CM Punk and Colt Cabana Win in Court against WWE Doctor

In what was a long, drawn out case, CM Punk & Colt Cabana have won their case brought forward by Dr. Chris Amman.

Amman testified that the on the Art of Wrestling Podcast by Colt Cabana, CM Punk caused Amman great emotional distress and filed a defamation of character lawsuit, seeking damages of $1 per stream of the episode, totaling about $4 Million. The notes from both sides can be found here, on WrestleZone. Amman insisted that that he did not need to prove monetary damage, and only prove emotional distress over Thanksgiving weekend in 2014.

Amman’s case consisted primarily of him receiving angry tweets and angry comments on Instagram. Amman admitted that he did not lose sleep over it, nor did he lose his job with WWE. From that point, Amman’s case focused on the alleged lump on CM Punk’s back, insisting that it didn’t exist.

Pro Wrestling Sheet, who reported that Punk won the case, indicated that there was no written evidence that Punk had the lump in question. However, Punk’s attorney’s pointed out that WWE Medical records are not reliable, as there is no record of the antibiotics that Dr. Amman prescribed to Punk. Text messages showed that Dr. Amman gave out antibiotics without restriction, and there was no written trail.

Cabana’s case insisted that he believed everything Punk said, and had no reason not to. He did not knowingly publish any false information and had every reason to believe Punk. Amman’s case consisted of him being able to prove that the emotional damage done to him was extensive enough to warrant financial damages. However, the jury ruled in favor of Punk and Cabana, bringing an end to this long case.

Analysis (The Following is Just my Opinion)

I have been following this case closely since it was first filed, and it seemed like this was the only way it was going to end. Amman’s case was flimsy at best, and Punk was able to provide reasonable doubt regarding Amman’s statements about knowledge of the lump.

While Punk may have exaggerated (or was misinformed) about the nature of the lump on his back, there is no question that it was there, infected, and serious. There was more than enough proof to show that it was a real medical issue, and that Dr. Amman did not properly care for Punk through various injuries.

Next: ROH Wrestling: Austin Aries vs. Silas Young for the TV Championship

Amman himself admitted on the stand to not having any long term emotional or monetary damages due to the podcast, so it seemed a foregone conclusion that Punk would win. Punk will be fighting Mike Jackson on June 9th at UFC 225. Now that this case has been wrapped up, one can only think the speculation about where Punk might appear after this fight will increase in the days leading into All In in Chicago. Maybe it’s time for CM Punk to return home.