Eric Bischoff Discusses Celebrity Championship Wrestling, WWE's Product, More

There could be a reality check in store for wrestling fans next Saturday, courtesy of former WCW and WWE personality Eric Bischoff.

Bischoff joined Jason Agnew and John Pollock on Live Audio Wrestling last Sunday to discuss his role as executive producer of a new reality series on CMT, which debuts this Saturday, October 18. Bischoff will be working with long time friend and colleague Hulk Hogan and the show will be called Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling.

Bischoff told the LAW that by presenting a wrestling show in reality format, he hopes to attract an entirely different audience than that of either pro wrestling or reality television.

"Reality's not going anywhere," Bischoff said. "But we thought we had a very good concept and a unique format, where we could marry the best of a reality format with wrestling."

Bischoff says he believes the show will be a success, not only because of this new audience, but also because of the current audience who are still fans of either pro wrestling or reality shows.

"We did our best to put together a really good reality format in all of the elements to make a good reality show," Bischoff said. "But we also did a pretty good job of giving wrestling fans something that was different from wrestling shows that they've been watching for the last eight or ten years."

Bischoff did give LAW listeners a brief description of what they can expect from the show. He says the participants on the show will be divided into two teams of five, and the teams will have a match during the show. The team that has the best match will receive immunity, while the team that has the worst match will have two of its team members compete in a match with each other and one of those two will be voted off the show.

Bischoff hopes to make a huge splash in the reality television industry, but he says pro wrestling doesn't have the same impact it once did. He hopes to give wrestling fans something that they haven't seen before.

"I have a lot of respect for the WWE, but the truth is I think the product is as stale as stale can be," Bischoff said. "For our show, we were looking for personalities and characters and chemistry that we knew could probably create drama and conflict and all the things that make reality television work."

Watch Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling this Saturday, October 18 at 8/7 Central. For other interviews, listen to Live Audio Wrestling every Sunday at 11 p.m. on Newstalk 1010 CFRB, Sirius 98 Hardcore Sports Radio and www.liveaudiowrestling.com


PWInsider