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MAY 2018 WRESTLING DISCUSSION.

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RIPPA

RIPPA

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Punk Trial context from the new WON that just came out this morning (Basically Dave lays out the whole history while recapping what happened during the trial so far)

Spoilers because it is long. I tried to insert some paragraph breaks to make it a little easier to read but God Bless Dave

Spoiler

The slander lawsuit by Dr. Christopher Amann against Phil Brooks (C.M. Punk) and Scott Colton (Colt Cabana) kicked off on 5/29 in Chicago. The timing feels like it couldn’t be worse. One thing notable is that neither defendant moved to settle the case. It’s hard to know what that means, but if the evidence in discovery worked against them, the logical thing to do is settle. As noted before, I see this as an open-and-shut case in the sense Punk either told the truth about his medical condition and his treatment, or he lied. If he lied, then he’d be up for damages. If he told the truth, the case should have been thrown out a long time ago and never gotten this far, let alone all the way to a trial. After the first full day, the gist of the arguments appear too be that Amann, who couldn’t prove any loss of income because he admitted his job status wasn’t affected, claimed emotional distress due to negative signs and catcalls from pro wrestling crowds and negative social media tweets and posts. That would be a landmark case if it goes anywhere that crazy tweets from unknown people and catcalling from pro wrestling fans is used as evidence for distress in a slander case.

The Brooks and Colton case is based on the idea that what was said on the podcast is true, and truth is a total complete defense when it comes to a slander or defamation case. But the timing of the trial going on right now while he has his UFC fight with Mike Jackson on 6/9 couldn’t be worse. He has to be in court in Chicago while he should be 100 percent concentrating on the last significant week of fight training in Milwaukee. Amann was the first witness called for the plaintiff’s side. The first thing the jury heard was the complete podcast in question. One report noted to us that the jury members seem to lose interest during the podcast because of how long it was. Amann claimed that after the podcast he has been harassed in social media and at shows. He got emotional during testimony. Some felt it came off as rehearsed. They then showed mean tweets toward Amann in social media. Boy, when the insane people on Twitter (not saying people on Twitter are insane, but there is no denying there is a small percentage who are) become part of a real-life trial, that’s sad in a lot of ways. That is very interesting as far as a legal defamation strategy goes, as they highlighted twitter responses to show that Amann’s reputation was damaged based on Brooks’ comments. Normally you’d have to show damage in other ways, mostly financially, or loss of clients, and that likely didn’t happen at all. He claimed people were chanting “Z-Pack” at him at shows, which I’m sure happened somewhere at some point. The jury appeared frustrated with constant objections from the plaintiff lawyers.

On day two, according to Wrestle Zone, which covered it live, Brooks and Colton never spoke before the proceedings began even though both arrived before the trial started. Brooks’s right eye looked red, possibly from sparring. Amann claimed on the stand he had been harassed and ridiculed by Punk fans on social media and they showed more screen shots of tweets and Instagram posts negative to him, pushing a tweet that called him “Z Pak retard.” They also showed a fan sign that read “Can someone check my staph infection?” Unreal this gets brought up in a court room. Amann claimed that the signs in the crowd and social media response made him angry, embarrassed and humiliated. Amann then spoke about the 2014 Royal Rumble. He said he was sitting at ringside with Mark Yeaton (who rang the bell), Timothy Gang (a tech) and Justin Frazen (better known as Justin Roberts, the ring announcer) when photographer John Giamondo told him Punk wanted to talk with him. He said he went to Punk, who said “I got rocked” and said he was from a clothesline by Kingston. He claimed Punk told him he was seeing zig zags and squiggly lies and Amann told him he probably had a concussion and told him that he should eliminate himself from the match. He said Punk then told him that he was going to continue and get back in the match. Amann said he told Yeaton to inform the people at Gorilla that Punk had a concussion and needed to be eliminated. Amann said he heard Michael Seitz (Michael Hayes), who was producing the match, to order Punk to roll out of the ring. Amann said that the referees told Punk this a few times over the next one or two minutes. Seitz kept telling Punk to eliminate himself, which he didn’t do. Then he told Kane to go to the ring and eliminate Punk, which did happen. What makes this so weird is that after Kane eliminated Punk he gave him a choke slam through a table. Why would you do that if you believed that the guy in question had just suffered a concussion? Amann said the only medical stuff he did for Punk was giving him antibiotics for a sinus infection.

