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The Chicago Sun-Times reported this afternoon that Ring of Honor Star Scott "Colt Cabana" Colton filed a lawsuit against former WWE Champion Phil "CM Punk" Brooks in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois on 8/7 over alleged unpaid legal fees and breach of contract, stemming from the lawsuit that WWE physician Doctor Chris Amann filed against the two in regard to Punk's appearance on Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast.
According to the Sun-Times article, Cabana's 15-page lawsuit alleges that "Brooks acted with fraud, malice and oppression toward Colton, with the deliberate intention of causing Colton harm."
Cabana is alleging that when Dr. Amann's attorneys contacted him with a cease and desist letter related to the podcast in December 2014, Punk told him not to respond. When Amann filed his lawsuit against them, Cabana alleged that Punk told him, via text, that his legal bills would be covered.
However, Cabana alleges that he received an April 2016 email from Punk regarding a financial billing Punk had received from his legal representatives, Loeb & Loeb, with Punk writing, "To date I have spent $513,736 dollars on this Amman lawsuit. My outstanding bill is at least 300K. Half of all this is yours. Divide the 513,736 by 2 that is what you owe me and what I expect you to pay me. Starting now, I will no longer be paying your bills. You are on your own. Whatever my bill is currently, will be cut in half and half will be yours. If you choose to make this all ugly, that's fine too. I hope you won't, but I gave up on you doing what is right a long time ago."
It had been believed for some time that there had been a personal falling out between the two over the course of the Amann lawsuit. Based on the correspondence included in the lawsuit, that certainly appears to have been the case.
Cabana claims in the lawsuit that he was later told by Punk's attorney that he would continue to represent Cabana, even if Cabana wasn't paying the fees, as long there "is no conflict between you and Phil that prevents me from morally and ethically representing you."
Cabana retained Loeb & Loeb until March 2017, when he claimed that he was forced to hire his own representation. In the lawsuit, Cabana stated he was "informed and believed" that Punk caused Loeb & Loeb to withdraw as Cabana's attorney.
After their courtroom victory over Amann's lawsuit, Cabana's attorneys approached Punk, seeking payment of $200,000, the cost of Cabana's legal fees post-Loeb & Loeb. Punk turned that overture down, leading to Cabana's claim of breach of contract.
Cabana is also claiming that had he not listened to Punk and just responded to the original cease and desist letter, he would not have dealt with any "costs, expenses or losses" in regard to the Amann case.
Cabana is asking for $1 Million in punitive and exemplary damages and $200,000 (aka the cost of his representation during the Amann lawsuit) in general damages. He is seeking a jury trial. Obviously, Punk has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
What is amazing about all this is after their long, grueling legal process against Amann, now the process will begin anew for Punk and Cabana, who at one point were the best of friends dating back to their earliest days in professional wrestling.
After having a legal case hovering over them for years, they are right back to where they started, except now, they are facing each other. It's likely the last thing either would have predicted would have happened the night they sat down to record the now infamous episode of Cabana's podcast.
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