Eric Bischoff Says WWE Has 'Flatlined' and Offers a Solution

WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff believes the product has some problems that could be solved with a Cody Rhodes heel turn this weekend at Clash in Italy.

WWE will arguably present one of its strongest premium live event cards of the year this Sunday afternoon at Clash in Italy. During the first hour, which will air for free on ESPN, Cody Rhodes will defend the WWE Championship against Gunther.

While a title change is certainly a possibility with the Career Killer involved, Bischoff believes turning The American Nightmare heel in Italy could be the spark the company needs to get the current product back on track heading into the summer.

Cody Rhodes Gunther WWE Clash in Italy — Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther at Clash in Italy | WWE

Eric Bischoff believes WWE should turn Cody Rhodes heel this weekend

On the latest episode of his show 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff was asked what he'd do this weekend in the match between Cody Rhodes and Gunther. Bischoff stated that he would turn Rhodes heel and believes the current product has 'flatlined' and a move such as this would kick the product back into gear heading into SummerSlam.

"I'd turn Cody heel," Eric Bischoff said. "Cody probably has no interest in it, but I don't know if he does or he doesn't. But I need to hit the refresh button here. It's great and all, but it's been great and all for a long time. I need something that's a little different in order to engage. Not that it's not good, it's great, it's great business.

"Business-wise, maybe there's no reason to make any changes, and it's all about the business. It dictates what you do. But if the business is not what it once was, and there's an opportunity to light a new fire under it and create new business, I'd be all about it, especially right now. WWE has kind of reached a flatline. Flatline, I said it! That doesn't mean it's dead; that just means it's kind of cruising along, just doing the same old stuff every week. That's not good TV. Good TV grows."

Would a Cody Rhodes heel turn work against Gunther?

Bischoff believes it's harder to book the WWE product at certain times of the year, specifically citing the NFL season and the NBA playoffs. However, he says shifting Cody Rhodes into a different character could kick things back into gear heading into the summer months.

"Certain times a year, it's a little harder," Eric Bischoff continued. "It's harder this time of year for a lot of reasons. It's harder in the fall when football kicks in, but there's a period between the end of the football season, especially into the playoffs, and about now when the NBA playoffs get hot.

"So you got a window there, a couple of months, you can really, really heat things up, so that you could go into the summer with the audience engaged as best you can. So hopefully they're going to come up with something that kicks it in gear, and Cody's — I'd love to see a different character out of Cody."

Easy to find. Hard to beat.#wweclash @espn pic.twitter.com/q50BQeJPqR
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) May 28, 2026

While a Cody Rhodes heel turn would have likely worked very well against someone like Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42, a heel turn against one of the most hated men in the company right now would be a much more difficult sell.

Gunther may have some overseas support this weekend, but it's very likely the crowd will heavily favor The American Nightmare in Italy.

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