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Here are some updates on where things stand with the ongoing lawsuit brought forth by WWE's Dr. Chris Amann against former WWE star Phil "CM Punk" Brooks and Scott "Colt Cabana" Colton stemming from comments made on the "Art of Wrestling" episode in November 2014.
For most of November and December 2015, each side has been filing motions back and forth in regard to Amann trying to shoot down Cabana and Punk's defense pleadings while the defense has been arguing back as to why their pleadings remain relevant to the case. One of the sticking points has been that the court had ruled that certain statements made by Punk over the course of the podcast would not fall under one of the defense claims, but which statements have been tossed were never specified, leaving too huge a loophole.
This led to Punk and Cabana's defense responding to the lawsuit with amended responses on 12/15/15.
In the case of Punk, he argued that his comments were his opinion and therefore protected by the United States Constitution as free speech and that many of his statements are "reasonably capable of innocent and/or non-defamatory meanings or interpretations."
In the 12/15 filing, Punk also stated that many of his statements were "substantially true" - again alleging that despite requests, Amann never drained the lump Punk discovered in his lower back and that Amann also allegedly failed to diagnose it as a "potential MRSA or staph infection" while clearing Punk to wrestle - and that these statements were "substantially true because it was Brooks' experience and observation that Plaintiff had failed adequately to evaluate and treat concussion-like symptoms experienced by Brooks and other WWE wrestlers." Punk also alleged that when he suffered "severe head trauma" in what would turn out to be his final match, the 2014 Royal Rumble, "Plaintiff did not direct or encourage Brooks to leave the ring" and that "Plaintiff had indicated to Brooks that Brooks had discretion as to whether to remain in the ring."
It should be noted that Amann has alleged in his lawsuit that what Punk claimed on the podcast in relation to the above statements is false.
Punk also again argued that Amann via his job with WWE and appearances on their website, TV series, etc. as well as work with other high profile sports organizations means that Amann has become a public figure (making the argument that Amann's complaint about theur invasion of his privacy doesn't have merit) and that the statements made on the "Art of Wrestling" fall under "fair comment" because the entire conversation was about professional wrestling and was based around the "opinion and commentary of the host and guests."
A 12/15 filing by Cabana notes many of the same defenses as well.
Punk and Cabana have demanded a jury trial in regard to the lawsuit.
There is a hearing scheduled for 2/1 at 9:15 AM in regard to the discovery process of the lawsuit as well as court rulings on the aforementioned pleadings.
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