'Storytelling there is a challenge to start out with', says Eric Bischoff on AEW's commentary team abilities
WWE veteran Eric Bischoff slammed AEW for a major aspect of commentary and praised a top name at the commentary desk. The star being discussed is Nigel McGuinness. The former RAW General Manager has played crucial on and off-screen roles in various promotions like TNA, WWE, and WCW.
The 48-year-old McGuiness has been a top commentator in AEW and is usually featured on Collision. He is currently calling Dynamite after it was announced that Taz, who recently had his knee replacement surgery, will be out for a few months. The star came out of retirement at the All In Pay-Per-View and also wrestled Bryan Danielson on Dynamite.
While speaking on his 83 weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff recently heaped praise for Nigel McGuinness. He claimed the latter describes the match very creatively. The WWE Hall of Famer has been critical of AEW and often calls out the product for their lack of storytelling.
"Nigel's perspective as a wrestler, he can, creatively of course, take us into the mind and tell us what somebody in the ring may be thinking and feeling in that moment. That adds a lot of color to the story. (...) It's just not as good (having multiple color guys on commentary). We're missing a whole layer of artful ways of describing and advancing a story. And we're missing out as a result of it, particularly in AEW, because storytelling there is a challenge to start out with," he said. [H/T - WrestlingInc.]
Eric Bischoff praises Ricochet
The One and Only made his AEW debut at All In 2024 and has been delivering top-notch matches for the company since.
While speaking on 83 Weeks, the former RAW General Manager claimed that Ricochet is a great talent and is better than everybody in the promotion's locker room.
"I tend to agree, I think it was a wasted opportunity. He's [Ricochet] a massive star, he could be. I think he's... I'll be careful, I'm gonna watch what I say, but I think right now, in this moment, there is nobody in AEW that is better than Ricochet," he said.
It will be interesting to see if AEW leans towards more storytelling aspects following Eric Bischoff's criticism.