After 83 Weeks with Christy Olson issued the following:

ERIC BISCHOFF REACTS LIVE TO PAUL HEYMAN FIRING NEWS, CALLS HEYMAN A “HANDFUL” & SAYS FANS GIVE HIM MORE CREDIT THAN DESERVED

Eric Bischoff appeared live last night on After 83 Weeks with Christy Olson, just as WWE announced a creative shakeup. Eric, the former executive director of SmackDown, was visibly stunned when learning Paul Heyman has been fired from the same position at Raw. The tense moment occurs at 7:15, with excerpts below…

Eric questions whether Bruce Pritchard is happy to take Heyman’s position: “My first reaction is I’m going to send Bruce Prichard a text that says congratulations, with a question mark.”

His experience working with Heyman: “He’s quirky as shit. He’s got his own thing, you know. Most really creative, highly aggressive people do. Paul was a handful but in a fun and positive way for me, not in a negative or challenging way, but in a way that kind of made you better because he made you think.”

On the future of Raw with Pritchard at the helm: “Bruce is probably one of my best friends to this day, and obviously I fully support Bruce. Bruce is an architect, more than a creative mind. But Bruce being a good architect will know how to take advantage of the resources within his grasp, and will do a great job.”

His advice to Heyman: “This too shall pass. It’ll pass quickly, and there will be another opportunity tomorrow. So just lay low.”

Eric’s response to fan criticism of the change: “Paul Heyman has connected to the audience in a way that kind of transcends some of the normal things that a lot of other people have to deal with. He’s an icon to many, many people. In the eyes of many wrestling fans Paul can do no wrong. And that’s not true, Paul can do wrong, just like we all can. Paul’s just a human being. He’s a very creative talented human being, but he still a human being that has flaws. but Paul is on such a pedestal that I think people tend to give him a little more credit than they should for some things.”