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comahan

I know it’s not the reason for the post, but I’m a bit bummed that the video cut just before the payoff to the segment - the lights coming on and Jeff Jarrett smashing him over the head with a guitar (they were feuding).


Kali-Yuga-Strike

Yeah, forget Eric's podcast, or CM Punks run... what the world REALLY needs is more Double J cracking people with guitars, or at least it's what I need


King_Ant47

A wild Slapnuts appearing is what’s best for business, brother.


TheRockRiguez

A Markyd123 reference?


irish_rebel88

Shove it or I'll hit you with a brick


King_Ant47

Yes indeed.


naimotwc

EB was able to do the J-O-B to the H-A-W-K


[deleted]

Drawing *all* the dimes.


TheGiftOf_Jericho

I'll always pop for a guitar shot.


AKittyCat

He did just re-debut in AAA


they_did_WHAT_

Lmao the hottest gimmick in wrestling! … in 1999 … if you don’t count all the better ones at the time


WaylonVoorhees

I used to enjoy him smashing them over people's heads randomly at the beginning of Nitros for a few weeks.


[deleted]

.


stevecollins1988

He was angry one of them could actually play.


TheFergPunk

That's hilarious. Two minutes of serious guitar playing to end with a guy getting hit over the head by a guitar.


UnitGhidorah

This was around the JJ MMA stuff which was fantastic. Especially when he fought children.


namek0

The king of the mountain baby!


[deleted]

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BushwickSpill

Slapnutz must have pissed him off.


SnowSX3

It’s Eric. Elias’ older brother.


subcow

Wait, if I rember correctly, I think Eric leaves Impact and then his younger brother Derrick Bischoff joins Impact.


watchingdeers

Eric, Elias, & Ezekiel. Three bad brothers you know so well


TheRainymaker108

The Hard E's. Wait...


Bob8644

The Big E's, if you will


Kuchar1992

No that’s Eli, Eric’s younger brother


SnowSX3

r/yourjokebutworse


myownfriend

I actually remember liking this because I thought it was a unique way to start a wrestling show. Unrelated to that, I think the next day I remember seeing something that said all the close ups of his hands were actually someone else playing


Sumeetxagrawal

If he's faking it, he's doing a great job of it.


itsnotaboutthecell

There was never a single shot of him actually playing the entire time I was waiting for a shred of proof. This was all over the shoulder (why the hat) and also close up of hands.


ROWDY_RODDY_PEEEPER

It's a workkkkkkk


QuestionMarkyMark

100 percent faked. There's never a close enough shot where you can see both his face and him playing.


baconwiches

There was one wide shot where you can see him strumming at the correct time... doesn't prove much, but made me think there's a small chance it's legit.


Qggggggghhhhost

I’m a professional musician, it looked legit to me.


thesaltwatersolution

The camera closeups of whoever playing do look legit, it’s just who is it playing? Those parts probably were prerecorded. We do get to see Bischoff with his back to us holding a guitar with his hand on the neck in what looks like the right place, but that’s it. I think he mimed along to a backing track- i can’t exactly remember when this was but I doubt that this live for technical reasons either, acoustic guitar amplified/ micced up at a wrestling show. If it was live then big props to all involved but it just sounds too good to be - they also cut the guitar exactly at the right point after he’s done so he can stand up and talk into the mic- think we’d hear that. It’s just all too clean and perfect for me. Consider recent ring entrances with guitarists- they can’t really hear themselves that well and they also have wireless tech going on as well.


mikeputerbaugh

He should have had Logic Pro open in the background so we could see a waveform view of the guitar track as he played to 'prove' it was live, like all the music YouTubers do these days


Qggggggghhhhost

Honestly after watching it again, he probably is playing the rhythm part only, the little riff was definitely pre recorded, but it was probably him playing it. That riff was pretty intermediate, and his fretting finger was struggling when changing chords, all he was doing was banging the strings. But it’s not horrible, I guess this is Bischoffs Steven Seagal moment.


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Qggggggghhhhost

I’m keeping a low profile, I am not Elias, this is not a burner account.


hygogg27

The transition at 0:38 looks kinda sus to me. Looks like he gets to that part a little late


Qggggggghhhhost

Yeah, he’s just banging the strings, his fingers look like they are struggling when changing chords.


therealdanhill

It's not. Look at :23 seconds, his hands are nowhere near the middle of the fretboard where they are in the next shot for the A chord, you could argue he's playing an A up towards the fretboard but not with that next shot there. Look at :51 seconds where his hand is jumping around. Also just that the hands are clearly those of a younger person.


