Humans are instinctively afraid of change. You are, I am and most of us are. However, that did not stop the WWE from making tremendous changes from the mid 1990s up until very recently.
In 1999, there were 12, count ‘em, 12 title changes for the WWE championship. 22 changes occurred from 2000-2004. The decision makers in the WWE decided that this was a good way to conduct business for that time period. I think that most people would agree that the best decision is the one that we made most recently to replace an old “best” decision. In the recent past, the WWE has decided that the constant changing of champions was detrimental to the development of a fan base and to their business. Because this is their most recent decision, we can assume it is the best decision for the WWE.
General Managers and commissioners used to change a lot in the pre-brand split days, too. Mick Foley, Steve Austin, William Regal, Kurt Angle, Stephanie McMahon, Deborah the Walking Boob Job, and a host of others that I am forgetting have filled the role of GM/commissioner. That too has changed. The job being done by Teddy Long on Smackdown is outstanding. While he is not the center of the show, his presence is always timely and entertaining, hence the need for no change. But over on the other brand, Vince and CO. have made a decision that replacing Eric Bischoff is the right thing to do.
Read the sign above, Change is BAD.
Eric Bischoff has no power in decision making in the WWE but his talent gives him all of the power he needs. He has single handedly turned the Chain Gang into a villainous group of fans bent on booing their old hero, John Cena. Bischoff succeeds in not only being the bad guy, but in actually convincing us that the bad guy is actually the good guy. A wolf in sheep’s clothing has never fit anywhere better than on this man. Without beating a dead horse, there are a million other examples of Bischoff’s on screen genius including HLA, Raw Roulette and countless other examples.
No wrestling fans like to hear anything more than Vince McMahon growl. “YOU’RE FIRRRRED!” Despite this plan’s short lived pleasure, is there really a reason to remove Bischoff? The only things fans love more than hating one man is loving another (god that sounds weird).
With the hate that Bischoff has generated, whether through his metaphorical fellatio of HHH or finding ways to constantly screw our favorites, it is next to impossible to love anyone in equal parts to Bischoff’s hate. That is of course unless you are speaking of the prodigal son, Shane McMahon.
With rumors swirling that Dusty Rhodes, Stephanie McMahon and a host of others that we could not care less about, may take over the GM role, the powers that be would be wise to remember that they themselves have shown through their actions that change is bad.
Unlike J.R. there are no real detractors of Bischoff. To compare the two decisions is like comparing apples to kumquats.
With Smackdown quickly taking over as the dominant show in sports entertainment, making an unnecessary change to Raw’s core character may be damage that can not be undone. Change is always necessary but only in the right situations. Removing Bischoff for any real length of time will ultimately spell doom for a show that is already losing its appeal in the first place.
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