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The Colt Cabana vs. CM Punk lawsuit is over.
According to documents filed with the Circuit Court of Cook County on 9/26 in Illinois, the lawsuits filed by Ring of Honor star Scott "Colt Cabana" Colton and former WWE Champion Phil "CM Punk" Brooks against each other were dismissed with prejudice.
In a filing signed by Circuit Court Judge Daniel J. Kubiask, it was noted Colton and Brooks jointly filed for the case to be dismissed and that the Court, “having examined said stipulation and being fully advised in the premises, finds that this cause of action has been fully compromised and settled and the parties have stipulated and agreed to the dismissal of the complaint with prejudice, and the court further finds that all costs have been paid.”
PWInsider.com has been told there was no financial settlement involved and that the settlement was based on mutual releases of Colton and Brooks’ claims against each other. As noted, court filings indicate that the lawsuits were dismissed with prejudice, which means neither can file another lawsuit against the other over this matter.
We have reached out to each side for comment. Carey Stein, Colton's lawyer, responded with a one word response via email, writing, "Settled."
9/30 1:24 AM Note: Cabana responded to PWInsider.com with "No comment."
The request for the dismissal was filed on 9/25, one day before the court dismissed the lawsuits.
Colton sued Brooks in August 2018, alleging that he had breached a contract with him to cover all of his legal fees in the lawsuit Dr. Chris Amann brought against each of them in the wake of the now infamous "Art of Wrestling" podcast episode about Punk's WWE departure. The court dismissed the initial filing, but allowed Cabana to re-file, which he did several times, seeking $200,000 in general damages in addition to $1 million in punitive and exemplary damages.
It came out over the course of the lawsuit that Brooks had spent well over seven figures in legal fees in the Amann suit, but at some point, a schism between he and Cabana led to Cabana no longer being represented by Punk's attorneys and hiring his own.
After several amended versions of the Cabana lawsuit wound its way through court, Punk finally filed a counter-suit this past June. In that lawsuit, Punk stated that he spent $1.2 million in legal fees for himself and Cabana in the Amann lawsuit and was never reimbursed, which Brooks stated, "violated fundamental principles of justice, equality, and good conscience", that the Art of Wrestling podcast with Cabana was immensely popular and that Cabana had monetized Punk's appearance yet Punk had not been compensated for it.
Punk was seeking $600,000 from Colton, half of what he stated in court documents had been spent on the Amann lawsuit.
With the lawsuits dismissed, each side will move forward, with a series of events neither could have predicted spinning out of their podcast recording finally behind them.
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