Eric Bischoff Shares Rare Praise For This AEW Decision

WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff has shared some rare praise for AEW and one of Tony Khan’s recent business decisions.

AEW recently began its residency in the historic 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. The building is best known as the ECW Arena, the home of the extreme promotion in the nineties.

Some have questioned the wisdom of picking a building with a capped attendance of 900 when AEW could sell more tickets, but others welcome Tony Khan’s nod to the past and the nostalgia associated with it.

And one man who knows just how difficult it can be to sell tickets to a wrestling show has admitted that it’s been a good move for AEW.

Eric Bischoff Applauds Tony Khan’s AEW Residency Choice

Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff – a frequent AEW critic – explained why he understands that Tony Khan’s decision to run several shows in the 2300 Arena is a smart one:

I get the nostalgia part. I don’t feel it like perhaps you do because I had a different relationship with, certainly, ECW than you did at the time. So, I don’t have that connection. I have a connection but it’s different.

There is nothing for your brand that is more challenging, when you’re producing weekly television, than to not have an audience because that speaks to the people sitting at home. It kind of suggests that, well, maybe this isn’t that important. And conversely, when you see a packed stadium, whether it’s for Savannah Bananas or whatever else, that packed stadium makes you feel like you’re watching something that’s worth your time.

I lived through this in WCW. It’s one of the reasons I moved WCW’s syndicated production down to a sound stage where I could control the audience to some degree. Because when you show up at an arena with, let’s say it holds 5,000 people and you only got 600 people there and all of them were tickets you gave away. So, they don’t really care all that much.

So, I think the fact that AEW chose that arena because of its nostalgia that it represents to a lot of the audience and it’s suitable for television, I don’t know, makes sense to me. Where else are you going to go? Some 6,000, 7,000-seat arena where you can only sell 2,000 tickets. You don’t want to do that. So, I think it was a good decision business-wise.

AEW has one more Dynamite and Collision taping set for the 2300 Arena before the company gets back on the road for a September to Remember special edition of Dynamite in London, Ontario, on the 17th of the month. All Out will follow in Toronto on September 20th.

Also read: Why does Cody Rhodes really avoid saying AEW when talking about his former company?