Eric Bischoff: TNA Has More Focus

Few people in the pro wrestling industry have the knowledge or experience that Eric Bischoff does. Having worked in the AWA, WCW, WWE and now TNA, Bischoff has enjoyed a lengthy career. The former head of WCW spoke recently to the Ministry of Slam radio show, giving his verdict on TNA being a “hotter” product than in previous years.

“The term 'hot property' means different things to different people, but I do feel over the past year that our show has taken on more focus. There's more discipline in our storytelling and character development, which is one of the things fundamentally flawed about our product previously. Storylines were all over the map and there wasn't that follow through or commitment to detail", Bischoff told MOS.

“When suggesting ideas to the people I work with, I tell them the audience will only invest in a character or story as much as we do! For instance, if we ask the audience to invest in a long-term storyline and then decide to cut things off right in the middle, maybe because we're not as excited about it as we used to be, and shift gears – that's very disappointing for the fans to change gears just like that.

If there's no explanation, no real follow up then it doesn't make sense. It's then hard to get the audience to invest in you again, because you spent a long time conditioning them that we may or may not follow through on the storylines you care about. As the Executive Producer, as well as somebody who feels strongly about storytelling and structure, we have to invest. Sometimes we may not get the results we had hoped for or expected, but that just means we have to dig in a little harder and commit to the stories and characters which drive our show. When you do that, it begins to pay off, and I think that's one of the things that people are starting to see more of in TNA.”

You can hear the entire interview by downloading the podcast over at www.MinistryofSlam.com and follow on Twitter @MOSRadio. The Ministry of Slam airs each Monday at 9pm GMT/4PM EST! Follow Eric Bischoff on Twitter @EBischoff and visit www.bhe.tv for more information on his TV production company. Please also check out the advert for MOS in an upcoming issue of FSM, on sale soon, and use the hashtag #FSM.