Eric Bischoff thinks Big E. will be a leader for the locker room in WWE.

On his “83 Weeks” podcast, the longtime pro wrestling personality spoke about Big E.’s long journey in WWE, recalling seeing him waiting outside of Vince McMahon’s office for hours during his run in WWE back in 2019, his thoughts on Rick Steiner’s son Bron Breakker’s debut in WWE NXT 2.0 and more.

Featured below are some of the highlights from the show.

On giving credit to Big E. for his charisma and sticking things out in WWE until he finally reached the top: “There are those special people, of which I think Big E is one, that when they walk in the room, the energy is so positive that you forget how big he is. Big E is one of those cats that when he walks into the room, the energy is so positive that you want to be around him. You just do. He’s just got it, and I’m happy for him. When you see somebody who has come up, you can only imagine. We all have a pretty good idea how tough it is to make it to the top in WWE, but what we don’t know is the frustration and self doubt. The anxiety all along the way. We only see what we see on television and we only know about the character or person who plays a character based on what we read in their social media. We don’t drive around with them and hear them as their coming up, and being frustrated, and convincing themselves, or having others convince them. We’ve all heard support from parents, teachers, coaches and friends, but it’s tough. Life on the road is incredibly tough. So to see a guy with all of that charisma and all the physical talent – but to see a guy that’s come up from the bottom and worked his way through that process, which we all know and hear about from people that go through it how frustrating and grueling it is.”

On seeing Big E. and others waiting outside of Vince McMahon’s office for hours back in 2019: “When I was in WWE, one of the things that amazed me during my last run as an executive was the people that would lineup outside of Vince’s office on TV day. It wasn’t just that the line was long, but they would be there for hours waiting for that opportunity to get in and get five minutes with Vince. Often they didn’t get a chance to, and you’d see them walk away. And why even try? I’m sure Big E probably went through a lot of that, but he stuck to it and he stayed positive and he kept doing the work. Whether you’re friends with Big E or a fan of Big E, seeing someone succeed that has had to go through what you know is such a grueling journey to the top, that makes me more excited than anything. I’m really excited for him.”

On predicting Big E. will be a leader for the locker room in WWE: “Big E will be a leader, he will be an example because he stayed positive and because he kept doing the work. He didn’t let a lot of the obvious things that everybody has to go through, some more than others, he didn’t let it slow him down or get in his way. He conquered that, he conquered the hardest thing that will ever get in his way in the wrestling business which is the journey to the top. There’s nothing harder than that. The rest of it is easy compared. Good for him, kudos, my man.”

On Rick Steiner’s son Bron Breakker being introduced in WWE NXT 2.0: “Rick is one of my favorite people from that part of my life and we’re still friends. We don’t chat all the time and all that. Rick and I became pretty good friends in WCW and we became very good friends after WCW. So happy to see [his son on NXT], but I’ve got some issues with the Bron Breakker thing. I kept my mouth shut. The only thing that I said, and it was challenging for me on social media when it happened, I was like ‘I try, I really, really try.’ Oh, there’s no doubt [he’s going to be a star]. I get that they didn’t want to call him Rex Steiner because his real last name is Rechsteiner and nothing lasts forever. Relationships generally don’t last forever, especially business relationships. You have to plan for the inevitable, and I understand why they would want to protect their intellectual property and give Bronson a real character name that they have control over. I don’t like that, but I understand it. It’s a fact of life whether I like it or don’t like it. The truth of the matter is, the business WWE and AEW are in, you have to protect your intellectual property. I get that. But they just cut a guy by the name of Braun. That’s the part I don’t get. The Breakker part, that’s like a video game kind of mentality. I get why they would do that. I understand it, but I still hate it. But the Bron part of that, the Bron Breakker after they just got rid of Braun Strowman, man. That’s the part that got to me, and I just want to go bat s**t livid on Twitter. And I went no, no, then you’re just like everybody else. You’re better than that.”

Check out the complete episode of the show at Apple.com. H/T to Wrestling Inc for transcribing the above quotes.

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