival now have options if they can get away from WWE. I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't want to see them have an alternative place to go. Just because I don't necessarily want to see it, doesn't mean that people who do want to see it shouldn't be able to.

Fightful is reporting that the new TV deal is going to be with AXS. I have to plead ignorance here, since I don't even think we get AXS in Canada. If we do, it must be a real specialty channel because I have a very comprehensive TV provider and they're not listed. (Not that seeing Impact in Canada is a problem, since it's on The Fight Network.) Question for those of you in the know...would Impact going to AXS be considered a step up, like a TV deal that would be considered respectable and good for them? Better than Pursuit, at least? Or would it be considered as bad as Pop TV or Destination America?

Here's my picks based on what I watch. I follow NXT, NXT UK, Impact and MLW closely. I know what's going on in WWE and see most of the big matches, but I don't watch their weekly television. I don't watch ROH or NJPW so unfortunately I can't comment on any shows or wrestlers in either organization. Match of the Year: Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes (AEW Double or Nothing 05/25/19) Best Major Wrestling Show: NXT TakeOver: New York (04/19/19) Best Promotion: NXT Best on Interviews: Josef Samael Feud of the Year: Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann - Impact Wrestling Most Improved: Velveteen Dream/Tessa Blanchard (Tie) Wrestler of the Year: Becky Lynch

I hope your dog is okay brother. I have two rescue dogs myself, and up until recently I had three, but one passed away. I end up spending a small fortune on my guys, one has a "luxating patella" which means his knees keep dislocating, so I've got him on an anti-inflammatory and a glucosamine supplement, both of which are very expensive. The other one has seizures and arthritis so he is on Gabapentin and an anti-inflammatory. That's not even getting into how much I had to spend on the one who just passed away. A lot of the time I end up spending more on Dog Medication and Dog Food than I do on myself, but I love those guys and I don't regret it a bit. I hope yours makes a full recovery from surgery.

Brian Last claims they are making good money of their podcasts, and recently claimed they didn't even need sponsors to do it. It was when he took a shot at Conrad Thompson and said that he didn't know why Conrad's podcasts needed "dick pills" as a sponsor when there are plenty of ways to make lots of money from your podcast. But that's Brian Last and he could be full of crap. Then again, he apparently makes a full time living from his network of podcasts, so there could be something to it, I suppose. It's not like Brian Last's other podcasts on the "Acadian Vanguard Network" are going to get anywhere near the downloads Cornette does. Stephen P. New is a paid sponsor, but just for the Drive-Thru. When Cornette promotes him on The Experience he's doing it for free. They did have that one new sponsor "manscaped" for a few weeks, but this week Cornette did an ad for Rhino Records, so I guess they're a new sponsor for now. Aside from sponsors, I think they do make quite a bit from YouTube. That's why Cornette had a conniption fit when their old Official YouTube channel got demonetized for a while. That guy who was illegally posting Cornette content ("Jim Cornette Talking Sense") even admitted he was making a lot of money from Cornette related YouTube content before Cornette made him stop and basically brought him on as an employee. I think if your YouTube content gets a lot of hits you can do pretty well for yourself.

Well, Cornette responded to David Starr's accusations of racism on today's episode of The Experience. It was an...interesting rebuttal. I didn't realize there was a history to the heat between Starr and Cornette. He also decided that his newest target is Orange Cassidy, however I approve of that so I'm not complaining. It all led into his analysis on the role of comedy in Pro Wrestling, along with a promise to review the AEW show this weekend - so I expect the outrage to continue. He's definitely working these guys now. He knows his downloads are going to continue to go through the roof, the more he eviscerates AEW the more his fans lap it up and his enemies listen to get new fuel for their fire. And he laughs all the way to the bank.

If we're talking about here and now, there's no doubt. I'm not denying that the ticket demand for AEW is insane. I know a guy who paid an absolutely obscene amount of money to a scalper to get a good ticket to All In and he was glad to pay it. I also know that nowadays WWE can't give away seats. If somebody kidnapped my Mother and told me that I had to go to WWE Stomping Grounds to get her back, I'd tell them that my Mom is getting up there in years, and had a good run, so who am I to interfere with the passage of time. However, if you look at how insanely hot the WWF was back in the 80's and even at points during the Attitude Era, I would imagine ticket demand might have been comparable if the same technology was available then as now.

