Discuss

For my money, the best authority figure in WWE history.

I liked that Eric wasn't your typical incompetent GM who screws over the babyfaces. He was an asshole, but he wanted the best show and he wasn't afraid to go against Evolution and book them in scenarios that didn't suit them. I thought it made for a good dynamic, especially when you needed to explain why two wrestlers couldn't have a confrontation that night.

I thought the WWE played to his strengths and kept Easy E from going off the reservation as he was prone to do. I think Eric always wanted to try fresh ideas, but so often the pay off just wasn't worth it.

The most bizarre thing is that I found Eric far more entertaining in WWE than I did in the back-half of his WCW run.

I know there's a lot of conjecture about him hugging Vince and they should have made a big storyline out of it or saved it for the Invasion era. I think Eric could have enhanced that angle significantly but logistically that angle was a nightmare to put together and there was no way the WWE was ever going to play nice. Plus you already had the feuding GM storyline with Flair/McMahon earlier, so I was completely fine with just the idea of Eric joining RAW and making an impact.

I can't believe it's been 20 years.

Was he a great promoter? For about 3 years - yes. Did he have anything to offer outside of another "we're taking over" angle? No, not really. TNA is a great example of where his creativity starts and ends.

But he was a fantastic on screen character in WWE. And, I doubt there's been anyone as good in that role before or since, outside of Vince himself.

His book was quite good, and despite being a dysfunctional promoter, it was an interesting read into that early nWo era lore and his vision for WCW. And I do admire how much he is at peace with himself and wrestling in 2022. He could have easily become a bitter man due to the constant criticism of his work and WWE's revisionist view of WCW and, he could have easily become a man of pure hyperbolics like Heyman who still believes he was right, when clearly he was wrong on a lot of things.

Wow 20 years went by fast

I didn't start watching regularly until 2002, so I didn't really get how big a deal it was that he was in the WWE but I really enjoyed his work as a general manager.

The mastermind behind HLA!

Wow. So I was on PW for 20 years?! Wtf?!

He was really good. Even just his raw run... it was a good character. I don't think he's put over enough in that way.

Jul 16, 2022 19:16:08 GMT @aaron said:

The mastermind behind HLA!

Also created the "Elimination Chamber" and also began Raw Roulette for RAW in Vegas. 

I didn't consider it initially because I grew tired of the GM troupe but EB is the best GM ever. Although I prefer Teddy Long, EB introduced cool concepts.

I actually enjoy Adam Pearce in a low key way in comparison.

They never make his GM status the center of the show - that was always a theme "back in the day" with Easy-E in WWE, and obviously he was such a central figure in WCW and later TNA aswell. Did it consume the show, of course not, but so much time was spent putting over authority figures and their shenanigans rather than focusing on the supposed action.