WWE has entered a new era after years of Roman Reigns holding the top spot as Undisputed WWE Champion. Cody Rhodes dethroned Reigns at WrestleMania 40 and now heads into his first defense against AJ Styles at WWE Backlash: France. On the latest “83 Weeks,” former WCW President Eric Bischoff said the company needs to be careful with Rhodes’s young title reign.

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“Story matters overall,” Bischoff said, admitting that it’s difficult to make a hard and fast call on whether Rhodes should face a big, mean heel right after defeating The Bloodline. With television being the main engine for profit in modern wrestling, keeping things logical and coherent matter more than the traditional wrestling formula. “The approach to television has changed a lot. Storytelling, character development are obviously much more important in WWE perhaps than they have been in a long time.”

Bischoff compares WWE’s approach to the typical wrestling formula, where a series of events justify a match, instead of WWE’s more character-driven approach, where the characters and situations create the match.

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“WWE is taking more time and building more slowly,” Bischoff elaborated. “They’re not rushing into a character or rushing into a story. They’re letting them simmer … I think it’s a smart move not to jump into the big, nasty heel quite yet.” 

Styles bested LA Knight on a recent “WWE SmackDown” to earn the shot at the title, his first since January, where he was unsuccessful in a Fatal-Four-Way match also involving Knight, as well as Orton and then-champion Reigns.