The recent criticism made towards Tony Khan from Eric Bischoff has fans comparing the two as personalities who tried to compete with Vince McMahon. Few other people running wrestling companies have ever made as big of a mark in creating competition as Bischoff and Khan when it comes to surprisingly successful results.
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Their identities and personalities have various similarities that made it funnier when they disagreed. However, there are also stark differences regarding them to show why they have differing perspectives. Fans will see this play out even more with AEW looking to grow stronger. The following similarities and differences provide more context for the Bischoff vs Khan discussion.
10 Similar: Taking Shots At Vince
Despite the comments from Eric Bischoff, one of the major things he has in common with Tony Khan is that both have taken public shots at Vince McMahon. The attacks from Bischoff gained attention before WCW actually passed WWE in the ratings war.
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Bischoff did escalate them once in front, but he started taking shots at WWE in 1995. Khan has started the same plan early when making public comments about WWE. The move to counter program Rampage with an extra 30 minutes of SmackDown saw Khan essentially challenging them to a wrestling war.
9 Different: Background As Fans
The dream of Tony Khan was always to run a wrestling promotion from his early childhood days. Khan was a diehard wrestling fan to the point where his father took him to an ECW show as his dream wish for having great school grades.
AEW starting is something Khan has planned since before he knew what his career path would be. Eric Bischoff had a background in sales and broadcasting when joining the wrestling business. The fandom of wrestling was there, but his passion didn’t match Tony’s until he entered the industry in AWA and later WCW.
8 Similar: Signing International Talent
One cool similarity between the booking styles of Eric Bischoff and Tony Khan is seeing their love of the international talent. Both WCW and AEW signed quite a few names from Japan and Mexico due to their belief of having different styles.
Bischoff added the likes of Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrera, The Great Muta and others to provide an international flair. Khan has upped that by having names like Penta El Zero M, Rey Fenix, Riho and Hikaru Shida all holding gold in the company’s first couple of years.
7 Different: Women’s Wrestling
The AEW women’s division got off to a rough start, but there is no denying improvement over the past year. Tony Khan is a strong supporter of the women’s division by pushing Britt Baker to the moon and signing Ruby Soho with huge plans.
Eric Bischoff did add Madusa to WCW’s women’s division, but that was more about her bringing the WWE Women’s Championship to throw in the trash. WCW gave little effort with only two or three women booked before giving up altogether, until Vince Russo gained control and pushed more female performers.
6 Similar: Sports Element
WCW fit into the Turner Broadcasting world due to the sports-like presentation compared to WWE. Vince McMahon was more about the entertainment in sports entertainment, while WCW tried to have that sports feel.
Eric Bischoff booked things like the best of seven series between Chris Benoit vs Booker T, team matches like the continuation of War Games and other ideas. Tony Khan feels the same way about wrestling with AEW implementing a win-loss record. Both men brought in major sports names to compete like Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman.
5 Different: Khan Spending His Own Money
The biggest difference in the situations of Eric Bischoff and Tony Khan is the financial situation. Bischoff is often criticized for having Ted Turner’s check book when offering huge contracts to Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, The Outsiders and many others.
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Tony has his father’s backing, but he put a lot of his own money into this project. The desire to make it in wrestling is a goal outside of his other business ventures in NFL and soccer. Khan would lose his pride and a large amount of money if AEW died early. Bischoff only had to deal with losing his pride when WCW failed after the rise ended.
4 Similar: Believing In Deep Rosters
A common criticism for AEW is that they are signing too many wrestlers with the addition of more talents coming in throughout the second half of 2021. WWE having four brands makes their roster depth important, but AEW has the same roster for their programs.
WCW had the same philosophy when Eric Bischoff was running the company. The roster grew immensely in size from 1995 to 1998 with dozens of noteworthy signings. Bischoff and Tony Khan both enjoy the idea of having extra talents to account for injuries or changing things up.
3 Different: Impact Of ECW
Eric Bischoff showed little respect for Paul Heyman whenever discussing ECW during the Monday Night Wars and close aftermath. The polarizing promotion having hardcore wrestling and edgier content didn’t impress Bischoff, despite signing many of their talents.
Tony Khan however was the biggest ECW fan and loved everything it represented. Paul Heyman knew he’d have a smaller fan base than WWE or WCW, but he wanted them to be more passionate and grow that. Khan took a lot from Heyman’s vision as a genius while Bischoff didn’t care for his thinking.
2 Similar: Adding Big Names For Buzz
The biggest common ground for Eric Bischoff and Tony Khan shows the past and present of free agent acquisitions in wrestling. Bischoff signing Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage showed that he was going to create an environment of shock and awe for the WCW product with many names coming after that.
Tony Khan has already lived up to that side of the wrestling bargain with Jon Moxley, CM Punk and Bryan Danielson all coming over after WWE main event runs. AEW has that vibe of WCW where fans will wonder about any major name hitting the free agent market.
1 Different: AEW's Homegrown Talent
The reliance on adding big names is a little bit different for AEW due to how Tony Khan treats his young stars. Names like Jungle Boy, MJF, Darby Allin, Britt Baker and others had little name value before AEW, but all have become upper card talents with potential for more before even hitting 30.
Few WCW young stars during Eric Bischoff’s time running the company received a chance in the company. The likes of Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio were WCW’s younger core, but they were booked to look many notches below the main eventers. Goldberg was the only WCW star to break out at that level before hitting his prime.
