Former WCW Senior Vice President and WWE General Manager, Eric Bischoff, has reacted to Vince McMahon stepping back from his roles as CEO and Chairman of WWE.
WWE confirmed on Friday, in a corporate statement, that McMahon ‘voluntarily’ stepped back from those roles.
The 76-year-old is currently being investigated by the WWE Board over allegations that he paid a $3 million settlement to a departing employee with whom he allegedly had an affair, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
The same report claims that non-disclosure agreements have been found. These surround claims of misconduct by other female employees, which involve McMahon and WWE’s Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis.
Stephanie McMahon has taken over as interim CEO and Chairwoman whilst the investigation is ongoing.
McMahon has made two televised appearances since stepping back from his responsibilities. He opened the SmackDown show on Friday, and also made a brief appearance on Raw on Monday. On both occasions, he did not address the allegations made against him.
Eric Bischoff comments on Vince McMahon decision
Eric Bischoff was one of professional wrestling’s most prominent figures during the 1990s and early 2000s.
He was Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of WCW. That was in the days when the company was in a fierce ratings war with WWE (then WWF). He signed the likes of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who had all previously been WWF stars.
Bischoff and McMahon were the spearheads of their respective companies during that time. The former, however, was removed from power in 1999. WCW subsequently went out of business in 2001.
Bischoff then signed with McMahon and WWE, appearing as Raw General Manager on televised programming.
After his initial departure in 2007, he has made sporadic appearances in the company since – most recently in January.
The 67-year-old has now given his reaction to the news that McMahon has stepped back as WWE CEO and Chairman.
On his ‘83 Weeks‘ podcast (quotes via WrestlingNews), he said: “I was dumbfounded. Shocked. I can’t imagine anybody felt any differently.
“Even though it appears to be very temporaneous and not a permanent situation, at least that’s not the way it’s presented or the way I read it, but nonetheless, it’s a big damn deal. It did shock me,
“I feel bad for a lot of people. I still have a lot of friends in WWE, that I do care about a lot. Regardless of how this ends up, it’s going to adversely affect a lot of people. How do you feel anything other than bad for people that you know, and have an affection for, that are having to go through this?
“I feel bad for Bruce [Prichard, WWE Raw and SmackDown Executive Director]. I sent Bruce a text Friday night during the show going, ‘Brother, one hell of a ride’. To be sitting in that seat, to be there in the eye of that f***ing hurricane. Man, I feel for a lot of people.”
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