Eric Bischoff has taken direct aim at the fanbase behind the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s 2025 Year End Awards, making it clear he has little respect for the outcome or the voters themselves.

The awards were released on February 13 and sparked conversation across the industry. Booker T finished first in the Worst Television Announcer category with 516 votes, placing ahead of Pat McAfee, Michael Cole, Vic Joseph, and Tony Schiavone. Elsewhere in the voting, John Cena vs Cody Rhodes was named Worst Match of the Year, AEW All In 2025 was voted Best Major Wrestling Show, and WWE was labeled Worst Promotion of the Year.

Speaking on the February 14 episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff did not hold back when addressing the results. After explaining that the awards are determined by subscriber votes, he turned his attention to the makeup of that voting base, which he believes heavily leans toward hardcore AEW supporters.

“Can you imagine if you could get all these ‘Wrestling Observer voters’ in a room? Can you imagine what that would be like, hanging out there for an hour or two? You’d have Dave Meltzer, the head gooner they all look up to, and they look at the world of wrestling through the Dave Meltzer lens.”

Bischoff suggested the results were entirely predictable based on who was casting ballots. In his view, the awards reflect a niche segment of the wrestling audience rather than the broader fanbase.

“Of course you’re going to get those kinds of responses. These are the most culturally isolated and irrelevant group of people you can ever imagine. So I don’t know why anyone would expect any of these categories to have anything sensible.”

With those comments, Bischoff made it clear he does not view the awards as a credible reflection of the wrestling industry at large, instead seeing them as the product of a specific corner of the fan community.