Eric Bischoff isn’t buying the Ring of Honor studio experiment at all— and he’s not sugarcoating it.
ROH is set to tape a studio-style show on March 1 at WJCT Studios in Jacksonville, Florida, with internal belief that the location could become a regular home base. The move signals a possible identity shift for the brand, separating it from AEW’s touring model. But Bischoff isn’t optimistic about it.
Speaking on the 83 Weeks podcast on February 28, 2026, Bischoff was asked whether shifting ROH away from being perceived as AEW’s “C show” into a studio environment could actually help the brand. His answer was immediate.
“No, it’ll tank. It’s just — it’s just not — it’s no. I mean, ‘it’ll tank’ implies that Ring of Honor has a lot of momentum right now. I don’t think it does.”
The WWE Hall of Famer went further, suggesting that even if the show finds a niche audience, it won’t grow beyond that.
“And it’s not going to gain any. It’s just going to exist for that select group of fans that just can’t get enough wrestling. Sure, there will be some people who will tune into that show.”
Bischoff’s main issue isn’t the concept itself — it’s the modern audience expectation. He argued that wrestling fans are conditioned to expect thousands of fans in large arenas, and a smaller studio environment simply won’t deliver that same energy.
“Now the audience has gotten so used to seeing 5,000, 7,000, 8,000, 10,000 people in the arena, and they’re part of the show. The audience is just as important a part of the show as the people who are in the ring performing. And in a studio environment, you just don’t have the energy.”
Drawing from his own experience with TNA, Bischoff explained why he pushed to take that company on the road rather than stay confined to a studio setting.
“It’s the energy that people expect to see now in a wrestling event. And when you don’t show them that… when you don’t have that third character as part of your show — the third character being, in this case, the audience — yeah, you’re different then, but not in a good way.”
While he admitted he’ll watch the debut, Eric Bischoff made it clear he already knows what to expect: “A studio show is a studio show. It is what it is — and what they’ve always been.”
ROH’s studio tapings could mark a creative recalibration for the brand as Tony Khan continues exploring long-term television options. But according to Bischoff, the format itself may limit its ceiling before it even finds its footing.
Is Eric Bischoff right that ROH’s studio experiment is destined to fail, or could a stripped-down format give the brand a distinct identity? Drop your thoughts below.
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