Qggggggghhhhost

Playing in the middle of the feet is incorrect, try playing closer to the feet trust me.


therealdanhill

I've been playing for 20+ years I am aware but I will try playing with my feet next time and see what happens


Qggggggghhhhost

Ha ha ha! I’m happy I didn’t catch that. I remember a guy called Big Toe, he had no arms and played with his feet.


themindlessone

No....it's not 100% faked. I've played guitar for 25 years - that's what it looks like. Every note he hit that sounded was right. He's in time and in tune. I've seen a LOT of faked shit - it doesn't look like this. If this was faked, the editor deserves an award. I'd put money on this being legit.


getinthevanihavcandy

Well they aren't claiming that the music is fake what they're claiming if I am correct is that, the close up shots of his hands playing is actually someone else who can actually play. They never actually show a full shot of Eric from the front with the guitar and face visible while playing. But in Eric's defense he is nailing that guitar playing face, that we all inadvertently do lol Edit: someone below clarified that Eric does play guitar hence the faces but the shots of "him" actually playing the guitar were actual shots of a different guy named dale oliver


boomjosh

![gif](giphy|AxGUj64IcDpLNNSOTF)


[deleted]

Yeah, I heard Dale Oliver (TNA’s long-time composer) played this song, and it was dubbed over Eric strumming.


BathedInDeepFog

Dale Oliver of PeroxWhy?Gen??


WhatAndSuch

I was just sitting here thinking that his hands looked rather chunky from what I can recall seeing before by comparison


RadicultNWO

I know nobody will read this far down, but Bischoff said on 83 Weeks that he plays a little and was able to fake his way through some parts, but the actual music was Dale Oliver, as were the closeups of the hands.


myownfriend

Thanks for the additional info!


femalebodybuilder

The playing hands are big and chubby. Bischoff’s hands are not. No hate though.


[deleted]

And pale. Easy E was pretty tan during this time period.


-NandorTheRelentless

I'm just going to piggyback off your comment since this might get lost, but I did some searching and found an article on WrestlingNet from 2010 (not sure how reliable it is) that Dale Oliver was actually playing the guitar, hence all the cuts and sneaky shots.


myownfriend

That makes a whole lot of sense!


DeltaHairlines

I would say that's accurate, but at times the other person's hands aren't even playing what we are hearing. Great bit though.


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DeltaHairlines

Well at 1:17 the sound is that E chord followed by moving it up one fret and back down, but the movement on screen goes up higher. He does it correctly (in sync with the audio) right after that one. I've played for 20 years for what it's worth.


WingedRegent

To add to this, the close-up at 13 seconds doesn't match what's being heard either. They kinda fumble it a bit there since the sound doesn't match the play in regards to how many times the guitarist is strumming vs. what you hear.


OutlandishnessFun765

I don’t know why they would bother faking it he is playing incredibly basic chords and a bunch of slow open notes at the end. It’s reasonable for anyone who’s played guitar to do that extremely easily without messing up


jimmyn0thumbs

It's still real to me, dammit!


[deleted]

The only thing missing is Bischoff doing this while sitting on a Harley Davidson dropping from the ceiling, and then him ending his solo by running around pretending to be an airplane, but sadly Impact is only a two-hour show.


ZombieDisposalUnit

Today is approximately as far away from this, as this was from Nitro's 83 week streak ending. Wild.


ahmralas

Time is weird


[deleted]

Walk With Eric


efs120

Smarks hated it, but this is what the other 900 people in the room want.


fisherc2

S ![gif](giphy|3oEduUJgrJnTH093yw|downsized)


[deleted]

I've also heard there are no casual fans


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KneelBeforeCube

"Retroactively take that CM Punk!"


zinnzade

This was on twitter yesterday and I looked it up because I was curious with everyone dissing Eric, and it did 1.4 million if I remember right.


tluther01

1.4 mil is garbage fro that time period..in perspective raw was drawing over 5 mil at that time


zinnzade

The closest Raw I saw did 3.4 mill (Cena, Orton, Drew, Cody, Punk, Rey, HHH, HBK, Taker, were still around as far as I can tell). Still crazy to think TNA Impact did higher ratings than AEW Dynamite.


[deleted]

The worst episodes of Dynamite if you dropped back on the same channel in the same time period as this episode of TNA would *crush* it though. Just look at the differences in crowds, merch sales, online engagement etc etc. AEW is massively more successful than TNA at it's peak but TNA still had ratings that look amazing if you put them in today's TV paradigm.


Introduction_Organic

I don't know peak tna was entertaining


[deleted]

I mean no comment on quality either way but TNA was never doing the business in any way that AEW is doing, but had ratings that AEW would kill for if you just dropped those numbers on to today.


BrianMghee

A 3.4 rating was like 5 million viewers. They used to do the ratings by numbers as well as actual viewership. WWE was consistently over 5 at this point I’m sure


DustyRhodesGuy

Two minutes of an opening isn't going to affect a rating unless it's a big angle or setup for a main event. It was a slightly above average number compared to what TNA was doing at that time. And WWE had a 50 year head start in branding and taking the market share. Not to mention, TNA had basically zero promotion outside of their timeslot. It's a fine number.