You're right, it's a really stupid comparison. Hey, if AEW did really sell more first day tickets than any Wrestlemania ever then more power to them. But back when Vince put on the first Wrestlemania, there wasn't exactly a big problem in the industry with ticket scalping bots grabbing up all the best seats and then scalpers selling them online at grossly inflated prices, now was there? Some of Meltzer's comparisons and analogies are really weird and poorly thought out.

Oh boy, Cornette is going to have a fucking field day with this.

I prefer to picture a lonely and despondent Vince Russo at home, in his basement. He sits and watches, as over the past six months: Jeff Jarrett gets a job as a producer with WWE Bruce Prichard becomes a Senior Vice President in WWE Jim Cornette becomes a Producer with MLW Jim Ross is named a Senior Advisor with AEW and now... Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff are named as Executive Directors overseeing Creative Development in WWE Meanwhile even Russo himself has admitted that he has contacted WWE trying to get a job on more than one occasion, only to be ignored. Hell, he couldn't even get a job as a creative consultant for Pop TV. He is finally a total pariah in the Professional Wrestling business. Ahhh, karma. So sweet.

Yeah good point. The problem is that so far, Shepard seems to be one of the main sources reporting the ongoing developments and is driving the overall narrative as this story has been breaking. A lot of sites are quoting him.

Exactly. Like I said earlier in this thread, I know it was a long time ago but I keep thinking of Bill Watts in 1995. He was supposedly promised autonomy so Vince could "focus on other projects" and look how long that lasted. Watts has said in interviews since that there is no way that Vince McMahon can be around and not interfere in the running of that organization. He's a control freak, that's his nature.

Absolutely. I was very surprised by this news. I had always assumed that logically, Vince would turn the reins (or Reigns see what I did there?) to Triple H and Stephanie when the day came that he needed to step back for whatever reason. Vince McMahon bringing back people like Jeff Jarrett, Bruce Prichard, Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff in 2019 makes little sense to me if he's planning for the future. I suppose the argument could be made that there isn't anybody currently working in WWE who has demonstrated the capability of assuming a greater role, but that is on Vince. He has created and fostered an environment where he is surrounded by yes men and is the final word on every single thing...how was anybody else supposed to distinguish themselves? Then again, if Vince really does need to take a step back due to the XFL, if he doesn't bring in people who have run shows successfully in the past...who does he get if not them?

I don't tend to judge Bischoff's creative abilities based on his TNA run for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he was only there because Hogan insisted on it, as a condition of Hogan's coming into TNA. They didn't want Bischoff, and he really didn't want to be there and was only doing it as a favor to Hogan. (And for the money, one would assume.) Once Hogan pretty much vanished from TNA, Bischoff was really only a backstage producer and "creative consultant." It's not like he was in charge of the creative team or anything like that, and he has claimed (true or not) that he could never accomplish anything working for Dixie Carter. That I'd tend to believe, because so many other people had the exact same experience working in TNA. I think Dutch Mantell is a great booker, and he never really got to do everything he could in TNA either. Having said all that, @DMJ has a point about Bischoff regurgitating angles that have worked in the past. The one angle which Bischoff has admitted that he did have extensive creative input into (at the beginning) was the "Aces & Eights" storyline. Bischoff has claimed that he thought that angle started off really well, but went off the rails pretty badly. It doesn't take a booking genius to see that Aces & Eights were basically a re-hash of the nWo, and therein lies the problem. Eric Bischoff has never discussed this publicly that I am aware of, but I have seen Kevin Nash state in more than one interview that Eric Bischoff's theory when it comes to creative is that there are only a small handful of stories that will actually work in the context of Professional Wrestling. I have heard Bischoff say that by it's very nature, Pro Wrestling does limit the kind of stories you can tell. So the theory is, take the proven angles which have worked in the past and use them again successfully: Betrayal (Partner turns on partner, friend turns on friend, student turns on mentor, etc.) Ambition (Contender pursues Champion) Patriotism (USA vs. Foreign Country) Intrigue (Mystery antagonist taunts opponent until being revealed) Invasion (Outsider invades territory) Abuse of Power (Executive or organization abuses authority) Revenge (Protagonist seeks revenge against antagonist for injury/insult etc.) That theory has pretty much been proven when you look at the angles Bischoff did have a hand in, during his time in TNA. I don't think you're going to get anything other than the proven angles out of him, and there is a good chance that they will come across as being re-hashed. Which is fine, so long as you are using good talent and the resulting action is actually of a decent quality. One of my major complaints about WWE for years now, is that they pretty much rely exclusively on the second bullet point listed above (Ambition) or even worse they have no narrative reason whatsoever for any of their main rivalries - wrestlers in WWE fight each other just because. Like I said, Bischoff is not a creative guy. He's overseen creative guys, and done a mediocre job of that at best in the past. The whole basis of his relationship with Vince Russo in WCW was that Turner management wanted to bring Russo back to creative after his disastrous first run. Basically, they wanted to justify the lucrative contract they had given Russo, but they finally realized after three months that Russo couldn't work unless he was being overseen by somebody. That was the sole reason Bischoff got brought back. The first thing Bischoff did was ask Russo to present a written outline of his planned stories for the next six months, and Russo didn't want to do. He probably couldn't do it, because that is not how Crash TV worked. That relationship was pretty much shit from that point onward, and then it ended altogether after Bash at the Beach 2000. I maintain that we still haven't seen what Bischoff can do creatively on his own and I doubt that we will now.

