Eric Bischoff Discusses The Balance Between Building New Stars And Honoring The Past

During the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff spoke about "Stone Cold" Steve Austin returning to the ring for the main event of WrestleMania 38: Night One.

“I know I’m older, but to see Steve in there doing what Steve is so great at doing – even beyond that, forget about the fact that Steve and I are friends and spent a lot of time in the same industry together and were peers in that era. Forget about all of that. The crowd reaction was just awesome. It was just awesome. I just got back home and picked up in the Pat McAfee/Vince McMahon stuff and I can’t say enough good things about it. It was so much fun.”

Bischoff continued.

“I think for me, WrestleMania is all about the emotion. I think WWE did a fantastic job of balancing nostalgia with what’s going on today with the hot story or hot matchup. Obviously, Brock and Roman was great, and Rousey with Charlotte Flair, fantastic. There were so many great things, but it’s such a well-balanced presentation. I know people are gonna be laughing about the Stunner or whatever, but c’mon, man. You said it, one word – fun. You pay money to be entertained and having fun is a part of that. That whole segment was nothing but fun. Yeah, the Stunner looked horrible and I would imagine Vince is very angry with himself [laughs]. But hopefully he gives himself a break because he entertained the hell out of me and a lot of people. Hats off to Vince and the entire team. What an incredible event. In many ways, I think it was one of my favorite WrestleManias in a long time.”