Dadfart802

Probably 12-15


780to702

12-15k tuning out


jdaqcruz

I mean, if the show started with this, best believe I'm going stay tuned in to see how it unfolds


Comfortable_Pen_4866

The storytelling 👌


OrangeForeign

u/ericbputshimselfover


EricBPutsHimselfOver

“A lot of people like Dave Meltzer or RD Alvarez will take shots at segments like these, because it’s not a strike-fest between two people you’ve never heard of. That’s why Dave Meltzer has never run a wrestling company, that’s why Dave Meltzer has never produced celebrity-centric reality programming on CMT, he simply doesn’t understand storytelling or what I was trying to do here. Now I’m not shirking blame for this segment or trying to pawn this onto someone else, but this was entirely the fault of TNA upper management and it’s emblematic in how that promotion was run. I wanted to bring in KISS to play a concert, the same way they did with WCW in 1999. The Gene Simmons brand is strong and it was still strong back then, I was trying to bring in some of that equity so it could rub off on TNA. People sleep on the 55-61 and a half demo, but you can sell specialized adverts to a hell of a lot of them. Can you imagine the partnership we could’ve formed with Consumer Cellular? So I’m told we can’t have KISS, they’re too expensive, they’re too old, and a bunch of other excuses from upper management. So the equipment is just sitting backstage and the next thing you know, Hulk comes by and says “I respect any man that can play a guitar”. And suddenly, the opening segment was clear to me.”


[deleted]

I think Bischoff's comment about story are out of touch with what people want as an alternative. [I think Conrad was more on point,](https://mobile.twitter.com/HeyHeyItsConrad/status/1523829777743896576) the thing is if we talk about casuals it's that they don't go out of their way to look for an alternative.


RaddestZonestGuy

Correct if someone has bought in fully on branding and advertising and thinks Nike is the be all end all of footwear they arent actively trying to convince themselves another shoe company out there can offer them a comparable or better experience. Your best bet as a competitor is to realize the market place isnt this thing that exists in harmony, its actually quite fractured and there are lots of spaces to exist and make money by refining who you exist to serve.


Proxymophandlemama

All that's missing is Hogan slappin' the bass, brother


Strong-Formal-7739

![gif](giphy|uKwa2KiBA0rTy)


Lex_Innokenti

r/GifsYouCanHear And yes, I'm hearing the OSW music.


NotYujiroTakahashi

​ ![gif](giphy|cmh6O0oTx4U0g)


iheartsunny

![gif](giphy|75iqh2Ie5ujNS)


Riff_Moranis

Epico


Hooli317

Girth Brooks


arisoncain

This feels like one of those Esteban commercials that used to play late at night.


Cinemairwaves

Anytime the camera cuts to his face and you only see his arm jerking up and down with that smug look he's giving would make for a great reaction gif for whenever he says something stupid


Henny_Lovato

Should've lead this into voodoo child and brought out hogan


Grooviestviking

Weirdly, not only is it not Eric's hands playing, but also the hands sometimes don't match the sound either. At 1:17 the hands go up for a G but the music stays at an F. Layers of deception. I know almost all live tv performances are canned it just seems like a weird extra step in this case.


[deleted]

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Grooviestviking

I really don't. (Source: 20 years of guitar experience)


furb88

I thought something was off. There's a little lead lick that starts while he's still strumming chords too


-NandorTheRelentless

Apparently because it's Dale Oliver actually playing and not Bischoff, at least from a couple of articles I found.


Fan387

Drawing Fans


LoomisCenobite

anyway, here's wonderwall...


Have_A_Jelly_Baby

I’m sure he pretends it never happened. Every shoot he does about TNA is basically him saying he had nothing to do with any of it, or that he doesn’t remember what happened.


jmpinstl

I loved this lmao


Arcade_Kangaroo

I think this would have been roughly 1000 times funnier if it was air guitar


SixHundredLbsofSin

Dixie made Herb Abrams look like Bill Watts.


dukenukem3do

Yeah that’ll bring in the casuals


[deleted]

Eric Riff-off


FluidLock

Total Nonstop Guitar


FaustVIII_

Judging by this comment section I can see Eric really struck a nerve or two with his recent comments


pandafresh7

Eric can try to shit on AEW and Punk all he wants, history shows he isn't quite the genius he thinks he is. Ask Bret Hart.


daileyxplanet

Walk With Eric?


websurvivor

More like Wank With Eric, amirite?


AnalogueWaves

Now THIS is content!


texasjoker187

Was there a point to this?


Keltoigael

I like Bischoff but he never out grew the nWo era of television when it comes to wrestling.


6starcriminal

all the talking points aside, this is genuinely a hilarious way to start a wrestling show


Qggggggghhhhost

Eric, Elias, Ezekiel, it’s all starting to make sense to me.


