David Sahadi (83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff): "They got back at me by getting back at my father. They had a meeting in Kevin Dunn's office and d..."

83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff · March 6, 2026 · 2h 40m

Episode 416: AEW, Make Your Move!

🎧 Listen to the full episode on 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff

WWE backstage retaliation

They got back at me by getting back at my father. They had a meeting in Kevin Dunn's office and decided to get Vince to take away my father's Legends check. That is pure evil.

Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon was sitting on a cold concrete floor crying hysterically after watching the 'Passing of the Torch' video package. I think it resonated with him so deeply because on a visceral level, it was a passing of the torch from Vince Senior to himself.

Edge character development

The original plan for Edge was supposed to be a Jim Morrison character sitting around shooting candles and reading poetry. I shot that stuff and said it's horrible and it's going to kill his gimmick. We took the B-roll and put a female voice to it, and it made him the mysterious character he was.

Monday Night Wars

Vince McMahon was so fixated on getting back at WCW and Eric Bischoff that he didn't want to give Eric any recognition on those Billionaire Ted vignettes. Vince would not put Eric on TV and parody him because he didn't want to give Eric the benefit of the doubt.

Backstage politics

Kevin Dunn would not let me tell Vince I was leaving in advance. He wanted to spin it in a way that made it look good for Kevin Dunn. I never got that chance to say goodbye to Vince.

TNA management

John Gaburik single-handedly destroyed TNA. He didn't have a creative bone in his body. I can't think of one thing that happened during his reign except for maybe EC3, but EC3 was a gimmick with a catchy theme song and limited talent.

John Gaburik came in to try to be Vince McMahon. He came in all 350 or 375 pounds of him and just came in strong and hard. There was no way it was going to work.

WWE Raw history

We called the show 'Raw' because we were doing it cheap. There was no big set, no lights, no pyro. It was raw because it was cheap.

Dixie Carter/TNA

Dixie Carter was played by the boys constantly. She didn't have the senses that somebody who's seasoned in the business does. She was easily influenced by the right people.

WWE creative decline

It started to become corporate, which meant it started to become boring. I thought our product lost its edge. I know I lost my edge because everything I was doing that was pushing the envelope, I no longer could do anymore.