Eric Bischoff on Dean Ambrose's WWE Exit: 'I Don't Think it Matters at All'

As a perpetual fan-favorite, former WWE Champion, and one of two remaining Shield members, Dean Ambrose may be one of the most valuable Superstars in the company. But Eric Bischoff says WWE won't miss a step when Ambrose leaves in April.

In an episode of 83 Weeks, Bischoff explained why Ambrose's exit will have a minimal effect, if any, on the long-term success of WWE.

"No disrespect at all to Dean Ambrose … I don't think it matters at all," he said. "That's not because of Dean's abilities or lack thereof. But in WWE right now WWE is the star. Everybody else on that roster is a costar, to one degree or another. Stars are now interchangeable."

What Bischoff is saying is that WWE as a brand has reached such a level, that no matter who is—or isn't—in the company, Vince McMahon's machine will always march forward. Now, WWE is more global institution than wrestling promotion and with each year their audience expands.

Bischoff reasoned that thanks to the Monday Night Wars, WWE learned to protect itself from losing stars. And the best way to do that is to make sure that no wrestler gets bigger than the company. And as much as we all love Dean Ambrose, he was never an iconic part of WWE's history.

"If you've invested all of your resources, not just financial but all of your television time and all that real estate into building up a character, and through some scenario that you couldn't anticipate that character is no longer there, you're in a rebuild situation," he said. "That can be devastating. WWE has gone through that before. They learned that lesson. Vince McMahon learned what happened when competition comes along and takes your talent, and I think he endeavored to build a company that was for the most part impervious to that. He did it by making WWE the star, and the talent less significant than the show that they're on."

Ambrose's situation is still a muddy one. Even though his contract won't expire until May, WWE confirmed rumors of Ambrose opting out as soon as his clock ran out. Now that we all know he;s leaving, Ambrose is wrestling's version of a lame duck and it's possible we don't see him on WWE television again. However, if Ambrose still gets camera time on Raw WWE may want to use him for one last WrestleMania moment.