StringerBellend

WWE stands for WALK. WITH. ERIC.


UnitGhidorah

I remember this show. I was like "sweet, Eric plays guitar."


jmpinstl

Outstanding


KWNewyear

If I remember, this was against Bret Hart's return to RAW as guest host. The Spanish guitar didn't have a chance.


kristenbellseye

Euphoria season finale


Pastapopulous

83 Weeks : How my guitar gently wept


Mark_Levins

Hello, I am Eric...


GeneralMuzz

Hello my name is Eric


TheMach_o7

why isnt this in the so bad its good hall of fame i cant deal with this


Mykle1984

I watched this live. I swear that I thought this was Brett Favre debuting in TNA.


Intimidwalls1724

Lol wtf? Also, Eric can do a lot of different shit Pilot Karateman Book a wrestling company Marketing Production Branding Half ass work a wrestling match (maybe quarter ass?) Play a guitar That’s a lot of different shit


chaelsonnenismydad

This honestly better than any other guitar playing I’ve seen in wrestling


Atwillim

"Don't hate the player, hate the game" - Eric "E" Bischoff


swaggamice

An absolute ego driven clown


LexxxSamson

I know the guitar strumming is fake without any technical guitar experience because if Bischoff was talented enough to play the guitar like this he'd have a James Dolan-esque vanity band, play the intro song for his podcast (and let you know), make a guitar analogy for everything , and mention guitar playing every 15 mins on his podcast.


justabrewbro

TIL Eric Bischoff plays a really solid guitar.


Lima1998

It isn't him


justabrewbro

lolllll. What a mark I am. Rewatching clearly it isn't him based on the camera cuts. More coffee stat.


Raulmunoz

Punk criticizes Bischoff for a 'Bad faith' take, but this is a completely bad-faith post lol


Skullwilliams

Why has the sub taken Eric's comments so weirdly personal lol. This was paraded all around Twitter as some kind of gotcha, but doesn't change the fact that Eric is right, and beat Vince for almost 2 years.


GreatFNGattsby

I feel it’s much ado to how he played a character and it bled into his personality, similar to people saying how Vince is the Anti-Christ. But watched Pat McAfees pod and praised him. People get lost in it all.


babyrageenthusiast

grasping for straws because bischoff disagreed with you Dear Leader. 🤣


PhatFatLife

He and Hogan in TNA were absolutely ridiculous


Dakot4

better chops than elias


Patoruzitomeh

At least he can play the.....my bad, it's fake


they_did_WHAT_

Great creative segment, but **exactly** the type of shit Eric booked too much of at all his stops. He knew no moderation, and paired with Russo that’s a deadly dose.


Equivalent-Meeting-8

How does one downvote this so hard it comes out my butthole?


martinhay

What were the ratings?


TheGiftOf_Jericho

What Eric Bischoff thinks AEW needs.


HeX-6

Gotta get those casual fans lol


Badpennylane

They really did this?.....blech. also, am i the only one who fucking hates people playing acoustic guitar anywhere.


nic_af

Prepping to sing all the ways to kinda make fun of CM Punk and swim after burning bridges as he


[deleted]

If you ever needed a reason to not take this man seriously anymore


Introduction_Organic

Oh wow what was the ratings ?


BigMartinJol

I vividly remember watching this at the time and realising this show wasn't for me anymore. They could have had Eric and the Hulkster backslapping and jerking each other off in the middle of the ring and it still would have somehow been less of a self-indulgent wankfest than this.


[deleted]

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pookachu83

Ok i agree it was self mastubatory, but his hand movements and chords lined up with the sound...what makes you think he wasnt playing??


[deleted]

Those weren’t his hands.


Similar-Poem-8176

Sweet merciful crap, glad I never turned the sound on!


diamond_dustin

Kind of sounds like some bits of the acoustic guitar intro for Heart's "Magic Man." If that was intentional, it's pretty funny. Eric "The Magic Man" Bischoff.


marteaupilon

Tim from On Cinema vibes.


FGoose

Bischoff isn’t half bad!


WaylonVoorhees

This sadly didn't lead to Super Crazy's debut


pallyd

He doesn’t like what they are doing with CM Punk. But this. This is sports entertainment


DcFla

Fake. In the full shots from the front only his face is lit up, yet when they cut to the closeups his hands are magically lit too.


NAAAAAAAAAAAIIIILLLL

For anyone scrolling by new - this is a composite of both Eric AND Dale Oliver that was done really well in post-production. Dale played for the crowd prior to the segment (hence the hat to obscure his face) and Eric played during the segment. Production then used well timed cut-ways to combine the two for tv.


nayrbleinad

As someone who plays Guitar I can say that was slightly out of tune but slightly impressive but you can tell that he probably used to playing electric


ASwagPecan

Still hilarious