Eric Bischoff offered a blunt assessment of TNA Wrestling’s debut on AMC, making it clear he felt the company let a major moment slip away. Speaking during a live edition of 83 Weeks, the WWE Hall of Famer said the premiere should have felt like a turning point, but instead came across as underwhelming due to avoidable presentation issues.

Bischoff stressed that his frustration came from knowing how rare opportunities like this can be in television. In his view, TNA had the spotlight but failed to fully capitalize on it.

“Overall, disappointed because it was such a big opportunity. This is a giant step forward… and anybody that knows me well personally knows that I hate when people miss big opportunities… That’s why I hate it so much, because I know how it feels when you realize that you had a great opportunity and for whatever reason, you didn’t maximize it, and that’s what this felt like to me overall.”

Rather than taking aim at the in ring action or creative direction, Bischoff zeroed in on the production. He felt the visual presentation undermined the hard work of the talent and made the show feel smaller than it needed to be on a national platform.

“It’s really production stuff. I’m not even going to address the creative or anything like that, but the production itself was so poor that that’s where I think they missed it. That’s why you’re getting the reaction you’re getting from the audience… Television is nothing but the little details laid out in a way that captures the audience’s imagination and holds on to it. These shots the way the director called them. The ring looks like you could fit it in my kitchen.”

Bischoff also touched on reports that visa complications forced late adjustments to the lineup. While he acknowledged that international travel issues can happen, he suggested better planning is essential, especially for a show meant to make a strong first impression. He added that the overall format hurt the flow of the broadcast and made it harder to keep viewers engaged.

“I also heard before the show that there were some visa issues. That’s, you know, part of life when you’re dealing with talent from other countries. I will say, if I was just consulting, and somebody asked me to kind of run down and give them a list of things that I would focus on right away. On the admin side, yeah, don’t book people if you don’t have visas in your pocket ready to go… But my bigger issues were really with the format of the show.”