|
 The trial of Phil Brooks (CM Punk) and Scott
Colton (Colt Cabana) vs. WWE doctor Chris Amann happened right here in Chicago. Amann had
filed a defamation suit against Brooks and Colton in February 2015 following
comments the two made on Cabana's podcast in November 2014. Brooks claimed Amann
dismissed a growth on his back that eventually turned into a staph infection.
Amann was looking for over $4 million in damages from the two of them. It was
broken down into $3,989,000 in damages, $1 for every person who downloaded the
Art of Wrestling podcast episode and additional punitive damages. The first day
of the trial involved the jury listening to the podcast. Testimony was heard
from an audio tech that was ringside during the 2014 Royal Rumble. He said that
he heard everything that happened in the ring including referee John Cone asking
if Punk was ok. He also heard Paul Levesque (HHH), saying that if Punk was hurt
to get him out of the ring. A medical staffer testified that he didn’t see
anything wrong with Punk’s lower back. He did testify that Punk may have had a
concussion during the match. Cone confirmed that and said Punk refused to come
out of the match. He also said he didn’t see anything wrong with Punk’s lower
back. Kane said the same thing. April Mendez Brooks (AJ Lee) told the court that
the lump on her husband’s back had been there since August of 2013 but was
painless in August of 2018. A massage therapist that Punk saw regularly
confirmed the lump was tennis ball sized and that Punk told her the lump had
been diagnosed as a staph infection. After deliberation for about two hours
after all had testified the jury ruled that neither man were liable for any
damages against the WWE physician in the defamation lawsuit. On media day for
UFC 225 Punk made it clear he was done with professional wrestling. And
according to Corey Graves that means he has ignored and refuses to talk to his
friends in the business. Graves sent Punk a text when WWE was in Chicago and was
told he no longer had any interest in being friends with him or anybody related
to WWE. Graves said his feelings about his former friend had nothing to do with
the court case but all to do with being tossed to the side. And he said he isn’t
the only one who feels that way. |
