Eric Bischoff says no one ever pulled out of a celebrity angle in WCW like Pat McAfee did
It was recently revealed by F4W’s own Dave Meltzer that Pat McAfee pulled out of his angle at WrestleMania 42 following the backlash (no pun intended) online and the sentiment from fans that it was not the way the Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton angle should’ve gone.
Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, former WCW President Eric Bischoff addressed McAfee “pulling out” of the angle and how it compared to some of the celebrity angles he ran whilst running World Championship Wrestling.
Eric Bischoff on Pat McAfee fallout
Co-host Conrad Thompson noted: “Do you remember there being celebrities where, it seemed like a good idea on paper and everyone was excited about it, but once you revealed it and in execution somewhere along the way, the celebrity said, ‘Hey, I know we talked about this, but I’m not having as much fun as I thought, I think I’m going to take a pass.’ We saw it happen last year at WrestleMania with Travis Scott and now this year at Pat McAfee, did something like this ever happen with you and WCW?”
Bischoff then confirmed that “Not, no, not as you [Conrad] described it, no, nothing even close, nothing even close. And I’m just trying to imagine what that must be like for Bruce [Prichard] and Paul [Leveque], everybody that has to do with talent, certainly at this level…Nick Khan and probably Ari [Emanuel] to a degree.”
“If you’re a Pat McAfee or a Jelly Roll, you don’t want that smoke. You don’t want, you’re not that kind, you know, now it’s hurting your brand. Now you’re not as cool as you were before you stepped into the ring.”
It is not confirmed if McAfee will be returning to the company anytime soon, although it does appear that he has left the wrestling business at least for the time being.
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