I couldn't agree more. Sadly, I seem to have evolved into PWO's #1 Eric Bischoff defender/apologist/fanboy. I have decided to embrace that role, so be prepared to see me eloquently defending the honor of Eazy E in this thread against any and all disparaging remarks. I expect my comrade @SomethingSavage to join me, if needed. In all seriousness Matt, I am quite interested and intrigued about this announcement, if it is true. It's a bit of a bummer that the Fusient purchase of WCW never went through and we never got to see what WCW would have looked like with Eric Bischoff totally in control without Turner Entertainment overseeing, or being saddled with Vince Russo as part of his creative team. When he discusses the plans that he did have, it sounds very intriguing. I think that Bischoff has legitimately learned from a lot of the mistakes he made in WCW and would not make them again. (Of course, he might make all new mistakes, who knows.) I feel he has learned from his past mistakes, and that is a key phrase because in his case, he actually admits he made mistakes. When comparing the podcasts hosted by Conrad Thompson with Bruce Prichard and Eric Bischoff, you will notice one major difference. Prichard largely used his podcast as a platform to defend a large amount of the creative decisions he was involved in during his WWF career. The infamous Triple H/Booker T "people like you" angle/promo leaps to mind. Conversely, Biscoff is markedly more self-critical and reflective regarding the decisions he made while running WCW. One of the things I found most remarkable was that when Conrad was effusive with his praise regarding the success WCW had in 1998, Bischoff pretty much deflected that positive feedback. His position was that WCW was only successful in 1998 due to the smart decisions made in 1997, but the bad decisions he made in 1998 actually led to his downfall in 1999. That is a level of introspection that I think will really serve him well in this new role in WWE. Bischoff has said on countless occasions that one of his big regrets was his role (or lack thereof) in the creative aspects of WCW. He was never "the booker." When he was first promoted in 1994, he was only handling the TV production aspect of management, and other people were in charge of creative. When they review those early shows on 83 Weeks and Conrad either praises or criticizes matches or angles, Bischoff frequently points out that he had nothing to do with the creative. Sometimes that means he can avoid blame, but sometimes it means he doesn't take credit. Once he was promoted to actual President of WCW, he still left the creative to either Kevin Sullivan or the booking committee. He has said that he wishes he had taken a bigger hand in creative decisions, but that he lacked the confidence. He has also said that he wishes he hadn't let some talents have so much input into their own creative. (Just not his best friend Hulk Hogan, of course.) I honestly don't think we've ever actually seen Eric Bischoff creative version of Pro Wrestling. In WCW he was an Executive, first and foremost. What I have learned about him from 83 Weeks is that his tastes are surprisingly old school. He hates gimmick matches and screwy finishes. He loves technical wrestling. If FOX really does want a "sports" themed Pro Wrestling show when Smackdown debuts, then I think Bischoff will want to give it to them. The major question is, how much control will Bischoff actually have over the writing staff in WWE, and will Vince McMahon interfere and override his decisions? If you listen to the podcast/interview Jon Moxley did with Chris Jericho, it gives you a pretty clear window into the mindset of Vince McMahon nowadays. If Vince insists on poop jokes and personally approving every scripted promo, I don't think it matters who is in charge, the product is going to continue to be shit. Not to mention, who will decide what talents get pushed, and how? If Vince McMahon hands Bischoff (or Heyman) a guy like Baron Corbin and says "this is your #1 guy" then they're not going to be able to turn the proverbial chicken shit into chicken salad. And if anybody can disguise weakness and play to a strength, it's Paul Heyman...not Eric Bischoff. I think Bischoff will do well working with the talent and liaising with FOX. Hell, he probably has just as much experience working with different television networks as Vince, if you count all the outside projects he has been involved with over the years. I think he'll probably do a lot better answering to Vince McMahon than Paul Heyman will. I think he'll do a good job at overseeing creative, and I think he likes and appreciates the more competitive based and less outlandish style of Pro Wrestling that many of us do. If he is capable of presenting that style of wrestling and if Vince will actually let him...that's the million dollar question. I'd say all signs point to no, based on Vince's history. I am guessing the XFL and Vince's age are the only things that might actually allow this scenario to work. Even though Vince reportedly loves to micromanage, he can't be everywhere at once and the XFL is going to be his baby and require a ton of his time. He may have no choice but to finally cede some control to Heyman and Bischoff. And at Vince's age, how much longer will he be able to burn the candle at both ends? Maybe Bischoff will actually get the chance to run Smackdown the way he wishes he had run WCW.

