Eric Bischoff defends WWE's controversial "$40 million" decision involving Goldberg
Goldberg has been a fixture of most of the Saudi Arabia shows that WWE has done since 2018. One particular match and event was regarded as highly controversial due to the decision involving Goldberg. But why does Eric Bischoff think that WWE made the right call? Keep reading to find out.
Goldberg has been a part of four out of the seven events that WWE has held in Saudi Arabia in the last few years. There he also had one of the worst matches of his career (against The Undertaker at Super ShowDown 2019) and arguably the best (against Bobby Lashley at Crown Jewel 2021).
On the latest episode of the Strictly Business podcast on AdFreeShows.com, Eric Bischoff addressed the decision WWE made in early 2020 to have Goldberg defeat the undefeated Universal Champion "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. While WWE fans viewed it as a highly controversial decision that killed The Fiend's momentum, Eric Bishoff said it was all about the money - $40 million:
“I can give you about 39,999,000 million reasons why that was a decent idea. It was all business. $40 million, and I know what wrestling fans are thinking, ‘Oh my God, it’s all about the money.’ Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s all about the money. You’re gonna give the customer what the customer wants for $40 million bucks. You’re the chairman of the board of a publicly held company. Are you going to have to answer to your shareholders cause you turned down 40 f**king million dollars because you didn’t want a character to lose? $40 million dollars! That’s a class-action lawsuit, you gotta do what you gotta do!” (H/T WrestlingInc)
The money in question, of course, is a huge sum that WWE receives from Saudi Arabia to have two shows a year. The actual number is supposed to be $50 million a show - making it even more valuable than WrestleMania.
Bischoff continued by saying that while Wyatt had a unique character, having him lose didn't cost WWE more than $40 million:
“If a character’s strong, and Bray [Wyatt] was, that loss isn’t going to matter. A strong character can take a loss. Now granted, that character is a very unique character. Had to be handled in a very unique way, but it could have been possible to do it. Let’s assume that loss to Bill Goldberg for the sake of argument, in Saudi, absolutely caused Bray Wyatt to hit a roadblock. Brick wall. Boom. Crash. Does that cost you more than $40 million dollars?”
"I'M BACK, BOYS!"
@Goldberg is a 2-TIME #UniversalChampion! #WWESSD https://t.co/RY88HisRnW
Why does Goldberg always return for Saudi Arabia shows?
WWE's Saudi money now doubles the value of AEW's entire 4-year U.S. TV deal. https://t.co/p1YOCv5EgJ
Goldberg is one of the last few part-time legends left in WWE. While he stated that his contract was about to expire in 2022, he kept getting brought back for big shows. This, of course, is because WWE can afford to give him a big paycheck for a one-off appearance that may not even last more than 10 minutes overall.
When looking at the actual economics of it, WWE's earnings from Saudi Arabia are quite staggering. While AEW, WWE's closest competitor, has a 4-year $175 million deal from WarnerMedia TV, the sports entertainment juggernaut earns a whopping $200 million for just four shows - four nights over two years.
When looking at the bigger picture, the ten-year deal will have made WWE a billion dollars - $900 million if you count the two shows that they couldn't do due to the pandemic.
This is why WWE can easily afford to get the likes of Goldberg and Brock Lesnar while providing them with a good bonus for relatively short appearances.