Eric Bischoff Replaced as WWE SmackDown Executive Director

WWE announced on Tuesday via press release that Bruce Prichard has officially replaced Eric Bischoff as the executive director of Friday Night SmackDown. The former WCW President was originally hired for the role opposite Paul Heyman for Monday Night Raw back in June. The press release does not mention whether or not Bischoff and WWE have severed ties, and he has yet to make a statement on social media as of this writing. Bischoff only made one televised appearance during his time with the position (during the Raw Reunion in July) and kept from disclosing much information about his role during his weekly 83 Weeks podcast.

"WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that it has named Bruce Prichard the Executive Director of Friday Night SmackDown, reporting directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon," the press release read. "Prichard will oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business, replacing Eric Bischoff.

"Prichard brings nearly 40 years of experience in sports entertainment with an extensive background in character development and creative storytelling," it continued. "Over the course of his career, Prichard has served in a variety of roles including announcer, producer, agent and on-screen personality. Earlier this year, Prichard returned to WWE as a member of the company's creative team."

Shortly after the news broke that he was hired for the role, Bischoff said he saw the job as a bigger opportunity than when he was executive producer and eventually president of WCW.

"The magnitude of this opportunity and the challenge and the commitment that goes along with it is not lost on me," Bischoff said on his podcast back in July. "There's been a couple of times over the last few days where I've been driving around in my truck or taking my dog for a hike and going, 'Wow!'"

"It's not maybe, this is the biggest opportunity I've ever had in this industry," he added. "Granted when Bill Shaw made me president of WCW, obviously that was a very, very big moment. But I was learning on the job there. I had nothing to lose there. I was taking a company in WCW that had never turned a dollar of profit, that was such a distant number two to WWF at that time that we weren't even really number two, a company that was fraught with a bad history and all kinds of internal issues. So I had nothing to lose. In this situation, this is an entirely different ballgame here."