On his 83 Weeks podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff claimed that creativity wasn’t Vince McMahon’s primary strength. Bischoff saw Vince as skilled at enhancing and expanding ideas, especially when he can visualize them, but not necessarily at generating storylines from scratch. This is one reason McMahon has always worked with others to help initiate concepts.
Bischoff added that this isn’t unusual; many people find it challenging to walk into a situation, be handed funds, and create a storyline for two wrestlers with no guidance. Even when familiar with the characters, figuring out how to begin can be tough.
Here’s what the former WCW President said:
“I’m going to say this, and I don’t mean for it to sound as disrespectful as it is, but I don’t think creative was ever Vince’s strong suit. I think Vince was good at taking an idea, and if you brought him an idea that he could see in his head, he would grow that idea; he could possibly take it to the next level and build upon it.
Yes, was Vince the guy who could sit in a room with a blank piece of paper and say, ‘Okay, I’ve got to start telling a story. Let’s do it like this’? He’s not that guy. That’s why he’s always had people around him who could kind of get those first couple of gears grinding.
And that’s not bad! I mean, a lot of people are like that. Very few people can sit down, you bring them into your office, you give them an envelope stuffed with a bunch of cash, and say, ‘Okay, I want you to write me a story for these two wrestlers.’ If you don’t have any backstory or know what’s going on, it’s a really hard thing to do. Right? And even if you have backstory and you know the talent, it’s sometimes hard to figure out where to begin.
‘Well, what if we begin like this?’ or ‘What if we do it like that?’— once you hear a couple of those ideas, the rest of your gears start kicking in. I think that’s where Vince was at his best. Just my impression, I spent four months, a lot of late nights, staring at a blank piece of paper with Vince McMahon. So part of what I’m telling you is based on my experience.
But like I said, I think his creative talents came in after somebody brought him a pretty good idea, and he made it better. Do I still feel the same way? I watched Vince work creatively, and I wasn’t that impressed.
I’m way more impressed with a lot of the other things that Vince McMahon accomplished: the vision he had for the company, what he did to grow it, the risks that he took, and the team that he built.
You know, WWE, even to this day, I mean, you look at it—it’s a blue-chip company. Some of the very best talent in the world at what they do are running that company, and that is in large part because of Vince McMahon. That, to me, I think is his genius. Creatively? Still not that impressed.”
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