There was also a January 26, 2014, medical report saying “Phil says his shoulder has been bothering him since last Monday. No specific injury.” He said he ordered X-rays of the shoulder. He said on December 17, 2013, Punk sustained an elbow injury and gave him ice and an anti-inflammatory but no antibiotics. He said he never noticed any cyst on his back or buttocks. They showed some text messages between the two. Neither text message talked about a lump, although on December 4, 2013, Punk told Amann that he was coughing like a maniac and his ribs hurt. Amann said he didn’t do anything as he was waiting for lab results on testing. In what is a key point, Amann said that Punk’s comments on the show did not affect his job with WWE, but he felt humiliated and embarrassed since the podcast. He said he and Punk talked after the Rumble and Punk was mad about the script changing mid-match. Amann said that he felt that Punk had a concussion and needed to get out of the match. He said Punk then talked about having an eye injury. They showed photos from the Rumble which didn’t show any cyst of lump on his back. WWE sent out photos to the media of this shortly after Punk was on Cabana’s podcast. Amann was cross-examined. Punk’s attorneys noted Amann prescribing him antibiotics for pharyngitis. They also showed an e-mail from Dr. Michael Samson (the former WWE doctor who saved Jerry Lawler’s life in Montreal) that said, “We’re talking to Punk about a medical dose pack but we have to let AJ think about it.” A November 5, 2013, e-mail from Amann to Samson noted Punk has been nauseated and has a headache. A November 14, 2013, e-mail from Stacy Depolo, a staff medical assistant, sent, to Amann said that Punk has been fatigued, nauseated and vomiting for days. The next day Samson e-mailed Depolo and Amann saying he had talked with Punk, who said he had no energy, fatigue, no appetite, mild diarrhea and headaches. He was working a full schedule at this time. Samson on November 16, 2013, said Punk was complaining of fatigue and headaches after taking bumps. Amann, on November 18, sent an e-mail to Samson saying he feels Punk is okay to wrestle. The next day Samson sent an e-mail saying he’s ordering an MRI on Punk’s head and blood work, and also they discussed possible depression issues. Samson wrote an e-mail on November 21, 2013, saying Punk still had headaches and fatigue.

On November 27, 2013, Samson wrote to Amann that Punk has lower back pain and a rib contusion. Trainer Larry Heck on December 1, 2013, wrote to Samson and Amann that Punk feels horrible and has been in bed for three days. Punk sent Amann a text on December 2, 2013, saying his head was killing him and wondering why he has such bad headaches. Amann wrote back about how they were looking for a diagnosis and Punk asked for antibiotics and Amann agreed to them. They set up a meeting, but Amann denied the meeting was about giving Punk antibiotics. Punk said he couldn’t sleep, was coughing like a maniac and his ribs were killing him. Amann asked if they could talk and Punk said he can’t, but finds this all ridiculous and wanted to get checked out at the hospital. Amann testified that Punk asked him for a Z-Pack (antibiotics) and he phoned in a prescription for him. However, they noted that in Punk’s medical history with WWE it never states he was prescribed a Z-pack. Amann said he gave Punk them without recording it. He said it would give wrestlers medications in an envelope with the name of the drug and the dosage to use. They talked about how Amann had given wrestlers a slide show presentation regarding MSRA staph, noting one could lose their limbs if it isn’t treated fast enough. He said that he never treated Punk after February 2014. Amann said that even though he was never named by Punk or Colt Cabana on the Art of Wrestling podcast, that fans knew it was him because they could see footage of him talking to Punk while the Royal Rumble in 2014 was going on. Punk and Cabana during the questioning ended up sitting together as Punk moved to a seat next to Cabana and they started talking. Amann said he was not looking for compensation for emotional damages and that he has not seen a doctor for any depression or emotional issues nor taken any medication to deal with it, or undergone counseling. Amann said that he’s had no damage in the workplace based on the podcast, nor did he believe the views of the wrestlers changed regarding him. Essentially this establishes no emotional damages or monetary damages, but is still not a defense for Punk if he was lying. He also said that nobody in his immediate life has changed their opinion of him due to the podcast. But he said after the podcast, he was concerned, angry and couldn’t focus on Thanksgiving with his family. Amann said that he can’t say the line Punk said about how WWE “Z-pack’d me to death” was about him. Cabana’s lawyer then said by Punk using the word “they” instead of “he,” the comments couldn’t be construed to be about one person. Amann said that he doesn’t know if Cabana knew that what Punk was saying on the podcast was false. Amann said he never received harassing tweets or catcalls from the audience prior to the podcast. He said Punk was diagnosed with sinusitis on December 2, 2013 and that is what he prescribed Punk a Z pack for. A text was shown from November 27, 2014, between Amann and Chris Irvine (Chris Jericho) where Amann told Irvine that Punk’s health issues were not what he described. Punk’s lawyer then got on Amann for violation of HIPA laws by discussing Punk’s medical situation without Punk’s knowledge.

