American politics recently spilled over into AEW when the crowd erupted into "f**k ICE" chants during a Las Vegas "AEW Dynamite" show, as well as several times since. While Tony Khan has been open about allowing wrestlers signed to his promotion to voice their political opinions, the anti-ICE chants have drawn a lot of attention.Eric Bischoff, during an episode of his "83 Weeks" podcast, pointed out that while reporting on the story, CNN mentioned that AEW is partially owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. He sees the decision to publish this article and include that information as a signal that the corporate ownership wants to fan the flames, creating an "us vs. them"mentality. "Why would you use this story to expose your corporate ownership of this brand at this time?" he argued. "Keep in mind, that whole world is on fire right now. The Warner Brothers Discovery thing? It's kind of volatile!"Bischoff further argued that considering where WBD currently is when it comes to their ongoing acquisition, it wouldn't be wise to take any risks right now. "Look at what happened to Bud Lite, look at what happened to Cracker Barrel, look what happened to all these mainstream American iconic freaking brands, when they decided to start playing politics?" he pointed out, repeating a phrase that's become a common refrain in some circles of social media: "Go woke, go broke."
Bischoff continued to unpack the situation, expressing a warning to those higher up in AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery, as well as wrestlers, about taking political stances on a national platform. "If you think because you're good out there performing in the ring, or you're a successful professional wrestling character, that you're so good that you can go out there and p**s off 50% of the audience that's watching you, and if you think you're so good that doesn't matter? Then you're out of touch," he boldly proclaimed, adding that this goes for the corporate level as well."It's not, like, a theory. Just go look, talk to the executives if you can find them, because they're probably all hiding now because they'll never get hired again that initiated those big brand disasters to go 'woke' and engage in the political firestorm," Bischoff added, further expressing that politics in America have gone beyond political debates, referencing the real violence that happens in the real world.Bischoff then explained why he's so fired up about this ongoing debate. "It's all about how politics has become more professional wrestling than professional wrestling," he opined. "I don't want to see politics become more like professional wrestling and I certainly don't want professional wrestling to feel like politics! From anybody's point of view! Even with someone who agrees with everything that I think, I don't want that person interfering with my entertainment!"If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "83 Weeks" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
