WrestleZone.com sat down with Sal Corrente of WrestleReunion, LLC (www.wrestlereunion.com) to discuss the lawsuit he filed against Clear Channel Entertainment Televison and Live Nation. He also responds to Eric Bischoff’s comments made here on WrestleZone.com. The following is the entire conversation
WrestleZone: Sal, thanks for taking the time to conduct this interview. Now, Eric Bischoff made some comments toward you and Rob Russen, your attorney then gave us a statement responding. Why are you wanting to come forward now and comment on the situation?
Sal Corrente: Once Eric Bischoff decided to make public comments, I determined it was time for me to do the same thing.
WrestleZone: Okay, let’s start with how you know Eric Bischoff.
Corrente: I met Eric Bischoff for the first time – other than a casual meeting or two over the years – at the deposition of this case.
WrestleZone: He was an expert witness for the defense in your breach of contract lawsuit against Clear Channel/Live Nation. In a quick nutshell, for those that didn’t follow the case real close, could you explain exactly what you were suing them for?
Corrente: They were supposed to produce, edit and distribute our tapes from the WrestleReunion events. They never did that with the tapes other than four shoot interviews.
WrestleZone: What was their main defense?
Corrente: That they used reasonable efforts to attempt to distribute, but no one wanted the tapes.
WrestleZone: Okay, why do you think Eric Bischoff got involved with this case? Was he scheduled to be have involvement in past or future events WrestleReunion?
Corrente: No – never. He had a past history with Rob Russen from their AWA days. As the story has been told to me for twenty years, Rob and Bischoff didnt see eye to eye and could never work together.
Greenberg Traurig, the law firm representing Clear Channel, had an attorney who knew Eric from his days with the Turner Organization. They contacted Eric and made a deal for 375.00 dollars an hour.
WrestleZone: So, do you think that Bischoff coming on board was simply a favor for the lawyer or do you think there was more to it?
Corrente: No they wanted an expert to give rebuttal to our expert report. They hired Eric and Bill Behrens. Behrens was hired at 150 an hour for his report and 250 for his actual testimony.
WrestleZone: You were in the room for most of Eric Bischoff’s deposition. What were your thoughts of Bischoff and his testimony?
Corrente: He was arrogant and rude most of the time. He had done no research to prepare his report. He couldnt recognize most of the wrestlers’ names even if they had worked for him in the past. In fairness, some of them were real names – not wrestling names – but he couldn’t recognize most of them. My attorney said that he was the most incompetent, under prepared expert witness that he had ever seen.
WrestleZone: How do you respond to Eric’s comments toward you and Rob? "Rob Russen and Sal Corrente give the wrestling business a bad name," Bischoff stated, "so I’m glad justice prevailed and the bottom feeders didn’t win one".