They also showed a text from Amann to Justin Frazen (Roberts) where he said that Punk’s comments on that show were a fabrication of the truth and that there were extensive records of everything Punk has been diagnosed with and prescribed in WWE, and wrote that Punk had tarnished his professional reputation whether his claims were true or false. An interview with Mark Yeaton, who was sitting with Amann during the Rumble, saw Yeaton say he couldn’t remember the Rumble incident in particular saying his memory is foggy “because I thought I’d put the whole company out of my mind,” which caused Punk to laugh when it was played. But he did recall Amann telling him once that he thought Punk had a concussion and needed to be removed from a match. He believed Vince McMahon ordered Punk out of the match, and him telling Punk to leave the ring and Punk laid on the mat

 

 

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BurningBeard

BurningBeard

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1 hour ago, RIPPA said:

Boy, when the insane people on Twitter (not saying people on Twitter are insane, but there is no denying there is a small percentage who are)

The most needless use of brackets in the history of the English language

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Technico Support

Technico Support

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1 minute ago, Craig H said:

Amann doesn't look like he's coming across well. IANAL, but I wonder if the judge just throws this out and tells Amann and Punk to both grow up.

Yeah, so far it just sounds like he can't prove actual damages and his only grounds for pain and suffering are "people are tweeting mean things to me."

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hammerva

hammerva

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But the timing of the trial going on right now while he has his UFC fight with Mike Jackson on 6/9 couldn’t be worse. He has to be in court in Chicago while he should be 100 percent concentrating on the last significant week of fight training in Milwaukee. 

God bless Dave but if this is a distraction for Mike Jackson then maybe the trial isn't the issue and that he just sucks as an MMA fighter.  

if we really are using fan signs and taunts as the basis for libel and slander in a court case then I would be serving a life sentence based on the shit I said at CZW shows

 

 

 

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Raziel

Raziel

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2 minutes ago, mattdangerously said:

Let's be honest, is a little less training time really going to hurt Punk's chances of winning his fight?  

Wait, there's a chance Punk would win his fight?

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Craig H

Craig H

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Looking through it again and I'm scratching my head at what the hell Amann thought he would get out of this other than getting shitcanned by WWE once this is over. He had to have known he gave Punk unrecorded prescription drugs, not to mention violating HIPAA. Plus, he admits this had no impact on his professional career, the wrestlers didn't trust him less, he's never had to see anyone for mental distress, so....I mean, what the fuck?

Part of me wonders if WWE pushed Amann to file the lawsuit to get back at Punk and maybe Amann didn't even want to go that far, but even then, if there's overwhelming evidence against your case, why wouldn't you bring any of that to light?

EDIT: Also, you gotta love Amann saying that he and others in the back said Punk needed to eliminate himself from the rumble match only to have Kane come out to eliminate him and then...put him through a fucking table. Really shows great care for their concussed wrestlers. Not to mention that if Punk was concussed, of fucking course he'd have headaches and feel like dogshit, but they never pulled this guy from matches.

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RIPPA

RIPPA

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Someone tweeted Meltzer asking why Sanity hasn't shown up yet on the main roster and Dave responded saying there is a story behind it but "he hasn't confirmed it yet"

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bobholly138

bobholly138

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4 hours ago, Victator said:

Punk is fighting Former Alabama Junior Heavyweight Champion Mike Jackson. UFC just seeded a torrent. 

Mike still has the AL JR Heavyweight title. He defended it against the fake Ultimo/Ultimate Dragon on a Wrestle Birmingham show a few months back.

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