Eric Bischoff Returns to TNT for the Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho Debate on AEW Dynamite

For the first time since WCW was still a promotion, Eric Bischoff appeared on TNT this week as he served as the special moderator for a debate between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy. Bischoff most recently served as the executive director for Friday Night SmackDown, holding the position from June 2019 to Oct. 15.

The debate saw Cassidy repeatedly decline to answer any questions (until Bischoff asked about rising sea levels and global warming, he gave a great answer for that). The final question was why the rematch between the two (scheduled for next week) matters so much, and Cassidy finally spoke up to say that it was the biggest match of his career, and that he was going to embarrass “Le Champion.”

Bischoff declared Cassidy the winner, and Jericho responded by attacking him with the aid of Jake Hager.

“My feelings right now are, number one, I’m really grateful for the opportunity to work in WWE,” Bischoff said while explaining his WWE departure back in October. “It didn’t work out the way I wanted it to work out. It clearly didn’t work out the way Vince McMahon wanted it to work out. But that happens. I’m not taking any of it personally. Professionally, I’m taking a hard look at it and thinking it through. More than anything, I’m grateful for the opportunity. Part of the reason is I am, I had a chance to work with a great team of people. The writing staff for SmackDown in particular, as well as a lot of other writers who were on Raw. They are very, very talented and unbelievably hard working and dedicated group of people. Just to have the opportunity to work with people like that, was worth this experiment.

“I didn’t come here thinking I was going to be in WWE for five or 10 years,” he added. “I looked at it as a relatively short term opportunity, meaning 2-3 years. I didn’t think it would be quite this short term, but sometimes that happens. WWE is a great company with a very defined culture and process. I didn’t necessarily fit into it. That’s just the way it is. I’m not sad, disappointed, any of those things. Just looking forward to the next opportunity, whenever and wherever that may be.”

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.