This is such huge news on so many levels - and raises so many questions. Firstly, Bischoff has re-tweeted a couple of news stories about this, so it seems to be legit. Otherwise, I'd just assume that it was April 1 and we are all being fooled. This also explains why Bischoff just cancelled his entire tour of live shows in Canada. Secondly, if the multiple reports (Sports Illustrated, ESPN, etc.) are to be believed, this is not an "on screen" thing where these guys are going to be playing General Manager roles, this is supposedly legit. I really find that so hard to believe for so many reasons. Heyman has been saying for years that based on how his relationship with Vince deteriorated after the disastrous ECW reboot, he didn't want to work in a creative/executive role with WWE again...and I assumed the feeling was mutual. I know Heyman and the truth rarely meet, and I know money talks, but I find it so hard to believe both parties would want to work together after that whole debacle. Every single story I've ever heard about Heyman's tenure with WWE after the original ECW went under indicate that he was constantly stepping on Vince's toes and the two got on each other's nerves constantly. Eric Bischoff I can totally see in a role like this, it's pretty much made for him. If he's in charge of Smackdown, that means he's going to be the official liaison between WWE and FOX. Who knows more about being the go-between a major network and a wrestling organization than Bischoff? I know people love to slag him off, but he had to try and keep the Turner TV executives happy while running WCW, and for a while he succeeded. He is constantly talking about what he'd do if he had the chance to do it over again, and now he has that chance. Except this time, the TV Network he'll be dealing with actually wants the Pro Wrestling show, unlike Turner Entertainment who treated WCW like the unwanted child. What does this mean for Triple H's role with the company, does he work for these guys or is he separate from this deal? I can't imagine he is happy about this, although as Executive Vice President I assume he outranks them. Not to mention, Vince's propensity for interfering, micro-managing and having to be the last word regarding every little thing is pretty much legendary. Is he actually going to let these guys do their jobs, or is this Bill Watts in 1995 all over again? Or...does Vince bringing in Prichard, Heyman and Bischoff prove that he actually knows he'll be too busy with the XFL once they start up to run WWE? Finally, hiring Heyman and Bischoff doesn't exactly disprove the theory that Vince McMahon is stuck in the 1990's, does it?