Longtime WWE executive Eric Bischoff has been fired from his position as executive director of “WWE SmackDown” and has left the company.
Replacing him at the helm of “SmackDown” ”“ which aired just two episodes under Bischoff”™s supervision ”“ is Bruce Prichard. Prichard ”“ a longtime WWE fixture who was known as Brother Love and managed the popular wrestler The Undertaker ”“ was named a senior vice president of the Stamford company in February, and reportedly had been instrumental in landing Bischoff the “SmackDown” role.
After stints both in the ring and behind the scenes at the American Wrestling Association and World Championship Wrestling ”“ both now defunct ”“ Bischoff joined WWE in 2002 as general manager of its “Raw” brand. He was given the “SmackDown” role in June, at the same time that another WWE veteran, Paul Heyman, was named executive director of “Raw.” At the time it was reported that Bischoff would have little creative input on the show.
WWE did not elaborate on why Bischoff was dismissed, although reportedly storyline inconsistencies and a “SmackDown” writer found sleeping on the job by a producer occurred during his tenure.
In the meantime, WWE also announced that several former NFL quarterbacks ”“ Cardale Jones, Landry Jones, Matt McGloin and the like ”“ have been assigned to various teams in the reboot of its fledgling XFL league.
