Eric Bischoff Questions WBD’s Reported Minority Stake in AEW

Posted by admin on February 22nd, 2026

Eric Bischoff Questions WBD’s Reported Minority Stake in AEW – Eric Bischoff is not convinced that Warner Bros. Discovery holds only a small ownership stake in All Elite Wrestling.

Speaking on 83 Weeks, Bischoff addressed ongoing discussion about WBD’s reported minority position in AEW. Public reports have suggested the company owns less than five percent. Bischoff made it clear he believes the real figure could be significantly higher.

“I mean, the spin, the distortion, the lies by omission — with regard to probably every wrestling organization at some point, and probably every business at some point — that’s just the normal course of business. I’m not surprised.”

Bischoff referenced AEW’s widely discussed media rights deal, reportedly valued at $185 million per year, and questioned whether the disclosed ownership percentage tells the full story. He suggested the equity stake could fall between 20 and 25 percent.

“It’s like the nonsense with AEW and the 5 million a year contract. Then you hear about whether Time Warner owned a percentage of AEW. Now it’s out that it’s under 5%. Here’s my other prediction: when it’s all said and done — and we may never know unless there’s a merger or acquisition that forces the issue — I suspect the equity is somewhere between 20 and 25%, not the 2% or 3% or whatever number has been released online for the internet wrestling community to run with.”

Bischoff also pointed to recent corporate disclosures and media reports, implying they were released for a reason.

“You look at the dots. You look at little pieces of information. You look at patterns over time. There was a reason why CNN and Warner released information about Warner’s position in AEW last week. It wasn’t necessarily bad. It didn’t smell good. It didn’t smell bad. It just smelled different.”

Drawing from his experience during his time running WCW under Turner ownership, Bischoff said he doubts the public has access to the full financial structure.

“I think there’s more to that than meets the eye. I suspect there’s more involvement from Time Warner in AEW than we’ve been led to believe or what’s readily available to the public.”

He emphasized that he does not have direct knowledge of the arrangement but believes equity can be structured in multiple ways.

“I think they own more than we’ve been told. Maybe it’s 5%, but we all know there are ways to structure things. There are generally accepted accounting principles — there are ways to account for equity in different forms. I don’t know anything for certain. But I know what I went through at Turner. I saw how things worked. We’ll see what happens. I’ve been about 98% correct so far. Maybe this is the one that takes me down. Who knows? We’ll find out eventually. Hopefully, we’ll find out.”

At this time, there has been no official confirmation regarding the exact percentage WBD owns in AEW. Bischoff’s comments reflect his personal view that the publicly reported number may not represent the full picture.