Eric Bischoff Details The Meeting That Ended His TNA Run
WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff has explained why his time in TNA came to an end and named the person that the company wanted him to report to.
In 2010, the wrestling world was shaken when TNA made a major play and brought in Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. As well as their on-screen roles, the two men proved pivotal backstage in the company as it briefly tried to take the fight to WWE.
However, Bischoff’s time in the company came to an end in late 2013 when he was left at home to see out the remainder of his contract. Bischoff later sued the company over unpaid salary.
Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff detailed how a meeting about the restructuring of TNA led to him calling it a day after he learned he would have to answer to longtime company producer John ‘Big’ Gaburick:
“At the end of this meeting, everything’s going great. Everything’s kind of upbeat, positive, and I find out at the very end of the meeting that the reason that I was called there is because there was a desire to restructure TNA and they wanted me to report to (John) Gaburick, which would have been, number one, a change in my contract because it’s not the way my contract was set up.”
“Number two, I just went, no. Not that I didn’t like John, but, no. I remember we got out and we’re getting ready to jump in our car to take us to the airport, and Big (John Gaburick) looks at me and goes, ‘Eric, this is gonna be great. I mean, it will be you and me.’ He knew that Janice (Carter) wanted me to report to him and John was like, ‘This is gonna be awesome.’ I said, John, ‘It really won’t because it’s not going to happen. I’m not doing it.'”
“He said, ‘Just think about it.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’ll think about it, and then I’m going to tell you, I’m just not doing that. I’m not changing my relationship with the company because the company wants to restructure and I don’t want to report to you. It’s just not my thing. It’s not what I came here for’, and that was pretty much the end of it, and shortly thereafter, I was on my way out.”