• “What the f**k are you doing in the TV business then dude?” – Eric Bischoff On CM Punk Saying Casual Fans Don’t Exist Anymore
After making his debut in All Elite Wrestling, CM Punk addressed the viewership of AEW Dynamite and claimed that casual pro-wrestling fans don’t exist anymore.
Former WCW President Eric Bischoff doesn’t agree with that statement and said the following on Strictly Business:
“How do you define the casual fan? I don’t know if there’s one definition and everybody will have their own definition.
I’ve always considered casual fans within the context of research as people who drop in once or twice a month and always have. They still like it, if there’s nothing going on if they have some time and they don’t have anything else they’re really interested in doing at that moment.
They might almost habitually check out wrestling. They probably don’t go to live events or go to one or two pay-per-views a year, but they still have an affinity for the product and will tune in occasionally. That’s a casual fan to me but I’m sure for other people they might have a different definition of that.
The casual fan is still out there. If you build it, honest to god as corny as it sounds, if you build it, your audience will show up. They will, that lapsed fan is another term I’ve heard in a lot of research that I did.
‘I used to watch wrestling but I don’t watch that sh*t anymore.’ Sometimes it’s just life, your job, your kids, whatever. If anybody’s going to try to convince me that you can’t find that audience again, they shouldn’t be in the wrestling business.
All due respect to CM Punk, CM Punk never spent 5 minutes in the television business. He knows a lot about what’s going on in the wrestling ring, he knows a lot about building a character, more than I ever will in terms of executing it.
But to make the casual statement that ‘I think the lapsed fan is gone and I don’t think they’re ever going to come back,’ what the f**k are you doing in the television business then dude? It makes no sense to me, I don’t believe it’s true.”
Speaking of Punk, he’s scheduled to face “Hangman” Adam Page for the AEW World Championship at the Double Or Nothing 2022 PPV on May 29.
Also Read: CM Punk Reacts To Hangman Page Saying He Won’t Be Doing A ‘Masturbatory Bret Hart Tribute Match’
WATCH: AEW Star Paige VanZant Completely Exposes Her Buns:
• ON THIS DAY IN NWA HISTORY (May 10, 1986) – NWA World Wide Wrestling
On this day in 1986, Jim Crockett Promotions aired an episode of their weekly TV show ‘NWA World Wide Wrestling’.
This episode featured pre-taped matches, interviews & storyline segments featuring the 1986 NWA Wrestling Superstars.
The card can be found below:
Tully Blanchard vs. Gene Ligon
Nikita Koloff vs. The Italian Stallion
Baron Von Raschke & Shaska Whatley vs. Denney Brown & Rocky King
The Road Warriors vs. George South & Thunderfoot
Ivan Koloff vs. Randy Mulkey
Rock n Roll Express vs. Leo Burke & Scrub
The Midnight Express vs. Sam Houston & Nelson Royal