Eric Bischoff recently spoke with Ryan Ryder on Main Event Radio during Montreal Comic Con. Bischoff talked about his son Garrett (he’s doing well and has transitioned away from the wrestling business), TNA, ex-TNA stars in WWE and more.
Bischoff also mentioned that he’s in the middle of a lawsuit with TNA. I believe that this is the first time that he’s spoken about it publicly. He did not elaborate (likely for legal reasons) but I believe this lawsuit he referenced is in regards to unpaid money owed to him, Garett Bischoff and Jason Hervey. The suit was filed in May of 2015 in Davidson County, Tennessee and Hervey is listed on the suit along with Eric and Garett.
The filing claims that Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment was still owed $101,500 from January to March 2015 and they are looking to for compensation for attorney legal fees. The lawsuit also claims that Garett is owed $13,000.02 in unpaid compensation from October 2014 through March 2015. The lawsuit says that TNA made timely payments through September 2014 and then BHE notified TNA that they were in breach of contract after initially sending them two warning. TNA did catch up on money paid on or before 1/1/15 but they have yet to receive the amount owed ($114,500.02) for their final three months with TNA.
This would not be the first time that we’ve heard news about TNA failing to pay talent/employees.
Here are some of the interview highlights:
What went wrong with TNA/Impact Wrestling: I try to put them both out of my mind so I couldn’t tell you. No comment. I’m in the middle of a lawsuit with them so I can’t really comment.
Any positive memories from his time in TNA: I don’t have any.
AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Bobby Roode now in WWE: You name three guys who are probably the one bright spot of my time in that other organization. There are all 3 some of the most quality people as human beings and as professionals. I’m thrilled to death for AJ Styles as I am for Samoa Joe. I think Bobby Roode is probably one of the most under-estimated, highest potential talents that WWE could get their hands on so I’m thrilled to death for him. I won’t say that Samoa Joe is underrated because most people recognize what a special athlete he is, but if you get to know him on a personal level you cannot find a better person so I’m thrilled to death.
Does Garrett [Bischoff] still wrestle: “He’s doing great. He’s not still wrestling. He transitioned out of wrestling when I did. He has a great career now, lives down in Florida, he’s married, and he’s doing well.”
Would he ever return to WWE as a General Manager or for a one-time appearance: Highly doubtful. Because I haven’t gotten a call. And I’m a little busy; I’ve got stuff going on. Not to be coy or cute, I think that time has passed. I had a great time, I worked there for 5 years and it was one of the highlights of my career. Times change, people change. I think a character like mine I’d come back for a week or two or three but then after that people would get tired and say this is the ‘same old, same old’ kind of thing.
Is he done in wrestling: Never say never. If the right opportunity and by that I mean something that was exciting and felt fresh. Something that I believed that the fans would really appreciate and that I would have fun doing. I’d love to be back. Because I love the business and a lot of the people in it. I’ve spent a lot of time in the business, I’ve done a lot of things. It would take something pretty unique to get me excited. It’s really gratifying to see after all these years, and I’ve been in the business for 30 years, and after all of these years to see fans wearing nWo shirts and fans of WCW who still remember make me feel good.
You can listen to the interview by visiting http://www.maineventradio.com/audio/MER-08-03-16.mp3 or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes by clicking here.
